Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T16:16:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andressa Radaelli.pdf: 5951439 bytes, checksum: 6c090f68b13645d38e00d62125c7a05e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-11 / Student assistance in federal institutions of higher education is crucial to avoid dropout students. This is the aim of this paper, wich integrates the research line: State and Educational Policies, from pos-graduate program in education at state university of West Paraná UNIOESTE.In order to do so, we will base on the experience, in the initial phase of the Federal University of South Border (UFFS), established in September 15th, 2009. Accordingly, we review key points ofthe expansion, mainly through the Support Programme for the Restructuring and Expansion of Federal Universities (REUNI in Portuguese) and reflect on the access and permanence of students in public universities. We intend to show what mechanisms are being used to ensure this right to students, based on the implementation of decree nº. 7234 of July 19th, 2010, which provides for the National Student Assistance (PNAES in Portuguese). This analysis requires addressing issues that articulate and complement one another, therefore, initially we will perform a brief discussion of the state and public policy, particularly educational policies, pointing out key elements with regard to access and permanence in higher education. From the review of bibliography producedon the subject, one discusses the importance of the student assistance in the context of Brazilian higher education. Then, we emphasize the struggle to maintain it and give a brief overview of the existing legislation on the subject. As research base, as well as bibliographical, questionnaires were administered to students enrolled in UFFS Realeza Campus and served by the program of scholarships and grants developed by the university in 2012.The data presented allow us to understand that expanding accessper se is not enough to guarantee entry into the university; it is also necessary to create conditions for stay during the academic life until the completion of the course. The survey results indicate that among the actions taken in this regard, prevail programs that offer scholarships or financial aid to subsidize spending on housing, food and transport and for these students, this kind of initiative is essential to stay in college, for completion of undergraduate and his qualification. We also realise that the process of reforms for higher education implemented in Brazil, mainly in the REUNI, is imbued with ideological goals, actions and contradictions. They form a relation with theoretical and practical postulations and they present at the same time elements from state reformation and support to social interests / Compreendendo que a finalidade da assistência estudantil é auxiliar no provimento de recursos necessários aos estudantes matriculados em instituições federais de educação superior, para que os mesmos possam concluir seus estudos, evitando que haja evasão, a presente dissertação, a qual integra a Linha de Pesquisa Educação, Políticas Sociais e Estado, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná UNIOESTE, tem como objetivo analisara assistência estudantil na educação superior pública. Para tanto, consideramos a experiência, ainda que em fase inicial da Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS), criada em 15 de setembro de 2009. Nesse sentido, procuramos revisar pontos determinantes do processo de expansão, principalmente, por meio do Programa de Apoio a Planos de Reestruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais (REUNI) e refletir sobre o acesso e a permanência do estudante na universidade pública. Procuramos evidenciar quais os mecanismos que estão sendo utilizados para garantir esse direito aos estudantes, tendo por base a implementação do Decreto nº 7.234 de 19 de Julho de 2010, que dispõe sobre o Plano Nacional de Assistência Estudantil (PNAES). Essa análise requer a abordagem de questões que se articulam e se complementam, portanto, inicialmente, foi realizada uma breve discussão sobre o Estado e políticas públicas, em especial as políticas educacionais, apontando elementos fundamentais quanto ao acesso e à permanência na educação superior. A partir da revisão da literatura produzida sobre o tema, discutimos a importância destacada que a assistência estudantil tem no contexto da educação superior brasileira. Em seguida, enfatizamos o processo para assegurá-la e fizemos um breve panorama da legislação existente sobre o assunto. Como base de pesquisa, além da investigação bibliográfica, foram aplicados questionários aos alunos matriculados na UFFS Campus Realeza e atendidos pelo programa de bolsas e auxílios desenvolvidos pela universidade no ano de 2012. Os dados apresentados nos possibilitam compreender que a expansão do acesso não é somente garantir o ingresso na universidade, é necessário também gerar condições de permanência durante avida acadêmica. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que, das ações desenvolvidas nesse sentido, prevalecem programas que ofertam bolsas ou auxílios financeiros para subsidiar os gastos com moradia, alimentação e transporte e que, para esses estudantes, tal iniciativa é essencial para permanência na universidade e obtenção do diploma. Verificamos, ainda, que o processo de reformas para a educação superior implementado no Brasil, principalmente no âmbito do REUNI, está impregnado de objetivos ideológicos, ações e contradições que se estabelecem em relação aos pressupostos teóricos e práticos, apresentando elementos que, ao mesmo tempo, resultam na reforma do Estado e buscam dar sustentação aos interesses sociais.

abstract: Students may be situated within complex systems that are nested within each other. This complexity may also envelope institutional structures that lead to the socio-economic reification of student post-secondary opportunities by obscuring positive goals. This may be confounded by community misunderstandings about the changed world that students are entering. These changes include social and economic factors that impact personal and economic freedoms, our ability to live at peace, and the continuing trend of students graduating high school underprepared. Building on previous cycles of action research, this multi-strand mixed-methods study examined the effects of the innovation of the I am College and Career Ready Student Support Program (iCCR). The innovation was collaboratively developed and implemented over a 16-week period using a participatory action research approach. The situated context of this study was a new high school in the urban center of San Diego, California. The innovation included a student program administered during an advisory period and a parent education program. Qualitative research used a critical ethnographic design that analyzed data from artifacts, journals, notes, and the interviews of students (*n* = 8), parents (*n* = 6), and teachers (*n* = 5). Quantitative research included the analysis of data from surveys administered to inform the development of the innovation (*n* = 112), to measure learning of parent workshop participants (*n =* 10), and to measure learning, hope, and attitudinal disposition of student participants (*n* = 49). Triangulation was used to answer the studies’ four research questions. Triangulated findings were subjected to the method of crystallization to search for hidden meanings and multiple truths. Findings included the importance of parent involvement, the influence of positive goals, relational implications of goal setting and pathway knowledge on agentic thinking, and that teacher implementation of the innovation may have influenced student hope levels. This study argued for a grounded theory situated within a theoretical framework based upon Snyder’s Hope Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory. This argument asserted that influence on pathway and agency occurred at levels of high proximal process with the influence of goal setting occurring at levels of lower proximal process. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2018

After Senate Bill (SB) 1720, exempt students enrolling in colleges in Florida no longer have to take a college placement test or enroll in developmental education courses before enrolling in college-level classes. SB1720 caused Florida colleges to find new methods of placement for incoming students, a concern because incorrect placement can have detrimental effects for the student and institution. Bounded rationality theory and Bahr's interpretation of student typology informed this study. The purpose of this survey study was to compare the exempt students who enrolled in remedial math to those who enrolled in college-level math. Research questions asked what differences existed between the 2 groups of students comparing high school grade point average (GPA), student typology, prior knowledge of enrollment decisions, confidence in enrollment decision, satisfaction with the course, and expected course grade. A survey was distributed to all students at a Florida college affected by SB1720, and 84 responses were received from 15 developmental students, 51 gateway students, and 18 college-level students. Analysis of variance test results only showed a significant difference, F(1, 82) = .54, p = .040, between exempt students enrolled in developmental math and students enrolled in gateway or college-level math comparing high school GPA. Based on the study results, college administrators should use high school GPA as an alternative method for better placement of students in their first college-level math course. Enrolling students in the correct courses from the start could eliminate the costs of time, money, and credit hours, resulting in more students completing college on time.

As experienced fighter pilots leave the United States Air Force (USAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), there is a need to develop new competent pilots to meet national defense requirements. Fighter training programs are expensive for taxpayers, and the USAF and RAAF face significant resource problems developing and implementing these programs. Using policy feedback theory and punctuated equilibrium theory as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this comparative, multi-case study of current USAF F-16 and RAAF F-18 fighter pilot training policies was to inform training policy development and efficacy of future USAF and RAAF fighter pilot training programs. Data were gathered from training policy documents and 12 interviews with F-16 and F-18 pilots. Data were deductively coded and analyzed using policy feedback and punctuated event themes. Findings indicate that policy feedbacks and punctuated events influence fighter pilot training policy. Best practices for training include optimum stress management, appropriate academic course timing, and phase-based training techniques. Optimal instructional approaches included a servant leadership philosophy and a need for improved kinesthetic flight preparation tools and procedures. The USAF and RAAF approach fighter pilot training differently. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to the USAF and RAAF that may improve fighter pilot training policy at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers.

The Virginia Department of Corrections mandates that all offenders without a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) are required to be enrolled in GED programs offered in the prison system. However, these programs have shown varying rates of success. Supported by the constructivist theory, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify how correctional education staff members perceived the effectiveness of the GED programs. Data from surveys and interviews with 9 educational correctional staff members were collected and analyzed for themes. Findings indicated that (a) participants use computer software for effective instruction, (b) offenders who were enrolled in correctional education programs successfully reenter society after being released from incarceration, and (c) offenders' self-efficacy is related to GED instruction. Findings may be used to improve GED programs to support offenders in obtaining a GED and training to promote social justice by returning to their communities more prepared to obtain jobs and contribute to the global economy.

Karst landscapes are vulnerable to human influence, especially agricultural practices. The interconnectedness between surface activities and subsurface environments make karst landscapes particularly susceptible to soil erosion and water contamination. The likelihood of these two phenomena happening increases when agricultural intensification, irrigation, or fertilizer application occurs. This situation arises frequently in Vietnam, where 18% of the country is karst terrain and 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods (Farming First 2009). In order to mitigate the negative consequences of agriculture on karst landscapes, effective implementation of policy to regulate human activities and increased communication of these policies to appropriate communities is needed. This study occurred in Phong Nha- Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage site dominated by karst landscapes, extensive agricultural communities, and minimal regulation efforts specific to karst terrains. Interviews, observation, and GPS analysis were used to analyze the effectiveness of policy communication and karst protection in PN-KB. The research revealed that karst protection policy in the region is minimally communicated and, when communicated, often delivered in an ineffective manner to the wrong individuals. Despite the known harm agriculture causes to karst landscapes, intensification, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers still occurs frequently and is often supported by government officials in PN-KB. Policy and karst landscape information is concentrated among park officials and rarely presented in an informal setting, leaving those in most frequent contact with the karst landscape—the farmers—without any information about the vulnerability of karst terrain to agricultural activities and the subsequent consequences to human health. Through analyzing the interactions between farmers and management officials in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, general conclusions on communicating policies to protect karst terrain in agricultural regions can be drawn. The communication of karst science and the implementation of policy to protect karst landscapes must be presented both formally to governing officials and local representatives, as well as through informal networks to general citizens. Through these means of communication, protection for karst landscapes and their inherent natural resources can successfully be implemented.

The military has long-standing partnerships with institutions of higher education (Leporte, 2013; Parks, 2015 & Massie, 2016). These partnerships have been significant over time because the United States Army has incentivized civilian education via the Army enlisted ranks and promotional structure (Wilson, Smith, Lee & Stevenson, 2013). Researchers are beginning to recognize service members as adult students who need specific supports in an educational setting (Wilson et al., 2013; Leporte, 2013; Parks, 2015; Massie, 2016). Enlisted soldiers arrive on college campuses with identities ascribed and molded by the military. Thus, their primary identity is soldier not student (Nagel & Kleykamp, 2007; Wilson et al., 2013& Massie, 2016). Community colleges specialize in providing educational opportunities to all facets of the community (Kane & Rouse, 1999). The current cultural diversity discourse does not include military personnel and the degree in which institutions of higher education seek to integrate via policy and practice with the military. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of the ten enlisted soldiers who participated in a semi-structured interview and completed a demographic questionnaire. I used the Collective Affiliation model (Davidson, 2011) to analyze the data generated from the soldier-students interviews regarding their educational experiences at Hopkinsville Community College Fort Campbell Campus. The research participants discussed family support and expectations, preparation for life after the Army, reenlistment incentive programs, and civilian education embedded into promotional points as aspirations for college attendance. Lastly, the soldiers described their educational experiences as navigating military, family and academic bureaucracies to encompass; balancing multiple roles as adult students, discovering the opportunities and challenges of military educational benefits, enrollment experiences as community college students, and faculty interactions and support in the classroom. From this research study, I created the Dual System for Enlisted Soldier-Student Academic Persistence (DSAP) conceptual model to illustrate the lived experiences of enlisted soldiers as students specifically. The findings of this research add to the body of knowledge of the educational experiences of enlisted soldier-students attending community college.

A new ESSA indicator of school quality and student success provides flexibility to broaden a states’ definition of school and student success. Educational research has found school success is in part determined by a school’s climate and should be considered in improvement/reform strategies (Cohen et al., 2009; Thapa et al., 2013). Yet, school climate research is often difficult and time consuming, and employs a variety of conflicting definitions and dimensions, instruments, and empirical approaches to determining school climate. Given these significant limitations with current measures, the purpose of this study was to validate an instrument measuring school climate based on the four most commonly accepted dimensions of school climate, using items adapted from a well-regarded and established theoretical framework to provide an effective measure for educators and researchers. The sample selected for this study was a portion of teachers who indicated teaching 3rd or 8th grade as their primary teaching assignment (n=500) from the larger study sample (n=4974). A Rasch Rating Scale Model was used to evaluate unidimensionality, item fit and difficulty, reliability, and potential differential item functioning on a 23-item school climate survey. Results of the study showed the instrument was not unidimensional and was split into two subdimensions: student-centered and teacher/school support. All items were retained and displayed appropriate fit. Significant differential item functioning (DIF) was found between 3rd and 8th grade teachers on both subdimensions, further suggesting multidimensionality in the scale. Study findings suggest researchers should be mindful of any school climate instrument not validated at the item level for unidimensionality, and that an instrument may perform differently for teachers at different grade levels.

Research supports the knowledge that there exist many models on and definitions of school readiness within early education. Additionally, research shows that utilizing developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) produces positive short and long term results for students; indicating the effectiveness and necessity for DAP in the classroom. The study sought to inform teachers via presentation on the subjects of school readiness and DAP; as well as gain insight on the barriers teachers face in utilizing their school readiness and DAP knowledge base in the classroom. To accomplish this, the study used a pre-survey, presentation with discussion, and a post-survey to collect information on teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, teachers’ levels of professionalism and autonomy, as well as gain insight on how useful the presentation was for teachers. Results show teachers gained information from the presentation but may be unable to use this information in the public setting. These results are based on direct feedback from teachers, as well as the effect size of teacher’s responses on ranking school readiness characteristics and DAP/DIP items before and after the presentation. Regarding what teachers know about these topics, results indicate variance on teachers’ ideas on school readiness. Responses were sorted into three themes; specific skills, different areas of development, and the importance of early experiences. Teachers also had, on average, an appropriate ranking of DAP/DIP teaching practices in the classroom, with scores that grew stronger for some teaching practices after the presentation. Additionally, multiple-choice questions on teacher autonomy and teacher professionalism show that most teachers feel they are treated as professionals and autonomous in their positions. However, despite these results, a discussion on barriers of implementing an appropriate model of school readiness as well as DAP portrayed a much different scenario with teachers in the public setting. In fact, this study found that teachers in the public setting are very much limited by administrators in their ability to utilize ideas, curriculum, and assessments they view as appropriate in the classroom. As such, future research should seek to reach the school administrators to gain insight on the basis of their decisions, as well as educate them on the research supporting successful learning in the early education classroom.

Common diagnoses have greater emphasis in the Master of Social Work (MSW) Program, yet there is an oversight on other disorders that are just as important to address, such as Reactive Attachment Disorders (RAD). Although researchers have determined a need for additional training and education on RAD, none have measured MSW students’ level of knowledge on RAD and whether or not it influences their perceived preparedness. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perceived preparedness of MSW students to serve children with RAD before and after participating in an educational training. The study consisted of an explanatory quantitative design using pre/post self-administered surveys and an educational training on RAD. Findings determined that participating in the RAD Training significantly increased MSW students’ knowledge and perceived preparedness to serve children with RAD. The study’s findings may influence MSW administration to recognize the significance of implementing additional training on rare disorders.