<p>The topic of educational spending and its connection to student achievement was long-debated before charter schools entered the conversation. With the rise in government spending on education, particularly charter school funding, the financial debate has strengthened and evoked much controversy. Though the Tennessee Department of Education (TNDOE) had some of the most demanding charter school laws in the country in 2011, it wasn&rsquo;t immune to the firestorm of debate as the number of open charters grew to forty-nine during the 2012&ndash;13 school year. Along with the charter school movement in Tennessee came the issuing of charter school grants. To assist in the opening of charter schools in the state, the TNDOE began distributing $600,000&ndash;700,000 allotments of a $22 billion United States Department of Education Charter Schools Program (CSP) grant. Charters could apply for a CSP grant to offset start-up costs associated with opening a charter to supplement the basic education funding (BEP) given to each school based on student enrollment. </p><p> This research evaluates the CSP grant spending in six Tennessee charter schools serving grades 5&ndash;8 during each year of the three-year life of the grant while evaluating spending patterns into the categories of instruction, supplies, facilities, and technology. While evaluating only CSP grant spending in the school&rsquo;s total budget, findings from this research suggest that year one targeted spending in the area of instruction from CSP grants in Tennessee has a positive correlation with student achievement and school sustainability. </p>

<p> Federal stimulus funding expired in 2011-12. NCLB performance mandates approached the 2013-14 deadline. The ESEA waiver became an option with first year of implementation, 2012-13. This convergence of forces and timeline provided the opportunity for this study. </p><p> The study sought to explore whether or not superintendents from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont had already taken and/or would take greater responsibility for curriculum, instruction, and assessment or whether these responsibilities would be delegated to other district personnel and/or outside agencies to ensure that structures were in place and were effective in supporting student achievement. </p><p> This mixed method descriptive study was used to gather data. One hundred superintendents completed the survey. Survey data was collected through SurveyMonkey and analyzed using SPSS v. 20. The study showed that superintendents have taken a greater role and more responsibilities for curriculum, instruction, and assessment due to fiscal limitations. In addition, two-thirds of responding superintendents had yet to establish nonnegotiable goals for student achievement. The study encountered two categories of superintendents: those with and those without district level positions for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. </p><p> Data from the respondents showed that there were differences among the states. The following are a few of the findings from the study. Respondents from Connecticut had the greatest percentage reporting that principals had shared responsibility for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Respondents from Massachusetts had the greatest percentage reporting that superintendents had increased involvement with curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the previous two years. Respondents from New York had the greatest percentage reporting an anticipated budget shortfall for 2012-13. Respondents from Vermont had the greatest percentage reporting a district level position for curriculum, instruction, and assessment.</p><p> Key words: changing superintendent responsibilities, fiscal limitations, budget, curriculum, instruction, assessment</p>

<p> The complexities surrounding public school funding are not unique to Ohio. There have been numerous legal challenges in the State Supreme Courts and seminal cases from the U.S. Supreme Court which have assigned the practices and formulas by which schools are funded to the individual states. Although previous research has investigated voter approval related to school referenda from the 614 public school districts in Ohio, a significant question remains as to which factors are affecting the school districts and their attempts to pass school operating levies. This study focuses on seven typologies developed by the Ohio Department of Education for comparing districts based on nine demographic variables and the factors which predict the outcomes of first attempt school operating levies within each of those typologies.</p><p> The following research question was developed to provide researchers and practitioners information on factors affecting school levy referenda in Ohio public school typologies: What factors (proposed levy size in mills, length of the levy, election month, type of levy, effective millage rate, and value per pupil) are significant predictors for the passage for first attempt operating levies proposed between the years 2002 and 2010 in each of the seven Ohio Department of Education Typologies? According to the Ohio Secretary of State's certified election results, 2,199 school operating levies were on the ballot during this time frame with 327 being first attempts. These 327 first attempt school operating levies comprised the data set for this study.</p><p> Using binary logistic regression, the results of this study indicate four of the six variables tested were significant predictors of first attempt school operating levy passage. The proposed levy size in mills (Typologies 3 and 6), election month (Typology 2), type of levy (Typologies, 1, 2, 3, and 6), and effective millage rate (Typology 2 and 6) were found to be factors significant at the p &lt; .05 level. From this, practitioners and researchers can begin to investigate how these factors are being addressed in current and future operating levies. The results of this study have presented practitioners in all 614 school districts in Ohio with evidence of the factors which affect first attempt operating levies within the different typologies. Without a radical change to Ohio's school funding formula, the practice of relying on voters in each school district to pass tax levies will remain; therefore, a "one size fits all" approach to passing proposed referenda is not recommended. </p>

<p>Catholic schools are in need of innovative change. The problem lies in how to construct the elements of change to create viability for a school in the face of rapid declining enrollment. Responding to this type of environment as an educational leader requires qualities and characteristics similar to those of first responders in a medical emergency, a term I coined as the triage principal. This autoethnographic research study was designed to answer three research questions: 1. As a new principal at Michael, the Archangel School (MAS), a Catholic school in danger of closing, what challenges did I experience? 2. As a new leader, how did I respond to the challenges to bring about change at MAS? 3. What did I learn from this first year leadership experience? This autoethnographic study is constructed from my voice as a first year, first time principal, using several data sources: my blog, my archival field notes, and three interviews from archdiocesan leaders. Each of the given data sources had contained a data collection procedure resulting in overarching thematic patterns that led to generalizations based on the past experiences at MAS and my review of the literature. The weaving of the past and present of my life's leadership journey in combination with the culture and the people that surround me for this study, has made me realize that I do have a story worth sharing, a story that can potentially help others who might find themselves seemingly lost and alone.

<p> This dissertation was aimed at providing information on developing and sustaining public-private partnerships (PPPs) in early childhood education as a way to increase efficiency and effectiveness on how resources are allocated. This study also emphasizes how teachers are perceived and supported within the PPP context. Studies have shown that investing in early childhood education yields the greatest gains to one's life and society at large. Yet, the early childhood field continues to battle waves of budget cuts while striving to convince policymakers and the public that early education is critical and necessary. </p><p> Although PPP presents itself as a new way of doing business by combining resources from the public and private sectors and redistributed based on the shared goal and vision of the PPP, there is limited research on PPPs and even more scarce specifically related to early childhood. The goal of this study is to provide exposure to the early childhood field on how PPPs can be formed and sustained using the Educare model as one example of a PPP in early childhood. </p><p> This was a qualitative designed to capture rich conversations and experiences of research participants that are relevant and appropriate to the early childhood field. Grounded theory was used in this study to learn from research participants' perceptions of PPPs based on their experience and expertise in PPP and early childhood education. </p><p> This study used theoretical sampling to target research participants at a specific Educare development site to capture real time and real life experiences in developing a PPP in early childhood education. The Educare model was developed by the Ounce of Prevention Fund in 2000 aimed at "narrow[ing] the achievement gap for students in high-risk communities" (Ounce of Prevention, Educare schools, 2011). The Educare model has set requirements for teachers and all related job categories that will work in an Educare school including professional development requirements. The Educare school also has a salary structure that is competitive to the local public elementary schools. </p><p> Five themes were identified in the findings and discussed in relation to the significance of this study. The findings from this study have implications for early childhood administrators, educators, funders, advocates, and the field at large on maximizing the usage of existing resources. The findings from this study, including questions raised, are significant in development of partnerships in early childhood education.</p>

<p> "Efforts to improve our school system must start with equity" (Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission, 2012). This study is a statistical analysis of the 2003-2012 Minnesota K-12 pubic school general education (foundation) formula in regard to fiscal equality and wealth neutrality. The analysis utilizes a longitudinal approach to compare the findings of previous equity studies to current relatable data as it pertains to the State of Minnesota. A number of modifications have been imposed on the original Minnesota funding formula over the past decade. This study tests the equity level of a selected number of revenue sources and reviews previous studies to determine how equity has or has not been improved as a result of the modifications. </p><p> Fiscal neutrality is described as the wealth of the school district and should be a function of the wealth of the state as a whole, not of the wealth of the local school district. This study analyzed the fiscal neutrality of 333 public school districts in Minnesota in terms of variance, permissible variance, coefficient of variation, and Gini Coefficient. The analysis was based upon three research questions: 1. Based on an analysis of the 2003 to 2012 general education formula, what were the fiscal equality and wealth neutrality characteristics of Minnesota's school districts? 2. Based on an examination of like data elements from the four major Minnesota fiscal equality and wealth neutrality studies, what trends can be observed? 3. Based on the recommendations of previous studies, what legislative impact did they have? </p><p> The findings of the research show that overall the disbursements of revenue through the Minnesota funding formula do meet the standards of wealth neutrality. However, there are categories of the formula that remain inequitable and the reliance of local taxpayers on the referendum revenue source has increased over the years studied.</p>