The principal objective of this dissertation examined the effects of the debt crisis on financing higher education in Mexico. The secondary objective was an empirical study of the response of 131 business leaders which extended to Guadalajara and confirmed earlier research in Mexico City on recent college graduates (RCG) from Mexican universities. The respondents gave their perceptions of the ability, performance, preparation, and desired attributes of the graduates whom they employed. The remarkable consistency of their responses provides a preponderance of evidence of the urgent need to increase funding and improve higher education Populations increased in this decade as resources for higher education declined due to debt service. Internationalization adds a dimension to the need for higher education. Global competition for foreign markets and raw materials intensified as did the need for higher education in management due to unequal distribution of natural resources, industrial specialization, the mobility of labor, and the advances in technology, communications, and transportation This study concluded that the internationalization of business, emerging events in the centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, the union of Western Europe in 1992, and the advent of the newly industrialized Asian countries and China required more from private graduate management programs and international area studies in these countries The future of North America is coupled to understanding change in the debtor nations of Latin America as their economic systems and large, youthful populations moved expectantly and inordinately towards democracy, open markets, and free enterprise While the crisis deepened Mexico renegotiated its debt portfolio. The literature showed education is a critical factor in development. Resources available to education in the debtor countries have been greatly reduced by austerity plans and negative transfers since the 1982 debt crisis. Effects of debt on growth and development need further investigation Recommendations are made for debt reduction on the basis of this research and participative workshops on higher education in Mexico to restore needed resources to precrisis levels, on a model for financial planning, and on linkages in higher education within North America administered and funded by debt swaps / acase@tulane.edu

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This dissertation contributes to three major issues in Labor Economics and Econometrics literature. The first contribution is providing new insights into panel-data techniques, the second is new findings on the relationship of women's and men's productivity and pay, and the third is a picture of the remuneration process for professors involved in research and teaching at a Research I University which is based on the detailed data set created for this study. Developing econometric panel data methodology, time-static information is added to a standard fixed effects model. In a setting where no suitable time-varying instruments for the time-static information can be found, it is necessary to calculate the estimates for those in a "second stage" fixed effects estimate. It will be shown that these second stage estimates are exactly equal to the pooled OLS estimates for the same model specification, but that the standard errors are different, and the second stage estimates are biased and inconsistent. Later, new tests for various components of the individual effects are conducted as well as tests to choose the best panel estimation method. Empirically, this work contributes to research on gender discrimination in pay, and its results affect more than the academic environment. So far, most studies were not able to include direct measures of productivity, and have assumed that the estimated gender gap represents an upper bound or overestimation of the real discrimination in pay. The results of this study show that this assumption is not necessarily correct. Looking specifically at the pay structure for university professors involved in teaching and research in a Research I University, several trends have been established. First, structural pay differences between colleges became very apparent, making a strong point against the usage of university-wide regression analysis. For the colleges of Business and Education, seniority lost much of its explanatory power in predicting salaries when publications were added to the analysis. Teaching awards were not rewarded at all in either college, but professors who did not teach were financially penalized.

<p> With a focus on socioeconomic issues considered important by the international students in the host nation, this study asks two research questions: How do United States and Canadian universities provide information on immigration policies that address the socioeconomic issues pertaining to international students? How are American and Canadian universities similar and different in the information they provide on immigration policies on socioeconomic issues pertaining to international students? Five universities each from U.S. and Canada that received most international students were purposively selected. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the websites of the universities. The U.S. and Canadian universities are similar in the approach of presenting policies on employment and costs of education, and different in regard to the focus on immigration policies and international students' immigration status maintenance in the presentation of the policies. Despite presenting restrictive U.S. immigration policies, international students have selected the U.S. universities for their higher education. Conversely, the presentation of flexible Canadian immigration policies has seemingly helped in the enrollment of international students in the Canadian universities.</p>

<p> The purpose of this thesis project was to partner with a host agency, identify a potential funding source, and write a grant proposal for an educational support program for youth in foster care. A literature review was conducted in order to identify the educational needs and barriers to success faced by youth in care and identify methods to address this issue. A program was designed that utilizes individualized strategic tutoring and mentoring services to address the educational, social, and emotional needs of youth and facilitates collaborations between the education and child welfare systems to improve the educational outcomes of this population. A grant proposal narrative was completed for the Stuart Foundation in order to fund this program for secondary school students in foster care in the Garden Grove Unified School District. The actual submission or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

The purpose of this study was to compare differences in perceptions of officials and personnel of educational agencies according to the following criteria: geographic region; corporation size; and frequency of participation.This study was designed to assess perceptions regarding: needs assessment; evaluation; dissemination; innovation; cooperation; decision-making; released time; diffusion; interpersonal relationships; status of education; community relationships; post-graduate education; reading of officials; and class size.The respondents included: board presidents; superintendents; central office administrators; principals; and teachers.Data processing consisted of determining percentages of respondents selecting potential choices on a thirty-nine item questionnaire. Items were analyzed according to region, agency size, and frequency of participation.Prior assessments resulted in conflicting findings. The literature, before August, 1973, failed to confirm or refute the value of sampled programs.Data indicate the respondents have not made use of assessment instruments to define appropriateness of content included in curricula.Data indicate the problems inherent in evaluation are not viewed as a deterrent to effective evaluation.Data indicate that innovative educational practices have not received extensive coverage by newspapers.Data indicate that among respondents an inverse relationship exists between an individuals position in the educational hierarchy and direct communication about innovation. Data also indicate that professional personnel made more positive statements concerning innovation in 1973 and 1967. Data reveal the amount of independent study and number of instructional areas allowing independent study has increased since 1967.Data indicate that cooperative efforts by staff to improve the quality of education offered to students has increased since 1967.Data show that more decisions concerning innovation were made by professional personnel, below the rank of superintendent, in 1973 than 1967. Data reveal that cognitive and affective objectives are formulated one year or less in advance of utilization.Data indicate that most school governing bodies have not increased the number of days of released time provided for the improvement of instruction. Data show the availability of materials and equipment has become an important factor in improvement of instruction.Data indicate that assistance offered to students by teachers for the development of effective study and work habits has increased since 1967.Data indicate that assistance provided for the improvement of instruction has increased since 1967.Data show the diffusion of information about participation was unsuccessful in most school districts.Data reveal that the quality of college preparatory and vocational curricula has increased since 1967. Data indicate the number of educational options available to students has increased since 1967.Data indicate the acceptance of innovation has increased since 1967, but acceptance is reduced by increased levels of responsibility. Data reveal the conviction among teachers that pupils interfering with learning opportunities of other students should be excluded from school, has increased since 1967. Data show the treatment of students as responsible individuals by professional staff has increased since 1967.Data indicate the amount of time spent dealing with contemporary issues has increased since 1967. Data show that an education received in an authoritarian school system is the best preparation for citizenship in a democratic society has decreased since 1967.Data indicate the amount of observable evidence, of cooperation between administrators and school patrons for the improvement of education offered students, has increased since 1967. Data show the amount of observable evidence, of cooperation between teachers and school patrons, has increased since 1967.Data indicate the amount of financial incentives, offered to professional personnel to encourage additional graduate study, has not increased since 1967.Data show the reading of professional literature has increased since 1967.Data reveal that no consistent relationship exists between the frequency of participation and the patterns of responses by individuals participating in this study.

This thesis is entitled The Mediation of Market-Related Policies for the Provision of Public Second Level Education: An International Comparative Study of Selected Locations in England, Ireland and the USA. The two key words in this thesis title are 'mediation' and 'comparative'. The focus of this thesis is on the phenomenon of mediation. The market-related policies that are being examined in the light of mediation are choice policies or open enrolment policies for the provision of second level public schooling. However, this is not a thesis about school choice but rather on the factors and stakeholders that affect the mediation of a policy. As the focus is on mediation, and not on policy analysis, this study is therefore, of necessity, a qualitative one. The researcher used semi-structured interviews, combined with documentary evidence, to understand both the contexts and the interactions in which mediation of various kinds takes place. The second notable feature is that this study is a comparative one. The researcher chose three countries where market related policies were being implemented, albeit to different effect. The countries chosen were England, Ireland and the USA (Massachusetts). The comparative dimension enabled the researcher to challenge ethnocentric assumptions about the modus operandi of policy at the grass- roots level. In order to understand the operation of the market, the researcher selected comparable locations in all three countries. As 'markets' are intrinsically local, the researcher examined how policy is mediated at the local level. The three conurbations were selected on the basis of their comparability, none of which are capital cities. Research was conducted in all three locations in three separate phases: pre-pilot to ascertain their suitability; pilot work to prepare the groundwork and then the main study. In all, over sixty interviews were held at local, regional and national levels, although the focus was primarily on the local. Documentary sources were collected simultaneously. The analysis of the data was ongoing during the entire research process and progress was presented at conferences in the host research countries where useful feedback was obtained. The researcher used Bereday's comparative methodology and, by taking a factor approach, insights were gained into the cultures and contexts affecting the mediation of policy. The researcher hopes to add to comparative methodological theory through the use of multiple cross-national studies. The insights gained from the research questions: how, if at all, do the factors and stakeholders identified affect the mediation of policy, confirmed that this was indeed an area worthy of study. The outcomes, displayed in matrices in chapters 8 and 9, show that different combinations of factors affect how policies are mediated by the stakeholders and indirect factors involved in the immediate implementation of open enrolment policy. The cases also yielded idiosyncratic variants based on their particular educational histories and current circumstances. However, similar features were noted in all three countries in relation to enrolment issues. In brief, these were: increased political interaction at the local level; demographic changes on the rolls of high schools; de facto social segregation; differential funding mechanisms relating to enrolment; and different attitudes to public education on the part of interest groups in each location; and the significance of regulated space. This area is ripe for research, and there is a call in the literature for more in-depth analyses on such social interactions at the local level that affect different policy outcomes. It is hoped that this study will contribute to understanding the factors at work, both direct and indirect, which mediate policy in such a way that explain the potentially different outcomes of similar policies.

In 2009 the Texas legislature created the National Research University Fund (NRUF), intended to encourage a select group of public doctoral universities in the state, known as emerging research universities (ERUs), to increase their institutional status related to academic research by awarding supplemental financial support for meeting specific policy metrics. Efforts to increase the research status of these universities occurred at a time when public financial support remained stagnate and overall institutional costs increased within the higher education sector. This study utilizes a theoretical approach grounded in strategic action fields and employs panel data and a difference in differences statistical technique to analyze the impact that NRUF policy has in assisting ERUs in achieving R1 status, and how this organizational change impacted access to, and the quality of, undergraduate education. Results indicate that the NRUF policy intervention was not statistically significant for any part of the study. These findings suggest that policy interventions do not matter as much as specific institutional characteristics and the overall policy environment. Enrollment and tuition revenue predicted institutional performance related to academic research and graduate education, while also assisting these institutions in maintaining undergraduate academic quality and access. These cultural and material resources at the institutional level matter, as does how the overall state field prioritizes various aspects of higher education. Given the amount of resources required of the policy, and the general lack of evidence of its positive or negative effects, these indicate that those resources would be more wisely targeted elsewhere.

M.Ed. / Since the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, there has been significant change and development in all spheres of our lives. Democracy and the implementation of a new Constitution have brought about changes, even in the education system. The democratic system of education is characterised by the new Act that is, the South African Schools Act (SASA) No. 84 of 1996 (RSA, 1996b). This Act acknowledges the importance of parents as stakeholders in the school governing bodies (SGBs). It also outlines the other important responsibilities of school governing bodies such as taking the responsibility of managing school funds. Section 36 of the South African Schools Act (RSA,1996b) states that “… a governing body of a public school must take all reasonable measures within its means to supplement the resources supplied by the state in order to improve the quality of education provided by the school to all learners at the school.” It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that schools are fully resourced, be it financial, human or physical resources. There is a perception amongst educators and other stakeholders such as parents that resources allocated by the state are inadequate. If the state funds schools fully, more children will receive quality education as the new funding method or formula is applied. Fundraising is necessary to supplement the resources allocated by the state. The lack of funds in disadvantaged communities is the cause of schools being ineffective institutions of teaching and learning. The aim of this research study was to explore the role of the SGB in managing fundraising for public primary schools in disadvantaged communities. This was undertaken in order to formulate guidelines for SGBs to effectively manage fundraising. A qualitative research design that was explorative, descriptive and contextual was employed. The researcher conducted focus group interviews in order to collect data. The data collected was analysed and interpreted and various themes and categories were identified. Quotations from the prescribed interviews were given to substantiate the themes and categories identified through data analysis. According to the literature review and responses from focus group interviews, it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that schools are fully resourced. However, this is not possible and it is for this reason that school governing bodies must supplement funds through fundraising. Since this research study was limited to Tembisa West in Ekurhuleni District (D6) one of the recommendations made by the researcher is that further research should be undertaken on managing fundraising in all Gauteng Province public primary schools. Future research studies on this phenomenon must be broader with special emphasis on the experiences and perceptions of SGBs in disadvantaged communities in the Gauteng Province. / Prof. R. Mestry

M. Ed. (Educational Management) / Schooling in South Africa has been influenced to a large extent by socio-economic and political factors which resulted in a wide variety of schooling systems with vastly differing frameworks and standards. This coupled with the high failure rate of South African students in the 1995 matriculation examination as reported in The Star reflects the need to critically examine the effectiveness of the teaching programme (Swart and Mothibeli, 1995: 1). The Provincialisation of Education in South Africa has introduced far reaching changes which is aimed at improving the quality of Education and also at achieving cost efficient and effective use of educational resources. In a series of articles carried in The Star, increasing educational budget, introducing a single matric examination, introducing practical curricula and implementing teacher upgrading programmes were cited as some of the priorities of the new education department (Anon, 1995: 5). - While the South African Education system undergoes radical changes the question concerning educational productivity and school finance continues internationally. Odden and Clune (1995: 6) stated that although the budgetary provisions for schools in the United States for the period 1960 to 1990 rose by 200% there was only a slight improvement in student achievement. Many significant studies have been conducted in the past few years on school development and on school improvement but views on teacher effectiveness still remain illusive (Dalin, 1994:10). In some instances it is related to occupational roles while for others it is focused on routine aspects of work activity...