This qualitative research study determined the effectiveness of Measuring Up, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's national state based higher education report card, as a tool for state leaders in developing postsecondary educational policy. The researcher interviewed state postsecondary leaders in Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, including state government leaders and administrative officials. Interviews were conducted with nine participants.The participants in this study collectively identified the most pressing issues impacting higher education access. Affordability was identified as the predominant factor impacting access to postsecondary education; the preparation of secondary students was also identified as an issue of concern for policymakers and leaders. In addition, the participants cited policies and initiatives undertaken to address these as well as other areas of concern.Measuring Up was identified as helpful as a data resource in developing policy; however, participants expressed concerns over the methodology used in report development. The methodology used in developing affordability measures was of particular concern and interviewees felt the metrics did not accurately reflect state attempts to address the issue.Recommendations include implications for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (NCPPHE) and state governing/coordinating bodies. The NCPPHE should conduct conversations with state higher education leaders or representatives prior to the issuance of subsequent reports to enhance effectiveness and utilization by policymakers. State coordinating bodies need to be assertive in addressing the interests of its student constituents and aggressive in developing state data through assessments and research.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Internationally, the Value Added Tax system is recognised as an appropriate tax system for countries like Rwanda,' w-h--o- ·n·-e-e--d-· s_ t_o i_n_cr ease the revenue tential of the tax system. . , _ ___ ,, _____.. .. --:.__.....--- _ _ Although_YAI.J~ considered to be a good tax SY.S.!~m .. itsmo~t_c9~_mon feature is that it ..... ... .... ~. . . .. .. . . , ·· ~ ... . . ·· --· --· . ···· ~·. ·~ .... ..... _ _ ,.._.,. ,_ ;>...,..., ............ _.~ · is regressive with respect to income fair. Despite this sho~~oll:1:~~~h-.Y.beI._ is considered to be a much . ··· . other consumption taxes.

The complexity of urban areas within the mosaic of private and public vegetation has led communities to enact regulations to manage numerous benefits of urban vegetation. As urban populations continue to increase, regulations for governing vegetation becomes increasingly common. This study examined the variation in trends, structure, language, clauses, and provisions of vegetation ordinances within communities across the Southern United States. Qualitative content analysis using NVivo computer software was used for analyzing ordinances collected from Municode. Several discrepancies and similarities were explored in ordinance structure and content, along with problems such as lack of effective ordinance components (enforcement and severability provisions), unclear goals, unclear provisions, inadequate information, duplications, section contradictions, and misspellings. Findings will guide urban foresters, arborists, planners, and elected officials while developing new codes and suggest a need to draft better ordinances and revise problematic ones to increase positive impacts on the community green infrastructure.

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This comparative study attempts to explain the perceived unsatisfactory level of integration of non-Western immigrants in Denmark by examining a possible schism between attitudes towards integration of elite policymakers and ethnic Danes and non-Western immigrants. So far no in-depth studies of attitudes towards immigrant related issues have investigated the attitudes of policymakers. This thesis addresses this gap with a study of attitudes, which applies a theoretical framework combining rational choice theory with dimensions of social capital. The study focuses on the non-economic costs, especially social transaction costs that immigrants and Danes encounter in the process of integrating immigrants. An on-line questionnaire was distributed to Danes and non-Western immigrants collecting attitudinal quantitative data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with policymakers: politicians and bureaucrats at local and national level and representatives of ethnic councils. The study suggests that ethnic Danes and non-Western immigrants have rather similar attitudes towards structural integration, but they differ significantly in their attitudes towards cultural integration. While education, trust and having an out-group friend are significant determinants of the attitudes of Danes and their acceptance of social transaction costs, education and trust in out-group have limited impact on attitudes of non-Western immigrants. It is suggested that ethnic and religious factors are important predictors of attitudes of non-Western immigrants. Policymakers and ethnic Danes seem to have a similar pattern of social contact with immigrants. There are, however, indications that differences of attitudes between Danes and immigrants may be provoked by policymakers’ way of discussing integration. This is more salient among Parliamentarians and bureaucrats. This study shows that social interaction between immigrants and ethnic Danes is important in order to incorporate immigrants on equal terms with Danes, but the policymakers’ discussion of integration may alienate Danes and immigrants and influence negatively their readiness to integrate.

This study investigates the relations between Britain and the United States with regard to East Asia at the turn of the twentieth century with a view to establishing how far these conformed in practice to the ideal of the ‘great rapprochement’. It makes the case that interaction between the two powers, while generally cordial, was not characterised by cooperation or collaboration on a practical level. Through discussion of the issues of foreign investment and encroachment in China, the Boxer Rising, the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese immigration to the Pacific Coast of North America and the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the study considers why Britain and the United States failed to cooperate despite an apparent basis for joint action in both shared interests and ideological motivations. It argues that the community of interest of the two powers was generally nullified by the broader concerns of each power, principally the dictates of domestic politics for the United States and the global policy needs of an already overstretched British Empire. With regards to ideology, the study demonstrates that in spite of a significant body of shared ideas regarding race and civilisation, specifically the ideologies of Anglo-Saxonism and the Yellow Peril, British and American policymakers did not often employ such ideas or make use of ideological language in their interactions. It suggests that policymakers deliberately avoided or downplayed ideological considerations, apparently believing that these had the potential to be counterproductive. The key findings of the study are therefore that British and American policymakers were surprisingly sensitive and careful in their handling of ideas relating to race and civilisation and that very similar, if not identical, interests in a given region were not sufficient to overcome the wider limitations on British-American cooperation, bringing into question the notion that the ‘great rapprochement’ was effective beyond the level of rhetoric and friendly relations.

This research paper aims to explore the economic effects of Brexit on the European Union. The main research question is: What were the Brexit's effects on the E.U. economy? The study was conducted through a systematic literature review, focusing on existing literature to explain the various impact of Brexit on the E.U. The review materials were sourced from news articles, previous research studies, government statements and documents, European Union statements and documents, peer-reviewed articles, academic texts, and literature on the topical issues by experts. The main objective of the research study was to explain all economic effects the Brexit has on the E.U., bearing in mind that liberalism thrives on opening up the international border to free movement of goods and people. The Brexit reintroduced restrictions on the cross-border movement of goods and people between the U.K. and the E.U., impacting both regions economically. The study establishes that the Brexit had a wide range of economic effects on the E.U., which included inflations, relocation of businesses, loss of jobs, cheapening of labor, increased registration of new business companies in the E.U., the decline in the GDP, loss of market, and custom wall. The E.U. member states that traded much with the U.K. suffered most of the impact because of strong economic ties.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to find out from Virginia policymakers their feelings toward visual arts education as a required subject at the high school level by answering the following questions: (1) How do policymakers and gatekeepers see the value of visual arts education as a required subject on the high school level? (2) What is the attitude of Virginia policymakers and gatekeepers towards the importance of issues pertaining to the framing of a visual arts education program? (3) What is the importance of placing visual arts education in the high school curriculum as a required subject for the appreciation and understanding of our society? (4) Of what importance do policymakers and gatekeepers feel visual arts education is in the curricula of high school students as far as their academic, social, cultural, and personal development are concerned? A pilot study was conducted in which 17 issues important to visual arts education were addressed. Data for the main study was collected by means of a questionnaire in which a selected panel of supervisors of instruction, assistant superintendents, local school board members, and school system superintendents were surveyed. The study, consisting of a three part questionnaire, was conducted by mail over several weeks with a group of 70 local policymakers and gatekeepers. Findings of this study indicate that about half (54%) of the policymakers surveyed believe that it is very important (16%) and important (38%) to offer visual arts education as a required subject on the high school level. Eighty - six percent feel that standards should be formulated and used in developing a visual arts education framework. Seventy - six percent of the respondents felt that visual arts education is important for the appreciation and understanding of our society. Seventy - one percent of the policymakers surveyed agreed that visual arts education is important for the academic, social, cultural and personal development of high school students. It is quite evident that there is a division among policymakers and gatekeepers regarding the value of visual arts education as a required subject on the high school level. / Ed. D.

No description available.