This thesis examines the decision making and information search process of students choosing university courses in Victoria Australia. The position adopted for this study is that of a buyer or consumer behaviour perspective. This is the first study of its kind undertaken in Australia. Much related research been done in the United States and elsewhere. However, the Australian higher education system has unique characteristics. Consequently, while existing student-choice models drawn from elsewhere provide a useful foundation, they are not sufficient to answer the key question: How do students choose universities in Australia? Implicit in this overarching question are several issues examined by this study: how a student makes a choice is related to what choices there are to be made, and why the student makes a choice about a particular institution. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-286).

<p> The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was the identification of teachers&rsquo; perceptions of professional development during the transition to and implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the classroom. National reform efforts driven by an increased need for skill acquisition applicable to diverse needs in an ever-expanding global economy and increased demands for teacher accountability in the realm of student achievement requires additional teacher professional development. This study applied the constructs of social learning theory and constructivism in developing both the research questions and subsequent interview questions used during the data collection phase. Identification of overarching themes and patterns in participant responses provided crucial information relevant to the ongoing development of teacher professional development training opportunities from which teachers improve and expand pedagogical knowledge while applying CCSS in classroom instruction. The key emergent these derived from data analysis include, Theme 1: Sharing informational resources; Theme 2: Engagement and active participation; Theme 3: Collaboration enhances implementation; and Theme 4: Implementation and support. This study has the prospective to provide positive progress in the development and delivery of professional development aligned to teachers&rsquo; stated interests and concerns.</p>

<p>In many countries, particularly in the developing world, a large number of girls are receiving little or no formal education, in spite of all of the benefits that education can confer. Education has intrinsic value, as girls can experience a sense of agency and empowerment when they are able to achieve their educational goals. It is also important to human development, and there are tangible benefits to be gained from educating girls. This study examines the effects of increased efforts to improve gender equality in education in the developing world. Specifically, I investigate many of the interventions that have been implemented for the purpose of improving girls? secondary education, and consider which have been the most effective, in terms of both numbers of girls in school and the quality of their educational experience. In evaluating quality, I specifically consider what ramifications the different strategies have for girls? capabilities as informed by Martha Nussbaum?s conception of the capabilities approach. The data come primarily from published papers and reports from a variety of countries, and also include a small amount of firsthand information that I collected from contacts that I met during recent travel in Uganda and Rwanda. Details from people who work in schools and in education-related NGOs in these countries, and who have seen up-close the effects of different interventions on girls? education, are utilized to add depth and personal insights to the data from the published reports. At the conclusion of the study, I make recommendations, with girls? capabilities in mind, about which interventions I think are the most beneficial and worth pursuing. Which strategies are the most effective at improving girls? access to schools and the experiences they have once they are there? Those that specifically address issues of quality, rather than just access, seem likely to have the most beneficial effects on girls? capabilities.

<p> 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. </p><p> The distinguishing feature of the U.S. school system is local control by school boards, which dates back to the colonial era (Wong &amp; Langevin, 2005). This organizational setting contrasts from the educational system in Finland where the central government still holds statutory responsibility for education, but has decided to delegate decisions affecting the daily processes of a school to the principal and staff of each individual schools (Caldwell &amp; Harris, 2006; Sabel, Saxenian, Miettinen, Kristensen, &amp; Hautam&auml;ki, 2010). Finland was chosen for this study because of its recent success on PISA and the attention Finland has received from U.S. policymakers, reformers, professors, and the media. If the Finnish school system is a &ldquo;miracle&rdquo; as some proclaim (Darling-Hammond, 2010), then what can we learn from this organizational setting?</p><p> The hypothesis of this study is that principals in devolved and radically decentralized settings (e.g. New York State) possess less autonomy compared to principals in settings with a distinct educational center that allows decentralized decision-making at the local level (e.g. Finland). The research questions this study proposes to consider are: 1) To what extent do principals in devolved school systems (such as New York State) exercise autonomy when making decisions compared to principals in an educational system where authority is delegated by the central government (such as Finland)? 2) Is there a relationship between principal autonomy and the type of decentralization? 3) How does the type of decentralization affect a principal&rsquo;s ability to act autonomously in making decisions?</p><p> To examine the validity of the hypothesis and to answer these research questions, principals from New York State and Finland were selected to answer an electronically administered survey similar to the <i>School and Staffing Survey</i> distributed by the U.S. Department of Education. An analysis of the survey results was utilized to help understand if a relationship exists between different organizational configurations and principal autonomy. I also went to visit schools in Finland and had the opportunity to meet with school principals and representatives of the OAJ (Trade Union of Education). </p><p> Principals were asked about their autonomy in making decisions related to personnel and instruction. My findings indicate that in almost all instances, principals in Finland enjoy a higher degree of autonomy than their counterparts in New York State. Principals in New York State, which operate in an educational atmosphere where different levels of government and bureaucratic entities ratify laws, pass policies, and make decisions that affect instruction and personnel, experience a lower degree of autonomy. In contrast, principals that work in a system, such as Finland&rsquo;s, where the central government delegates authority to local educational agencies and allows the administration and staff of each school to make decisions indicate a higher degree of autonomy. </p>

<p> Using a phenomenological method, this study explored the higher-education affordability perceptions of a purposively-collected group of 19 students at the pseudonymous Crestview Community College (CCC) in Colorado. The defining themes of the study were: (a) knowledge of the College Opportunity Fund (COF) program and perceptions of higher-education affordability in the Colorado context, (b) how participants learned about and implemented college selection, financing, and success strategies, (c) family finances and their impact on work and college decisions, (d) participant views on the financial aid process, and (e) benefits of attending college. </p><p> The findings were: (a) the COF was not viewed as a significant source of support or well-understood as the State of Colorado&rsquo;s contribution to college students, (b) participants described difficulty in high school learning and implementing a college selection and financing strategy with some mitigation of those failures by key adults in their lives, (c) CCC was viewed as the default college choice because of price, location, dual credit experience, and peer recommendations, (d) family structural and financial context strongly influenced participants&rsquo; perceived options and decisions regarding college selection and work, (e) participant perspectives on federal financial aid and college affordability varied drastically between Pell Grant recipients and non-recipients, (f) participants uniformly held a negative perception of student loans, and (g) participants were motivated to stay in college by hope of occupational and financial benefits and discouraged by fear of debt and post-graduation joblessness.</p><p>

<p> In Tanzania, the debate surrounding language of instruction has been rekindled with an announcement in February of 2015 that the language of instruction would be changed from English to Kiswahili in Ordinary Level secondary schools. European languages have perceived economic benefits, while researchers in cognitive learning argue foreign languages of instruction are often detrimental to a child&rsquo;s learning. However, this debate is studied largely at the national and international levels. This dissertation research investigates perceptions of language of instruction in a rural school community using critical theory, the theory of communicative action, and a language ecology framework. Qualitative analysis of community foreign language learning resources and a construct modeling approach was used to create and pilot a quantitative instrument in several rural secondary school communities for the purpose of measuring and acknowledging foreign language learning resources in a rural school community. Findings revealed participants&rsquo; cultural attachment to Kiswahili in tension with the high utilitarian value they place on knowing the English language. Few participants believed there are many resources for learning English in or outside of school. Findings from the survey using descriptive analysis and item response theory revealed that few items captured the variability of the construct within the sample, yet exposed possible weaknesses and offered direction for further, future investigation. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings in relation to the theories and framework guiding this study, as well as a discussion of the child&rsquo;s right to learn.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) triage during actual mass casualty incidents (MCI) and full-scale MCI exercises. Developed in 1984, Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment triage was created to assist in the process of triaging large quantities of injured patients from natural or manmade disasters and has since been the nationally accepted triage model in the United States. Historically, limited studies have shown patients are in fact, over-triaged 53% of the time. The research goal was to obtain substantial data to determine whether first responders&rsquo; use of the current triage model effectively sustains life. A mixed methods research analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected from one historical MCI incident and three MCI exercises was evaluated to develop recommendations for protocol change and future curriculum development. Data analysis from actual incidents and exercises confirm that &ldquo;just-in-time&rdquo; training does increase the accuracy of the START triage model used from 42% to 73%. </p><p>

<p> Voters&rsquo; hatred of the property tax has led to the enactment of tax and expenditure limitations (TEL) in most states (Brunori, Bell, Cordes, and Yuan, 2008; Sokolow, 1998). Past research suggests that TELs have consequences for school districts, such as reductions in revenue and expenditures, and that these effects may be felt disproportionately by districts that are less able to adapt, such as poorer districts (Figlio, 1998; Joyce and Mullins, 1996; Downes and Figlio, 1999; Mullins, 2004; Wallin and Zabel, 2011; Della Sala and Knoeppel, 2014; Arsen, DeLuca, Ni, and Bates, 2016; Steinberg and Quinn, 2015). Such disproportionate impacts may increase revenue inequity across districts, further widening the gap between the &ldquo;haves&rdquo; and &ldquo;have nots.&rdquo; </p><p> This dissertation explores the impacts of TELs on school district revenue and equity through analyses of Pennsylvania&rsquo;s Act 1, a useful case for studying these effects because it was enacted more recently&mdash;2006&mdash;and is in place in a diverse state with a heavy reliance on property tax revenue that faces ongoing concerns over its allegedly inequitable public education funding system. </p><p> In the first study, I use multivariate regression analyses with fixed effects to consider the effects of Act 1 on various revenue sources available to school districts and whether districts that may be less able to adjust to changes in revenue streams felt these effects disproportionately. I find that local revenue and property tax revenue were reduced for school districts subject to Act 1&rsquo;s tax limits compared to those not subject to them, and that state revenue did not offset these reductions, resulting in reductions in total revenue. My findings do not suggest that these effects were disproportionately felt by districts with greater needs. </p><p> In the second study, I consider the characteristics of districts that are able to avoid Act 1&rsquo;s tax limits. Using logistic regression with year fixed effects, I find that districts with better fiscal conditions were more likely to receive an exception from the state that allowed them to avoid the tax limit. These results raise concerns of potential inequity, albeit with no intent on the part of the districts or Pennsylvania officials. </p><p> In the third study, I use both descriptive and multivariate regression analyses to consider the impacts of Act 1&rsquo;s limits on revenue equity among districts. I find that Act 1&rsquo;s tax limits appear to have reduced revenue equity among districts, and to have had a differential effect on higher need districts, when using poverty as an indicator of need. </p><p> Taken together, the findings suggest that Act 1 may have both reduced funding and revenue equity among districts, and had a differential negative effect on revenue for higher poverty districts. These results therefore suggest that the tax limits may have somewhat widened the divide between the &ldquo;haves&rdquo; and &ldquo;have nots,&rdquo; and raise concerns that revenue equity among districts has been reduced and that districts better able to adjust to tax limits&mdash;those in better fiscal health&mdash;may also be those most likely to avoid them.</p><p>

<p> In this dissertation, I explore questions relating to estimating and framing college net pricing. In the first study, I measure variation in actual grant aid awards for students predicted by the federal template Net Price Calculator (NPC) to receive identical aid awards. Estimated aid derived from the federal template NPC accounts for 85 percent of the variation in actual grant aid received by students. I then consider simple modifications to the federal template NPC that explain more than half of the initially unexplained variation in actual grant aid awards across all institutional sectors. The second study explores perceptions of college net pricing and the resources families use to learn about college expenses. Students and parents show substantial variation in their perceptions of college price and ability to accurately estimate likely college expenses, even when prompted to seek pricing information online. While most participants were able to estimate net price within 25 percent of NPC estimates, others were inaccurate by as much as 250 percent, or nearly $30,000. I then propose possible explanations for more or less accurate estimates that consider parent education, student grade level, previous NPC use, and online college pricing search strategies. In the third study, I explore the potential for shifts in college spending preferences when equivalent college cost scenarios are framed in different ways. I exploit disparities between net price and total price to randomly present participants with one of three framing conditions: gain, loss, and full information. Participants are between five and six percentage points more likely to choose a college beyond their stated price preference when cost information is framed in such a way that emphasizes financial grant aid <i>received</i> as opposed to remaining costs <i>to be paid</i> or full cost information. The results of these studies suggest that clearly structured, simple to use informational resources can accurately and effectively communicate important college information. However, simply making resources available without consideration of accessibility or relevance may be insufficient. Policymakers and other hosts of college information resources should also carefully consider the ways that the presentation of college information might influence students&rsquo; decisions.</p><p>