Prior to the passage of the 1997 Kentucky Postsecondary Education Reform Act, postsecondary education in Kentucky was governed by the Council on Higher Education. The council was responsible for overseeing the educational activities of the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Morehead State University, Northern Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Murray State University, and Kentucky State University. At that time, 2-year postsecondary education was segmented among 14 public community colleges under the control of the University of Kentucky’s Community College System and 15 state vocational–technical schools known as Kentucky Tech, under the administration of the Workforce Development Cabinet. With the passage of HB 1, the Council on Higher Education was replaced by the Council on Postsecondary Education, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System was created, combining the 14 community colleges and 15 vocational– technical schools. This research examines the development and implementation of a funding model for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), from its inception in 1998 through its 10th anniversary in 2008. This examination reviews and analyzes the funding of KCTCS from its formation in 1997, until a new funding model was implemented at the beginning of the 2003–2004 fiscal year. The study then compares the funding of the 16 colleges of KCTCS prior to and after the implementation of the new equity funding model, to determine if the model was successful in providing a more equitable method of public funds allocation. This study utilizes two methodological approaches, the first being a comparative analysis of KCTCS and its 16 colleges’ funding for a period of 10 years and the second being a qualitative analysis of historical data interviews obtained from 8 key individuals who were directly affected by the passage of the 1997 Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act. The findings of this study detail the development of a new KCTCS equity funding model and show that when new appropriations were distributed utilizing the new model, the gap in funding inequities between the highest funded and the lowest funded colleges showed significant compression.

The purpose of this study was to develop a consensus from a panel of experts composed of public school music teachers both based in instrumental methods and/or choral methods, higher education music professors from various backgrounds, public school administrators, philanthropists, authors, researchers, state music supervisors, and leaders in professional music organizations on regional and national levels. Through the use of the panel of experts from geographical regions across the United States and Canada, this study strove to build strategies that addressed the effects of reducing funding for music education. The vehicle used to build consensus was the Delphi Technique. Through this Delphi study, the 35 panelists suggested, refined, and prioritized strategies that could address music education funding issues. The Delphi panel members were asked to respond to 14 open-ended questions in the Round 1 questionnaire. During the Round 2 questionnaire, panelists were encouraged to make further recommendations or offer remarks to clarify the already presented strategies, which resulted in a final compilation of 12 questions with 67 subparts. The Round 3 questionnaire was divided into two sections. Section 1 asked panel members to rate the predetermined strategies on a Likert-type scale and Section 2 asked panel members to rank the same strategies in order of importance. The consensus of strategies by the Delphi panel members may be used to address funding issues on local, state, and national levels. The strategies listed in this study agreed upon by the panel of experts could be transferred into a mass produced handout or pamphlet and distributed to governmental leaders, conference attendees, or published in music education textbooks to educate future music teachers on methods that can be used to combat ever pressing funding issues that continually threaten the elimination and/or reduction of educationally based and publicly supported music programs.

This study examines the relationship between government funding and faith-based nonprofit organizational development and professionalization. By conducting an online survey of 1,632 executive directors at Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the United States, followed by telephone and email interviews with selected leaders from the organization, this mixed-method case study examined the organizational tensions, opportunities, bureaucratization, and professionalization of a religiously-based nonprofit as it transitioned from primarily private funding to broad acceptance of public monies. Habitat for Humanity provided an excellent prospect for this research, as the organization announced one year before the study began that its 27-year tradition of not seeking or accepting government funding (with the exception of grants for infrastructure) would change in July 2006. The study utilized Barry Dym and Harry Hutson's stages of organizational development, particularly their concept of professionalization, as an analytical framework for the study, with particular emphasis on the potential effects government funding may have on Habitat's organizational structure. The study suggested a close relationship between increasing professionalization at the organization's national office and the decision of national leadership to allow local affiliates to pursue government funding for construction. In addition, survey and interview data indicated that this change has been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in emphasis on religious mission, or at least a less conservative (and in some cases more pluralistic) approach to religious aims, than was evident in a 1995 International Partner training session in which the researcher participated. / Ph. D.

This dissertation explores the passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA) through John Kingdon’s (2003) Multiple Streams Theory. A policy analysis of the FFATA was conducted adapting Bardach’s Eightfold Path to Effective Problem Solving (2005) to explore the effectiveness of the FFATA. The dissertation focused on the attempt of the FFATA to account for the acceptable disbursement and use of disaster recovery payments and the ability of faith based initiatives to provide relief without compromising the separation of church and state principle through a coupling event. Additionally, this research sought to determine if faith based initiatives created a greater risk in awarding Stafford Act’s Public Assistance Grant Funds in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The study found the FFATA is not successfully meeting its goals and objectives in disaster recovery situations as it relates to Public Assistance Grants after Katrina because it fails to trace federal funding to the actual recipient of the grant. To determine if faith based initiatives created a greater risk in awarding Public Assistance Grant Funds after Katrina, 75 reports published by Office of Inspector General on Hurricane Katrina were reviewed to determine which types of compliance issues auditors have found with entities receiving federal funding under this grant program. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis and document analysis was performed on the collected data. Data showed that public entities have a higher percentage of questioned costs in comparison to faith based organizations. Content analysis revealed that 100 percent of public entities still spent the money on some other public purpose, but not necessarily a disaster-related purpose as required by federal rules specific to the PA Grant Program. Faith based organizations were more likely to have a violation of federal rules where the money ultimately was not traceable, indicating a greater risk of faith based organizations to violate the separation of church and state principle.

This quantitative research has been designed to investigate fiscal equity for at-risk students in the State of New Mexico. This empirical data analysis compared equity indices before the At-Risk Index was implemented in the New Mexico public school funding formula in FY 1996-97 and after the At-Risk Index was included for FY 1997-98. Formula options based on the premise of vertical equity were reviewed. This research was selected as the 2001 New Scholars Program Award sponsored by the American Education Finance Association and the National Center for Education Statistics. The research model was presented at the 2002 AEFA National conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In brief, the results of the analyses showed that very modest fiscal equity gains occurred following the implementation of the At-Risk Index. However, the ability to achieve significant gains in equity scores were restricted due to a lack of state revenue growth. / Ed. D.

The demography of the United States is in the midst of an unprecedented transition that will result in persons age 65 and over outnumbering children by the year 2030 (MacManus, 1995). This demographic shift has the potential to give elderly voters significant influence over public education funding (Poterba, 1997). The purpose of this study was to describe the phenomenon of elderly voter attitudes toward public education funding in a rural county. By engaging elderly voters in dialogue that captured the essence of their lived experiences in school and in the community, valuable information related to how those experiences had nurtured community loyalty or fostered rational self-interest was obtained. A phenomenological approach rooted in the tenets of narrative analysis was used as the framework for the research design in this study. The setting was a rural county in a mid-Atlantic state. Ten volunteers were solicited from among typical elderly voters in the county. Data were collected from personal interviews, field notes, interview notes and reflexive notes. Constant-comparative analysis was conducted in accordance with a three-iteration strategy to develop within and across-case analyses. Code-mapping was used to develop a visible audit trail. Personal narratives based on information obtained from the four data sources were written for each participant. The themes that resulted from an analysis of each narrative across all cases were applied to the economic theories of community loyalty and rational self-interest. The application of the emergent themes relative to each theory led to the conclusion that the lived experiences of the ten participants in school and in the community had impacted their attitudes toward public education funding. The identification of these experiences has implications for local education policy makers as they engage in strategic planning initiatives. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze commonly used indices of public school funding equity for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the school years 1982-83 through 1992-93. The variables of market value of property, actual instructional expense (AlE), local plus state revenue (revenue), average daily membership (ADM) and weighted average daily membership (W ADM) were collected for five hundred similarly operated school districts. Equity statistics on the variables were generated using a program developed by Verstegen and Stevens (1991). The relationship between the equity statistics generated and legislative actions associated with school funding for the Commonwealth were analyzed. Additionally, an alternative method of funding schools in the Commonwealth was developed based on the 1992-93 school year data. In general, the statistics generated showed a decrease in equity of AIE and revenue distributions from the 1982-83 school year through 1989-90. The last few years studied indicated improvement in the distributions, with the primary source of improvement being a change in the method of state support for special education. The legislative efforts to improve overall support for school districts, especially those found at the less wealthy end of the wealth spectrum, were diminished by the funding formula methodology. This methodology has since been eliminated, and replaced with a guaranteed foundation level of funding, which is still hampered by political considerations. The system of funding public schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has changed dramatically in the last several years in an attempt to meet the educational mandate found in the constitution of the Commonwealth. The equity statistics and analyses presented here indicate that the system has fallen short of meeting that goal during the period studied. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine how federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds were allocated and what differences existed between allocation patterns and overall student achievement outcomes as measured by annual measurable objectives (AMOs) established by the Virginia Board of Education in schools denied accreditation and those attaining full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. School reform in K-12 education has seen many changes. The federal government has intervened, implementing stringent mandates for increased student achievement and sanctions for school divisions not meeting the required benchmarks. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, schools not meeting annual measurable objectives (AMOs) in the content areas of reading and mathematics or graduation rates for high schools are identified in one of three categories: priority, focus, or as a Title I or Non-Title I school that has not met one or more of the AMOs (Virginia Department of Education, 2014). Schools designated as priority received 1003(a) and/or 1003(g) federal school improvement grant funding to implement research-based school reform initiatives. The goal of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the relationship between SIG funding and overall student achievement that will add to the current research. The population studied was schools identified as denied accreditation within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additionally, comparable data were examined from ten priority schools previously accredited with warning that became fully accredited while under school improvement sanctions. Accreditation ratings from the 2013-2014 school year were utilized. Descriptive statistics revealed differences existed among allocation patterns in the group of schools denied accreditation and the group of priority schools that achieved full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests revealed SIG funding had a positive impact on student outcomes in reading among the group of schools denied accreditation and the group of priority schools that achieved full accreditation while under school improvement sanctions. Findings indicated mathematics student outcomes did not experience the same benefit from SIG funding. / Ed. D.

Yes / Practice placements are a fundamental aspect of preparing students for working in the NHS and will influence where, and in what specialities, students work. Additionally, NHS leaders now consider the issues of recruitment and retention of NHS staff to be as serious as concerns over funding. NHS Providers have outlined the issues although there appears to be little, or no, consideration in terms of plans required for the most immediate future workforce. It is hypothesised that there is link between student healthcare placement capacity and workforce gaps. The policy of increasing training places and of funding practice placements may have a positive effect on practice placement provision and if so contribute to increasing the NHS workforce, but without further detail this impact remains unknown. Along with most aspects of service delivery, planning practice placements using the best available evidence will ensure that the impact on service delivery is minimised while maximising the experience for the next generation of NHS employees.

It is imperative to identify the structural characteristics that influence academic performance so that we are aware of the impact that policy change has on the educational outcomes of our youth. This study used district-level regression analysis to identify the influence of socioeconomic status, per-pupil funding, and student-to-teacher ratio on the academic performance of students in Virginia's public schools. The data set was created by linking data from the U.S. Census and the Virginia Superintendent's Report. Four assumptions were tested: as median income increases (socioeconomic status), academic performance improves; as per-pupil funding increases, academic performance improves; increases in student-to-teacher ratios lead to poorer academic performance; and when socioeconomic status is controlled, the influence of race upon academic performance is greatly diminished. Previous literature suggests: that a positive correlation exists between socioeconomic status and academic performance; that a negative correlation exists between student-to-teacher ratio and academic performance; that results are mixed regarding the correlation between per-pupil funding and academic performance; and that residual racial effects persist despite the control of socioeconomic status. The regression analysis yielded significant results concerning the socioeconomic status and race variables, results that are presented and discussed in this paper. / Master of Science