This research study was conducted to determine if there was a difference in community college graduation rates based on aggregate faculty hires, aggregate faculty retention and community college size. The study employed a non-experimental quantitative research design with three independent variables (aggregate faculty new hires, aggregate faculty retention and community college size) and one dependent variable (graduation rate). The study utilized a one way ANOVA, independent t test, and factorial ANOVA to analyze differences in graduation rates based on aggregate faculty new hires, aggregate faculty retention, and community college size. Results of the one way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in graduation rates based on the level of faculty new hires and community college size. Results of the independent t test failed to show statistically significant differences in graduation based on the level of aggregate faculty retention. Results of the factorial ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences between the interaction of aggregate faculty new hires and community college size as well as aggregate faculty retention and community college size.

This qualitative research study explored the leadership perceptions of high school administrators who have been successful in raising academic achievement for Black males. Utilizing semi-structured interviews which served as the primary data source, this study aimed to uncover specific school-level factors that were being optimized in public high schools to help increase graduation rates for Black male students. In addition, a review of school documents acted as secondary data sources and offered more detailed views about the case studies. After thorough analysis of the data, the findings revealed five factors that the high school administrators were optimizing better support their Black male learners: 1) hiring Black males, 2) the staff, 3) school activities, 4) collaborations with community partners, and 5) formal and informal methods of offering positive feedback and special recognition. These five factors were found as having the greatest influence on the academic achievement of the males. Overall, the study's findings aligned with earlier research on student achievement. Based on the findings, it was clear that the five factors promoted a certain degree of academic achievement independently. However, the researcher posits that, if implemented simultaneously, the five factors are likely to build a greater network of support for Black male high school students that will help boost achievement that is converted to increased graduation rates. Thus, implications for practice for other high school administrators as well as recommendations for future research emerged from the findings of this study. / Doctor of Education / This qualitative research study explored the leadership perceptions of high school administrators who have been successful in raising academic achievement for Black males. Utilizing semi-structured interviews which served as the primary data source, this study aimed to uncover specific school-level factors that were being optimized in public high schools to help increase graduation rates for Black male students. In addition, a review of school documents acted as secondary data sources and offered more detailed views about the case studies. After thorough analysis of the data, the findings revealed five factors that the high school administrators were optimizing better support their Black male learners: 1) hiring Black males, 2) the staff, 3) school activities, 4) collaborations with community partners, and 5) formal and informal methods of offering positive feedback and special recognition. These five factors were found as having the greatest influence on the academic achievement of the males. Overall, the study's findings aligned with earlier research on student achievement. Based on the findings, it was clear that the five factors promoted a certain degree of academic achievement independently. However, the researcher posits that, if implemented simultaneously, the five factors are likely to build a greater network of support for Black male high school students that will help boost achievement that is converted to increased graduation rates. Thus, implications for practice for other high school administrators as well as recommendations for future research emerged from the findings of this study.

Kollektivtrafiken underlättar resor för utbildning, nöje och arbete. Norrbotniabanan byggs för att förbättra förbindelser, minska utsläpp och möta transportefterfrågan i Norrland. Utveckling av järnvägsinfrastruktur är avgörande för hållbar tillväxt. Det behövs mer forskning om hur infrastrukturinvesteringar påverkar studenters uppfattning om arbetsmöjligheter och deras beslut att stanna kvar eller flytta efter examen. Studien undersöker därför om Norrbotniabanan påverkar hur studenter vid Umeå universitet uppfattar arbetsmöjligheter och upplevd sannolikhet att stanna i regionen efter examen. En blandad metod användes, med enkäter och fokusgruppintervjuer. Analysen inkluderade deskriptiv statistik med data från en webbaserad enkät och en tematisk analys för data från fokusgruppsintervjuer. Den teoretiska referensramen omfattar tillgänglighet, restid, kollektivtrafik och studenters rörlighet efter examen. Majoriteten av studenterna är osäkra eller vill inte stanna kvar i regionen efter examen, främst på grund av bristande arbetsmöjligheter och långa avstånd till familj. Jämfört med män, är kvinnor mer optimistiska till att Norrbotniabanan kan generera positiva effekter på arbetsmöjligheterna. Förbättrad kollektivtrafik anses vara en nyckelåtgärd för att främja ekonomisk tillväxt och underlätta för studenter att stanna kvar eller pendla till arbetsplatser utanför sin hemort. Trots att studenterna trivs i Umeå, skapar bristen på arbetsmöjligheter och bostäder osäkerhet i regionen, vilket driver dem att söka sig söderut. För att studenterna ska stanna kvar krävs regional tillväxt, och Norrbotniabanan framhålls som ett steg i rätt riktning. / Public transportation facilitates travel for education, leisure, and work. The Norrbotnia Railway is being constructed to enhance connections, reduce emissions, and meet transportation demand in Norrland. The development of railway infrastructure is crucial for sustainable growth. There is a need for more research on how infrastructure investments affect students' perceptions of job opportunities and their decisions to stay or move after graduation. Therefore, the study investigates whether the Norrbotnia Railway influences how students at Umeå University perceive job opportunities and their likelihood of staying in the region after graduation. A mixed method approach was used, including surveys and focus group interviews. The analysis involved descriptive statistics using data from a web-based survey and thematic analysis for data from focus group interviews. The theoretical framework includes accessibility, travel time, public transportation, and students’ mobility after graduation. The majority of students are uncertain or do not want to stay in the region after graduation due to lack of job opportunities and long distances from family. Compared to men, women are more optimistic about the potential positive effects of the Norrbotnia Railway on job opportunities. Improved public transportation is considered a key measure to promote economic growth and facilitate students' ability to stay or commute to workplaces outside their hometown. Despite the students thriving in Umeå, the shortage of job opportunities and housing creates uncertainty in the region, prompting them to seek opportunities elsewhere. Regional growth is necessary to retain students, and Norrbotniabanan is seen as a step in the right direction.

Målet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka sambandet mellan grundskolans arbete med studie- och yrkesvägledning och elevernas genomströmningsgrad (examensgrad). Grundskolan har inte på enhetsnivå systematisk kännedom eller statistiska uppgifter om hur det går för eleverna när de lämnat skolan trots att de har ansvaret för studie- och yrkesvägledningen, elevernas valkompetens samt överlämnande och övergångar.  Datainsamlingen består av två delar som bygger på varandra. En del är ett nytt statistiskt deskriptivt underlag över ungdomars genomströmningsgrad i kommunal skola i Helsingborg som har tagits fram och bearbetats. Den andra delen är intervjuer som genomförts med skolledare och studie- och yrkesvägledare på fyra grundskoleenheter utifrån det statistiska materialet. Mixed methods har använts som metod och intervjuerna är analyserade tematiskt. z Det går i detta specifika sammanhang att konstatera att de grundskolor som har högre resultat i genomströmning också har ett arbete som ligger i linje med tidigare forskning kring framgångsfaktorer inom studie- och yrkesvägledning. Genomströmning följs inte upp på grundskolorna trots att examen kan vara avgörande för långsiktig etablering på arbetsmarknaden. Detta grundas i att ingen av respondenterna har kännedom om elevernas genomströmningsresultat. Grundskolorna har inte heller kopplat sitt studie- och yrkesvägledande arbete specifikt mot elever med låga meritpoäng trots att det är en avgörande parameter för att klara en gymnasieutbildning. Samtliga undersökta grundskolor arbetar dock kompensatoriskt på olika sätt. De kompensatoriska insatserna riktas främst mot elever med hög frånvaro, elever med låg studiemotivation eller till elever med utlandsfödda föräldrar. Studie- och yrkesvägledningen beskrivs delvis som personberoende och icke likvärdig. De grundskolor med höga genomströmningsresultat har en ansvarsfördelning, ett arbete och förhållningssätt som genomsyrar hela skolan. Grundskolorna har vidare samordnat och organiserat för studie- och yrkesvägledning med stabilitet i lärarkåren och skolledning och har ett relationsskapande förhållningssätt gentemot elever i behov av kompensatoriska insatser. / The aim of this thesis is to examine the relationship between primary school career guidance practices and student graduation rates. Primary schools lack systematic knowledge and statistical data at the unit level regarding students' outcomes after they leave school, despite being responsible for career guidance, students' decision-making competencies, and transitions. The data collection consists of two parts. The second part uses findins of the first part. The first part is a new descriptive statistical findings on the graduation rates of youths in municipal schools in Helsingborg, which has been developed and processed. The second part involves interviews conducted with school leaders and career counselors at four units based on the statistical material. Mixed methods were used as the methodology, and the interviews were analyzed thematically. In this specific context, it can be observed that those units with higher graduation rates also have practices aligned with previous research on success factors in career guidance.Graduation results are not tracked at the school units, even though graduation can be crucial for long-term labor market participation. This is based on the fact that none of the respondents have awareness of the students' graduation results. Furthermore, the schools have not specifically linked their career guidance efforts to students with low grade point averages, despite it being a crucial parameter for completing upper secondary education. However, all the investigated schools work compensatory education in various ways. These compensatory measures are primarily directed towards students with high absenteeism, low academic motivation, or students with foreign-born parents. Career guidance is described as partly dependent on individuals and thus unequal. Schools with high graduation rates have an effective division of responsibility, as well as practices and an approach that permeates the entire school. These schools have also coordinated and organized career guidance with stability among the teaching staff and school leadership, and they adopt a relationship-building approach towards students in need of compensatory measures.

Graduation exam from 2011 consists of two parts - a common (state) and profile (school). The first plan to hold this form of school-leaving examination appeared for the first government of Vaclav Klaus (Minister of Education Pilip) in 1994. The other nine governments have failed to agree on the form and implementation of school-leaving examination. The agreement was successful in August 2010 during the government of Peter Necas and Education Minister Josef Dobes. The aim was to evaluate the opinions of directors and commissioners of secondary schools of the Středočeský kraj for management activities associated with the common part of school- leaving examination in the initial phase in 2011 and assess whether there are critical points of sub-management activities, and may propose their modification.

Contexte : Il subsiste encore des questionnements sur l’impact de la fréquentation d’un service de garde (SDG) sur le développement des enfants à court et long-terme. Tout d’abord, peu d’études analysent l’individu comme un « tout » multidimensionnel qui évolue dans le temps. Ensuite, très peu d’études ont considéré l’impact des SDG sur les enfants provenant de famille avec un haut statut socioéconomique (SSE). Finalement, nous connaissons encore très peu des mécanismes qui expliquent les associations à long terme entre les SDG et le développement de l’enfant. Objectif: L’objectif principal de cette thèse est ainsi d’étudier les associations entre l’exposition a certaines caractéristiques de SDG en petite enfance et le développement des enfants à court et à long terme avec une approche de parcours de vie centré sur la personne. Dans le premier article, nous étudions l’association entre les patrons de fréquentation de SDG et le profil de développement cognitif. Dans le deuxième article, nous étudions l’association entre l’utilisation d’un SDG et le taux de graduation du secondaire. Finalement, dans le troisième article, nous tentons de déterminer quel mécanisme explique l’association entre les SDG et le développement à long terme. Méthode : Les trois articles analysent les enfants provenant de l’Étude Longitudinale du Développement des Enfants du Québec (ELDEQ). Dans l’article 1, nous avons effectué une régression logistique multinomiale afin de quantifier l’association entre l’intensité et le type de SDG, et des trajectoires de développement cognitif en étudiant l’interaction avec le SSE et le sexe. Dans l’article 2 et 3, des données administratives ont été utilisées afin de déterminer si les enfants avaient obtenu un diplôme d’étude secondaire à 20 ans. Dans l’article 2, nous avons effectué une analyse de régression logistique afin de déterminer si l’intensité et le type de SDG étaient associés à la graduation. Dans l’article 3, la performance académique, les compétences sociales, et la santé sont examinées comme médiateur potentiel de l’association observé dans l’article 2. Résultats : Dans l’article 1, les enfants provenant de familles ayant un haut SSE qui fréquentaient un SDG en centre à partir d’environ 3 ans et demi avaient moins de chances de se retrouver dans la trajectoire de développement cognitif fort comparativement aux enfants étant dans un autre type de SDG. Dans les articles 2 et 3, les enfants ayant fréquenté un SDG en centre tôt (avant d’être bambin) avaient plus de chances de graduer du secondaire et la santé à 6 ans expliquait partiellement cette association. Implications: Cette thèse souligne l’importance de comprendre comment les caractéristiques des SDG et des enfants interagissent pour influencer différentes mesures du développement. Nos résultats suggèrent également que la santé pourrait être un mécanisme clé expliquant un plus haut taux de graduation pour les enfants fréquentant un SDG en centre tôt. Les études futures devraient élargir leur horizon afin d’inclure des variables comme la santé et afin de mieux comprendre comment les SDG affectent les enfants provenant de familles ayant un haut SSE. / Context : After years of research on the effects of child care services (CCS) on development, there remains questions regarding how CCS can affect development in the short and long term. Few studies have regarded the child as a whole, multidimensional being that evolves through time. Additionally, few studies have considered the impact of CCS on children from high socioeconomic status (SES) families. Finally, we still know very little about the underlying mechanisms that would explain how CCS can influence long-term development. Objective: The main objective of this thesis is therefore to study the association between certain characteristics of CCS use and child development in the short and long term using a life course, person-centered approach. The first article investigates the association between patterns of CCS use and profiles of cognitive development. The second article examines the association between patterns of CCS use and high school graduation. The third article investigates the underlying mechanisms that could explain the association between CCS and long-term development. Method: The three articles studied children from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD). In the first article, we performed a multinomial logistic regression to investigate the association between intensity and type of CCS through early childhood and trajectories of cognitive development while considering interactions with SES and sex. In articles 2 and 3, administrative records were used to determine whether students had obtained a high school diploma by age 20 years. In article 2, we used a logistic regression to determine if intensity and type of CCS throughout early childhood were associated with high school graduation. In article 3, academic performance, social skills, and health were examined as potential mediators of the association measured in article 2. Results: In article 1, children from high SES families who attended center-based CCS after 3 and half years were less likely to be in the high cognitive development trajectory, compared to children in all other types of care. In article 1 and 2, children who attended center-based CCS early (before toddlerhood) were more likely to graduate from high school and better health partly explained this association. Implications: This thesis underlines the importance of understanding how the characteristics of the CCS experience and of the child interact together to influence different measures of development. Our results also suggest that improved health following early center-based CCS attendance could be a key mechanism explaining positive long-term outcomes such as high school graduation. Future studies on the effects of CCS on development should broaden their scope to include new variables such as health and to better understand how CCS can affect children from high SES families.

No description available.

The main aim of this study is to extend our current understanding of the linguistic characteristics of student-centred distance education texts. This aim links directly with the shift in South Africa from an objectivistic, content-centred teaching approach towards an outcomes-based, studentcentred one. Partly because few guidelines exist as to what the linguistic characteristics of student-centred texts are, developers of such texts in a distance education environment face many challenges and thus, a secondary, more indirect aim of this study is to benefit developers of distance education study materials. In view of the educational context in which the study is situated, a brief overview of some of the most relevant pedagogic perspectives underlying the notion of student-centredness is provided. Student-centredness is then interpreted in terms of Biber's (1988) construal of `involvement' and also in terms of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL): more particularly, the interpersonal discourse semantic metafunction of SFL and on insights developed in Appraisal Theory. The focus of the study is thus on `involvement' and the expression of evaluative stance, and consequently on attitudinal language through `involvement' features. Of particular interest to the present study is how learning is advanced through the use of attitudinal language. The data for the study include six print-based distance education teaching texts (study guides) from three different academic departments at the University of South Africa. Two guides from each department are analysed and compared: one developed by way of a content-centred approach to teaching and the other by way of a student-centred approach. The linguistic construal of evaluative stance in these guides is analysed and interpreted in interpersonal terms. The thesis develops a theoretically motivated explanation of the linguistic characteristics of student-centred distance education texts, and in the process provides evidence of the interpersonal and pedagogic relevance of evaluative stance in the context of distance education. Some of the main conclusions reached are that student-centred texts differ from contentcentred ones with regard to: the extent to which the social presence of discourse participants is signalled in such texts; the extent to which solidarity is negotiated with students; the participation of students in the knowledge construction process; the relationship that prevails between lecturers and students; and the identity developed for both students as well as lecturers. / Linguistics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Cette recherche porte sur le financement public de l’enseignement supérieur au Pérou et ses impacts dans une perspective longitudinale couvant la période 1993-2003. Cette période est importante parce qu’elle a été témoin, dans ce pays, de changements majeurs aux plans du financement public et de la configuration du système d’enseignement supérieur. La recherche consiste principalement dans des analyses secondaires de données pertinentes publiées par des organismes nationaux et internationaux. Les analyses sont structurées à partir d’un schéma d’inputs et outputs. On considère comme inputs les ressources financières et les ressources humaines, lesquelles comprennent les professeurs et les étudiants, et comme outputs les taux de diplomation (efficacité interne) et la demande de diplômés par le marché du travail (efficacité externe). La théorie de la dépendance de ressources sert de cadre pour interpréter les rapports entre le financement public et ses incidences sur les réponses institutionnels et ses conséquences. Dans la période retenue, le financement du secteur public a décru de 32% en raison d’un désengagement progressif de l’État. Une conséquence majeure de la diminution du financement public a été la croissance rapide du secteur privé de l’enseignement supérieur. En effet, alors qu’en 1993 il y avait 24 institutions privées d’enseignement supérieur, il y en avait, en 2003, 46 institutions. La baisse du financement public et la croissance du secteur privé d’enseignement supérieur ont eu des incidences sur la sélectivité des étudiants, sur le statut des professeurs, sur l’implication des universités en recherche et sur les taux de diplomation. Le taux de sélectivité dans le secteur public a augmenté entre 1993 et 2003, alors que ce taux a diminué, dans la même période, dans le secteur privé. Ainsi, le secteur public répond à la diminution du financement en restreignant l’accès à l’enseignement supérieur. Le secteur privé, par contre, diminue sa sélectivité compensant ainsi l’augmentation de la sélectivité dans le secteur public et, par le fait même, augmente sa part de marché. Également, tant dans le secteur public que dans le secteur privé, les professeurs sont engagés principalement sur une base temporaire, ce qui se traduit, particulièrement dans le secteur privé, dans un moindre engagement institutionnel. Enfin, les universités publiques et privées du Pérou font peu de recherche, car elles favorisent, pour balancer leurs budgets, la consultation et les contrats au détriment de la recherche fondamentale. Paradoxalement, alors que, dans le secteur privé, les taux de sélectivité des étudiants diminuent, leurs taux de diplomation augmentent plus que dans le secteur public. Enfin, les formations avec plus d’étudiants inscrits, tant dans le secteur public que privé, sont les moins coûteuses en infrastructure et équipements. Dès lors, la pertinence de la production universitaire devient problématique. Cette recherche révèle que les organisations universitaires, face à un environnement où les ressources financières deviennent de plus en plus rares, développent des stratégies de survie qui peuvent avoir des incidences sur la qualité et la pertinence de l’enseignement supérieur. / This research deals with public financing of higher education in Peru and its impacts in a longitudinal perspective. It covers a ten-year period from 1993 to 2003. This period is important since this country witnessed major changes in public financing of higher education and in the configuration of its higher education system. The research is based mainly in secondary analyses of relevant data published by national as well as international agencies. Analyses are conducted within an input-output scheme. Financial and human resources (professors and students) are considered inputs, and graduation rates (internal effectiveness) and market labour demands as outputs (external effectiveness). Dependency theory is used as framework for the interpretation of the relationships between public financing and institutional responses and its consequences. In the period considered, public financing diminished by 32% resulting from a progressive disengagement of the State. A major consequence of this disengagement was the rapid growth of the private sector of higher education. While in 1993 there were 24 private institutions of higher education, ten years later there were 46 institutions. The decline in public financing and the growth of the private sector of higher education had measurable consequences on selectivity rates, professorial status, research involvement, and graduation rates. Selectivity rates in the period considered increased in public institutions but decreased in the private ones. Thus the public sector reacted to the decline in financing by becoming more selective; the private sector responded to the increase in selectivity in the public sector by decreasing its rates which translates into a higher student market share. Also, in both sectors, professors are hired on a part-time basis which impacts on participation to academic life and on research production. Moreover, universities, both public and private, favoured applied contractual research as a means of gaining alternative funding to compensate for scarce financial resources. Paradoxically, whereas in the private sector selectivity rates diminished in the decade considered, graduation rates increased and so more than in the public sector. Finally, training programs with higher enrolments in both public and private sectors are those which require less investment in infrastructure and equipments without consideration of societal relevancy. This research reveals that higher education organisations which face an environment with diminishing financial resources devise survival strategies which might have a negative impact on the quality and relevance of higher education.

The following thesis, The Judas Iscariot figure, as seen by media and the public, in the 21st century in the context of the state graduation exam and contemporary pop culture, deals with the biblical figure who has betrayed Jesus Christ. The apostle, whose name has become a synonym for betrayal, was mentioned in one of the questions of the didactical test regarding Czech language and literature in the state graduation exam in the Czech Republic in 2015. The pupils were supposed to recognize Judas with help of his cognomen and other hints. Many students have complained about this task, saying that it was too difficult, while others have claimed that the question was not related to the subject. The complaint became an issue frequented in all the significant media and heavily discussed in society. The first chapters of the thesis describe the official requirements for the state graduation exam and the study plans for secondary schools, where the Bible is listed. The following chapters highlight and discuss the media coverage of the affair in the printed and online media, as well as in the radio and TV stations. Additionally, the student's opinions about the issue are mentioned, together with the jokes related to the topic, reactions of the experts and internet users commenting the topic under the internet...