Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2006 / "Publication number AAT 3251823."

<p> Today&rsquo;s high school students will face a host of economic problems such as the demise of the social safety net, mounting college student debt, and costly health care plans, as stated in the rationale for financial literacy provided by the Council for Economic Education&rsquo;s <i>National Standards for Financial Literacy</i>. These problems are compounded by growing income and wealth inequality and the widespread influence of neoliberal ideology. Although one of the major goals of economics education is to teach students to make reasoned economic choices in their public and private lives and provide the skills to solve personal and social economic problems, little empirical research has been conducted on how these goals are addressed. Secondary economics education research has primarily focused on measuring students&rsquo; grasp of neoclassical economics while a separate body of literature provides theoretical critiques of that approach. This study responds to the gap presented by these separate camps by capturing the economics discourse of a high school economics and personal finance course in relation to the role of economic decision-making in a democracy, and the space to hold values discussions. Using case study methodology that included analysis of student and teacher interviews, classroom observations, the standards and official curriculum, lesson plans, and student-produced documents, the study provides deep, context-dependent knowledge about how the official curriculum is manifest in the classroom. </p><p> Findings reveal that the role of economic decision-making and values discussions were given very little space. The discourse was heavily focused on the acceptance of the science and mastery of technical knowledge about personal finance for the dual purposes of preparing students to succeed on the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test and preparing students to navigate and succeed in a fixed economic reality firmly committed to neoclassical economics. The role of economic decision-making was diminished by the foregrounding of financial literacy over economics, which served as a mechanism of power to send the silent message that economic circumstances (such as wealth inequality) change through individual choices and that economic and social phenomena can be understood and addressed through the application of technical approaches. </p><p>

The problem of this study was to analyze the effect of using electronic calculators in the teaching of the simplex method upon students' attitudes and achievement in mathematics.

Bibliography: pages 319-332. / This study concerns the economics curriculum in schools in the Western Cape as defined by syllabus aims, textbooks, and the Senior Certificate examination. The research for it was conducted by means of a teacher survey in secondary schools of the Department of Education and Culture, House of Assembly, Cape Education Department (CED); and the Department of Education and Culture, House of Representatives (HOR) in the Western Cape. This includes an analysis of the textbooks currently prescribed for economics, and an analysis of past Senior Certificate examination papers. The dissertation commences with a description of the existing curriculum and its setting in the context of Christian National education (CNE). This is followed by discussion of the philosophy of economics education as practised in the west, in order to view the South African economics curriculum against this background. The main aims of the present syllabus are discussed in terms of textbooks, teacher opinion, and the Senior Certificate examination. These aims concern the Christian character of economics, economics and Afrikaner nationalism, economics and capitalist values, as well as the vocational and formative value of economics. They are considered central to an understanding of how classroom economics has been affected by CNE, apartheid doctrine, and Afrikaner master symbols. This is followed by an investigation into the operation of the specific objectives of the syllabus and classroom practice of economics. These are described in terms of three groups of questions which formed part of the teacher survey. The questions addressed issues of teaching aimed at engendering interest in current economic events and the application of theory in the analysis and interpretation thereof; the purpose of economics teaching; and the importance and influence of content, textbooks and examinations in classroom economics. The content of the 1983 core syllabus is further considered in the light of teachers' responses to it and the opinions gained from the teacher survey are used in the final chapter as part of the basis of recommendations for remaking the content of the economics curriculum. Proposals are made for the remaking of the economics curriculum in the future on the basis of: the aims in terms of "economic literacy"; classroom practice and teaching trends in terms of "process learning"; and the content of classroom economics on the basis of "citizenship".

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Burke's Garden High School was a small school established in 1915 that was located in a fertile farming community in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. The uniqueness of the geography of the area promoted a communal-based society whose citizens worked together for educational prosperity. This historical study documents the establishment of public education in Virginia, the demand for a public school in Burke's Garden, the establishment, operation, and closing of the school, as well as identifies the two career and technical education programs offered at the school, agricultural and home economics education. The remoteness of the community presented challenges to operating a school. Issues such as maintaining student enrollment numbers as well as qualified teachers required the school system and the community to work with neighboring communities for the benefit of the school and community. The practice of boarding students and teachers was employed to increase the number of students as well as to provide additional support for teachers. Eventually, due to improved transportation methods, construction of a new high school in the neighboring community of Tazewell, Virginia, and the modernization of the farming industry, there were fewer children in Burke's Garden, which led to the closing of the high school in 1960. Burke's Garden High School was one of five high schools operated in Tazewell County Public Schools from 1915 to 1960. Tazewell County, Virginia, has two distinct areas of economic dominance, the mining of coal and the production of agricultural products. Two historical studies of public schools in Tazewell County outline the relationship between specific communities and their schools: <i>A Historic Coal Mining Community and Its School: A Study of Pocahontas High School 1908-1991,</i> by Thomas Brewster (2000) and <i>A Coal Camp and Its Classroom: A Historical Study of a Virginia Coal Camp and Its School 1888-1987,</i> by Terry Mullins (1996). The two schools in these studies were both located in coal mining communities compared to Burke's Garden High School that was located in the agricultural section of Tazewell County. / Ed. D.

Apart from the introduction (Chapter 1) and conclusion (Chapter 7), this thesis comprises five chapters organized into two parts: Part I studies promotion incentives in the public sector, and focuses on the case of teachers in rural China. All teachers in China compete with their colleagues for rank promotions. I aim to answer two questions: first, whether the promotion system for teachers in China elicits effort from teachers, and second, how the design features of the promotion system affect effort incentives. Part I includes four chapters. Chapter 2 introduces the topic and provides a background on promotions for teachers in China. It also discusses related work in this area, and introduces the data that will be used in Part I. Chapter 3 presents and tests a theoretical model of promotions as an incentive device. The model treats all teachers as identical in terms of their ability, and as such, focuses on average levels of teacher effort. It predicts that effort is exerted in response to potential promotions. In addition, the model also predicts that average effort incentives are higher in promotion contests in which the wage gap is higher, the promotion rate is closer to one half, the number of teachers competing for a promotion is higher (for promotion rates between 1/3 and 2/3), and the average age of teachers in the contest is lower, or the proportion of female teachers is lower. The model is used to derive an estimating equation by which to test predictions on average levels of teacher effort. An equation is estimated for the probability of promotion as a function of teacher effort, which is proxied by the teachers' annual performance evaluation scores. There is simultaneity present as effort increases the probability of promotion, but it is also the promise of promotion that motivates effort. As a result, effort is instrumented using wage changes, which are both informative (higher wage gaps are associated with higher effort) and valid (wages only affect promotions through effort). The second stage of the regression demonstrates that effort is indeed exerted by teachers in order to win promotions. The first stage confirms the predictions of the model with regards to wage gaps, the promotion rate, and the size and composition of the pool of competitors. Chapter 4 extends the model of Chapter 3 in two ways: teachers are now treated as heterogeneous in ability, and a multi-period model of teacher effort over time is also added. This chapter focuses on individual levels of teacher effort, and on how the parameters of the promotion system interact with teacher characteristics to affect teacher effort. The predictions include that teachers in the extremes of the skill distribution will have lower incentives, and as the contest size increases these teachers will have effort incentives that are lower still, that teachers who are five or more years from promotion eligibility will have zero effort, as will teachers in the highest rank, that teacher effort will increase in the five years leading up to promotion eligibility, and that teacher effort will decrease after a teacher is eligible for promotion but has been passed over several times. An effort equation is estimated that captures all of these components, and the predictions are largely affirmed by the data. Tests are conducted in order to alleviate concerns about selection, as well as measurement error in the performance evaluation scores. Chapter 5 concludes Part I. Part II of this thesis looks at teacher labour markets, social distance, and learning outcomes in Punjab, Pakistan. Chapter 6 explores the link between the distribution of teachers in the labour market, caste differences between teachers and students, and child learning outcomes. Using rich longitudinal data from Pakistan that allows me to convincingly identify the causal effects of caste on learning outcomes, I show how the distribution of teachers across public schools induces particular matches of high and low caste teachers and students, and that these matches are highly predictive of test score outcomes. Specifically, low caste male children perform significantly better when taught by high caste teachers than when they are taught by low caste teachers. Several possible channels are explored, including discrimination in the classroom, role model effects, teacher quality, patronage, peer effects, and returns to education. Although the channel cannot be proven, the data points to high caste teachers being able to raise the already high returns to education for low caste children because they are able to assist these children in getting educational benefits and employment later on using their patronage networks. Low caste children therefore work harder to impress high caste teachers, and this results in higher learning outcomes.

The purpose of this research is to examine the socio-economic legacies of the French Protectorate in Morocco and the attitude of modern-day Moroccans to that legacy, through a series of in-depth interviews with a wide range of people who lived through colonialism and came after it. I use these interviews alongside documents of the time and the findings of contemporary commentators to chart the establishment of the Protectorate's social and economic policies in Morocco and how they destroyed the traditional infrastructure and cultural heritage of the country to replace them by a more 'modern and civilised' westernised system. I argue that, although some good did come from French colonialism in Morocco, these policies were not viable and so, when decolonisation came about, the country was unable to sustain itself and, therefore, had no choice but to continue to look to France both financially and educationally. Through highlighting how France transformed every aspect of Moroccan life to match that of la Métropole, this research shows why Moroccans find it so hard to shake off their colonial past, why they continue to use the French language in business, politics and education and why, unless Morocco steps out of the shadow of its former occupier, and make its own way in the world, they feel it will never be truly independent.

This dissertation investigates the impacts of constraints on optimal government policy. The first two chapters provide a general introduction and review of the literature. Chapters three and four analyze education spending and institutional structure in an economy with informational asymmetries and employment matching frictions. The fifth investigates the impact of politics on government decisions over taxation and spending programs more generally. Chapter three analyzes the situation where governments can target education funds to specific observable groups (referred to as low and high productivity neighbourhoods/regions). The results suggest that it may be optimal to employ educational transfers, rather than cash transfers amongst individuals, to achieve social welfare objectives. This is becasue the former can reduce distortions created by the tax system. However, the value of educational spending in mitigating these information frictions may not be that large, and may in fact exacerbate such distortions. This suggests that an optimal education policy may be more regressive when there is a distortionary tax system in place. Further, we showt that even if ``equalizing opportunities'' is deemed optimal in the static problem, it may not be a reasonable policy goal when we extend the analysis to include dynamics. Chapter four is joint work with Afrasiab Mirza. We analyze an economy where heterogeneous individuals are uncertain about their endowments. The education system trades off the desire to capitalize on talent through specific skills training with the need to provide individuals with opportunities to learn about their career preferences through a broader education. The results consider the implications of various educational institutions for the income distribution and consequently welfare. Chapter five analyzes the dynamics of public spending, taxation and debt in a political agency model. Choices are made by short-lived politicians who can be only partially controlled through the electoral process. The main focus is to consider the impacts of binding limits on the public budget. The value of imposing this additional friction depends both on the extent to which politicians' goals deviate from their constituencies and how effectively the electoral process disciplines them when they misbehave. The results also suggest that the value of such a restriction depends on the fiscal position at the time in which it is imposed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2009-11-25 20:25:29.12