Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania. / A study of one hundred families selected from the records of the Associated charities of Allentown, Pa.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1960. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / The study articulates the key indicators that are drivers of poverty and inequality in the post-apartheid society. Historically, education, employment, household income and service delivery were not used as the foundation for measuring poverty and inequality in the country. Specific objectives for this study are to interrogate the key determinants that have influenced poverty and inequality in South Africa since 1994, and to investigate how the predictors of life circumstances and service delivery changed across the population over the period 1994–2007. Descriptive analysis was used on household surveys (General Household Survey (GHS) 2002–2011, Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) 2008–2011 and Living Conditions Survey (LCS) 2008 and 2011) to determine changes and trends in the living conditions of the population. Multivariate analytical approaches were applied on CS 2007 data with a sample of 360 000 households conducted by Statistics South Africa. Statistical regression models were developed for life circumstances and service delivery measures to explain poverty and inequality. Principal component analysis was applied on CS 2007 to promote multidimensional approaches for poverty and inequality measurement using development indicators as the components for life circumstances and service delivery. The main findings of the study show that low levels of education and high unemployment are the determinants of poverty and inequality. Positive linear relationships between educational attainment and age, employment and population group, age, sex and educational level of household head were established. Income disparities further perpetuate disparities in life circumstances and service delivery. Disparities service delivery are not the determinants but the consequences of poverty and inequality. Poverty and inequality in South Africa are structural showing that, while many people progressed in the last twenty-two years, many remained behind, and even progressed negatively as they remained worse off based on data since the 1996 census. While much work has been conducted on life circumstances such as education, employment and income, work on service delivery in relation to poverty is still limited and thus deserves more attention / GR2018

The aim of my research was examine the impact of race, class and gender in Ottawa's educational system. I sought to find out if these factors played a role in the streaming of Black youths in basic or vocational programs and, if so, to what degree. While looking at the issue, I examined the narratives of both middle-class and working-class students and parents. / The study found that a student's socio-economic background largely determine her/his educational stream, be it basic, general or advanced. For example, all the participants in the vocational stream were working-class students while the participants that were streamed into the university bound program were from middle-class families. Teachers within the system also treated the parents differently. Middle-class parents had a greater degree of reciprocity between themselves and teachers compared to working-class parents.

The question of whether increased funding pursuant to equity and adequacy court decisions has improved academic performance of at-risk students has sparked a lively and spirited debate. The landmark New Jersey case of Abbott v. Burke has been at the center of this debate. In Abbott, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that students in twenty-eight (28) “special needs” districts must receive the same funding per pupil as students in the two highest socio-economic district factor groups in the State. 149 N.J. 145 (1997) (Abbott IV). The question of whether the redistribution of State aid pursuant to Abbott IV has been efficiently and effectively managed has dominated public policy debates on education in New Jersey for the last two decades. The research questions are: 1. Did the court orders in Abbott v. Burke and subsequent reform policies adopted by the state in response to these orders increase funding and resources for economically disadvantaged students in the Abbott districts? 2. Have increased resources from Abbott v. Burke directly reached students in the classroom through enhanced instruction and student support services? 3. Have Abbott v. Burke and ensuing State reform policies improved the academic performance of economically disadvantaged students as compared to analogous low socioeconomic and working-class students in districts that are not covered by the court decision? 4. Have a specific set of programs and reforms, including intensive early literacy programs in the elementary grades mandated by the State pursuant to Abbott v. Burke been effective for at-risk students in Abbott districts? My study proceeds from descriptive analyses of revenues by source and expenditures per pupil by function to quasi-experimental models. My primary causal analyses involved applying a difference-in-differences (DD) approach using expenditures per pupil, student teacher ratio, state standardized assessment scores for fourth, eighth, and eleventh grade; SAT Verbal and Math district averages; and Graduating with the Class as outcomes. My secondary causal analyses entailed a comparative interrupted time series (CITS) approach using state standardized assessment scores for eleventh grades, SAT scores, graduation rates, and post high plans as outcomes. After an exhaustive study, wherein I built one of the most comprehensive district-level databases in the nation and utilized over twenty-five measures, I find that Abbott v. Burke as an intervention has strong positive effects on education spending, student performance (in the early stages), and the learning environment. Abbott v. Burke had a strong positive effect on education spending from the time the seminal case was decided in 1997 up until to the present date. The fact that Abbott districts are expending more on student support services per pupil in FY 17 than all other socio-economic districts across the State in raw dollars ($2,477) and on a percentage basis (12.7 percent) indicates that increased resources from Abbott v. Burke directly reach students through enhanced student support services. In New Jersey, increased funding and reform policies pursuant to the line of Abbott v. Burke court decisions has improved the academic performance of economically disadvantaged student in the Abbott districts as compared to low socioeconomic and working-class non-Abbott districts. The DD model suggests that Abbott IV increased the proficiency levels on fourth grade reading assessments of Abbott districts as compared to low socioeconomic districts between school year 1997-98 and 2001-02 (p<0.01). The DD model suggests that the IEL program increased fourth grade reading proficiency scores of the Abbott districts who were “high and medium implementers” of this policy as compared to low socioeconomic districts. In a confirmation that the IEL program is effective, the DD model also implies that the IEL program increased fourth grade reading proficiency scores of the Abbott districts who were “low implementers” of this policy as compared to low socioeconomic districts. Abbott IV increased the number of students in Abbott districts enrolling in two-year colleges as compared to low socioeconomic or working class districts between school year 1997-98 and 2001-02 means that Abbott students are more cognizant of the opportunities to attend college.

This study explores the experiences of science and mathematics teachers during the Triple Pandemic: a pandemic of COVID-19, poverty, and racism. The intersection of COVID-19, poverty, and racism created a novel educational context for teachers to navigate. Using an intersectional qualitative case study approach, this study highlights the stories of three middle school science and mathematics teachers as they strove to meet the needs of their students during a time of crisis brought forth by COVID-19 and as pre-existing systemic inequities surfaced during the period of remote learning. Using data collected from an initial and final questionnaire (Likert scale and open-ended), semi-structured interviews, audio journal entries, and a focus group this study sought to capture the teachers’ experiences, their emotions, adjustments to teaching practice, and challenges encountered. Guided by a conceptual framework integrating Sensemaking Theory, Critical Consciousness, Positional Identity, and Science Identity as a Lived Experience, this study further examined the ways teaching remotely developed, shifted, and affirmed their science and mathematics identities and the impact of sensemaking of their experiences had on their educational priorities. The findings highlight the participants' emotionally charged and challenging experiences as they made sense of their roles as science and mathematics teachers and gained an increasing awareness of systemic inequities. The three participants developed a critical consciousness through their confrontation of inequities, increased racial identity, and development of their critical agency. Additionally, the participants’ sensemaking of the educational context produced by the Triple Pandemic resulted in the development of new educational priorities reflecting social justice engagement on micro and meso levels and in identity tensions as science and mathematics teachers.

The purpose of this study was to create a manual for organizations seeking to expand from one high-performing charter school into a network of charters, while serving high-poverty populations. A well-documented critical need exists to expand quality educational options for high-poverty students. Despite legislation and investments, prior reform efforts have failed to significantly improve the academic outcomes of historically underserved Black, Brown, Latino, and low-income students. Charters schools are an important option for families seeking to expand the educational options for students whose parental incomes assign them to chronically failing schools. Despite disproportionately enrolling high-poverty students, some high-performing charter schools are excelling with this population. The research methodology included semi-structured 1-hour interviews, site visits, and artifact review from CMO leaders, funders, and consultants of high-performing charter schools The interviews were then transcribed and coded, and seven recurring themes emerged. Data analysis involved comparing these emergent themes with previous research. Data analysis found that the high-performing charter schools serving high populations credit culture, systems, and human capital as the three main components of successful expansion. Although the order differed, every participant cited these three factors as critical to replication with integrity. Interviews, site observations, and artifacts in the current study identified the following recurring themes: 1. Culture Is Everything 2. The Model: This Is How We Do Things 3. Codification for Replication 4. Inspect What You Expect 5. Develop Human Capital 6. Operations Are the Drivers of Network Success 7. Accountability, Autonomy, Equity The findings in the current study show a demonstrated need for replication with the participants highlighting the challenges, lessons learned, and crucial advice to future operators. The final product is a guidebook that provides charter school leaders, charter management leaders, and other stakeholders with concise information on instructional practices, school culture, curriculum, finances, and other factors that impact charter school expansion. This manual is based on the premise that high-performing charter schools offer increased opportunities for academic success and, thus, life success for economically disadvantaged students.

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This study utilizes qualitative narrative inquiry methods to explore the cultural experiences in higher education of rural students from poor and working-class backgrounds. These explorations occurred through individually interviewing seven rural, poor and working-class student participants, conducting focus group interviews with all participants, and reading through journal entries written by each participant, all centered around their journeys to and through college. Drawing upon cumulative disadvantage theory and definitions of and theory around culture across psychology, sociology, and anthropology, this study engaged a cumulative disadvantage, culture-based framework – intertwining cultural flexibility, cultural integration, and cultural capital and wealth – to explicate the higher education experiences of students who held the dual and compounding identities of being both rural and poor or working-class. Through doing so, this study addresses: 1) how rural, poor and working-class students culturally experience – both uniquely and collectively – higher education; 2) how, if at all, rural, poor and working-class students transition into and navigate higher education institutional cultures; and 3) how, if at all, such cultural experiences, transitions, and navigations play a role in those students’ higher education attainment. This study’s findings included two components. First, a narrative was written about each student’s experience coming from their rural, poor and working-class family and community into and through higher education. These narratives offered unique stories about the students’ personal experiences in higher education, including their academic, co-curricular, social, and professional experiences. Second, paradigmatic analysis was conducted, highlighting shared themes across the narratives. Through explicating the narratives and themes through a cumulative disadvantage, culture-based framework, this study suggests that: 1) rural, poor and working-class students hold two disadvantaged identities and background factors of being both rural and poor or working-class, which are minoritized and marginalized by higher education institutions; 2) as students with these dual rural and poor and working-class identities and background factors experience, transition into, and navigate higher education, they traverse campus cultural contexts that feel different from and at odds with their rural, poor and working-class upbringings; 2) the cultural experiences for rural, poor and working-class students in college are complex, as these students engage in cultural flexibility and cultural integration, while also gaining cultural capital and utilizing cultural wealth; 3) such cultural processes can play a role in higher education attainment for rural, poor and working-class students, given that they utilize various cultural tools to find success in higher education all the way to completion of their degrees. This study concludes with implications for theory, research, and practice and policy. In particular, this study contributes to cumulative disadvantage and cultural theory, as well as future research ideas around how to study rural, poor and working-class students in higher education and the cultural experiences of other minoritized and marginalized student populations. Regarding practice and policy, I note the importance of higher education practitioners and policymakers recognizing and valuing rurality and social class, communicating higher education norms and processes to rural students from poor and working-class backgrounds, continuing outreach and support programs for rural, poor and working-class students, creating and fostering community for this population, and acknowledging the compounding and cumulative nature of rurality, social class, and additional social identities. Keywords: higher education, culture, cumulative disadvantage, rurality, social class, college attainment

The problem addressed in this study can be stated thus: There are extremely limited numbers of students from the lowest economic class graduating from our nation's institutions of higher education. The challenge to institutions of higher education is how to improve access, support, and successful completion of higher education for students experiencing the most extreme poverty barriers. Weber's (1946) social-class theory was selected to determine the meanings and interpretations of students from poverty backgrounds in regard to their success and perceived barriers to success in completing college. This theoretical construct is based on the idea that collectively held meanings arise from three distinct although related dimensions of life including, lifestyles, context, and economic opportunity. Focus group interviews with a representative group of 24 people who grew up in generational poverty were the main source of data (Merton, Fiske, & Kendall, 1990). The focus group interviews were open-ended and designed to reveal the participants' subjective experience of completing a college degree (Schatzman & Strauss, 1973). A demographic questionnaire administered to 56 respondents was used to complement the focus group interviews. The grounded theory approach guided the data collection and analysis process (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). According to its objectives, the study results provided: (a) a description of the poverty-related conditions, (b) an overview of the early educational experiences of the participants, (c) a demographic profile, (d) an overview of perceived challenges and barriers to higher education and (e) a discussion of success factors. The findings from this study would suggest five areas for educational improvement: (a) development of a campus climate sensitive to social class and poverty issues; (b) implementation of faculty, staff, and student social-class sensitivity training programs combined with curricular reform; (c) facilitation of connections to informal mentors; (d) articulation of connections between obtaining a college degree and earning a higher income; and an (e) exploration of expanding college partnerships with social service agencies that are geared to helping people in poverty.