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Thesis advisor: David Scanlon / Family member-educator collaboration is envisioned as the "cornerstone" of the educational decision-making process for students with disabilities (e.g., Harry, 2008; Olivos, Friend and Cook, 2007, Gallagher and Aguilar, 2010). In the case of immigrant and refugee families, however, the ideal of coequal collaboration is often elusive for a variety of reasons (e.g., language barriers, disparate ideas about what familial involvement should be in educational decisions) (e.g., Lo, 2012). This qualitative multiple case study design (Yin, 2009) relied on interviews with family members and educators as well as observations of IEP meetings to examine the educational decision-making process in the context of Somali-American families of boys with autism. Findings from the present study echo many conclusions of previous research in terms of factors that facilitate (e.g., thoughtfully designed IEP meetings, frequent family-educator communication) and impede (e.g., divergent beliefs about the cause and course of autism, language barriers) family-educator collaboration in special education decision-making. The results, meanwhile, extended and challenged other aspects of existing literature. Analysis revealed, for example, the each school has a unique institutional culture whose norms (e.g., norms of parent participation in school activities, from dances and races to PTA meetings and in-class volunteering) can profoundly influence the ways in which family members and educators interact and engage in educational decision-making. In addition, while existing literature emphasizes the importance of cultural sensitivity among special educators (e.g., Harry, 1992; Lo, 2013), the present study suggests that in some cases, over-emphasis on cultural sensitivity can cause educators to be overly deferential and reluctant to actively engage with family members, in turn, leading to diminished or inauthentic communication. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The need for higher skill levels in South Africa’s labour market warranted an investigation into why some learners from poor communities make the decision to leave high school at the end of Grade 9, whilst other learners continue to Grade 12 or tertiary education. This exploratory, longitudinal study investigated the Educational Decision Making (EDM) of 16 Grade 9, Coloured, male learners from poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town. This study identified the socio-economic factors that influenced participants’ EDM to consider leaving the school system at the end of Grade 9, or continue their education. The study applied Miles and Huberman’s (1994) approach to identify links between the socio-economic factors that influenced EDM, and to understand the learners’ educational context. These interactions were investigated using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Framework, comprising 5 traversing and Huberman’s (1994) approach to identify links between the socio-economic factors that influenced EDM, and to understand the learners’ educational context. These interactions were investigated using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Framework, comprising 5 traversing layers, namely, the micro-system, meso-system, exo-system, macro-system, and chronosystem (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan, 2009). This qualitative study drew on semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with learners in their Grade 9 year in 2015, and makes use of followup telephonic interviews (2016) and enrolment records (2017) to verify the findings. All learners made the decision to continue to Grade 12 or tertiary education. Examples of negative influences on EDM included socio-economic challenges presented by South Africa’s transition to democracy (Chrono-system), which impacted on other systems, including inadequate school facilities (exo-system), a family history of school dropout (mesosystem), and financial instability (micro-system). Examples of positive influences on EDM included financial stability in the household (mesosystem), and the resilience and agency of learners (microsystem).

This qualitative study addressed an intersection in which the application of the medical model to educational disabilities and its implications for educational labeling of students interacted with the professional enculturation of clinical social workers. Employed as clinicians in programs administered in a large south eastern school district in the United States, five social workers served elementary students labeled Emotionally/Behaviorally Disabled (EBD) through federally authorized provisions for special education related services. This study used grounded theory methods to discover and analyze the social workers' underlying assumptions, values, and patterns of practice with regard to ethical and guild issues, roles and responsibilities, and bases of knowledge. The study found that participants interpreted and applied a knowledge base grounded in the normative aspects of social work. Their preparation made it possible to compete for licensure (LCSW) and assume roles as professional helpers but did not provide all the tools they needed to carry out their work as clinicians with students in EBD programs. Secondly, it found that ambiguities regarding ethics, guild issues, and roles emerged with regard to acting as helping professionals in an integrated professional setting. Each practitioner exercised certain latitude to respond as needed to challenges which varied from site to site. Finally, the findings reflected how the clinicians have situated themselves in the face of the demands of documentation procedures and of participation in meetings endemic to special education.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of selected high school administrators and schoolteachers regarding the extent to which schoolteachers should be involved in making educational decisions in light of the recent educational reform initiatives in the State of Qatar. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews that centered on schools’ developmental and implemental decisions related to educational goals and policies, curriculum and instruction, schools’ administrative policies for teachers, and for students. Participants included 182 school administrators and 480 schoolteachers who completed the 40-item questionnaire while five school administrators and five schoolteachers participated in the interviews. Findings demonstrate that school administrators were more enthusiastic than schoolteachers about schoolteachers’ involvement in making decisions related to school’s educational goals and policies. School administrators and schoolteachers recorded some similar responses regarding schoolteachers’ involvement in decision-making in the area of curriculum and administrative policies for students but there were differences between schoolteachers and administrators in several areas related to administrative policies for teachers. Findings also indicate differences between the perspectives of male and female school administrators, male and female schoolteachers, and the citizen and expatriate schoolteachers. A number of recommendations are made that highlight the importance of considering schoolteachers’ involvement in any educational reform attempting to improve the decision-making process and the educational system.

The Rising Above the Gathering Storm report (National Academy of Sciences, 2007) emphasizes a need for improved science education in United States schools. Instruction, informed by assessment, has been repeatedly demonstrated to be effective for increasing students' performance. In particular, the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to assist with making screening decisions has been shown to increase the likeliness of students meeting meaningful outcomes. While CBM tools for assisting with making screening decisions in reading, mathematics, and written language have been well examined, tools for use in content areas (e.g., science and social studies) remain in the beginning stages of research. In this study, two alternate forms of a new CBM tool, Statement Verification for Science (SV-S), for assisting with making screening decisions regarding students' science content knowledge is examined for technical adequacy. A total of 1,545 students across Grades 7 (N = 799) and 8 (N = 746) completed Forms A and B of SV-S the week prior to, and within two weeks after, a statewide high-stakes test of accountability including Science, Reading, and Mathematics. Obtained data were used in order to examine internal consistency, test-retest with alternate forms reliability, and evidence of criterion- and construct-related validity. Promising results were found for reliability, in particular internal consistency, while results related to evidence of criterion- and construct-related validity were less than desired. Such results, along with additional exploratory analyses, provide support for future research of SV-S as a CBM tool to assist teachers and other educators with making screening decisions.

This dissertation seeks to investigate the nature and extent of community participation in health education decision making for Torres Strait Islander girls at one Queensland high school. As such, the study is concerned with identifying stakeholders in health education for girls, describing the ways in which stakeholders participate in health education decision-making, and identifying the factors that promote or inhibit community participation in health education decision-making. The question presupposes several standpoints: firstly, that Indigenous communities want to participate in education decision-making and, secondly, that community participation would be desirable in producing good outcomes for Indigenous students. Thus, the literature review is concerned with critiquing discourses of community participation in Indigenous education, the effects on educational outcomes of Indigenous students when community participation is enabled, and reviewing previous research on educational decision-making in health education in Australia. Given the necessity for emancipatory research methodology in Indigenous research contexts, a critical ethnographic case study approach was chosen to investigate the research questions at a high school in the Torres Strait; building a critical case record from field notes, interview data, and documents. Using Carspecken's (1996) stages of data analysis, primary records were reconstructed and dialogically negotiated with participants, to describe system relations. Such an approach allows for power and control relations between researchers and research participants to be explicated, giving voice to usually marginalised groups, such as Indigenous students. This approach was also congruent with specific Torres Strait Islander research protocols, informed by Ailan Kastom, which were necessary to sensitively and successfully undertake the research. Data analysis was informed by a framework of Indigenous community participation theory, derived from Soliman (1995), Heslop (1998 ), Ministerial Advisory Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education (1999) and Stewart (1999), together with curriculum theory, from Bernstein (1976; 1990; 2000). This approach constituted a unique adaptation of Bernstein's pedagogic discourse theory to a Torres Strait Islander educational setting. The findings indicated that there was strong desire by community members, including students, to participate in health education decision-making at Bluewater High. However, the ability of different stakeholder groups to participate in health education varied, with teachers exercising the most power, and students the least. An in-depth, contextual analysis, in which pedagogic decision-making occurred, enabled a number of immediate and long-term recommendations to be developed. It is envisaged that these recommendations will enable greater community participation in health education decision-making for girls at Bluewater High, and more generally in other Indigenous educational settings.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:03:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6494.pdf: 2732916 bytes, checksum: 8b89ab1573d81b8a1e05c28c75369bc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-04 / The use of new information and communication technologies in education that go beyond the traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS), has generated a growing volume of data, making challenging and complex the analysis of data generated to meet the decision-making levels of teaching, learning and management. Despite high expectations for data analysis in education, current research in the area is focused more specifically on student data, processes and learning behaviors, even when the focus of the research is to improve the teaching or actions at the institutional level. In order to facilitate and extend the process of data analysis in the areas of teaching, learning and management for different stakeholders, this thesis presents a conceptual model that will guide the construction of educational analytical context aware applications that support educational decision making in the micro, meso and macro levels. The conceptual model proposes the collection of educational data from multiple, heterogeneous sources in a decentralized manner using logical and physical sensors. The Model supports analysis of data collected at three levels: descriptive analysis, predictive analysis and prescriptive analysis. The conceptual model was established from an open architecture framework, extensible and reusable, which offers a simpler and unified path for both the acquisition of user behaviors in online learning, and the modeling and analysis of the collected contexts. To validate the proposed conceptual model, three applications were developed, namely: ViTrackeR, to support self-regulated learning by providing visualization of data tracking and personalized recommendations; ViMonitor to support real-time, teams of teaching and academic management providing important information on students and tutors; and ViAssess, which provides support for secure assessments online. The conceptual model was evaluated and validated in a real environment (students, tutors, teachers and administrators). The framework was rated by both developers of educational and analytical tools and by expert researchers in the field of this research, obtaining very positive results. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed conceptual model supports the development of educational applications in the three analytical levels of decision making, micro, meso and macro, and also supports the three levels of analysis provided: descriptive, predictive and prescriptive. / O uso de novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação na área educacional, que vão além dos tradicionais Sistemas Gerenciadores da Aprendizagem (SGA), tem gerado um volume crescente de dados, que torna desafiadoras e complexas as análises de dados gerados para atender a tomada de decisão nos níveis de ensino, aprendizagem e gestão. Apesar das altas expectativas sobre a análise de dados no campo educacional, pesquisas atuais na área estão focadas mais especificamente sobre dados de alunos, seus processos e comportamentos de aprendizagem, até mesmo quando o foco da pesquisa é melhorar o ensino ou as ações em nível institucional. De modo a facilitar e estender o processo de análise dos dados para as áreas de ensino, aprendizagem e gestão para diferentes partes interessadas, este trabalho apresenta um Modelo Conceitual que deverá guiar a construção de aplicações analíticas educacionais cientes de contexto que apoiam a tomada de decisões educacionais nos níveis micro, meso e macro. O Modelo Conceitual propõe a coleta de dados educacionais a partir de diversas e heterogêneas fontes e de maneira descentralizada usando sensores lógicos e físicos. O Modelo suporta análises dos dados coletados em três níveis: análise descritiva, análise preditiva e análise prescritiva. O Modelo Conceitual foi implementado a partir de uma arquitetura de framework aberta, extensível e reusável, que oferece um caminho mais simples e unificado para a aquisição de comportamentos de usuários em aprendizagem online, a modelagem dos contextos coletados e análises. Para validação do Modelo Conceitual proposto, foram desenvolvidas três aplicações, a saber: ViTrackeR, para apoio à aprendizagem autorregulada provendo visualização de dados de rastreamento e recomendações personalizadas; ViMonitor, para apoio, em tempo real, às equipes de ensino e de gestão acadêmica fornecendo informações importantes sobre estudantes e tutores; e ViAssess, que provê suporte à segurança para aplicação de avaliações online. O Modelo Conceitual foi avaliado e validado em um ambiente real (por estudantes, tutores, professores e gestores). O framework foi avaliado por desenvolvedores de ferramentas analíticas educacionais e por pesquisadores especialistas no domínio desta pesquisa, obtendo resultados muito positivos. Os resultados das avaliações indicam que o Modelo Conceitual proposto suporta o desenvolvimento de aplicações analíticas educacionais nos três níveis de decisão, micro, meso e macro, e também suporta os três níveis de análises previstos: descritiva, preditiva e prescritiva.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the leadership decision making process associated with pursuing innovative educational programs. The study investigated the experiences of leaders involved in pursuing Tech Prep Demonstration Project grants at two early-innovator California community colleges. A qualitative investigation was conducted utilizing descriptive case study methodologies. The researcher conducted focused interviews with individuals in leadership positions at the time the decision to pursue a Tech Prep Demonstration Project grant was made at these two community colleges. The study was guided by a data-analysis spiral. The data analysis spiral enabled the researcher to organize and examine large amounts of data in a systematic fashion. The study found that the decision-making process was facilitated by eight factors: (a) Environmental scanning by a designated person or by middle management; (b) preexisting intersegmental long term relationships with key individuals outside their institution; (c) prior knowledge of a related innovation; (d) personal and professional experience and frustration with a lack of educational options for K-12 students; (e) educational values that aligned with the innovation being pursued; (f) preexisting structures that allowed leaders to expand existing programming rather than to initiate new programming; (g) early reservations and challenges; and (h) post decision-making issues. These factors each played a large part in defining whether an environment in which innovations are considered exists in certain community colleges, as well as in K-12 schools. The community college leaders who took part in this decision making process had a great deal of professional experience to build upon. They used that experience to form relationships with K-12 leaders, who became their partners in educational reform. These partnerships were made possible because the colleges possessed sufficient organizational slack, and utilized that slack to pursue innovative programming. An earlier federal policy, the Tech Prep component of the 1990 Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, may have had limited success in meeting its own goals, but produced the strong intersegmental relationships that the TPDP was built upon. In addition, the study confirmed the decision-making stages described by Rogers (2003) and defined a sixth stage, the "resolution stage," in which decision makers step back and take time to reflect on the innovation itself and the process used to make the decision to implement or not implement the innovation, as well as correcting early assumptions that proved to be false. The resolution stage provided leaders with time to step back and reflect on their original goals and on the progress of the innovation in order to make course corrections as necessary.

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