<p> This dissertation examines the use of corporal punishment in 142 Tennessee public school districts, as well as the data from the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to identify demographic patterns and trends regarding corporal punishment in the state of Tennessee. This project also studies the relationship between school district enrollment and corporal punishment. This dissertation uses quantitative methods to analyze the data.</p><p> The results of this study finds that medium-sized school districts (student enrollment between 500 and 1500 students) report the greatest number of corporal punishment incidents. Also, a higher percentage of white students experience corporal punishment than nonwhite students in a majority of the years studied. The study also finds that a relationship exists between district size and corporal punishment practices. Corporal punishment rates in Tennessee's 10 largest districts are quite low. The findings of this research are similar to those found in past research in Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina.</p><p>

The research centered on an examination of whether or not the topic of "higher education" has become an academic field of study. First, an historical analysis of the evolution of the academic study of higher education uncovered two threads that have continued up to the present. One thread consisted of those throughout academia who have studied the topic of "higher education" but were uninterested in forming it into an academic field of study. The other thread consisted of those within or affiliated with schools of education, who have attempted to form the study of "higher education" into an academic field. The latter have variously conceived of "higher education" as either an academic discipline, professional field, or some amalgam. They have not achieved a consensus among themselves as to how to proceed, nor have they gained significant recognition from the rest of academia. Secondly, a comprehensive review of two literatures was undertaken. The first dealt with conscious attempts to form higher education into an academic field and the second included most of what has been written about the topic of higher education from 1960 to 1990. Based on these two literature reviews, it was determined that a cohesive body of knowledge and distinct theory base have not been formed. Thirdly, a series of in-depth, unstructured interviews were conducted with seven faculty from three different higher education programs. It was found that these faculty were interested in developing their own academic programs, but had no larger interest in forming an academic field of study. Hence, those who would make "higher education" into an academic field had not greatly influenced those interviewed. It was determined that an academic field had not been formed. There are no distinct theories of higher education--all academic analyses of the topic are conducted through the lens of a wide range of disciplines and professions. This is good, since all of academia should be able to be involved in the academic study of higher education. New ways for encouraging that involvement are put forth in the conclusion.

<p> The purpose of this multi-case, Appreciative Inquiry, is to discover the strengths of Kansas Reward schools and compare them with practices included within the Turnaround Principles. Data, collected through focus groups, includes staff opinions regarding the Reward schools&rsquo; successes. This study comprises themes that participants believe have had an effect on school success and that align with the Turnaround Principles. Practical implications of this study suggest using Reward school practices to frame future statewide technical assistance improvements and opportunities for high-progress and high-performance schools, or other schools with distinguished practices and to use Reward schools to mentor lower-performing schools in order to demonstrate effective practices. </p><p> <i><b>Keywords:</b></i> school improvement, high-performance school, high-progress school, Reward school, Appreciative Inquiry, Turnaround Principles: (a) provide strong leadership, (b) enable effective educators, (c) maximize learning time, (d) ensure rigorous curriculum, (e) utilize data analysis, (f) establish safe environment, and (g) grow family and community engagement (KSDE, 2013).</p><p>

This study describes the evolution and range of goals attributed to the College of Micronesia in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). In doing so, it traces the transformation of education from community-based, traditional Micronesian activities, to missionary and Japanese schools, to American formal education, and finally, to the public school system that exists in the FSM today. It tracks the evolution of the College of Micronesia--FSM from its earliest roots in the 1950s to the present. The study includes an interview and questionnaire process that identifies numerous College roles and then asks representative student and staff groups, to evaluate each role in terms of importance. The process allowed comparisons of student and staff perceptions and examined, in-depth, the ramifications of following the eight most-highly valued College roles from each group. Although the College of Micronesia was originally conceived as a teacher education institution, it has evolved into a liberal arts institution, which by having an unclear mission, appears to fill the expectations of its different stakeholders. In all, the College was found to have 25 distinct missions; ranging from teaching English to providing manpower for national development. Two groups, students and staff, were found to view all but one of the missions as important. On the whole, student and staff were found to be in general agreement about the various missions of the College, but for different reasons. Whereas staff tended to see the College a nation-building institution, students tended to see the degrees the College offered, as a vehicle for obtaining government jobs and a higher living standard. Both groups were found to have broad ranges of expectations. The argument was made that in light of decreasing resources, the College should begin to focus its mission. In final analysis, the study sheds light on similarities and contrasts of Micronesian and American educational goals and values and illuminates difficulties of managing colleges in developing micro-states. It presents a detailed look at one of the world's least known national colleges so that its future can be plotted more systematically.

<p> By the end of the nineteenth century, the momentum for the idea of a more practical education better suited to life in a modern, technological world brought the first educational reform movements in the nation. Concurrent reform efforts at the state and national levels influenced both the historical development of Earth science education and the status of the Earth sciences in New York State&rsquo;s secondary schools. Three themes received increasing attention: 1) the nature and college acceptance of the subjects in the secondary courses of study, 2) the time allocation for the subjects, and 3) the emergence and expectation of the incorporation of laboratory and fieldwork. These themes were also prevalent in discussions within the national committees that were meeting at the time. </p><p> The historical richness of educational reform efforts during the late 1800s and the early 1900s establishes an important foundation upon which the Earth sciences are grounded. To understand the influences that shaped the Earth science syllabus into its present form, and to establish a framework upon which recommendations for future curricular development can be made, an analysis of the origin and evolution of secondary Earth science is warranted. The research presented in this thesis explores the historical framework of the individual core Earth science topics (physical geography, geology, astronomy, and meteorology), beginning in 1865 with the introduction of the intermediate level physical geography Regents examination and ending in 1910 with the loss of astronomy and geology as accepted high school graduation courses. The chronological structure of this study is intended to establish a set of specific historical events that contributed to the present curricular structure of New York State&rsquo;s Earth science course.</p><p>

The Principalship has received increased attention since the 1983 report, A Nation At Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform and the 1986 Carnegie report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers For The Twenty-First Century. These reports challenged the Principal to become a strong, effective leader for school reform. The challenge called for the Principal to become a change agent, to affect the culture and climate of a school, to empower others, and to motivate staff and students. Emphasis on leadership suggests the potential of this position. The Principalship has not always been a position of leadership. The evolution of the Principalship is traced from the first system of public education documented in the United States, in Massachusetts, in the mid-seventeenth century to its growth into the twentieth century. During the twentieth century, the Principalship sustained itself through World War I, the Depression, World War II, the radical sixties and seventies, and through the reform minded eighties and nineties. The evolutionary stages, School Master, Head Teacher, Teaching Principal, Building Principal and Supervising Principal set the stage for present curriculum supervision, vision maker, "building based management", and climate and culture caretaker. The Principalship did not develop by any plan, rather it emerged in response to population growth, grading, and administrative requirements. The Principalship's evolution is cited from primary source materials, a survey and interview of Principals, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and leading educators. It is projected that the role of the Principalship in the twenty-first century will be influenced by the commitment of citizenry for public education, preparatory programs offered by universities and principal organizations, potential of the individuals who will become principals, and the reform efforts undertaken toward excellence in public education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the historical relationship between four Catholic women's colleges and the emergence and development of feminism in general and Catholic feminism in particular. The four colleges were: Trinity College, Washington, D.C., 1898; St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, 1903; The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, 1906; Regis College, Weston, MA, 1927. Three questions are examined, using official and informal publications and correspondence and interviews with the presidents and other staff of the colleges. In Catholic women's colleges, what attitudes and beliefs about the role of women and the nature of the education of women were held by the founders and also their successors? How do these attitudes and beliefs relate to feminism and in what respects did Catholic women's colleges share feminist goals? In what ways, if any, have Catholic women's colleges contributed to Catholic feminism? The intentions of their founders and the mission statements and curricula demonstrate a sharing of the feminists' goals of education and job opportunity for women. The mission and curricula show a reflection of the times and the needs of the students. These are woman-centered campuses with a clear Catholic identity; Catholicism and feminism co-exist in these colleges, resulting in a space for the development of Catholic feminism. Though they are not strongly feminist, these colleges are committed to remaining all female, and to remaining Catholic. They do not challenge their church on issues concerning women's access to birth control and to abortion since to do so would violate their mission as Catholic institutions. However they act on feminist goals by encouraging women to learn, to achieve, and to effect change.

In the 1980s, changing teacher certification was associated with the educational reform movement and the attendant drive to professionalize teaching. In Massachusetts, and nationally, political forces outside traditional education organizations and structures initiated and sustained certification changes. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the motivations and strategies resulting in a new Massachusetts teacher certification framework in 1987, and to explore connections between national trends and this state development. The Joint Task Force on Teacher Preparation (JTTP) issued a report entitled Making Teaching a Major Profession in October 1987. JTTP recommendations included provisions for two stages of certification: provisional and full. Recommendations for provisional certification included a major in the liberal arts or sciences, or an interdisciplinary major, that would replace the undergraduate education degree. Recommendations for permanent certification included a clinical masters degree that incorporated supervision by both education and liberal arts college advisors, as well as mentor teachers in the schools. Thirty-three participants were identified through membership on the JTTP, member recommendations, and suggestions drawn from a literature review. Interviews used a guided conversation structure, were about one hour in length, and were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. A significant portion of the data in this oral history was presented through the participants' own words. Participant accounts describe the personal relationships, political contexts, and professional issues that affected both the process and the product of the JTTP. Where possible, supporting testimony and documentation were used to provide corroboration or additional detail. Systematic and organizational analyses informed the study's findings. Participant decisions were not instructed by research on teacher education. Shifting power relations among educational stakeholders affected both the framework's adoption--and its contents.

The study posed the general question: How has the historical federal relationship with higher education affected the institutional capacity of the U.S. higher education system to sustain and expand its international dimension, to internationalize? Two federal programs were identified for their explicit interest in building higher education's institutional capacity in the international dimension between 1958 and 1988. National Defense Education Act, Title VI programs administered by successive federal education agencies were treated in depth. Agency for International Development programs administered by the foreign affairs agencies were highlighted as a counterpoint to Title VI. Two further guide questions helped analyze the evolution of the policy arena. First, how effective were the federal case programs in achieving their legislative aims per se? The theoretical framework was triangulated from three veins in the literature, i.e., public policy implementation effectiveness, diffusion of innovations and higher education organization. The basic tool was legislative case history. The period was 1958-1980. Second, what did higher education institutional participation patterns in the case programs reveal about the effectiveness of these case programs and their influence on the international capacity of the higher education system? This was answered in terms of specific definitions of internationalization. The participation and funding patterns of 506 institutions and consortia of higher education in the two case programs from 1969-1988 were analyzed in terms of regional dispersion within the U.S., ownership balance and institutional diversity. Institutional diversity was analyzed in depth for Title VI. The study revealed a series of policy choices and decisions as the policy arena developed. It confirmed an important but not dominant role of federal programs in sustaining higher education's international capacity. Internationalization depended on higher education itself. Federal resources rarely matched policy goals. Over the thirty years, the case programs most directly contributed to international capacity in research universities, less directly in other higher education groups. The study suggests that barring massive concerted advocacy or a unique policy catalyst, the higher education system can best increase federal resources for internationalization by stretching existing channels rather than creating new ones.

In the decades following World War II American higher education enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth and development. By the 1970s, however, it was clear that the growth curve was flattening. The prospect of fiscal stringency sparked interest in formal planning, and campuses experimented with Program Planning Budgeting Systems (PPBS) and other "rational" planning approaches. As the 1980s unfolded, however, the sense that fiscal problems would persist deepened, and the emphasis shifted to effectiveness. "Strategic" approaches to planning--emphasizing adaptive change in response to environmental analysis--came into wide use. The comprehensiveness and complexity of strategic approaches introduced new challenges for which institutions were poorly prepared, and many had disappointing experiences. The literature offered only fragmented and often inconsistent advice for institutions contemplating strategic planning. The author reviewed the literature with an eye toward identifying "conditions" that support successful planning. Five such conditions were identified: (1) consensus for change; (2) focus on institutional needs; (3) good "fit" between planning and the campus culture; (4) effective faculty participation; and (5) effective leadership. It is argued that an institution which satisfies these conditions increases its chances of success; conversely, an institution which falls short in these areas diminishes its chances. This hypothesis was explored in a case study of planning efforts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst between 1971 and 1992. The campus engaged in seventeen planning efforts, nine of which were judged to be "strategic." Of the nine, only two could be considered "successful," both quite modest in scope. An examination of the campus's status with respect to the five "conditions" suggested that they were useful in understanding the planning outcomes. The five conditions were then recast as a "diagnostic" tool, a set of questions to be answered before embarking on strategic planning. This tool should help the institution understand its "readiness" to undertake strategic planning; identify areas in which ameliorative action is needed; form a more realistic set of planning expectations. A number of directions for future research are suggested to both test the predictive power of the five conditions and to enhance the usefulness of the diagnostic tool.