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Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Le résumé en français n'a pas été communiqué par l'auteur. / This thesis is composed of three chapters. The first two chapters consider specific aspects of the educational path and how these relate to, in the first case, earnings and occupation choice and, in the second, progress through school. The third chapter studies how variations in municipal finance affect investments in education. The first chapter of this thesis estimates the importance of two aspects of human capital accumulation: the acquisition of job-related skills, and the student's discovery of his relative abilities across disciplines. Specifically, we measure whether additional years of multi-disciplinary education help students make a better choice of specialization, and at what cost in foregone specialized human capital. We document that, in the cross section, students who choose their major later are more likely to change fields on the labor market. We then build and estimate a dynamic model of college education which captures the tradeoff between discovering comparative advantage and acquiring occupation-specific skills. Estimates suggest that delaying specialization is informative, although noisy. Working in the field of comparative advantage accounts for up to 20% of a well-matched worker's earnings. While education is transferable across fields with only a 10% penalty, workers who wish to change fields incur a large, one-time cost. The second chapter considers the impact of automatically promoting young children from one grade level to the next on retention and grade progression in primary school. Exploiting variation in grade repetition practices in Brazil, we study the effect of automatic promotion cycles on grade attainment and academic persistence of primary school children. The dynamic policy environment allows us to estimate the impact of the policy when applied at different times during schooling, both in the short term and as children exposed to the policy progress through primary school. We find that automatic promotion increases grade attainment: one year of exposure to the policy is associated with 3 students out of 100 studying one grade level above where they would be absent the policy. This effect persists over time, and cumulates with further exposure to the policy. The third chapter moves away from students to focus on education infrastructure. In the paper we seek to answer the question of how transfers from the federal government in Brazil affect both education spending and the resources available for education at the municipal level. We find that increased transfers lead to an immediate rise in current and capital spending. These increases are focused on education and welfare expenditure in poorer municipalities, while richer municipalities expand capital spending in the transport and housing sectors. Furthermore, particularly in wealthier municipalities, increases in transfers cause a short-term increase in local tax revenues. Positive transfer shocks are associated with increases in the number of teachers and, to a lesser extent, the number of classrooms. Transfers are also associated with substantial re-allocation of resources across schools offering classes at different levels, with secondary schools and schools teaching senior primary grades expanding at the expense of junior primary schools.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2012) call for shifts in teaching and learning, emphasizing diverse students’ complex uses of language and skilled articulation of reasoning in collaborative discussion settings. Concurrently, it is becoming increasingly common for English Learners (ELs) to be educated in mainstream classrooms alongside their English-proficient peers, raising the challenge for teachers to effectively mediate these new standards into practice for all students. This design-based research study, grounded in sociocultural theory, was carried out in collaboration with two classroom teachers. The study focused on the implementation of discussion scaffolding strategies, including academic language functions (e.g., language used by students to tell, restate, build on, or challenge). The analysis investigated shifts in both whole class discourse and the discourse of four English learners in the classroom over a seven-month period. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of eight audio-recorded discussion transcripts examined shifts in student talk, with particular attention to (a) participation, (b) reasoning, (c) collaborative talk, and (d) use of academic language for engaging in dialogue with peers. Analyses revealed that as teachers successively introduced the four categories of talk moves, students engaged in significantly more reasoned, collaborative talk. Over time, students also used the academic language stems with greater frequency and exhibited increased autonomy in reasoned-focused, collaborative talk. Additionally, collective reasoning (prompted by instructional moves designed to have students think with others) appeared to promote individual reasoning, as shown by higher instances of reasoning words used by students. Shifts in talk for EL students were similar to those of the whole class, with key differences being how ELs were afforded additional opportunities for second language development in the context of discussion: ELs had a chance to listen to and express complex reasoning, extended discourse, and relevant language functions in contextualized ways. They engaged in meaningful and sustained interactions with English-proficient peers. Finally, ELs connected new learning with their prior knowledge and experience. These findings pose important considerations for implementing standards in ways that support reasoning-based, collaborative discourse for all students—while simultaneously affording ELs learning opportunities for developing language proficiency and disciplinary knowledge in an equitable learning environment.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in research on students' use of multiple representations in mathematics education. This study focused on how and achievement affect students' use of multiple representations. The methodology used was case studies. The researcher conducted 16 interviews with four 8th grade students from the same regular mathematics class: one high achieving-high spatial ability, one high achieving-low spatial ability, one low achieving-high spatial ability, and one low achieving-low spatial ability. The students were asked linear equation and function problems requiring the use of different representations. Additionally, the mathematics class was observed for 7 hours. The Wheatley Spatial Ability test was applied to the class of 8th graders to determine the spatial ability levels of the students. The students' achievement levels were determined from students' Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, linear equation class exam scores, and consultation with the teacher. The findings suggest that both achievement and spatial visualization has effects on students' use of multiple representations. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Middle and Secondary Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: June 10, 2003. / Mathematics Education, Spatial Ability / Includes bibliographical references. / Maria L. Fernandez, Professor Directing Thesis; Elizabeth M. Jakubowski, Committee Member; Leslie N. Aspinwall, Committee Member.

Since publication of the Hudson Institute report on Workforce 2000: Work and Workers in the 21st Century in 1987 and the appearance of its sequel, Workforce 2020, a decade later, a popular form of analysis of economic trends and adult education needs has emerged and its conclusions have been widely cited. The approach has, however, been developed and almost entirely applied at the "macro" level of regions, States and the country as a whole. This dissertation assesses the applicability and utility of a Workforce 2000/2020 type of analysis for a rural Southern minority community by performing a "double diagnosis" that involves 1) using the Workforce 2000/2020 framework to examine the learning challenges, needs and opportunities facing a small Southern rural community (Gretna, Florida) as it enters the 21st century; and 2) at the same time assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Workforce 2000/2020 as an approach to these issues in local rural and minority communities by observing and analyzing the results of this "experiment" with local stakeholders. The methodology used for this study was a "mixed method" procedure that combined an "embedded" case study framework with action research. Sampling was done at the community level (City of Gretna), and within-case (or local sampling scheme). Within-case or local sampling used elite, snowball and key informants strategies to identify stakeholder groups and choose participants within each group. The study was performed in three sequential phases. In the first phase, a Workforce 2000/2020 study was conducted of demographic and economic trends in the city of Gretna and their impact on labor supply and demand using both qualitative and quantitative data. In the second phase, these substantive results were analyzed with local stakeholder representatives and the patterns compared to those characteristics of "macro" Workforce 2000/2020 studies. Finally, the experience of the Gretna analysis itself was assessed and compared to the methodology of macro Workforce 2000/2020-type studies to examine the applicability of this approach to a rural minority community and the modifications required. The macro Workforce 2000/2020 analysis suggests that, nationwide, the skill level of our workforce is insufficient to meet the competitive challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. In short, there is a growing mismatch (or at least a growing risk of one) between a high level of demand for skilled labor and an inadequate supply of existing workers or new job entrants having those qualifications. Analysis of the situation in Gretna, however, suggests something rather different. There appears to be much less mismatch. The demand for skilled labor is very low and the supply of human resources is almost equally low. In fact, the picture for Gretna is more one of a region mired in low-level equilibrium of supply and demand than one of a disequilibrium created by unmet opportunity. The Workforce 2000/2020 approach offers several strengths and weaknesses. As a principal strength, the effort to line the supply of human resources against the demand for it provides some unique insight into the situation of the community and serves to assemble types of data and groups of actors, like educators and business people that are not often or as systematically brought into dialogue. On the other hand, however, the approach pays little attention to historical and social context, does not prescribe participatory measures designed to include the voices of those concerned, and puts preponderant emphasis on supply-side factors to the detriment of a critical understanding of the roots of demand. An attempt was made to remedy these principal shortcomings in the approach used for this study. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: November 17, 2003. / Workforce Development, Worforce 2000/2020 Application / Includes bibliographical references. / Peter Easton, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine Jones, Outside Committee Member; Carolyn Herrington, Committee Member; Michael Biance, Committee Member.