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<p>The Increased Flexibility for Local School Systems Act (O.C.G.A. &sect;&sect; 20-2-80-84) compels traditional Georgia public school leadership to make a choice whether to operate under a vertical hierarchical operational system compelled to adhere to all Georgia laws, rules and regulations created by state level policy makers or to increase the level of accountability in exchange for autonomy in the form of a horizontal partnership operational system as a contract or charter system. It will be important for education policymakers in these systems to have a clear understanding of the essential elements of the transition process to guide their decisions to best meet the needs of the students. </p><p> The researcher employed a three-round Delphi study to describe the elements that were part of the process of transitioning to a charter system or an IE² contract system. The researcher gathered data from a panel of 11 experts, who were directly involved in their school system's transition. The data analysis revealed 89 elements that were rated by at least 80% of the panelists, as important or essential to the transition process. </p>

<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students do not have the same experiences at school as their heterosexual and cisgender classmates. Whether the climate is characterized as less welcoming or hostile, either way it leads to disparate outcomes in the form of lower GPA (Aragon, Poteat, Espelage, &amp; Koenig, 2014), decreased likelihood of post-high-school education (Bart, 1998), and threats to both emotional (Kann et al., 2011; Saewyc, Konishi, Rose, &amp; Homma, 2014) and physical (Hatzenbuehler, Bellatorre, et al., 2014) well-being. This study began with a quantitative study of the climate, as reported by LGBT students, at 9 Southern California high schools. Survey data were analyzed using a t-test and an ANOVA to determine if there was a difference in school climate based on 2 independent variables: (a) implementation of the FAIR Act, requiring, among other things, positive representations of LGBT people in social science classes, and (b) the presence of out LGBT staff members. No statistically significant difference was found for these variables. Data were also analyzed using a multiple regression to determine whether any component of school climate served as a predictor of students&rsquo; positive affect. Here, a connection was found: students exhibiting self-protective behavior, like skipping class or avoiding restrooms and locker rooms, have a lower ratio of positive to negative emotions. In the second phase of the study, school staff were interviewed. As they shared their interpretation of the quantitative results and their efforts to improve school climate, a unifying idea emerged: school climate can improve over time with consistent, deliberate effort from the entire school community.</p>

<p>Empirical studies of education programs and systems, by nature, rely upon use of student outcomes that are measurable. Often, these come in the form of test scores. However, in light of growing evidence about the long-run importance of other student skills and behaviors, the time has come for a broader approach to evaluating education. This dissertation undertakes experimental, quasi-experimental, and descriptive analyses to examine social, behavioral, and health-related mechanisms of the educational process. My overarching research question is simply, which inside- and outside-the-classroom features of schools and educational interventions are most beneficial to students in the long term? Furthermore, how can we apply this evidence toward informing policy that could effectively reduce stark social, educational, and economic inequalities?</p><p>The first study of three assesses mechanisms by which the Fast Track project, a randomized intervention in the early 1990s for high-risk children in four communities (Durham, NC; Nashville, TN; rural PA; and Seattle, WA), reduced delinquency, arrests, and health and mental health service utilization in adolescence through young adulthood (ages 12-20). A decomposition of treatment effects indicates that about a third of Fast Track’s impact on later crime outcomes can be accounted for by improvements in social and self-regulation skills during childhood (ages 6-11), such as prosocial behavior, emotion regulation and problem solving. These skills proved less valuable for the prevention of mental and physical health problems.</p><p>The second study contributes new evidence on how non-instructional investments – such as increased spending on school social workers, guidance counselors, and health services – affect multiple aspects of student performance and well-being. Merging several administrative data sources spanning the 1996-2013 school years in North Carolina, I use an instrumental variables approach to estimate the extent to which local expenditure shifts affect students’ academic and behavioral outcomes. My findings indicate that exogenous increases in spending on non-instructional services not only reduce student absenteeism and disciplinary problems (important predictors of long-term outcomes) but also significantly raise student achievement, in similar magnitude to corresponding increases in instructional spending. Furthermore, subgroup analyses suggest that investments in student support personnel such as social workers, health services, and guidance counselors, in schools with concentrated low-income student populations could go a long way toward closing socioeconomic achievement gaps.</p><p>The third study examines individual pathways that lead to high school graduation or dropout. It employs a variety of machine learning techniques, including decision trees, random forests with bagging and boosting, and support vector machines, to predict student dropout using longitudinal administrative data from North Carolina. I consider a large set of predictor measures from grades three through eight including academic achievement, behavioral indicators, and background characteristics. My findings indicate that the most important predictors include eighth grade absences, math scores, and age-for-grade as well as early reading scores. Support vector classification (with a high cost parameter and low gamma parameter) predicts high school dropout with the highest overall validity in the testing dataset at 90.1 percent followed by decision trees with boosting and interaction terms at 89.5 percent.</p> / Dissertation

<p> Two coinciding trends in education have given rise to this study: the political cycle of school reform and the heterogeneous nature of the charter school landscape. Since Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter law in 1991, the dramatic increase in the number of charter schools has provided opportunities for researchers to try to categorize the success of charter schools. Although the number of charter schools have almost doubled from 3,689 to 6,004 from 2005-2006 to 2012-2013, an average of approximately 500 charters have opened and more than 160 charter schools have closed per year during these eight years of the available data. However, students who attend charter schools do not have a monolithic educational experience. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of students and parents in relation to enrolling in a specific brick and mortar and several cyber charter schools, and if applicable, leaving said schools. </p><p> This qualitative study explores the lived experiences of students and parents who reside in a rural public school district and chose to attend a cyber charter or brick and mortar charter school. Survey responses and information gathered from interviews of students and their parents/guardians were analyzed to illuminate the research questions. While the results will not be generalizable, this study has led to an understanding of what led these students to enroll in charter schools and if applicable, why they chose to leave. More specifically, three themes emerged from the data: (1) Family members, primarily mothers, significantly impacted students&rsquo; decisions to employ choice to enroll in charters; (2) The lack of extra-curricular activities in charters had a substantially negative impact on students&rsquo; experiences and (3) Educational quality was the foremost characteristic named in the determination to transfer out of a charter school. While there has been research on charter schools separate from studies on perceptions of school age children with respect to education programming, this examination indicates the need to unite charter research and student voice aspects within the realm of educational research. </p>

<p> According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2014), 74 percent of Wisconsin&rsquo;s teachers are women, while only 26 percent of Wisconsin&rsquo;s superintendents are women indicating a significant disparity among the educational ranks. Studies have claimed that women are obtaining their superintendent credentials at the same rate as men, yet in the state of Wisconsin, women account for a mere 22 percent of licensed candidates. Much of the previous literature identifies this problem and rationalizes it with the gender biases that have plagued women for centuries. </p><p> This study went beyond that and focused on women in the 26 percent who have overcome barriers and obstacles to their advancement and how they have managed to balance their work and family. This study was a narrative analysis of the personal and professional histories of female superintendents with children. Using qualitative methods through personal interviews of four women, this study addresses the need for role models for work-family balance for mothers who wish to pursue the superintendency. Probing questions were asked to identify what balance means for these women, how they balance their work and family, and what commonalities these women share in their personal and professional lives that relate to their career trajectories. </p><p> Catherine Hakim&rsquo;s Preference Theory was used to identify how these women characterize themselves as <i>home-centered, adaptive,</i> or <i>work-centered.</i> This theory was then applied to these women using the data obtained through their interviews in order to identify commonalities and themes among them as they relate to work-family balance. </p><p> This study did not dismiss the biases and perceptions of women leaders, but instead focused on how these women navigated these perceptions, and to inherently see the light at the end of the tunnel. This study confirmed that women have a choice in their career decisions, that balance is different for each woman and that stages of career and family play an impactful role in what balance looks like. Finally, this study identifies traits found to be common among the participants that have helped them to find their balance and describe what balance looks like for women superintendents.</p>

<p> With an increased focus on global competition, many educators and policymakers relied on international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to evaluate the ability of their education system to prepare students for the global economy. Students in the United States continued to demonstrate disappointing results on the PISA, which led to an outcry by American educators and policymakers and a call for reform. To lessen the achievement gap between the United States and other countries, experts suggested the importance of identifying the characteristics of high performing countries and adapting effective policies to fit the needs of the United States. </p><p> The current study sought to provide a research-based foundation for school reform in the United States by initially seeking relationships between research-based factors of school working conditions and learning environments (initial teacher education and professional development; teacher appraisal and feedback; school climate; school leadership; and teachers&rsquo; instructional beliefs and pedagogical practices) from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and student achievement. Then, where relationships occurred, the researcher ascertained the extent of differences within those factors between the United States and the top five, middle five, and lowest five performing countries that participated in both the 2012 PISA and 2013 TALIS. </p><p> The analysis of the data revealed several relationships among factors of school working conditions and learning environments and student achievement. The results also indicated several differences within these factors between the United States and the selected countries. Based on these results the researcher offered several recommendations to educators and policymakers in the United States, such as providing teachers with the time and skill to offer each other meaningful feedback, completing further research on the efficacy of utilizing student performance data in evaluation frameworks, allowing teachers more meaningful opportunities to reflect and collaborate in order to foster common beliefs about teaching and learning, and providing additional training to teachers in the United States on the appropriate and effective use of assessment strategies.</p>

<p>Abstract Using concepts from cognitive science, this dissertation explored changes in perception among Montessori education leaders and traditional education leaders. Although Montessori education programs have grown as an option in the public school sector, their unique features in mainstream environments have brought to the fore serious challenges in understanding and communication between decision makers at the institutional level of public education and among Montessori academies. Nationally, Montessori education entities have fostered a strong momentum for improvement at the state policy level. However in some states, including California, differing perceptions still hinder inclusive decision making, resulting in lack of teacher credential recognition, denial of eligibility and funding. My study implemented a communication intervention through which an iterative conversation between both sides aimed to address perceptions and language and provide shared understandings. Using the challenge between Montessori and traditional public education and framed under the cognitive theories of mental models, framing, schemas, metaphors and embodiment, this intervention addressed whether perceptions can begin to shift when one is more fully informed at a deeper cognitive level. Incorporating a workshop intervention involving several modalities, my findings suggested a shift in perception which seemed to persist over time. The effects in shifting actors? perceptions of Montessori education were statistically significant and modest in terms of magnitude. I also found a weaker perceptual shift among traditional educators in California compared with peers in other states. I obtained specific suggestions for future iterations of kinesthetic learning, along with how to best share perspectives between Montessori and traditional leaders, along with possible collaborations between these pedagogies.

<p> The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to determine if mandatory Advanced Placement courses improve reading comprehension scores for students; especially Hispanic students. Not only is a minority student achievement gap prevalent in American education, but also a minority opportunity gap is present for students in Advanced Placement courses. The literature review detailed educational reform in the United States to include the rise and expansion of the Advanced Placement Program via the College Board. The benefits and drawbacks of Advanced Placement were emphasized as well as obstacles minority students face in participating in advanced courses. The results from the archival student reading achievement on the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program between sophomore students in two rural, Colorado high schools exposed two certainties; the achievement gap remains and mandatory Advanced Placement participation does not positively affect reading achievement. In the 2013 and 2014 school years, uncommon p-values were identified rejecting the null hypothesis. The ANOVA test for interaction produced a p-value of .438 pointing to an uncommon result, and the t-test produced p-values of 1.00 and .996 which are higher than the alpha of .05, and thus the null was rejected. There is no significant effect between Advanced Placement participation and increased reading achievement scores. Furthermore, this study confirmed the school that did not mandate Advanced Placement courses outperformed the mandatory Advanced Placement school on the state reading examination. More research on this topic is necessary. Longitudinal studies of these student populations may determine if the results may be generalized to larger populations. Among the most significant findings from this study are the importance of teacher preparation and leadership in identifying, recruiting, and enrolling minority students in to Advanced Placement and honors programs with greater consistency. </p>

<p>This dissertation examines three unique, but related, research questions as three separate studies. In the first study, I examine the impact of accountability implementation on vertical equity of inputs. I compare changes in vertical equity at the time of NCLB implementation in states that had not previously implemented accountability policies?the treatment group?to states that had previously implemented NCLB-like policies?the control group. I find that the implementation of accountability policies did not improve vertical equity by distributing more resources to high poverty districts and potentially had a negative impact on vertical equity as low poverty districts potentially increased revenue and spending more than high poverty districts as a result of accountability implementation. In the second study, I examine the impact of an accountability policy change that identifies the bottom 5% of schools for corrective action. These schools, known as priority schools, must show increased performance within three years or face the threat of closure. I show that priority schools near the cutoff for determining priority status did not improve relative to those not receiving such designation, and in fact they performed increasingly worse in the three years subsequent to priority designation. In the third and final study, I investigate the impact of court-ordered education finance reform in New York State on equity of educational inputs. I find that equity of inputs in New York did not improve relative to states that did not undergo reform of their system of education funding. This indicates little to no impact of court-ordered education finance reform in New York. I also show that had the finance reform been implemented as intended, there would have been substantial improvements to both vertical and horizontal equity. Therefore, the lack of results seen in New York stems from a lack of follow through rather than a poorly designed plan for fixing equity of inputs.