Education Policy Commons^™

Quality Counts 2015, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In an attempt to gauge the educational progress of the nation and each state, Education Week has published state report cards since 1997 in its annual Quality Counts series. The 19 th annual report - Quality Counts 2015 - was released in January. Overall, Arkansas received an grade of C– and was ranked 36th among the 50 states. This policy brief examines Arkansas’ rank in each category of the report as well as the quality of the report itself.

Summer Learning Loss For Maine Public School Elementary Students, David L. Silvernail Phd, Brian I. Mazjanis

School Improvement

The goal of this research was to determine if there are statistically significant differences in learning between different categories of students apart from the influences of school. The foundational assumption is that student academic achievement is a product of both in-school and out-of-school factors. While there are many breaks from schooling during the calendar year, the largest by far is the summer recess. This study examined student achievement data measured at the end of one school year and then again at the beginning of the next school year. The study took advantage of the natural experiment that arose when the …

Report Of The Commission To Study The Adequacy And Equity Of Certain Cost Components Of The School Funding Formula, Commission To Study The Adequacy And Equity Of Certain Cost Components Of The School Funding Formula

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

The Commission was created by Resolves 2014, chapter 114, legislation that originated with the Joint Standing Committee on Education of the 126th Maine Legislature. Five members were appointed by the President of the Maine Senate; seven members were appointed by the Speaker of the House. The final two members were the Commissioner of Education or designee, and the Chair of the State Board of Education or designee. The names of Commission members and the organizations they represent, are included in Appendix B.

What follows are descriptions and materials related to each section of the Resolve and the final recommendations made …

Attitudes And Perceptions Of High School Principals With Regard To Bullying In Their Schools, Cornelius James Lewis

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study examined attitudes and perceptions of high school principals/assistant principals with regard to bullying in their schools. Bullying is a pervasive, unacceptable form of aggression that has negative consequences, both for the bully and the victim. School principals are charged with the responsibility of creating a safe environment for students, by effectively combating any aggressive behavior that could harm a student. The extent to which principals are able to combat bullying, may depend largely on their attitudes and perceptions of bullying behavior in their schools. This purpose of the study was to compare the attitudes of high school principals …

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2014/2015 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

- three Race Panels that focused on 1) discussion of individual/institutional diversity concerns and social injustices, 2) historical and biological perspectives of race, and 3) how to resolve educational inequities and social injustices at IMSA,

- three Read-Ins that promoted Women, Latino and Black literature in collaboration with the IRC, English Department and the President’s Office,

- an audit of the racial diversity within IMSA’s Student Organizations,

- conducted the Implicit Association Test with 580 students which demonstrated levels of bias in terms of skin tone, sexual orientation, and gender-science....followed by two diversity interventions and a post Implicit Association Test, …

Beginning Teachers' Experiences And Use Of Time, Laura Marie Ahles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New teachers in a southeast Texas school district are having difficulty using their time effectively for instruction while balancing a multitude of tasks. New work responsibilities for teachers are contributing to teacher burnout and early attrition. The purpose of this study was to examine new teachers and administrators perceptions of novice teacher practices and their daily use of time. Apple s theory of intensification was used as the conceptual framework for this study. A case study design was employed to answer research questions regarding how procedures and policies affect teachers time, teacher perceptions about prior experiences with managing multiple responsibilities, …

Enacting True Partnerships Within Community-Based Learning: Faculty And Community Partners Reflect On The Challenges Of Engagement, Seanna Kerrigan, Vicki L. Reitenauer, Nora Arevalo-Meier

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the past two decades, the literature on campus-community partnerships as core components of pedagogies of engagement has grown exponentially. In this article, the director and a longtime faculty member of Portland State University’s capstone program report on interviews conducted with ten faculty-community partner pairs, gleaning insights on both the challenges of and lessons learned through partnering. This research adds to the literature through its use of relational methods that bring the voices of interviewees to readers, revealing a depth of connection across the institutional divide.

Impact Of Voices, Ideas, Vision, Action Exchange For Teachers In Educational Policies Of Iowa, Tammy Elaine Wawro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low teacher morale and high attrition rates can be attributed in part to educational policy changes and instructional decisions made by individuals who are not connected to the classroom. Time constraints, logistical struggles of getting a critical mass of teachers together, and the geography of rural Iowa schools all play a role in teachers' inability to form a unified voice. The Voices Ideas Vision Action (VIVA) Idea Exchange-?¢ is an online process that combines crowd-sourcing methods with individual engagement strategies over a 6- to 8-week period. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact the VIVA program has …

A Grounded Theory Study Of Navigating The Cycle Of Decline In Public School Teaching, Jenny Sanders

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Excessive teacher turnover has considerable financial, logistical, and academic implications for public education. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory (GT) that conceptualized the experiences of former Georgia public school teachers in order to better understand voluntary teacher attrition. Informed by Ryan and Deci's self-determination theory, this GT study provided insight into the process by which teachers arrive at the decision to leave public schools. Interviews with 12 former Georgia public school teachers were conducted. A constant comparative analysis was used to develop the theory of navigating the cycle of decline, which accounts for the general …

Central Ohio School And Business Partnerships: Shared And Divergent Perspectives, Applied Policy Research Institute, Wright State University

Education Policy

In spring of 2015, the Central Ohio region sponsored two surveys, conducted by APRI, to generate data pertaining to K-12 school-business partnerships:

• All 67 Superintendents in Central Ohio were invited to participate in the survey – 24 responded
• The business survey was distributed to all private businesses in the advanced manufacturing, Information Technologies, logistics, and health care industries throughout Central Ohio.
• The survey yielded over 300 business responses. Throughout these replies, several themes emerged indicating critical differences in partnership perceptions and implementations.
• The two sectors identify similar tools to enhance partnerships.

A Forward To The Special Issue On Neoliberalism In Education The Long Road To Redemption: Critical Pedagogy And The Struggle For The Future, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Peter McLaren introduces a special issue of Texas Education Review focused on Neoliberalism in Education by advocating for critical pedagogy in the face of the challenges and harms wrought by American capitalism, politics, and "economic exploitation, racism, homophobia, sexism, imperialism, the coloniality of power and White supremacy".

Beyond The University: An Initiative For Continuing Engagement Among Alumni, David Osborn, Jennifer Alkezweeny, Kevin Kecskes

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

In an effort to leverage students’ positive community engagement experiences as they transition to and become alumni, Portland State University (PSU) embarked on a pilot “Continuing Engagement Program.” This article provides a rationale for this effort, an overview of the programmatic elements, lessons learned, and future engagement strategies. The authors situate the Community Engagement Program (CEP) in the current alumni engagement literature, share findings from the PSU program, and hope to inspire additional creative thinking and action to support alumni and other community members’ persistent engagement for positive community change.

Comparing Organizational Configurations Of Principal Autonomy In Finland And New York, Harry Leonardatos

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This exploratory study compares organizational configurations of principal autonomy in Finland and New York State. Evidence from Finnish school site visits and surveys distributed to principals in New York State and Finland is utilized to compare principal autonomy in two distinct educational settings.

The Economics Of Financing Education And Gender Composition Of Schools : Retention And Learning Outcomes In Public Primary Schools Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Kp) Province, Pakistan, Bushra Rahim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of school-level factors (physical resources, teachers’ and schools’ characteristics) and system-level factors (delegation of financial authority to public primary schools through Parent Teacher Councils (PTCs)) on two educational outcomes - retention rates to the last grade of primary school and learning outcomes - in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, one of the least‐developed and conflict-affected provinces in Pakistan.

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Impact Of Education Policy On Their Teaching, Professional Development, And Sense Of Efficacy For Literacy Instruction, David Clickner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examined teachers’ (a) perceptions of the impact of policy on their teaching and professional development, (b) knowledge of policy initiatives and the protocols their schools have in place to support them, (c) perceptions of policy, and (d) self-efficacy for literacy instruction and professional development’s impact on it. The investigation focused on three policy initiatives: Response to Intervention, the Common Core State Standards, and the Annual Professional Performance Review program, New York State’s teacher evaluation system. The sample included K-4 classroom and special education teachers and literacy/reading specialists working in New York State. Results revealed that respondents’ perceptions of …

Expanding Access To Education For Teenage Mothers In Homa Bay County: What ‘Might’ Work, Chi-Chi Undie

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Two Models Of Teacher Accountability Toward An Explanation For The Disappointing Results Of Some Market-Based School Reforms, Lenahan O'Connell, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Accountability is a pivotal concern of applied social science. This article asserts that in many situations a full explanation of the sources of accountability requires the application of concepts from sociology and management science, in addition to those from the market-based approaches inspired by economics. The article describes the market-based approach to accountability exemplified by agency theory, applies it to school reform and derives several predictions about the likely success of market-based approaches to school reform, and documents the lack of evidence supporting the contention that programs for school choice will markedly improve teacher work effort and performance (as measured …

Disaggregating Student Outcomes By Race And Income: Educational Equity In Oregon, Anne Sinkey, Ann Curry-Stevens

Center to Advance Racial Equity Publications and Reports

This research seeks to answer an emerging question in public school debates: whether race is just a proxy for income when it comes to disparities in educational outcomes among Oregon’s K-12 students. This research set out to respond to this question, and draws from public school data records to answer the question. We investigated student test scores across three different environments: elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. We also investigated student graduation rates from high school. The pattern of findings is absolutely clear: regardless of the site or type of disparities, when we compare how low-income students fare, all …

The Effects Of A New Method Of Instruction On The Perceptions Of Appalachian English, Michelle L. Compton

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This paper evaluates whether students’ perceptions of Appalachian English improve through a method of instruction that uses dialect literature in the classroom. Most existing methods of instruction tend to portray dialects as wrong, incorrect, or in some way less rule-governed than Standardized English, despite the numerous studies that have demonstrated otherwise (e.g., Labov 1969, Wolfram 1986). The data from this study derives from two groups of students enrolled in introductory composition and communication at the University of Kentucky. Each group is given a pre-test to determine attitudes toward Appalachian English and Standardized English. An experimental group is then exposed to …

Creating Professional Learning Programs That Recognize Teachers As Adult Learners, Nicole Marie Lowe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent research, approximately 40-50% of teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years, creating a constant need for teachers. There is evidence that creating a supportive working environment through effective professional learning, drawing on adult learning theory, may reduce teacher turnover and increase student performance. This study explored teachers' perceptions about the professional development offerings available to them, how these perceptions influence their decisions to remain at the school, and what types of professional learning experiences teachers want to experience. Fourteen high school teachers participated in individual interviews and 2 focus groups, which were analyzed inductively for …