Higher education institutions in the Unites States (U.S.) are under stress. Universities and colleges in the U.S. face competing demands marked by steeply declining state and local appropriations and increased competition for research dollars and prestige. This stress is felt most acutely at high and very high research universities who must face these funding challenges while at the same time must serve a multiplicity of missions and stakeholders. This study examines factors that influence institutional performance at high and very high research universities in the U.S. These high and very high research universities, as classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching under the 2010 Basic Classifications, represent doctorate granting institutions with the highest levels of research activity. Drawing from systems theory and neoliberalism, the study employs a non-experimental quantitative research design using secondary analysis of data collected primarily through the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The data was analyzed for the years 2008 through 2012. Given a competitive environment marked by decreasing resources, the findings suggest that universities, whether public or private, will continue to pursue strategies and policies that will favor entrepreneurial activities with clear revenue implications as well as attracting top students in an effort to increase institutional performance. The need for further research into institutional factors and performance models is identified as well as the need for comprehensive institutional data. The concept of policy alignment is introduced as a way to cope with demands at all levels of policy. To the extent that high and very high research universities continue to face a competitive environment with decreasing state and federal resources, greater understanding of institutional factors that can impact revenues will become important as competition for revenues increase. Performance models such as the one explored in this study can help universities, policy makers, and stakeholders make decisions and set policies that can bolster the institutions’ activities given environmental challenges.

Although all of the schools in the target school system adhere to a school improvement process, achievement scores remain mediocre or stagnant within the overseas school in Italy that serves children of United States armed service members. To address this problem, this study explored the target school's improvement process to discover how different stakeholder groups viewed that process. The aim of these investigations was to determine if different stakeholder groups' competing values hindered the school's improvement efforts. The conceptual framework of this study was Schein's organizational culture theory along with recent findings by Creemers and Kyriakides that show that school culture must be addressed in order for a school to improve. The research design was a single case study. Four different stakeholder groups were interviewed, two school improvement committee meetings were observed, and seven school-improvement related documents were examined. ATLASti qualitative analysis software was used following Hatch's typological analysis method. Two major themes, Teachers versus Technocrats and Pre-Fourth Way, revealed the importance of school culture. The recommended project, a Networked Learning Community (NLC), was designed to build a positive culture by promoting collective responsibility, empowering innovation, and building capacity. This study will promote positive social change by demonstrating how school improvement occurs and by providing a research-based plan for a NLC that can help shift the trajectory of the static moderate achievement levels in the case study school and the target school system.

Public policymakers have failed to address public high school students' social and emotional learning (SEL). Recent public policies such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) do not measure SEL outcomes as significant. Public education is government funded and therefore public policy driven. Research indicates SEL competencies have a positive influence on students' academic successes, classroom behaviors, and future career outcomes. The conceptual framework for this study was based on SEL components described by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and served as the lens though which the data were analyzed. Research questions for this phenomenological study explored teachers' self-reported knowledge and classroom implementation of the 5 SEL tenets: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making skills. Participants were a purposive sample of 10 teachers of all subjects and levels at Title 1 schools in the southwestern United States. Semistructured open-ended interviews were used to collect the data. Key results indicated teachers needed clarification on SEL competencies and wanted SEL training. Participants discussed structured SEL activities necessary for well-rounded citizens. SEL may contribute to positive social change if policymakers, education administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders seeking policy reforms focus on SEL inclusion into public policies such as CCSS.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa no formal training in school leadership or school management is currently required to procure a position as school principal. The sole condition is that a candidate should possess a professional teaching qualification, with some years’ experience in the teaching profession. School principals cannot be blamed if they comply with no more than these basic requirements, as no formal qualification for school principals had existed prior to 2007. The Department of Education answered to the need for formal training to equip principals for meeting their responsibilities by introducing the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management (ACE). This study explores to what extent school principals experienced an improvement in their managerial skills after obtaining the ACE qualification. To offer a better understanding of the background of South African school principals, the history of the available training over the past forty years is outlined. This is supplemented by an overview of various countries’ approach to preparing principals for 21st century schools. The responsibilities of present day principals differ dramatically from those of twenty years ago, as policy documents such as the South African Schools Act has since 1996 required that the principal, together with the school governing body, take responsibility for the management of the school. Accordingly, this study includes an enquiry into the ACE qualification with regard to the curriculum content, the purpose of the course and how assessment takes place at higher education institutions where this course is offered. Interviews were conducted with two principals who had obtained the ACE qualification to gain insight into their experiences relating to the qualification. By means of comparison, two principals who had not completed the qualification were also interviewed to establish to what extent this qualification does in fact equip principals for their daily responsibilities. The possible effects of the qualification were highlighted by comparing the two pairs of principals who function in similar communities with corresponding problems. By presenting this research as a case study, it was possible to obtain in-depth information and varied opinions about principal training, where principals had acquired the most useful skills and what could be added to enhance the value of the ACE qualification. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika is daar tans geen verpligting om oor formele opleiding in skoolleierskap of skoolbestuur te beskik om as skoolhoof aangestel te word nie. Daar word slegs verwag dat ’n kandidaat oor ’n professionele onderwyskwalifikasie en ’n aantal jare se ondervinding in die onderwys moet beskik. Skoolhoofde kan ook nie kwalik geneem word indien hulle slegs aan hierdie basiese vereistes voldoen nie, aangesien daar tot 2007 geen formele kwalifikasie vir skoolhoofde bestaan het nie. Die leemte aan formele opleiding vir die verantwoordelikhede van ’n hoof is erken deur die Departement van Onderwys wat die Gevorderde Onderwyssertifikaat-kwalifikasie: Skool Leierskap en Bestuur (GOS) ingestel het. Met hierdie studie word ondersoek ingestel tot welke die mate skoolhoofde ervaar dat hierdie GOS-kwalifikasie ’n verskil maak aan hul bestuursvermoëns. Om die agtergrond van Suid-Afrikaanse skoolhoofde beter te verstaan, word die geskiedenis van skoolhoofde se opleiding oor die afgelope veertig jaar uiteengesit. Daar word ook ’n oorsig gegee van verskillende lande se benadering tot die voorbereiding wat benodig word vir hoofskap van ’n skool in die 21ste eeu. Die verpligtinge van die hedendaagse hoof verskil drasties van dié van twintig jaar gelede, waar beleidsdokumente soos die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet sedert 1996 vereis dat die hoof, tesame met die beheerliggaam, verantwoordelikheid moet neem vir die bestuur van die skool. Om hierdie rede word die GOS-kwalifikasie ondersoek om vas te stel wat die inhoud van die kurrikulum behels, wat die doel van die kwalifikasie is en op watter wyse assessering plaasvind by die hoëronderriginstellings waar dit aangebied word. Onderhoude is gevoer met twee hoofde wat die GOS-kwalifikasie voltooi het aangaande hul ervaring van die kwalifikasie. Om vas te stel tot welke mate die kwalifikasie hulle beter toerus vir hul daaglikse verantwoordelikhede word die ervaring van twee ander hoofde, wat nie die kwalifikasie voltooi het nie, ter vergelyking gebruik. Die verskil wat die GOS-opleiding moontlik mag maak, word uitgelig deur die vergelyking van die twee pare hoofde in soortgelyke gemeenskappe met ooreenstemmende probleme. Deur hierdie navorsing as ’n gevallestudie aan te bied, word indiepte-inligting verskaf oor hul opinies aangaande hoofde-opleiding, waar hulle die mees bruikbare vaardighede opgedoen het en wat na hulle mening bygevoeg kan word vir die verwerwing van die GOS-kwalifikasie.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research explored the influence of the rural multi-grade context on the nature of the work of the principal of a rural multi-grade school. I specifically looked at the job description of the school principal as set out in the South African Schools Act (84 of 1996) and how the rural multi-grade context affects the nature of the work of four principals in the Western Cape. The relationship between the interpretation of policy and its implementation has always been complex because policies are open to different interpretations by the implementers thereof. This complex relationship can be observed with the implementation of the South African Schools Act of 1996, with specific reference to articles 16(1), 16A(2) and 16(3), in the South African school community. This disjunction between the policy as formulated by policy makers and the implementation thereof by implementers is often traced to the fact that policy makers do not consider the context of the implementers of the policy properly (Bell & Stevenson, 2006:14-15). In my attempt for a better understanding of this disjunction (and the factors that contribute to it), I found the interpretive qualitative investigation the most suited methodology for this study. In this case, I used the case study as a qualitative research method. According to Patton en Cochan (2002:2), qualitative research is characterised by the goals of the research question, which relates to the understanding of certain aspects of social life and methodologies; therefore, words are generated instead of numbers for data analysis. Merriam (1998:21) defines a qualitative case study in terms of the end product as an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single case, phenomenon or social unit. By defining and conceptualising rural multi-grade schools, I found that these schools are characterised by (a) remote areas with a sparse population and (b) poverty. Joubert (2009:4) defines rural teaching (read rural multi-grade schools) as teaching in remote areas with a sparse population, such as on farms, far from towns and cities, where learners are not exposed to the luxuries of shopping malls or industries. These environments are characterised by inaccessibility, poor or inadequate infrastructure, poverty and a lack of skills, resources, knowledge and community involvement. I conducted interviews with four principals of rural multi-grade schools. Based on results of the research study, I found that the rural multi-grade context indeed has an effect on the nature of the work of the principal. To assist principals of rural multi-grade schools, I recommend that the national education department review the staff establishments of rural multi-grade schools with regard to teachers and non-teaching staff. Furthermore, the provincial department needs to increase the monetary allocation for rural multi-grade schools by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). In order to address the lack of support to the principals of rural multi-grade schools, specialists on multi-grade teaching should be appointed to support these schools in terms of curriculum delivery and school management. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het die invloed van die landelike multigraad-agtergrond op die aard van die werk van die hoof van ’n landelike multigraadskool verken. Ek het spesifiek gekyk na die posbeskrywing van die skoolhoof soos verwoord in die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet (84 van 1996) en hoe die landelike multigraad-agtergrond die aard van die werk van vier skoolhoofde in die Wes-Kaap beïnvloed. Die verband tussen interpretasie van beleid en die toepassing daarvan was nog altyd ʼn komplekse verhouding omdat beleid oop is vir uiteenlopende interpretasies deur die toepassers daarvan. Hierdie komplekse verhouding kom aan die lig wanneer daar byvoorbeeld gekyk word na die toepassing van die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet van 1996 (met spesifieke verwysing na artikels 16(1), 16A(2) en 16(3)) op die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolgemeenskap. Die disjunksie tussen die beleid soos deur ‘beleidmakers’ geformuleer en die toepassing daarvan deur beleidstoepassers of implementeerders van beleid kan dikwels herlei word tot die feit dat beleidmakers nie die agtergrond van beleidstoepassers of implementeerders van die beleid na behore in ag neem nie (Bell & Stevenson, 2006:14-15). In my poging om dié disjunksie (en die faktore wat daartoe aanleiding gee) beter te verstaan, het ek bevind dat die interpretatiewe kwalitatiewe ondersoek die geskikste metodologie vir hierdie studie sou wees. In hierdie geval het ek gebruik gemaak van die gevallestudie as kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetode. Kwalitatiewe navorsing word gekenmerk deur die doelstellings van die navorsingsvraag, wat verband hou met die begrip van sekere aspekte van die maatskaplike lewe en die metodes, wat woorde in plaas van getalle genereer vir data-analise (Patton & Cochan, 2002:2). Merriam (1998:21) definieer ʼn kwalitatiewe gevallestudie met betrekking tot die eindproduk as ʼn intensiewe, holistiese beskrywing en analise van ʼn enkele geval, fenomeen of maatskaplike eenheid. Met die definiëring en konseptualisering van landelike multigraadskole het ek tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat hierdie skole gekenmerk word deur twee pertinente kenmerke: (a) dit is afgeleë met ylbevolkte omgewings en (b) armoede. Joubert (2009:4) omskryf landelike onderrig (lees landelike multigraadskole) as onderrig wat meestal in afgeleë en ylbevolkte omgewings soos op plase, gewoonlik ver van hoofroetes, dorpe en stede plaasvind, waar leerders nie aan luukshede soos inkopiesentrums of nywerhede blootgestel word nie. Hierdie omgewings word gekenmerk deur ontoeganklikheid, swak infrastruktuur, armoede en gebrekkige vaardighede, bronne, kennis en gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid. Onderhoude is met hoofde van vier landelike multigraadskole gevoer. Op grond van die navorsingresultate het ek bevind dat die landelike multigraad-agtergrond wel die aard van die skoolhoof se werk beïnvloed. Ek beveel dus onder andere aan dat die provinsiale onderwysdepartement die diensstate van landelike multigraadskole hersien wat betref onderwysers en niedoserende personeel asook dat die monetêre toekenning van landelike multigraadskole deur die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (WKOD) verhoog word. Verder bevel ek aan dat bekwame distriksamptenare aangestel word om die skoolhoof van ʼn landelike multigraadskool ten opsigte van die bestuur van die skool en die onderwysers ten opsigte van kurrikulumlewering te ondersteun.

K DIPLOMOVÉ PRÁCI V ANGLICKÉM JAZYCE Strategic Management of the Education System in the Czech Republic Antonie Ondrouchová ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis "Strategic Management of the Education System in the Czech Republic" is to analyze and critically evaluate strategic management at various levels of the education system of the Czech Republic; suggest recommendations for further research. Thus, the thesis answers question on the state of strategic management at various levels of the education system of the Czech Republic. The theoretical part defines the term "strategic management", which is generally characterized by determination, process, tools, meaning and obstacles in its application. The following chapter deals with strategic management in the education system, in particular by identifying four levels of management (national, regional, local, school) represented by the relevant institutions. At the theoretical level, education policy is considered to be an indication of directions and content that are embedded in public policy documents. By the method of document content analysis, examples of strategic public policy documents are evaluated at four levels of system management. The state of the evaluated documents, based on selected aspects of the ideal state model, can be expressed by an...

abstract: Immigration status and educational opportunities are at the forefront of the current national conversation regarding "DREAMers": children of immigrants brought to the United States at a young age who lack legal status but are raised and educated in the American system. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300, in part prohibiting in-state tuition for state colleges and universities to individuals who cannot provide proof of citizenship or legal residency. For those DREAMers who hoped to attend college following high school, this policy affected their ability to enroll because of the increased tuition and lack of eligibility for state-sponsored financial aid. This law's impact is also present in Arizona's public high schools. High schools, in partnership with community colleges, have created a robust system of dual or concurrent enrollment courses: college classes offered to high school students as a means of accelerating their learning. In this arrangement, full payments for tuition are required by families or by the programs that support the students, creating a system in public schools where some students are able to participate while others cannot due to their residency status. The aim of this study was to determine the educational, social, and emotional effects of Proposition 300 upon undocumented secondary students. Through qualitative analysis, this study relies upon focus group interviews with high school graduates impacted by Proposition 300 before graduation. Interviews were also conducted with parents and with educators representing both secondary and higher education. A total of nine students, two parents, and four education professionals participated in semi-structured conversations over the course of several months in the fall of 2012. The data was collected, analyzed, and coded, extrapolating common themes related to the review of literature and information from the participants. The findings describe the effects Proposition 300 has had as it pertains to undocumented students, their experience of their unequal access to dual or concurrent enrollment, the disconnect they have felt from their "documented" peers, and the emotional impact they have felt as a result of this law. Among the findings, the potential impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), enacted in August 2012, is explored. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013

This thesis reports on a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the SEL policy makers’ conversations taking place in England and Wales during the New Labour period. The research sets out to offer a critical explanation of Welsh and English SEL policy thinking and doing and how the SEL policy discourse worked to privilege certain ideas and topics and speakers and exclude others. Thinking with theory and building on the work of Apple (2007) and Ball (2012) I draw on the contemporary tenets of critical theory to examine the (dominant) English and (often subjugated) Welsh discourse(s) to historically locate and contextualise the mainstream SEL literature within the ideological discourse of neoliberalism (Harvey, 2005). This neoliberalism is one which unequivocally drives policy in the direction of markets and propounds a thorough marketization of educational provisions and practices (Lynch, 2006).Drawing on data from a series of eight semi structured interviews with key national level policymakers, alongside documentary analysis, I argue that New Labour in England, particularly in its second term, through a particular policy network and the SEAL programme, adopted SEL as a tool of managerialism designed to shape and govern a self-managing, entrepreneurial, placid subject in the service of the neoliberal economic model. Alternatively I contend that the Welsh assembly adopted SEL as a practical and progressive tool for developing a more equal society and a more egalitarian and democratic modus operandi of social justice (rooted in normative precepts of the collective and of community cohesion). This “Welsh” approach was powerfully intertwined with the devolution programme and notions of the child as a democratic citizen with agency and rights. In both England and Wales this understanding and application of SEL was intimately connected with national identity and notions of nationhood. This work was undertaken using a CDA approach. It employed Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model (1992) of Critical Discourse Analysis and engaged with the subject and data through the three lenses of text (the written and spoken word), discursive practice (the production, distribution and consumption of the text) and social practice (the wider social, political and economic forces shaping the discourse). By illuminating through CDA the ideologically infused discursive claims to truth and value, which underpinned the rhetoric and substance of the UK (Anglo-centric) Government’s version of SEL in schools and that of the devolved Welsh Government, my findings reveal the broader scale ideas and political-ontological truth claims which drove the development of SEL across England and Wales during the New Labour period; the research therein unveils the implicit but reified notions of childhood and children’s wellbeing which were central to SEL development at both the national and devolved levels; it identifies the unspoken and latent ideological projects which were core to the production of divergent SEL discourses in each of the countries; and finally, it reveals the influence which national tradition, domestic power structures, cross-societal inequities and the subjugation of certain identities have had on the conceptualisation and practical delivery of SEL in England and Wales. The study concludes that the relationship between language and political ideology in England and Wales during the New Labour years powerfully shaped the SEL policy discourse. In England the result of this was a thin version of SEL co-opted into the service of the neoliberal marketplace. In Wales a similar outcome occurred but only after a very different contextualised and transformative version of SEL was relinquished due to the invasive neoliberal forces attacking Welsh education.

The dissertation deals with the critical analysis of the audit of the education system of the Czech Republic, issued in 2014 by EDUin non-profit organization. The theoretical part de- scribes basic characteristics of the education system in the context of the level of the Czech education phenomenon. The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the bases and sources which were used to elaborate the audit of the education system and to make comparison with stra- tegic and other relevant documents. The aim will be achieved on the basis of the results of research, the relevance of the audit, presented by EDUin organization, will be confirmed or disproved. The interview with the authors of the audit and the analysis of documents are research methods and techniques. The interview with authors of the audit brings the answers to the questions of the research survey: "What is the audit of the education system and why did EDUin organization issue the audit?"The authors feature motivational impulses, which encouraged them to issue the audit, and clarify the main aims of the audit. The second part of the research survey is carried out on the basis of the analysis of documents. In the end I evaluated the results of the research survey and as a follows-up to the field of study - the management of education, I found...

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which community colleges have implemented major post-Virginia Tech campus safety recommendations. In addition to gaining a comprehensive overview of the safety policies and practices in place, this study assessed if campus safety policy implementation levels at the community colleges correlated with institutional characteristics, and the internal and external forces that helped drive the implementation of these policies. Focusing specifically upon the Virginia Community College System, data on the policies and practices in place at each of the 23 Virginia community colleges were collected from institutional websites and through follow-up telephone calls. Interviews were then conducted with a small group of administrators from various Virginia community colleges. Analysis of the data indicated that large variance exists across the community colleges, as some have implemented most of the major campus safety recommendations that currently exist, while other have only implemented far less. The results also revealed potential support for larger community colleges with more resources and more campuses implementing more campus safety recommendations. Interview data detailed that external mandates and internal college leadership are the most important forces driving campus safety policy change among the community colleges. A number of policy implications arose regarding where community colleges need to improve their campus safety and how to best drive campus safety policy changes in the future.