Prevalence rates of youth prescribed psychotropic medications have risen dramatically over the past decade. Many of these medications are prescribed to treat symptoms of a disorder that occur in the school setting. Some medications have negative side effects that can inhibit academic and social performance. School psychologists have been identified as professionals who are equipped to assist in monitoring both the beneficial and negative effects of medications for youth attending school. This study investigated the practices, training, types of disorders for which medication monitoring occurs, facilitators, and barriers to school psychologists engaging in medication monitoring in the schools. Survey data from 166 members of the Florida Association of School Psychologists were collected and analyzed. Seventy four percent of respondents endorsed medication monitoring as an appropriate role for school psychologists. Approximately half of the respondents in this study reported engaging in medication monitoring over the past school year. Over half the sample reported receiving training related to medication monitoring. Weak relationships were found among demographic and training variables and reported medication monitoring practices. Additionally, none of the interactions between demographic, professional background, and training variables was predictive of medication monitoring practices. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to developing strategies to promote the medication monitoring practices of school psychologists.

The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Model has been used to make many high-stakes decisions concerning schools, though it does not provide a complete assessment of student academic achievement and school effectiveness. To provide a clearer perspective, many states have implemented various Growth and Value Added Models, in addition to AYP. The purpose of this study was to examine two Value Added Model specifications, the Gain Score Model and the Layered Effects Model, to understand similarities and differences in school effect results. Specifically, this study correlated value added school effect estimates, which were derived from two model specifications and two outcome measures (mathematics and reading test scores). Existing data were obtained from a moderately large and rural school district in Florida. The outcome measures of 7,899 unique students were examined using the Gain Score Model and the Layered Effects Model to estimate school effects. Those school effect estimates were then used to calculate and examine the relationship between school rankings. Overall, the findings in this study indicated that the school effect estimates and school rankings were more sensitive to outcome measures than they were to model specifications. The mathematics and reading correlations from the Gain Score Model for school effects and school rankings were low (indicating high sensitivity), when advancing from Grades 4 to 5, and were moderate in other grades. The mathematics and reading correlations from the Layered Effects Model were low at Grade 5 for school effects and school rankings, as were the correlations at Grade 7 for the school rankings. In the other grades, correlations were moderate to high (indicating lower sensitivity). Correlations between the Gain Score Model and the Layered Effects Model from mathematics were high in each grade for both school effects and school rankings. Reading correlations were also high for each of the grades. These results were similar to the findings of previous school effects research and added to the limited body of literature. Depending upon the outcome measure used, school effects and rankings can vary significantly when using Value Added Models. These models have become a popular component in educational accountability systems, yet there is no one perfect model. If used, these models should be used cautiously, in addition to other accountability approaches.

Performance incentives in education has frequently been presented in purely rational choice economic terms, looking to see if the input of an incentive produced the desired output of student achievement. Such research has continually failed to produce significant effects. This dissertation attempts to recast incentives in terms of human capital theory and human behavioral economics, looking at the impact of social capital and support structures on teacher response to incentives. This study examines a major performance pay program in Texas using a concurrent-nested, mixed methods design. It finds that an external motivator like incentives is only effective in the presence of factors of internal motivation and that social capital positively affects the impact of a performance incentive. / text

This research developed the first ‘Green’ model for primary school leadership, which aimed to address some of the actual and anticipated environmental problems through the way schools operate in the context of Curriculum, Campus and Community. It emerged through an empirical investigative study of eight English primary school Head Teachers who are pioneering environmental sustainability. A Post-modern perspective influenced the research methodology and helped to take a fresh and sceptical look at the leadership aims of primary schools in relation to the education system and general society. This involved a critical examination of the National College of School Leadership’s ‘Leadership for Sustainability’ and literature from the ‘Green Movement’. The findings suggested that leaders are needed with a certain kind of ‘Green’ values, knowledge and skills. Questions arose about how a type of ‘Distributed Leadership’ might lie within the new model and whether the model is feasible, given that the pursuance of its main objectives are not currently the priority of most schools. The thesis pointed to the need for a radical revision of what it means to be a primary school leader, in order to assist with the imperatives of a green sustainable economy which promises a better quality of life for more people. This is a ‘Big Claim’ for a small-scale study. It is hoped, therefore, that this modest thesis could be a catalyst for more wide-ranging research and thinking in this most vital area, in terms of education leadership’s role in securing the viability of modern civilisation.

Chapter 1 begins with the motivation of my study in teachers' labor market. I employ a monopolistic screening model to show that there exist multiple equilibria in the educational system; a pooling equilibrium and a separating equilibrium. The model predicts that the pooling equilibrium is optimal only when the average quality of teacher applicants is high. Using data from the OECD, I examine the relation between teachers' earnings and teacher quality of the U.S. and Korea. Chapter 2 focuses on teachers and their career dynamics, and the data is at teacher level. Using the Current Population Survey for 2001-2010, I show that public school teachers are paid less compared to other comparable college graduates in non-teaching sectors. By studying the change in earnings after career changes, I find the evidence of positive selection when teachers move into the non-teaching sectors and of negative selection when non-teachers move into the teaching sector, which results in the decrease in the average teacher quality. Chapter 3 looks at both teachers and school districts, and I use district-teacher matched dataset, based on the School and Staffing Survey (SASS) for 2007-2008. I employ a multilevel model and a propensity score matching to identify union effects in states with different legal environments for collective bargaining of teachers. I find that collective bargaining is neither necessary nor sufficient for unions to affect teachers' well-being. I show that meet-and-confer is a popular alternative to collective bargaining and that it is an important mechanism for unions to influence teachers' non-wage benefits. Chapter 4 concerns school districts, and I use SASS district level data. I reevaluate the role of teachers unions on pay structure and districts' financial status. In contrasts to previous findings, I find that the variance of teachers' earnings is higher in more unionized settings. Moreover, I show that the financial status of districts with teachers unions is stronger than that of districts without the unions. I confirm that unionism is associated with less usage of performance pay system. / Economics

Korean education policies were derived from the 5.31 Education Reform oriented to the increase of autonomy and accountability for school effectiveness and the quality instruction through teacher professionalism enhancement. The policies are related to the influences of historical events and contexts embedded in the interactions of policy players who have their own arguments, particularly professionalism versus managerialism. The policies have been driven by right-wing perspectives. As a result, the roles, powers, functions, and structures of teaching profession have gradually changed. From the structural analysts, Basil Bernstein and Michel Foucault, teaching profession has become a system of supervision, compliance, normalization, isomorphism related to the collection code. The dynamic, complex and multilevel policy implementation need to be analyzed from a multifocal approach coupled with historical institutional, political, and structural analysis. This analysis contributes to understanding the changes of teaching profession resulted from intricate and dynamic interactions embedded in policy environments causing or influencing policy implementation directly and indirectly. Korean educational policy analysts, generally, tend to use one of the institutional, the political, and the structural perspective. Most policy analyses are concerned with the political analysis focused on exploring the political interaction between policy players, presenting policy issues and alternatives, analyzing the new institutionalism of education policy formation and implementation process, and influencing of policies on school organization and teachers apart from the political environment and the political interactions. In this respect, the multifocal policy analysis will be beneficial to shed light on a multifocal analysis of Korean educational policies. / text

This paper examines various ways Head Start has been measured across states. The contribution to the literature is to look at new variables, the role they play, and the contribution they make to measuring the effectiveness and enrollment numbers of Head Start Programs across states. / text

African American and Hispanic students and students from families with lower income are particularly at-risk for differential academic achievement and dropout. When students underachieve at school or dropout, they often face severe consequences such as increased risk of incarceration and unemployment. School social workers strive to prevent poor academic achievement and the associated negative outcomes. In recent years, federal and state education policy has focused on reducing disparities in academic achievement through the creation of policies that use high-stakes testing requirements to hold schools accountable for student learning. Research studies on teacher perceptions of high-stakes testing indicate that it is having a negative impact on their job tasks and on school systems. However, there are few studies that examine school social worker perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing. This study examines school social workers’ perceptions about high-stakes testing. Specifically, it assesses school social worker perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on school systems and how school ratings and student performance might influence these perceptions. It also examines school social workers’ perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on their abilities to perform their work tasks. The study sample is drawn from respondents to the Texas School Social Work Survey (n=177). Data were analyzed through secondary data analysis using factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings indicate that school social workers perceive high-stakes testing as having a largely negative impact on school systems and their job tasks. School social workers who predominantly worked with students from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to have negative opinions about the impact of high-stakes testing on their job tasks. School social workers from schools with lower school ratings and those who felt that the students on their caseload tended to struggle on high-stakes tests had more negative perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on school systems. Results indicate the need for school social workers to become more involved in education policy and macro practice, to connect their services to improved academic outcomes for students, and to find new ways to provide school social work services in the “age of accountability.” / text

<p> Approximately 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools annually, among them valedictorians and salutatorians. Only about 6,500 of these prospective future leaders go on to college. There are 50 different state-level immigrant-tuition policies, most of which severely limit undocumented students&rsquo; college/university and financial aid options. This study is situated in the state of California, whose Master Plan for Higher Education aims to grant college access to all Californians and whose favorable immigrant-tuition policies work toward that end; it could serve as a model for U.S. states with restrictive or neutral immigrant-tuition policies. To date, there is limited discussion of undocumented student college choice in the higher education literature. To explore how undocumented students navigate college decision-making in the U.S., this study uses the conceptual constructs of Perna&rsquo;s (2006) contextual college choice model, Hossler and Gallagher&rsquo;s (1987) foundational choice model, and single-element models (chain enrollment and proximity). These frameworks and Dervin&rsquo;s Sense-making Theory (1999-2014) helped me retrospectively explore the college choice of seven undocumented men and women attending a Bay Area Cal State University campus in 2013. </p><p> The study&rsquo;s purpose warranted a qualitative research design and case study approach. I connected with interested students, shared my background, answered questions, and sent them my IRB-approved Study Information Sheet and demographic survey. We developed rapport over several months, engaging in a series of in-person interviews and other interactions. I kept field notes and journaled reflexively. I transcribed all 14 interview recordings via Dragon speech software, coded the transcripts and analyzed the data via MaxQDA data analysis software. </p><p> The findings revealed overarching themes related to: parental expectations and encouragement, habitus (e.g., gender &amp; cultural traditions, birth order &amp; responsibilities, home life), financial situation, K-14 context, higher education context, social context, and policy context. What distinguishes this study is the exploration of undocumented students&rsquo; college choice, inclusion of student voices, and implications for public policy and college enrollment professionals&rsquo; practice. It provides insight into how undocumented youth choose a college located in a state whose country values the common good and economic success yet is torn on its people&rsquo;s higher education rights.</p>

The focus of this research is to understand how different factors, such as state-level EE policies and institutional values, influence the inclusion of environmental education (EE) into pre-service teacher preparation programs. Institutional theory is the main theoretical foundation used for analyzing this issue. This is a mixed methods study with a sequential triangulation design (Morse 1991), using quantitative data from 50 states and 191 public universities to guide the selection process for seven qualitative interviews. While the impact of EE policies is evident, understanding the mechanisms that contribute to such things as political capital and how institutional value for EE is created is more nuanced. The findings from this research point to targeted EE policies, collaborative practices, and research on the development of institutional culture as strategies to bring EE in from the fringes of pre-service teacher preparation programs.