The overarching research problem for this study was the need to improve upon rational models of policy analysis and delivery, to suit complex postmodern implementation environments. A theoretical model suited to implementing and evaluating major education reform initiatives was devised. Called the 'Multiple Discourse Model', it was grounded in systems theory, containing elements reminiscent of social systems, organisational and structural functionalist research, especially that of Hoy and Miskel (1982)1. However the model was also designed to incorporate a parallel naturalistic analysis reminiscent of postmodern critical pragmatic approaches, such as those explored by Cherryholmes (1994)2. Over a period of five years, this model was developed through an evaluation of the implementation of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP) in the Australian Capital Territory government secondary schools sector. The distinguishing feature of the study's methodology was its multiperspective analysis, an approach suggested by Mclaughlin (1987)3 to take account of the differing communities of discourse which exist in a reformist policy implementation environment. To operationalise the research problem, dimensions of policy effectiveness were articulated. These were addressed through a comprehensive set of research indicators, extracted from the AEP's national policy goals and the local strategic and operational plans. Data aimed at judging the effectiveness of implementation were collected from multiple sources using multiple research instruments. These data were analysed in three stages using a purpose-designed computer program which could cross-reference between the four interacting dimensions of research indicators, research instruments, data sources, and potential variables modifying policy/program outcomes. It was found that this model produced clear conclusions about the effectiveness of AEP implementation in the delimited sector, within the framework of the AEP's own policy assumptions. The model also provided insights into critical issues which are generalisable to the national context, such as the power of cultural hegemony and the socio-political predicament of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dispossession. As a methodology, the model was found to have a number of technical advantages, including its capacity for focussing on selected areas of the implementation environment, its provision of access to multiple levels of detail amongst data and its possession of mechanisms for monitoring its own internal validity. The evaluation case study, used as the vehicle for the Multiple Discourse Model's development, demonstrated that best-practice administration was in place which enhanced short and medium-term policy/program outcomes. However, the study's findings also suggested that a fundamental disjuncture existed between the AEP's policy/administration paradigm and the conflicting assumptions of the primary target communities, reinforcing the findings of Sykes (1986)4. The research results suggested that despite measurable successful inputs, the planned long-term outcomes of the AEP will not necessarily be achieved. No significant administrative structures or actions were apparent which could resolve this lack of synchrony at the interface between government delivery systems and 'grass roots' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community values. This raised doubts about whether any systems approach, however well refined, could be socially useful not only for evaluation, but also as a basis for reform policy and public administration in a postmodern pluralist democratic setting. The evaluation was therefore used as a locus for theoretical reflection as well. A new policy paradigm is suggested, based on a power-sharing 'theory of community', more in keeping with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' aspirations for self determination and more likely to alleviate the so far unresolved destructive effects of cultural and political dispossession.

This research seeks to answer two questions: why did Jamaica include its higher education (HE) sector in its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) ‘Schedule of Commitments’; and, how do the politicians and policy makers view the impact of this decision? For answers, I looked at arguments linking the GATS with national development and with HE. The thesis explores Jamaica’s HE policy strategies, how they are formed, how well, even after the fact, the decision-makers understand the implications of the regulatory framework of the GATS and the loss of control implicit in some of its tenets. This study is anchored in research findings by UNESCO and the World Bank, among others, which show that HE systems serve as the foundation for nations’ social and economic development, in providing the required knowledge and high levels of trained manpower to build their human capital. However, suggestions have been made that inequities in the global trading system constrain small developing countries in implementing policies that serve these objectives. Therefore, the emergence of the GATS as a new regulatory structure for trade in educational services raises concerns about the ability of countries like Jamaica, to promote an HE system likely to meet their needs. iii Twenty senior policy actors within Jamaican society were interviewed to elicit their views on national priorities for HE and, the opportunities or threats to their fulfilment presented by the GATS Commitment. Of particular interest is the growth in cross-border HE services found in Jamaica. The research found that notwithstanding the inequities of the global trading system, Jamaica embraces the concepts of liberalisation and free trade, and its negotiators, in formulating the Commitment, were seized with GATS’ potential for rapidly expanding access to HE. However, the evidence of this research suggests they were ill-prepared to make this decision, and clearly there is need for a better understanding of the role of HE in Jamaica’s development.

This research seeks to answer two questions: why did Jamaica include its higher education (HE) sector in its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) ‘Schedule of Commitments’; and, how do the politicians and policy makers view the impact of this decision? For answers, I looked at arguments linking the GATS with national development and with HE. The thesis explores Jamaica’s HE policy strategies, how they are formed, how well, even after the fact, the decision-makers understand the implications of the regulatory framework of the GATS and the loss of control implicit in some of its tenets. This study is anchored in research findings by UNESCO and the World Bank, among others, which show that HE systems serve as the foundation for nations’ social and economic development, in providing the required knowledge and high levels of trained manpower to build their human capital. However, suggestions have been made that inequities in the global trading system constrain small developing countries in implementing policies that serve these objectives. Therefore, the emergence of the GATS as a new regulatory structure for trade in educational services raises concerns about the ability of countries like Jamaica, to promote an HE system likely to meet their needs. iii Twenty senior policy actors within Jamaican society were interviewed to elicit their views on national priorities for HE and, the opportunities or threats to their fulfilment presented by the GATS Commitment. Of particular interest is the growth in cross-border HE services found in Jamaica. The research found that notwithstanding the inequities of the global trading system, Jamaica embraces the concepts of liberalisation and free trade, and its negotiators, in formulating the Commitment, were seized with GATS’ potential for rapidly expanding access to HE. However, the evidence of this research suggests they were ill-prepared to make this decision, and clearly there is need for a better understanding of the role of HE in Jamaica’s development.

Public higher education is a large enterprise in the United States. Total state expenditures for higher education totaled nearly $152 billion dollars in FY2008, accounting for over ten percent of total state expenditures and representing the single largest category of discretionary spending in most states (NASBO, 2009). The last three decades have witnessed the introduction of hundreds of pieces of legislation across states which make structural changes to state higher education governance systems (Marcus, 1997; McLendon, Deaton, and Hearn, 2007). Despite the ubiquity of state higher education governance change much remains unknown, both in terms of why states choose to enact reforms as well as the implications of state governance arrangements for institutional performance. This dissertation attempts to fill these critical gaps in knowledge. First, it surveys the historical development of state higher education governance structures and reviews the limited empirical literature regarding the antecedents and impacts of various state approaches to higher education management. Drawing on this literature, the first empirical chapter, utilizing hazard modeling, seeks to uncover the factors associated with state enactment of legislation decentralizing higher education governance. It finds that state fiscal characteristics emerge as strong predictors of decentralization. Specifically, states with greater tax efforts are much less likely to decentralize, while states experiencing real dollar declines in tax revenues are much more likely to decentralize, all else constant. The second empirical chapter explores the implications of state management of public higher education for institutional degree completion rates. Utilizing a unique, institutional-level dataset comprising 518 public, four-year institutions of higher education in the United States, it finds that, controlling for relevant institutional-level characteristics such as institutional selectivity, mission, and per-FTE student expenditures, inter-institutional competition emerges as a powerful predictor of student degree completion. Institutions operating in more competitive environments—defined as states with less concentrated undergraduate enrollments and states with weaker higher education governance structures—graduate students at higher rates than institutions operating in less competitive environments. The dissertation concludes by discussing the implications for these empirical findings for policy makers seeking to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public higher education.

In response to the challenges presented by unprecedented growth in higher education (HE) since 1978, China adopted policy experimentation (PE) as a means of introducing and testing HE reforms. This study involves four in-depth case studies of important reforms facilitated by policy experiments at different junctures of China's HE development: early 1980s, mid-late 1980s, late 1990s, and early 2010s. Within each reform, two elite universities as 'experiment points' (shi dian) were selected. Through cross-case analysis informed by semi-structured interviews and extensive documentary analysis, the study offers a holistic historical perspective on how PE has been used to bring about institutional changes in China's higher education. The study documents different rationales used for implementing policy experiments. State actors use PE to exert pressure on universities to introduce reforms, to lower associated risks and to strengthen the nation's overall HE policymaking capacity in a volatile and extremely heterogeneous context. For their part, university leaders have adopted PE locally to navigate China's politically charged policymaking environment and to negotiate with state actors more favourable terms for reforms. Therefore, the PE approach enables state-university interactions and power negotiations that create and maintain 'strategy space' for consensus-building and institutional changes. It is an iterative process characterised by central-local interaction and intentionally ambiguous boundaries. The state, however, retains ultimate authority for legitimatising, selecting and expanding policy experiments. It is best understood as elite-enabled experimentation within existing political hierarchies. Over time, China's PE approach has become a semi-institutionalised mechanism for HE reforms. In the various policy experiments discussed in this study, PE functions as a productive, disciplinary and symbolic force at different stages of the policy process. Sometimes it appears to offer a genuinely productive mechanism for producing, identifying and negotiating innovative policy options that may be replicated at a larger scale; sometimes its essential use lies in its generated regulative effect; and sometimes it assumes more of a symbolic role allowing the government to acquire or consolidate reform legitimacy. Policy processes are mediated by these different uses of PE towards either reform efficacy or institutional conformity. This study situates these reforms within broader political, social, economic and historical contexts, and highlights the policy implications for higher education reform internationally.

abstract: This dissertation focuses on entrepreneurial and business performance indicators as determinants of Arizona charter schools' quality. The study utilizes a mixed-method inquiry with focus on qualitative research, exploration, and implementation studies. It draws data from surveys with charter operators performed by Education Team Partners (ETP). All survey results are drawn from the ETP database. The study reviews the genesis and evolution of charter schools. It reviews the social agreement within the context of public policy analysis, and the public-private partnership nature within the context of entrepreneurship and business management. It attempts to develop a research-based foundation for future action research to complement the newly introduced performance management plan (PMP) measurement and evaluation system in Arizona. The research includes four group indicators for measuring charter schools' business productivity and performance. They are studied in relation to three groups of indicators for measuring charter schools' quality. The case studies include two existing and two future charter schools. Study results indicate that all participating charter operators confirm the significance of the liquidity ratio in relation to any aspect of charter school quality covered in this study. The participants indicated a strong relationship between the capacities of their schools to utilize external resources and all indicators of charter school quality. This study draws two important conclusions. First, charter schools are business organizations, despite the fact that they receive public funds. Operationally, they differ substantially from district schools and government agencies and depend on market forces. Second, charter schools cannot survive inefficient management practices, as market forces tend to drive them out of business, regardless of academic success and student achievement levels. The intended implications from this study include: first, increased awareness about the importance of understanding business indicators in relation to charter school quality; second, the need for more research associated with the business and finance components of charter schools. As the body of collective knowledge about charter schools expands, the relationship between various business indicators to measures of quality should be routinely studied within larger populations, which may allow for an improved measurement system and applications of advanced statistical methods. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2011

abstract: In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class enrollment, academic achievement, interest in a STEM degree program, motivation to pursue a STEM career, and socioscientific decision–making for a sample of students enrolled full–time at Arizona State University. Given a lack of a priori knowledge of these relationships, the Grounded Theory Method was used and was the foundation for a mixed–methods analysis involving qualitative and quantitative data from one–on–one interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and an online survey. Theory development and hypothesis generation were based on data from 44 students. The survey instrument, developed to test the hypotheses, was completed by 486 undergraduates, age 18–22, who graduated from U.S. public high schools. The results showed that higher exposure to HEB was correlated with greater high school science class enrollment, particularly for advanced biological science classes, and that, for some students, HEB exposure may have influenced their enrollment, because the students found the content interesting and relevant. The results also suggested that students with higher K–12 HEB exposure felt more prepared for undergraduate science coursework. There was a positive correlation between HEB exposure and interest in a STEM degree and an indirect relationship between higher HEB exposure and motivation to pursue a STEM career. Regarding a number of socioscientific issues, including but not limited to climate change, homosexuality, and stem cell research, students' behaviors and decision–making more closely reflected a scientific viewpoint—or less–closely aligned to a religion–based perspective—when students had greater HEB exposure, but this was sometimes contingent on students' lifetime exposure to religious doctrine and acceptance of general evolution or human evolution. This study has implications for K–12 and higher education and justifies a paradigm shift in evolution education research, such that more emphasis is placed on students' interests, perceived preparation for continued learning, professional goals and potential contributions to society rather than just their knowledge and acceptance. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2014

Active shooter events in K-12 schools have increased since 1990, and developing response policies to such events is a responsibility of school personnel. A paucity of data regarding options-based response practices existed with no focus on policy processes. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to describe the decision-making processes used in school districts when approving the inclusion of options-based responses to active shooter events in Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs). The research questions addressed processes that shaped the development of options-based responses to active shooter policies in 3 K-12 school districts within the Midwest. The conceptual framework was informed by the theory of policy paradox and the concepts of situational awareness and resilience. Structured interviews were conducted with 12 school personnel and safety professionals involved in 3 high schools; EOPs and state and federal regulations and guidelines were reviewed. An analysis of the interview responses and document reviews using four levels of descriptive coding required a cross-case analytic technique to discover patterns, connections, and themes. Law enforcement and school personnel worked together to create policy and to implement trainings related to options-based response. Results included enhancing situational awareness and empowering teachers and students to become responsible for their safety. These findings can be used to inform and guide school leaders in their efforts to make policy and implementation decisions regarding active shooter policies in EOPs. The potential for social change exists in more school personnel understanding and implementing options-based response policies and making the lives of K-12 students safer.

The term “at risk” is a label that is used to describe students who encompass a host of prominent socially and politically constructed titles that are intended to simplify student understanding and awareness and allow for clear reporting. The purpose of this study was to demythologize the concept of “at risk” by creating the conditions for student voice and critical dialogue to emerge, through the use of narrative inquiry. This research hoped to provide an outlet for young people to find and use their own voices, while finding their own place within their lived histories. The research also aimed to raise awareness of the reality of the contemporary U.S. educational system: we often create policies and programs without considering the perspectives of the young people whom these services are designed to serve. Through critical narrative inquiry, six former student’s engaged in unstructured interviews and a focus group. Through analysis of the data set, five themes emerged and include 1) relationships with bicultural adults who understand, 2) instrumentalizing pedagogy, 3) the impact of money-driven policy, 4) the awareness of limitations of opportunities, and 5) the overall theme of the transparency of hegemony. This research hoped to problematize the label in an effort to move toward an emancipatory understanding of how we speak about young people and make sense of the circumstances these young people must navigate through their education and their world.

<p>My dissertation consists of three chapters in the field of labor and education economics. The first chapter studies the impact of early morning classes on students’ educational trajectories. The second chapter explores how college course shutouts affects students’ educational outcomes. The third chapter investigates the impact of kindness on wage returns.</p>