Education Policy Commons^™

Education Policy Factors Contributing To Special Education Identification, Sivan Tuchman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vital to the discussion around special education is the topic of identification and de-identification as having a disability that impacts one’s education. Variation in special education enrollment across geographic locations, racial groups, and schooling sectors causes researchers to question the process and incentives involved in identification and de-identification. The studies that comprise this dissertation aim to analyze the effects that educational policies have on special education identification and subsequent enrollment. Specifically, the studies cover the special education finance, school accountability, and school choice policies.

The special education finance reform effort of switching from a prospective to a capitation funding system …

Financial Literacy In Local At-Risk Appalachia, Elijah R. Osborne

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Unfortunately, rural Appalachia is perennially one of the poorest areas of the United States. Many scholars have offered opinions as to why this trend of poverty continues in this region, but one potential cause has not been the subject of much research: do residents in Appalachia have a functional knowledge of the financial system, or even a simple understanding of basic savings, which is necessary for achieving certain levels of financial security?

We conduct a survey modeled after a national study which measures basic financial literacy in local Appalachia, expecting to find that at-risk Appalachians would have less financial literacy …

An Evaluation Of Arkansas’ Developmental Coursework Policy At Postsecondary Institutions, Evan Thomas Rhinesmith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an evaluation of the impacts of assignment to and enrollment in postsecondary remedial coursework in the state of Arkansas. In this study, I evaluate the impacts of the policy on students’ academic achievement and attainment as measured by graduation rates and persistence. I include subgroup analyses of these outcomes to determine whether there are heterogeneous effects for students enrolling at two-year or four-year institutions, institutions with the highest remediation rates, and students of different races, genders, and baseline achievement. Like previous evaluations of remediation in other settings, the results here point to negative impacts of remediation on …

No Puffs: Penguins Go Smoke-Free, Monica Sciamanna

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

In partnership with the Department of Student Life, this project examines campus smoking behaviors among students, faculty, and staff. It will gather information regarding awareness and perceptions of current smoking policies at Dominican. Data may be used in the development of a new campus smoking policy.

2016 Arkansas Education Report Card, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary Ritter

Education Report Card

The Office for Education Policy is pleased to share the 2016 Arkansas Report Card highlighting the characteristics and educational performance of Arkansas students through the 2015-16 academic year.

State student assessment changed again for the 2015-16 school year, making it difficult to determine if our students are performing better than in prior years, but we look forward to a consistent assessment moving forward, which will allow us to more easily monitor student performance over time. There are several benefits to the new assessment system, including a measure of science performance at every grade level from 3-10, and a nationally comparable …

Classrooms & Curriculum, Devin Walz, Anh Doan, Cathy Tran, Loraina Galarza

Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference

Panel Chair: Lisa Roy-Davis

Papers Presented:

"Should the State of Texas Allow Public Universities and Colleges to Permit Guns on Campuses?" By Devin Walz

"Pets in the Elementary Classroom" by Anh Doan

"Technology Case Study of K-12 Students" by Cathy Tran

Abstract: Technology is an exponentially revolutionizing tool that has pushed all aspects of society to adapt and grow in the time known as the “Information Age”. The way that humans process information, and the speed at which humans can process information, with technology allows humans to grow more efficiently and effectively. Technology is continually designed to become more optimal …

Ua35/8 Reveille, Veterans Upward Bound Program, Western Kentucky University

Veterans Upward Bound Publications

Frequently Asked Questions.; Hot Rods Military Appreciation Day; VACBOC Clothing Drive; Million Veteran Program Update: Important Phone Numbers and Dates

The Trump Effect On Federal Education Policy: How Federal Actions On The Every Student Succeeds Act Affect Schools Nationally, In Texas, And In The El Paso Region, David S. Knight

Policy Briefs

This policy brief provides background on recent changes to federal education policy under the Trump Administration and reports the findings from a new study from the Center for Education Research and Policy Studies (CERPS). Following the passing of the Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA), the Education Department developed regulations that would govern the law’s implementation through a procedure known as the Rulemaking Process. One of the key provisions required school districts with large achievement gaps to equalize funding across schools. However, in March 2017, Congress moved to block all previously established regulations for implementing ESSA. Under Secretary DeVos, the Education …

Pluralism And Religious Education In Bali: How Lack Of Implementation Of Educational Reform Threatens Indonesian Identity In The System Used To Construct It, Nikolai O. Birch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Indonesia’s education system was developed with the construction of the Indonesian as a cohesive people in mind. In doing so, the system adopted the practice of mandatory religious education as a means of developing the character of the Indonesian student through religion, a component imperative to the nation’s statehood. In the years and decades following, the education system, and subsequently its program of religious education, has been reformed and changed many times. This research attempts to look at how and why this changed system has struggled to implement these changes in the classroom, and why pluralism has been included in …

National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Bonuses: Senate Bill 555, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

National Board Certification is a voluntary process that, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, certifies that they “have developed and demonstrated the advanced knowledge, skills, and practices required of an outstanding educator.” Currently, National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in an Arkansas public school receive an annual bonus of $5,000 for up to 10 years. In this brief, we examine NBC in Arkansas and Senate Bill 555, which proposes the modification and enhancement of NBC incentive bonuses for teachers receiving certification after January 2018.

Analysis Of Worcester's Youth Employment Sector, Laurie Ross Phd, Ramon Borges-Mendez Phd, Alex Rothfelder

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Overall, the employment rate for Worcester youth has improved since 2000; yet mirroring the nation, Worcester continues to have a smaller share of youth 16-24 employed. This situation is intensified for youth of color and young people facing barriers such as homelessness, exiting foster care, juvenile justice involvement, and limited English proficiency. Mass, Inc. estimates that in Worcester there are 3400 disconnected youth—756 are between 16-19 and 2644 are between 20-24. From the youth employment program inventory, we learned that the city’s programs offer many opportunities for “first job” experiences; has some exemplary programs that integrate youth development and workforce …

Why Is Mulvaney Opposed To Feeding Poor Kids At School?, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Folks, you've got to get a load of this guy Mick Mulvaney. Just looking at his name conjures images of a character from a gangster novel set during Prohibition, but he's actually the Trump White House's director of the Office of Management and Budget. That means he's the hatchet man—the guy responsible for making sure everything Trump wants to cut gets cut. And it means he's a real human, too. Allegedly.

Case in point: Mulvaney has been producing amazing sound bites lately to explain the contents of Trump's proposed federal budget. [excerpt]

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2016, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-achieving schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire examinations in Math, English Language Arts (ELA) and Science for the 20115-16 academic year. For these awards, we consider schools that serve free or reduced lunch to at least 66% of the student body.

Should We Give Betsy Devos A Chance? I Don't Think So, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Jennifer Steele, who teaches at American University, has made a heroic attempt to convince us that Betsy DeVos actually deserves a lot more credit than she's been getting for her performance as secretary of education so far. While I appreciate the sentiment—everybody deserves a fair shake, and should be judged on what they actually do, not what we think they might do—I have to say I'm not convinced. [excerpt]

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2016, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-achieving schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire Math, ELA and Science examinations for the 2015-16 academic year. These are the schools that serve primarily 9th through 12th graders.

Some Things You Can Do To Support Public Education Now, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Yesterday a group of students here at Gettysburg College, where I teach, organized a Solidarity Rally. It consisted largely of teach-ins designed to start conversations, and hopefully it will the first of many events that bring people together to think more carefully about how we should respond to things going on outside of our college and town. [excerpt]

How & Why The Arkansas Parental Empowerment For Education Choice Act Of 2017 (Hb 1222) Saves The State Money, Patrick J. Wolf, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

The Education Savings Account (ESA) Program created by HB 1222 would save the state money because officials at the Department of Finance & Administration have to follow state law.

How Hb 1222 Would Save Arkansas Money, Patrick J. Wolf, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

Private school choice programs have a positive fiscal impact on states because the amount of state money spent on a child in the program, or the amount of state revenue foregone in the case of tax-credit funding, is less than the state would pay if the student attended a public school.

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2016, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-performing Middle schools across the state based on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire examinations in Math, Reading, Writing, English and Science were administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2016.

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2016, Charlene A. Reid, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-achieving junior high schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire Math, ELA (which includes Reading, Writing and English exams) and Science examinations of the 2015-16 academic year.