abstract: The lasting benefits of high-quality early childhood programs are widely understood. These benefits and the well-documented return on investments are among the factors that have shaped executives at philanthropic foundations’ grant making in support of early childhood programs, policies, and research in the United States. Yet little is known about the investments they are making in the field of early childhood. Drawing from a conceptual framework that combines types of philanthropic investment with the concepts of accountability and transparency, I conducted a comparative case study of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, George Kaiser Family Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, all of which began financially supporting early childhood between 2000 and 2005. I attempted to understand how and why philanthropic foundations and pooled funding organizations have supported early childhood from the late 1990s through 2018. Based on my analysis of 32 semi-structured interviews with current and former early childhood philanthropic foundation, pooled funding, and operating organization executives, I found that each foundation independently determines their investment decision processes and invests a disparate amount of money in early childhood. In addition, philanthropic foundations gain programmatic and legislative power by leveraging funds and partnering with additional foundations and businesses. With the inclusion of early childhood programs in K-12 education systems and the decrease in national and state education funding from those same budgets, it is critical to understand how philanthropic foundations have supported early childhood education and some of the implications of their support both locally and nationally. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2019

Change in American higher education is occurring at a rapid pace. The increasing reemergence of civic or community engagement as a key component in the overall landscape of American higher is emblematic of that change. Academic departments play a critical role in higher education change, including institutionalizing community engagement on campuses. Yet, designing a way of measuring community engagement specifically at the level of the academic department has not been undertaken. Based on advice from national expert/key informant interviews and the recognition of the importance of the role of academic departments in the overall institutionalization of community engagement in higher education, this study addresses a methodological gap in the literature concerning the measurement of community engagement. Several instruments have been developed primarily for institution-wide application, and some have been applied to academic units including colleges, schools, departments and programs. This study employs a grounded theory research strategy to develop and test a self-assessment rubric solely for use in academic departments. To ascertain the utility and validity of the rubric, this study pilot tests the explanatory framework in twelve social science departments located in five, geographically-diverse American universities. A secondary purpose of the study is to initiate an exploration of the potential use of institutional theory to more completely understand the constitutive role of the academic unit in the institutional transformation process. The research confirms the utility and validity of the departmental engagement self-assessment rubric. Additionally, the study categorizes and displays via histograms six overarching dimensions by level of support for community engagement for each of the twelve test departments. Finally, this research recommends instrumental as well as substantive areas for future research, including those that better connect institutional theory with efforts to embed civic engagement in the mission of traditional academic departments.

As government agencies face a complexity of economic and political issues the availability and utilization of resources through private voluntary organizations (PVOs) have become increasingly important. A review of the literature covering the role of PVOs in developing countries indicates the significant contribution these agencies can have in the development process. There are only a handful of situations where small organizations are working directly with a government agency in the provision of a public service. Theoretically, PVOs are adaptable to a variety of settings, are effective conduits for delivering aid to the grassroots level, and are able to initiate long term development activity. This study considers these characteristics in the midst of the relationship that exists between a foreign PVO and a host government in the delivery of public education to a rural indigenous population. A U.S. based organization named "Adopt-A-School" has been working in 3 districts of northern Guatemala's Cuchumatanes Highlands since 1984. The focus of its work has been to provide students in selected public schools with basic supplies (e.g., paper, notebooks, pencils, and dictionaries). The organizational structure of the PVO consists of a constituency group from whom donations are received, a board of directors that manages the available resources, and field workers who implement the program. The analysis of this PVO-government relationship is based on qualitative and quantitative data collected by interviewing participants on local and national levels, distributing questionnaires to teachers (N = 156) and PVO donors (N = 32), and performing participant observations in selected communities and schools. The decisions regarding site selection have been important factors in the effectiveness of the AAS program and has contributed to the strength of its durability. Data indicate that the longevity and replication of this program rests on the fragile relationship network that exists between the PVO, its donors, and the host-government. This study shows that foreign PVOs can play a significant role in local communities by encouraging the growth and development of new structures that link grassroots organizations with those who maintain economic and political power.

The Adult Education sector in South Africa (SA) occupies a crucial space in higher education (HE) in terms of securing access and opportunities for a diverse group of non-traditional students to further their development. Amongst this diversity are highly marginalized subgroupings of adult learners, especially black working-class women. Participation of these women within HE requires serious attention given the low social ranking that this group continues to occupy in all spheres. Evidence drawn from Adult Education research suggests that not enough attention has been given to this group of learners with respect to how they are impacted by issues of geographic, cultural and racial diversity in the Adult Education setting. This study undertaken here reports on transformative dimensions underlining Adult Education pedagogy, with a specific focus on the concept of empowerment and how this is attained by RPL learners. A qualitative case-study methodology using a critical interpretive perspective grounded in phenomenological enquiry, was used to develop contextual understandings of four disadvantaged adult female learners' experiences of their transitions into HE. The focus is on these learners' perceptions of the forms of empowerment they have gained from their participation in a Higher Certificate in Education in Adult Education (HCEAE) course, and the extent to which such empowerment has impacted positive change in their lives, even beyond the course. The argument made in this qualitative study is that the active participation of marginalized black women in Adult Education, does lead to the attainment of multiple levels of self-empowerment. Such empowerment is realized when the objectives of national educational provisions, operationalized through Adult Education legislature, are correctly aligned with the transformative and social justice mission of Adult Education theory and practice. Proper alignment yields desirable outcomes in terms of enabling transformative learning environments that engender experiences of self-empowerment, agency and control. To this effect, an evaluative study was conducted of the Higher Certificate in Education in Adult Education (HCEAE) course offered by the University of Cape Town. The findings in this study demonstrate that factors such as race, geographic setting and cultural location, impact experiences of empowerment amongst adult learners. Furthermore, it is evident that such experiences of empowerment is a multi-layered and dynamic process which occur at cognitive, personal and social levels that can only be realized through praxis. The bringing together of educational policy, theory, and practice in proactive and productive ways in this study, also offers the potential for designing new hybrid frameworks for assessing the extent to which Adult Education provisions successfully achieve their transformative function, beyond the educational setting.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this research is to explore if policy makers and implementers shift and/or change their understandings of the portfolio management model (PMM) when engaged in equity-oriented transformative professional learning. The portfolio approach to urban education, at present, is being implemented or considered by over one third of the US. There are 20 states, 40 cities, and the District of Columbia that are pursuing and/or implementing the portfolio management model (PMM). This research study examines how systemic, socio-political, socio-historical, and interconnected policy networks have resulted in inequity. Furthermore, this study focuses on how policy makers and implementers engage with one another and their context(s) while learning about educational equity. This occurred via facilitating transformative professional learning opportunities aimed to illicit critical self-awareness, reflection, and examination of perhaps the more pernicious underpinnings of authentic decision and choice making in US education reform. The study also explores the ways in which institutional context and the research design itself may have impacted and/or impeded shifts in learning. The study’s theoretical frameworks guided the decision to use critical qualitative inquiry and narrative inquiry to investigate the raced, gendered, sexed, and classed experiences of policy makers and implementers, and further, implications for policy implementation regarding other forms of othering such as ableism, linguicism, ageism, etc. Thematic analysis of the data, analyzed using critical frameworks, were articulated as interspliced data vignettes. Findings suggest that learning is social and that designed experiences around educational equity can provide ways in which policy makers and implementers can formally intervene in their own practices of developing and/or cultivating critical consciousness, as well as decision-making toward PMM adoption and implementation in their respective contexts. Participant’s narratives both challenge and perpetuate dominant, historical approaches of urban education reform adoption and implementation, and exposes how US urban education policy arenas have not systemically centered critical consciousness, resulting in equity-oriented policies being interpreted and implemented in inequitable ways. Findings from this study guide future research and practice that focuses on urban education policy creation, adoption, and implementation.

English Learners represent 18.6% of the entire California public school population or 1.1 million students; 81.4% speak Spanish (California Department of Education [CDE], 2021b). Historically, English Learners have experienced inequitable educational opportunities when compared to their English-only counterparts in California (Gándara & Contreras, 2010; Gándara et al., 2003; Perez Huber et al., 2015; Rumberger & Gándara, 2004), which has led to low educational achievement CDE, 2019a; Gándara & Mordechay, 2017; Olsen, 2010). To address underserved students’ inequitable educational opportunities throughout California, then-Governor Edmund G. Brown signed into law the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. The LCFF provides equitable funding to schools that serve targeted student groups, including low-income students, foster youth, and English Learners. As part of the policy, the State mandates that districts engage local stakeholders (e.g., families, students, and community members) in the development of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) (EC 52060). The LCAP is a three-year plan where districts document the strategies and funding allocations they will complete for the school year, with a concentrated effort to provide equitable opportunities for targeted subgroups, such as English Learners. Latino parent leaders historically have experienced barriers in the parent engagement process (Olivos, 2004, 2006). This phenomenological study used the critical methodology of testimonios to document the experiences of Latina parent leaders in their participation in the LCAP process. The study recruited eight parent leaders across four districts in Los Angeles County. The findings from this study emphasize that the school system is not neutral. Instead, it is an instrument of cultural hegemony, which negatively impacted the Latina parent leaders’ meaningful engagement in the LCAP process. The testimonios revealed the importance of community organizations in the LCAP experience for Latino parent leaders and their ability to help disrupt the school system’s power imbalance.

In 1995, Ghana’s education policymakers imposed a ban on all extra classes initiated and organized on school premises and public buildings, by individual teachers or groups of teachers, for which students were charged extra fees. The ban is referred to as the “policy on extra classes.” This study examined the genesis and justification of the said policy, including the current phenomenon of extra classes in Ghana. The study analyzed the policy’s impact on secondary education in the country, particularly Northern Ghana, using the lens of education stratification in a qualitative interpretive policy analysis approach. Interviews of leading Ghana education officials conducted in 2010 were the predominant source of data in this research, with corroboration from analysis of policy texts and review of the media. The conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this study included: accountability, the responsible use of school time and instructional time, and education equity and adequacy. Other issues concerned social justice, teacher remuneration and motivation, and the need for equitable national education policies that reckon with the disparities in the country. In particular, this study took issue with the culture of nonimplementation of education policies in Ghana, with particular reference to the policy on extra classes. The study contended that the partial or non-implementation of education policies deepens education stratification in the country.

Time-based reform proposals are founded on the assumption that more time in school will produce great learning outcomes. Research shows that when schools adopt time-based reform initiatives, there are certain considerations that they should make and methods they should follow to ensure the change produces the outcomes intended. This was not the case in a local Archdiocese where a calendar extension was adopted by several elementary schools. This qualitative case study focused on the adoption of a calendar extension at one Catholic elementary school. The researcher gathered data from the pastor, principal, teachers, parents, and students to determine how these stakeholders envisioned the outcomes of this change, how they perceived the time was being used for curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular purposes, and the challenges and opportunities that they felt existed after three years of implementation. Data collected over a four-month period included classroom observations, stakeholder interviews, focus group meetings, and document analysis. An inductive analysis of the data collected was used to determine emergent themes and domains within the school. The seven themes that emerged include: decision making, planning and implementation, advantages, financial motivations, the culture of teaching, leadership, challenges and complications of the extended calendar. Recommendations include the need for school leaders to familiarize themselves with change management techniques including setting a shared vision, establishing a collaborative implementation plan, and developing a system of assessment prior to embarking on school reform.

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