This dissertation features the stories of drag king performers. Through life story interviews coupled with participant observations, and informed by gender performance, poststructuralist, and psychoanalytic theories, this project examines the ways in which drag performers construct, take up and perform multiple subjectivities and how they benefit from multiple knowledges in their learnings and unlearnings. Through an examination of the creation and circulation of these drag king pedagogies, I suggest ways in which drag performers create and sustain gendered knowledge, while navigating difference and working with multiple discourses of identity, oppression, and power in a socially and economically diverse city. Participants’ perceptions of their gender identities point to the ways in which identity categories are insufficient. Each participant uses an existing identity label (e.g., transgender, tranny, boi) or a combination of existing labels, to understand their gender identities, even as their narratives point to the failures of fixed categories. It is my contention that the narratives of these particular performers highlight the multiplicity of all selves, and the ways in which all learnings and unlearnings are fragmented. Thus, drag king narratives have significant pedagogical value in examining the relationships between subjectivities and knowledge.

Research in the field of school curriculum and national organizations such as the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics support the use of inquiry-based curriculum in schools. However, due to the policy constraints of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), inquiry-based curriculum is not common in schools. Within these policy constraints, school principals often turn to reform models to increase student achievement on high-stakes assessments. One particular reform model, the International Baccalaureate Program (IB), requires an inquiry-based curriculum as well as teacher inquiry. Using qualitative inquiry and a normative framework based on Dewey’s theory of inquiry, this study reveals how students and teachers inquire in a high poverty, IB elementary school in Georgia. It also addresses the conditions that influence and hinder inquiry in the school.

In DIF studies, a Type I error refers to the mistake of identifying non-DIF items as DIF items, and a Type I error rate refers to the proportion of Type I errors in a simulation study. The possibility of making a Type I error in DIF studies is always present and high possibility of making such an error can weaken the validity of the assessment. Therefore, the quality of a test assessment is related to a Type I error rate and to how to control such a rate. Current DIF studies regarding a Type I error rate have found that the latter rate can be affected by several factors, such as test length, sample size, test group size, group mean difference, group standard deviation difference, and an underlying model. This study focused on another undiscovered factor that may affect a Type I error rate; the effect of multiple testing. DIF analysis conducts multiple significance testing of items in a test, and such multiple testing may increase the possibility of making a Type I error at least once. The main goal of this dissertation was to investigate how to control a Type I error rate using adjustment procedures for multiple testing which have been widely used in applied statistics but rarely used in DIF studies. In the simulation study, four DIF methods were performed under a total of 36 testing conditions; the methods were the Mantel-Haenszel method, the logistic regression procedure, the Differential Functioning Item and Test framework, and the Lord’s chi-square test. Then the Bonferroni correction, the Holm’s procedure, and the BH method were applied as an adjustment of multiple significance testing. The results of this study showed the effectiveness of three adjustment procedures in controlling a Type I error rate.

Gender continues to be an impediment for women in military leadership positions, particularly in Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) training programs in higher education. This study examines the social construction of gender by female cadets in a predominately male military environment. According to Herbert (1998), female soldiers strike a balance between being feminine enough to be considered a woman yet masculine enough to be considered a military leader—sustaining a view that finds these women are viewed as less than competent officers. Achieving equilibrium between femininity and masculinity is a common thread in much of the literature on female military leadership. This dissertation is informed by gender schema theory, role congruity theory, and social comparison theory. The research is narrative in design and uses a structured questionnaire for two to three one-hour interviews with six junior and/or senior female cadets matriculated in the ROTC program as well as four one hour focus group interviews and three one hour military staff interviews. The study determined female cadets manage their gender in a predominately male military environment at a Senior Military College by appearing more masculine than feminine when in uniform. Female cadets often felt they worked twice as hard as their male colleagues, yet gender consistently underscored their accomplishments and leadership. Female cadets who embraced the patriarchy of the military values appeared to be the most successful leaders in this study. The findings will benefit those who study gender and leadership in higher education.

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

<p> Each fall, approximately one million children enter the ninth grade with little prospect of completing high school. Of the 1.1 million students projected to leave school without a diploma for the 2012 school year, a staggering 27 percent (approximately 310,000) will be of Latino descent (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2012). The purpose of this study&mdash;"Dreams Deferred: A Qualitative Study of Latino Youth Who Left High School Prior to Obtaining a Diploma"&mdash;was to examine the perceptions and beliefs of Latino youth as they attempted to make meaning of the factors that led to their leaving school before graduation. Utilizing phenomenological research methods, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with ten individuals who had the shared experience of leaving high school prematurely. The phenomenological in-depth interview research design was chosen because the occurrence of Latino students leaving school without a diploma cannot be examined without consideration of how the experience was defined and felt by the students. In addition, multiple factors must be considered including the subjective impact of the students' social, cultural and educational histories on their school experience. The individuals were participants in a community-based GED program and were selected through purposeful sampling based on pre-identified selection criteria. The study focused on the participants' perceptions of their school experience and the events and influences that precipitated their premature departure from school. Data were collected through the in-depth interviews and detailed field notes of observations made during the interviews and program activities. Data analysis consisted of coding responses and clustering relevant statements into themes and patterns, which were then synthesized into descriptions of the participants' school experience and the factors associated with their leaving school prior to graduation. Data from the study revealed that the participants began to feel disengaged in middle school, and they perceived that their interaction with school personnel had a significant impact on their school experience. In addition, the participants cited multiple factors outside of school that diverted their focus from learning and ultimately contributed to their leaving school without a diploma. Recommendations for practice and additional research are included following a discussion of data.</p>

<p> Cross-border state distance higher education policy is a complex web of complicated and often contradictory regulations stretching across 50 states and 14 US territories. This study examined the applicability of strategic choice theory to state higher education policy innovation in the context of the adoption of polices that regulate the distance education operations of out-of-state, regionally accredited higher education institutions. Using Event History Analysis, the role of power structures and the political and social environment in which policy adoption decisions were made were examined alongside established policy adoption predictors. Significant applicability of strategic choice theory to state distance higher education policy adoption was identified. Findings indicate that cross-border distance higher education policy adoption diverges from established trends in state higher education policy adoption, and that public and non-public institutions have the potential to play key roles in shaping future policy adoption.</p>

<p> There have been many debates on how and why English has spread worldwide. As a local case of the phenomenon, this study investigates the spread of English in the Japanese speech community in the framework of World English and macroacquisition (Brutt-Griffler, 2002) while also using dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981; Holquist, 2002) and the theory of value (Makiguchi, 1981-88) to analyze the data. The study examines the reasons for and the mechanisms of the spread of English and discusses educational implications of the phenomenon in Japan. In carrying out its research objectives, the study investigates the perceptions about English among English teachers, students, parents, the government policy makers, and the business world and reveals how their voices have interacted with one another and have become a force to promote English. </p><p> This dissertation employs a case study as its methodological approach by drawing data from the analysis of policy documents that sheds light on the historical development and implementation of English language policy in Japan; equally it analyzes the data from semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys with the subjects to uncover the contemporary narrative of English language use in Japan. The data obtained from each group of participants are interpreted in a cohesive manner so that the interaction of the multiple voices is represented. </p><p> The study shows that there are two principal forces that have promoted English at least since the early 1990s in the Japanese speech community: one of them is the performative and academic motives among the subjects in higher education. The second force that propels English pertains to what I call the discourses of "English will be important in the future." </p><p> The findings of the study provide an insight into one of the local cases of the worldwide spread of English. The understanding of how this local situation does or does not fit into the overall worldwide phenomena contributes to our understanding of World English, a larger body of knowledge on the worldwide spread of English.</p>

<p> In the face of global economic recession, the competition and collaboration for innovation and future growth among nations has led to discussions of how young people are being prepared to become the next generation of workers and leaders. Although the U.S. has enjoyed a strong presence among the international community since the turn of the century, U.S. scores on international reading assessments and the GCI have dropped over the past decade. National literacy assessment comparisons on the NAEP show that variations exist in economic equity and literacy achievement among the fifty states. </p><p> Multiple Spearman rho calculations were performed in the study to examine the possibility of a correlation between academic achievement and economic health using the PISA OECD country literacy rankings, the NAEP U.S. state literacy rankings, and the GDP per capita from 2009. In doing so, the possibility of a correlation between international and national data was investigated. </p>