Problem Despite the surge of interest in economic education in the elementary school in the last two decades, there have been very few attempts to assess the ability of young children to learn economic concepts. In the primary grades, this problem is compounded by the difficulty of measuring knowledge in six and seven year old children. Objectives The primary objective of this dissertation was to determine whether first-grade children can learn the basic concepts in Our Working World: Families at Work. Since instruments suitable for assessing achievement on Families at Work were not available when this study was initiated, a secondary objective was to develop adequate achievement tests. Procedures Four Primary Economics Tests for Grade One (PET-1 ) were developed: The YES-NO, Matched-Pairs, All-NO, and Picture tests. These four tests were compared for reliability and validity. Reliability of the Matched-Pairs, All-NO, and Picture tests was adequate for the major purposes of this study, such as comparing group means. However, the Picture test lacked content validity 1n the sense that it was not comprehensive--it sampled only a few of the major concepts in Families at Work . And the All-NO test confounded acquiescence-set with knowledge of the content of Families at Work. It was concluded that the Matched-Pairs test had adequate reliability and validity for studies such as this one. To determine if elementary students could learn the concepts in Families at Work, control and experimental groups of children were selected from one urban, one rural, and two suburban areas of northern Utah. An experimental group of children was also tested in Elkhart, Indiana--where Our Working World: Families at Work was developed under the direction of Lawrence Senesh. Children were given the PET-1 tests and a test of mental ability. In comparing PET-1 means, analysis of covariance was used to adjust for differences in mental ability between control and experimental groups. Chi-square was used in item analyses to determine whether the first-grade children learned individual concepts 1n Families at Work. Conclusions The investigations of pupil learning led to five conclusions: 1. There were general indications that first-grade children can learn the content of Families at Work. In each of four studies--two which were central to this dissertation--PET-1 means for the experimental groups were significantly larger than the .01 level than for the control groups. 2. There were no major concepts in Families at Work which first-grade children did not learn. Each concept was learned by some students at at least a simple level of abstractness and complexity. 3. Families at Work was not too easy for bright first-grade children. Even very intelligent children failed to demonstrate complete mastery of the major concepts in Families at Work. No student obtained a perfect or near-perfect PET-1 score. 4. Families at Work was not too difficult for slow students. Slow students demonstrated that they learned some of the content of Families at Work. Those students in the experimental groups who were at least six months below grade-level obtained significantly (.01 level) higher PET-1 scores than did similar students in the control groups. 5. Special training or experience does not seem to be necessary in order for teachers to adequately instruct fist-grade children in the content of Families at Work. PET-1 means for students in Elkhart, Indiana did not differ at the .05 level of significance from PET-2 means for the other experimental groups.

Catholic education is at a crossroads in the United States, as rising tuition costs present significant challenges to many families’ financial resources. At the very least, affording a Catholic education calls for a reprioritization of expenses. However, in many cases, high tuition costs leave parents with no recourse but to remove their children from Catholic schools. As costs and tuition climb, only those with significant financial resources will be able to attend Catholic schools. Hence, maintaining the foundational mission of Catholic education, namely to provide access to education for the poor and oppressed, threatens to become impossible due to the inadequate revenue from tuition-dependant financial models used by Catholic school administrations. Thus, Catholic schools need a critical rethinking of their financial model in order to make Catholic education accessible to all. In order to address the financial crisis in Catholic education, it is first important to understand the various forces that influence the funding of Catholic schools. This study addresses this need by asking the question: “What are the current financial models of Catholic education?” Based on a review of the current literature, and including data from a survey of current Catholic diocesan superintendents, this study defines the current financial models used in contemporary Catholic schools in the U.S. by asking the following questions: What are the parameters or conditions of the model? Who are the beneficiaries of the model? What is the social goal or purpose of the model? What is the strength of the model? What are the weaknesses of the model? Through a summary of the survey findings, recommendations begin to emerge that are presented in the following three categories: (a) a need for a purposeful, strategic, comprehensive intentionality in the application of the various financial models available, (b) a need to reframe the leadership model for financing Catholic schools, and (c) a need to review and update the current decentralized model in Catholic education.

With the emphasis on high standards and fiscal accountability, there is a heightened need to inform the research linking student achievement to the allocation of resources. This mixed methods inquiry sought to study how schools utilized Title 1 and Title 1 stimulus funding from 2009-2011 to determine if correlations existed between areas of resource utilization and student achievement by studying both the use of funding and the processes that fifteen elementary and middle Title 1 schools in southern California utilized. The focus was to document resource use of Title 1 and Title 1 stimulus allocations and determine if a correlation existed between expenditures and improved student achievement (quantitative) and to discover themes that existed in student achievement improvement, especially including factors that affect the decision making process at the school (qualitative). Findings suggested that expenditures for professional development and programs for at-risk students played a key role in student achievement growth. The leadership of the school principal was also an indicator of student achievement growth. The use of Title 1 monies, including the increase in Title 1 stimulus monies, were beneficial to schools and positively contributed to the increase in student achievement. Overall, money, when spent well, led to improved student achievement.

Some explanation is necessary of the method of procedure in compiling material for this thesis. The first step was really taken seven years ago. At that time the writer interviewed state officials at Sacramento, California, in the hope of obtaining state aid for educational finance in the Tule Lake section of the Klamath Irrigation Project. The Governor, the department of education, and the finance department were all consulted, but no legal way was discovered of using state money for the erection of school buildings in the district mentioned. Some county money was available for payment of teachers’ salary, but none for building purposes. Chapter V will relate in some detail how that particular problem was solved. The main study began in the fall of 1934 and was carried on up to mid-summer, 1935, Letters of inquiry were sent to all states that had or still have homestead lands. These letters contained a statement of the financial problem peculiar to homestead areas during the period of “proving up” on homestead entries. They requested information as to whether any study of similar nature had ever been completed in the United States. They also requested a list of sources of information. Without exception, replies to these letters indicated that no such study had been made. While some replies contained suggestions as to sources of information, none gave any direct solution to the problem, or pointed to any source that did. These letters of inquiry were sent to state departments of education, to state universities, to historical societies, to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and Office of Education, and to individuals noted as specialists in school finance. WHile awaiting these letters, the writer searched general histories, stories of pioneering in the West, histories of education, and periodicals of magazine articles relating to homesteads. In this research the librarians of the College of the Pacific and of the State Library at Sacramento gave all the assistance possible. At no time, however, during the whole years’ study did the writer obtain any information dealing absolutely and directly with the problem at hand. It seemed best, therefore, to obtain as accurately as possible a general picture of methods of financing education in homestead states during those periods most likely to have been affected by lack of finances for a building program. IN addition to this general study, a specific study was made of homestead areas now going through those five difficult years. This was done by means of personal visitation, by assistance of pamphlets and letters from superintendents of irrigation projects, and from educators now struggling with the perplexing difficulties of financing education in homestead areas. It was from these school men and from the writer’s own experience that information was received dealing directly with this special problem. The writer regrets that he could not visit the great homestead states east of the Rockies to obtain first hand a more direct knowledge of how the problem was handled there forty to sixty years ago. It is likely that pioneers still living could tell how the problem was solved, or was not solved, as the case might be. Also private letters, school minutes preserved, and similar unpublished documents might give valuable information. It is to be hoped that this research may be made and the material found summarized before available sources have passed out of existence.

The thesis investigates the effects of industrial automation on post-secondary education enrollment. To assess the effects, we build linear regression models to estimate the impact of the surge in the stock of industrial robots on post-secondary enrollment across 50 U.S. states and 41 countries. Drawing upon these estimates and the literature documenting the structural shift in the labor market, we find that recent developments in the fields of automation and robotics have contributed to a shift in demand for post-secondary education, with panel data models that control for both country and time fixed unobservables indicating a significant decline in enrollment for 4-year degree programs internationally.

<p>Education has become increasingly important in today’s society. In the three essays of this dissertation, I analyze the impacts of government education policies on elementary and high school students in Ontario.</p> <p>The first two essays measure the costs and benefits of programs that allow students to choose from a wider range of high schools. Theoretically, increased choice could benefit students since schools might compete for students by improving their productivity. The third essay of this dissertation, coauthored with Jean Eid and Christine Neill, examines the impacts on students of a switch from half-day to full-day kindergarten.</p> <p>In the first essay (Chapter 2), I document that students living in areas with more choice are more likely to apply to university. These outcomes seem to be due to competition between Public and Catholic school boards. I find that students attending public schools are more likely to apply to university when they are surrounded by more Catholic schools (and vice versa).</p> <p>In Chapter 3, I examine a potentially negative outcome of increased choice. I find that it is the brightest students (as measured by their standardized test scores) who are the most likely to take up the choice and opt in to a different school. These bright students move to what are perceived to be the better schools, leaving behind weaker students at poorer schools. If peer effects are important, this has the potential to be harmful for weaker students.</p> <p>In Chapter 4, my coauthors and I measure the impact of full-day kindergarten on standardized test scores once the students are in grades 3 and 6. We find that this universal program had no effect on the overall likelihood that a student passes these standard tests; however, we do observe some small improvements for students living in low-income and low-education neighbourhoods.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was first passed in 1965 and has since been reauthorized several times, including as No Child Left Behind in 2001 and the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. The ESEA seeks to address the needs of low-income students; however, decades of reform efforts and government reports documenting inequality have done little to close gaps in educational resources or outcomes for marginalized groups. Accountability systems based on standardized testing are seen by policymakers on the Left and Right as the best way to improve education for marginalized groups, improve students’ economic preparedness, hold schools accountable for the funds they spend, and maintain an objective meritocracy. This paper argues that testing is a flawed tool to achieve the goal of education equality as accountability systems rely on flawed assumptions influenced by conservative and neoliberal economic ideologies.

The financial provisions of the HE Act (2004) were intended to introduce market forces into the relationship between higher education institutions in England and their full-time Home/EU undergraduates. The policies that underpinned that legislation were established by Parliamentarians during a period of intense public and political debate which accompanied the passage of the Act and now, as suppliers in a nascent quasi-market, universities are de facto responsible for their delivery. With that market beginning to stabilise, this research compares those political objectives with observed outcomes of the introduction of the Act. Primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with key decision-makers in six sample universities – chosen to reflect both the spread of institutions in the sector and the range of pricing policies in operation – and with those involved nationally in shaping the legislation. From this material, supported by secondary quantitative and qualitative evidence, university pricing strategies are considered, in the context of theories of marketing and of higher education management, to provide an understanding of how institutions have structured their financial offerings with the aim of targeting specific markets for applicants. Data from the sample institutions is then used to build a profile of the quasi-market that the suppliers within it are generating. Even though members of the sample have taken diverse approaches to price-setting, there are some clear consistencies that typify this emerging national market: prices are set through adjustments to bursaries, not fees; and complex financial offerings have created barriers to effective communication. Furthermore, as institutional managers analyse the effects of their own pricing strategies locally, they are observing these trends and thus, where any changes are being made, these tend towards simplification of bursary schemes and hence increasing homogeneity across the sector. However, with the (index-linked) £3000 cap which currently applies to fees, it is increasingly apparent that the current quasi-market for full-time Home/EU undergraduates at English universities has not reached its price-sensitivity point and hence, this research argues, the market is not operating fully. Therefore, while this study offers an understanding of motivations behind current institutional actions and the nature of the resulting quasi-market, it also explains why it is not feasible to extrapolate from this information to forecast how the market might work were regulatory parameters to be changed significantly.

Questa tesi è una raccolta di due capitoli che indagano due temi distinti di ricerca in economia del lavoro e dell'istruzione. Nel primo capitolo, si studiano gli effetti causali di una nuova politica di ammissione selettiva introdotta presso il Dipartimento di Economia di una importante università private situata nel nord d'Italia. Si trovano significativi miglioramenti nei risultati accademici degli studenti del primo anno che sono esposti alla nuova politica di ammissione in termini di una riduzione del tasso di abbandono scolastico e di un aumento dei crediti compiuti. Nel secondo capitolo di questa tesi, da un'altra parte, si fornisce un'evidenza recente sulla struttura dinamica e di autocovarianza del reddito di lavoro maschile italiano e si caratterizzano gli shock sul reddito del lavoro per tutto il ciclo di vita sfruttando dei dati amministrativa di grande scala provenienti dagli archivi dell'INPS. Osserviamo un aumento sostanziale della varianza del reddito degli individui di età compresa tra 50 e 60 anni. Tali risultati suggeriscono che questo aumento della varianza è guidato dall'aumento della varianza sia del componente transitorio che permanente della disuguaglianza di reddito. Tuttavia, l'accelerazione per gli individui sopra i 50 anni è causato dalla fluttuazione della varianza dei shock transitori. / This thesis is a collection of two chapters that investigate two different research topics in labor and education economics. In the first chapter, we study the causal effects of a new selective admission policy introduced in the Department of Economics at a leading private university located in the North of Italy. We find significant improvements in the academic outcomes of first year students who are exposed to this new admission policy in terms of reduction in the drop-out rate and increase in the average credits. In the second chapter of this thesis, on the other hand, we provide up-to-date evidence on the dynamic and autocovariance structures of Italian males' labor income and characterize labor income shocks over the life-cycle by exploiting a large-scale administrative data from the archives of Italian Social Security Administration (INPS). We observe a substantial increase in the variance of log-incomes of individuals between the ages of 50 and 60. Our results suggest that the latter increase in the variance is driven by the increases in the variances of both transitory and permanent components of income inequality. However, the accelerating pattern after age 50 is caused by the fluctuations in the variance of transitory shocks.

The education system in Oman underwent tremendous development during the past four decades, however, the national economy dependency on oil threatens the sustainability of its education funding. This study aims to explore the relationship between education funding and oil price fluctuations in Qatar, U.A.E., and Oman from 1975 to 2015. Moreover, it aims to suggest new economic alternatives to diversify the education funding sources in Oman. This quantitative study, under the framework of Human Capital Theory, utilized descriptive and associational approaches to study the association between oil prices and education expenditures in the three countries. Multiple regression analyses showed that oil prices significantly predicted the government expenditure on education in Oman and Qatar with (β = -0.40, p = 0.013) and (β = 2.47, p = 0.02) respectively, while it was not significant in predicting the government expenditure on education (β = 0.36, p = 0.40) in the U.A.E. This study highlighted how Qatar and U.A.E were successful in moving away from oil dependency. The researcher recommended that the Omani government must encourage the inflow of direct foreign investment into its education field, like establishment of new education hubs, educational cities, and opening new branches for some of the leading educational institutions from around the world. The researcher plans to conduct future qualitative research to enrich knowledge in this area.