<p> This applied dissertation presented a mixed method design to gain a broader perspective of the perceptions of classroom management practitioners within a particular school district. Many teachers, or practitioners, experience issues with classroom management because of their understanding of strategies they use. Because of the researcher&rsquo;s position within the education system, it was recognized practitioners are mandated to utilize specific classroom management strategies. As such, the study was designed to glean the perceptions of these practitioners in relation to the misunderstandings and mandates related to the strategies dealt with on a daily basis. </p><p> The perspectives gleaned afforded opportunities to generate statistical data. The last question presented to the study participants allowed each participant to express his or her ideas, related to the questionnaire or otherwise, in any way they saw fit. The analysis of the study took into consideration the open response comments as they pertained to the statistical data generated. </p><p> Findings revealed the most favorable, as well as most effective, strategies as perceived by actual practitioners. Practitioners also expressed their opinions indicating their displeasure regarding mandated classroom management strategies commonly referred to as Office Referrals. Practitioners indicated they perceived revoking student privileges, placing students in time-out areas, and utilizing counseling services as more effective when choosing strategies relative to managing their classrooms.</p><p>

<p> Colleges facing pressures to increase student outcomes while reducing costs have shown an increasing interest in competency-based education (CBE) models. Regional accreditors created a joint policy on CBE evaluation. Two years later, through this grounded theory study, I sought to understand from experts the nature of this policy, its impact, and the possible need for it to be revised. Findings indicate that the Council of Regional Accrediting Commission&rsquo;s (C-RAC) Framework was helpful as an educational tool but was also a product of its time and may need to be updated. Analysis of survey responses, a focus group discussion, and semi-structured interviews revealed themes centering around a) the value of the Framework, b) its alignment with accreditors and changing times, and c) the need for its revision. A grounded theory of a narrative lifecycle for the Framework details a progression through six stages that is driven by predictable narrative features. Implications of a narrative policy lifecycle view of the Framework underscore the need for revision of the Framework, and the potential usefulness of applying a narrative paradigm to other higher education accreditation work.</p><p>

<p> Educational reform is at the forefront of legislatures and school districts across the United States (Hattie, 2011). To find and employ high school improvement initiatives that lead to improved educational experiences for students, educational leaders must examine in great detail what systems have been successful and then modify the initiatives to fit the characteristics of their particular school districts (Berliner &amp; Glass, 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of initiatives one Midwestern high school implemented beginning in 2012. The initiatives implemented included the Tardy Sweep policy, Response to Intervention (RtI) program, and a Late Work policy. The data collected were archival and reflected the school years from 2010-2011 through 2015-2016. Using descriptive statistics, the findings demonstrated an improved attendance rate, a decline in discipline referrals, and decreased failure rate with the implementation of these initiatives at one Midwestern high school. The findings of this study provide a compelling argument for the implementation of the three initiatives at other high schools.</p><p>

Abstract not available.

Currently, there is a large body of research examining Out-of-School Time (OST) programs, the goals of these programs, and their reported impact on the youth they serve. However, there is little evidence of research on how organizations determine which goals best fit the needs of the communities they serve. Concurrently, studies of how organizations put these goals into action are virtually non-existent in the literature. This study examines how organizations in Massachusetts receiving Federal 21st Century Community Learning Center funding make decisions about Out-of-School-Time programming. Although the federal grant requirements and the Massachusetts Department of Education impose some uniformity on these programs, they still vary considerably in their design and the target audiences they serve. Through an online survey, document review and semi-structured interviews, the research identified several themes about the decision making used in these organizations. Cohen, March & Olson's Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice was used as a framework to better understand the data and to organize the discussion. A stakeholder analysis was also used to evaluate the influence of participants on the decision making within the Out-of-School-Time programs. The research identified a loose connection between the decisions made about the types of activities selected and the prescriptive goals of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs. There were several factors that contributed to this loose connection, including the influence of stakeholders, the learning outcomes identified by the assessment tools, and the evaluation of programs by the State. The research also leads to several recommendations about the evaluation of these programs in Massachusetts, including a review of the assessment tools designed by the State and a study of whether the mission shift evidenced in these communities is a tacit decision made by the Department of Education and grant recipients. Further research on the alignment of Federal and State programming goals is also recommended.

School feeding programs enhance the efficiency of the education system by improving enrollment, reducing dropouts and increasing perseverance. They also have the potential to reach the poor, directly making them an effective social safety net. In many low-resource countries, school feeding programs are designed to protect children from the effects of hunger. Unfortunately, the continuity of such programs is threatened by over-reliance on external funding. Given the patterns of withdrawal of external support, countries that rely on donor funds to implement such programs need to develop plans that will move them from external to localized support. It is well documented that programs that involve community members are self-sustaining. Regrettably, even though community members are involved in school feeding programs in Malawi, their participation is restricted to food storage and preparation and doesn't include decision making. Thus the transition plan for Malawi has to deliberately involve community members and influence them to take ownership of the school feeding programs. This dissertation explored the use of Social Marketing, a strategy for influencing behavior change that applies traditional marketing techniques to persuade a target audience to adopt, adapt, maintain or reject a behavior for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society as a whole to plan school food programs in Malawian primary schools. Using focus groups and individual interview techniques, I carried out a qualitative study at a primary school in Malawi where the community has initiated a school feeding program with the aim of understanding the barriers and benefits of supporting such an initiative from the community members' perspective. The results show that the cost of producing food, particularly the use of chemical fertilizer, is the main barrier whilst ensuring that all children regardless of social-economic status have access to a meal at school is the drive behind this initiative. The Social Marketing campaign therefore focuses on promoting the use of eco-san toilets whose output is humanure in this school community so as to minimize the cost of producing food to ensure sustainability of this initiative.

Despite the push for universal education, many disadvantaged and poor children in developing countries still do not have access to basic education. This among other reasons is due to poverty where poor families cannot afford the cost of basic education even when it is ‘free’ of tuition (McDonald, 2007). Demand-side financing interventions such as scholarship programs are promising to be viable financing interventions of reaching out to the poor and marginalized children in order for them to access basic education. Although such financing strategies have been praised as having worked in mostly Latin American countries, very little is systematically known about how these interventions would work in poor African countries such as Malawi. This study therefore examines demand-side financing strategy through an evaluation of a scholarship program implemented in Malawi. It uses qualitative mode of inquiry through in-depth interviews of 36 key participants as a primary method of data collection. In addition it reviews program documents and conducts some cohort tracking on beneficiaries in Zomba rural district which is the site of the study. The findings show that community based targeting was used in the program and proved successful in identifying the right beneficiaries in a cost effective manner. It seems to offer a model to be adopted for such interventions in low resource countries. Findings further show that beneficiaries who received scholarships were able to persist however there was a substantial number that dropped out. There were a number of factors that caused this but it seems the internal motivation of beneficiaries to persist was very critical. This puts under the microscope an assumption that once scholarship is received, beneficiaries would persist in school. Last but not least, the findings also show that an assumption that local communities will be able to sustain such programs might be but a mere illusion as communities view themselves too poor to do this. Overall the study praises such programs as effective in targeting the poor and marginalized children however it puts a caution on assumptions about persistence & sustainability. It suggests further scrutiny on these assumptions to improve on the effectiveness of such programs and demand-side financing strategies in general.

Black and Hispanic students continue to be excluded from the learning environmentmore than three times the rate of their White classmates. The effects of this include low student achievement, reduced chances of graduating from high school, and an increased chance of entering the school-to-prison pipeline. Restorative justice was introduced to schools and school systems as an alternative to suspension and other exclusionary practices. The purpose of this study was to examine how school personnel implement and sustain restorative justice practices to reduce the number of Black and Hispanic students disproportionately affected by zero tolerance policies or exclusionary practices. The overarching research question of this study was the following: How do school personnel describe and understand the implementation of restorative justice practices? To address my research question, I conducted a single case study of a school in a large Atlantic coast school system. Data collection methods included: semi-structured interviews of school personnel and leadership, observations, and document review. Four major findings emerged from this study: (1) Cultural understanding, understanding implicit bias, and student-school personnel relationships create the conditions to reduce schoolwide disciplinary infractions and improve climate and culture; (2) School leadership intentional about supporting the mindset shift of staff from punitive to restorative contributes to the development of a positive learning community and supports the implementation of restorative justice and its associated practices; (3) Sustainability of restorative justice depends on the following levers: consistency of restorative justice practices, staff support, and onboarding of new staff members; (4) Professional development, specifically professional development at the school and district level, served as the vehicle to build the capacity of staff as it relates to restorative justice theory, mindset and cultural proficiency (cultural understandings).

Over the last several years, there has been an increased awareness regarding consensual sexual relationships (CSRs) between professors and students. Specifically, there has been a growing movement for academic institutions to develop policies addressing, discouraging, and/or prohibiting these relationships due to the potential for sexual harassment cases. Even though the appropriateness of such relationships has been widely debated among the university community, a limited amount of empirical work has examined this issue with the majority focusing on attitudinal studies. The current exploratory study consists of a content analysis of 278 faculty and student responses to the question, “If there is a difference between consensual sexual relationships and sexual harassment, what is it?” Responses indicate that there are several overlapping themes for both faculty and students in how they view these differences, with a large number of responses specifically indicating themes such as “CSR is consensual” while “sexual harassment is one sided.” There are also some unique perspectives given by faculty regarding the complexities and acceptability of CSRs, who are generally more specific and nuanced in their answers. Considering the complexities of this issue, it is the recommendation of the current study that much more research fully exploring the attitudes of faculty and students is needed to develop a well-rounded and comprehensive policy.

Over the last several years, there has been an increased awareness regarding consensual sexual relationships (CSRs) between professors and students. Specifically, there has been a growing movement for academic institutions to develop policies addressing, discouraging, and/or prohibiting these relationships due to the potential for sexual harassment cases. Even though the appropriateness of such relationships has been widely debated among the university community, a limited amount of empirical work has examined this issue with the majority focusing on attitudinal studies. The current exploratory study consists of a content analysis of 278 faculty and student responses to the question, “If there is a difference between consensual sexual relationships and sexual harassment, what is it?” Responses indicate that there are several overlapping themes for both faculty and students in how they view these differences, with a large number of responses specifically indicating themes such as “CSR is consensual” while “sexual harassment is one sided.” There are also some unique perspectives given by faculty regarding the complexities and acceptability of CSRs, who are generally more specific and nuanced in their answers. Considering the complexities of this issue, it is the recommendation of the current study that much more research fully exploring the attitudes of faculty and students is needed to develop a well-rounded and comprehensive policy.