The longstanding framing of accountability in principal-agent terms has encouraged adversarial and oppositional interactions and ways of thinking amongst nonprofit and funding agency practitioners within government-nonprofit relationships. These interactions are deeply rooted in the accountability claims made by government funders and responded to by nonprofit practitioners. This dissertation outlines the implications of nonprofit-government contracting for participating nonprofit organizations and explores various strategies practitioners in those institutions utilize to respond to the challenges raised by their relationship to public funders. To understand the tensions surrounding government accountability claims, I provide an overview of the emergence of the contracting regime and an exploration of the understanding of accountability that has attended its evolution. Through an in-depth qualitative case study, constructed on the basis of interviews, observation, and document analysis and following a grounded theory approach to analysis, I explore various nonprofit manager responses to the norms and pressures of the contracting regime. I chronicle nonprofit practitioners\' responses to contracting regime pressures, including accepting those norms, even when arguably inimical to their organization\'s mission, ignoring them in favor of serving clients, or leaving the employ of organizations altogether. I also explore examples of practitioner efforts to navigate outside of the contracting regime\'s antagonistic framing and engage both with powerful stakeholders and others in their organizations to negotiate changes. Drawing on the theoretical lens of agonism, I examine the context and characteristics of those responses to provide insights into how nonprofit managers might move beyond antagonistic accountability frames. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine what effect Propostion 48 has had on black representation on NCAA Division IA men's basketball and football teams. A one - page questionnaire was mailed to the compliance coordinator at each of the 106 col1eges and universities participating in men's basketball and football at the NCAA Division IA level from 1985-86 to 1990-91. The questionnaire contained two charts and one open - ended question. The questionnaire was designed to identify any change in black representation on football and basketball teams since the inception of Proposition 48. This was done by comparing the final year prior to the introduction of Proposition 48 with each of the 5 succeeding years. Responses were received from 45 of the colleges and universities. However, due to incomplete information, and several declinations the data was computed on only 19 responses. The data was analyzed through a statistical test of differences between two populations at a .05 confidence level. Analysis indicated only a total of 4 significantly positive Z scores out of a possibility of 205 scores. This confirmed the belief of the researcher that Proposition 48 did not have a significantly negative effect on the representation of black student and universities athletes participating in football and basketball at NCAA Division IA colleges / Master of Science

School leaders in the United States live in an educational era characterized by a desire for and expectation that all students attain high levels of academic proficiency. There is an increased reliance on all types of educational assessment as a key component to help school leaders attain that goal. The purpose of this study is to understand how school administrators can foster a balanced system of assessment at the local level to genuinely harness the power of assessment to enhance student learning. The significance of the study rests in the fact that there is a general failure of states and school districts to conceive of educational assessment as a system that operates at all levels of the educational system from the classroom up to the district and state level. The findings of this study support the efforts of a group of administrators to develop a balanced system of math assessments in their school district.

Neoliberal ideology frames the discourse of the current political rhetoric of education as an economic investment in the preparation of students to compete in a global economy. These discourses that emanate from policymakers shape the construct of schooling and control the trajectory of education in the US. As education policy becomes centralized, accountability systems are assumed to be the driver of positive educational outcomes and higher student achievement; however, the impact of these systems of accountability shape teaching practice and may be pushing students with disabilities out of the competition and violating their right to access and participate in general education. This study examined the outcomes of current educational policy on daily teaching practice and its impact on inclusive practice. In addition, it examined teachers' self-regulation as a means to adapt and remain in a regulated environment. The perspectives of beginning and experienced teachers from an urban and a rural area were analyzed through semi- structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis.

The relationship amongst institutions has continued to play a pivotal role in shaping the nature of policies central to citizens and non-citizens alike. However, the phenomenon of influence and power that institutions constitutionally wield over one another in administrative agencies has been an increasing issue that is largely under-explored. More so, is the issue of installing legitimate regulatory mechanisms that ensure and preserve democratic values and practices that hold government agencies accountable. This study explores the relationship between judicial and executive institutions by examining the degree of influence the courts exercise in decisions in the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Using a precedent tracing approach, this study analyzes the presence and authority of Supreme Court decisions in the determination of refugee protection cases. As administrative bodies exercise a broad range of discretion and are loosely guided by ‘soft-laws’, it is unlikely that the courts would have a high degree of influence in such agencies due to an absence of obligation to do so. The shortage of judicial influence arguably offers a nuanced explanation to the inconsistent outcomes amongst board members and the absence of and requirement for a legitimate remedial mechanism. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The Quran burnings in Sweden have made international headlines and have taken its place as one of the most controversial happenings of the year 2023. Due to this, the phenomena have made its way into the political arena of Sweden, being widely discussed by the main political actors of the country. This study aims to analyze Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats) and Jimmie Åkesson’s (Sweden Democrats) communication regarding the matter with the key objective to analyze the usage of Populism as well as Blame and responsibility when the two actors speak about the Quran crisis. The thesis main method will be a rhetorical analysis. The study found that both Andersson and Åkessons communication regarding the Quran burnings contains populistic traits. Andersson uses more blame in her communication and Åkesson more accountability. Åkesson does unlike Andersson not construct the Quran burnings themselves as a crisis, but rather the sequence of events the phenomena consequently started as such. Due to the results in how blame is communicated, recommended suggestions of further studies could be analyzing if the Swedish political communication has become more hostile by doing a comparative analysis on the present and previous years of political actors communicating.

Bakgrund och mål – Tidigare studier har visat att Value-Added Model (VAM) har metodologiska brister och tillsammans med high stake tesing kan både skolor och personal påverkas på oönskade sätt. Denna studies avsikt har varit att undersöka vetenskapliga studier, som omfattat lärares upplevelser av beslut som medförde stora konsekvenser vid införande och tillämpning testresultat och utvärderingar på skolor baserad VAM Metod – Systematisk databassökning genomfördes i Eric 2023-03-10 för studier på engelska. Kvalitéten på studierna bedömdes från ett protokoll som utgick från SBU:s manual och protokoll Bedömning av studier med kvalitativ metodik. Extraherade data syntetiserades tematiskt och trovärdigheten bedömdes utifrån JBI Manual för Evidence Synthesis. Resultat – Sju studier från fyra länder publicerade mellan 2010 och 2023 inkluderades. Tillförlitligheten för upptäckterna var otvetydiga eller trovärdiga och presenteras som tre teman. Första temat beskriver hur och på vilka sätt lärares yrkesidentitet påverkas av verksamheten och de faktorer som denna identitet utgörs av. Andra temat visar att lärarna upplever att de nuvarande utvärderingssystemen är en formalitet och inte bidrar till lärarnas professionella utveckling. Utvärderingar i sitt nuvarande format är av summativ karaktär. I sista temat framkommer det att ämnesspecifika tester medför att fokus i och kring undervisningen främst syftar till att eleverna ska klara testerna vilket medför att undervisningen begränsas och lärarnas kreativitet och kunskaper inte får utrymme. Slutsatser - Det behövs en ökad förståelse för läraridentiteten och de faktorer som påverkar den. Det avser förväntningar och inflytande att kunna påverka sin vardag samt tillgången till professionell utveckling. Utvärderingar behöver utformas så att de är formativa och kan förstås av läraren. Testers utformning och inverkan på undervisningen behöver ses över för så att det resulterar i bättre stöd för elever med behov och upplevs som motiverande.

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