Thesis (Ph. D.)--Queensland University of Technology, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [387]-410) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Queensland University of Technology, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [387]-410) and index.

<p> The low employment rates of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are a major concern. In 2011 only 34% of adults with ID were employed compared to 76% of adults without disabilities (Siperstein, Parker, &amp; Drascher, 2013). Higher educational attainment is associated with higher employment rates for students with ID (Smith, Grigal, &amp; Sulewski, 2013). postsecondary education has been shown to increase employment (Carnevale, Rose, &amp; Cheah, 2013). Increasingly postsecondary education is becoming an option for individuals with ID. </p><p> This study examines the effect of postsecondary education on employment and earnings for individuals with ID and the effect of state variation on those outcomes. Research hypotheses were developed from Human Capital and Social Capital Theories. </p><p> This dissertation employed secondary data analysis of the Rehabilitation Services Administration&rsquo;s RSA 911 from 2008 through 2013 to examine the effect of postsecondary education on employment for individuals served by state Vocational Rehabilitation Service Agencies. The RSA 911 includes variables on attendance of postsecondary education, employment outcomes, earnings, as well as individual and demographic information. Additional economic and state level demographic and policy variables were added to the dataset. Multi-level modeling techniques were used to understand state variation, such as various economic and programmatic features that influence outcomes. Those outcomes for those individuals with ID who had postsecondary education were compared to those who did not. </p><p> This study found postsecondary education improves odds of employment, increases weekly earnings, and decreases reliance on SSI benefits for individuals with ID. In addition, postsecondary education increases their odds of obtaining employment in positions not typically held by individuals with ID. Gender, race, cost of services, and the receipt of Medicaid moderate these results, but when all these factors are included the results are that postsecondary education increases the odds of employment more than twice that of an individual with ID without postsecondary education. </p><p> This research provides greater understanding of the effects of postsecondary education for individuals with ID and its effect on employment and earnings. This research informs policy makers by examining ways to increase employment and earnings for individuals with ID through postsecondary education.</p>

The immense value of the arts has long been recognized by diverse cultures and such recognition has mostly guaranteed their inclusion in educational and school curricula the world over. The arts are considered valuable for numerous reasons, but their inclusion depends on particular interpretations of their merits that may sometimes have failed to realise their full or real potential. Although some ways of valuing the arts date back to antiquity, debates about the value of arts certainly deserve no less consideration in the modern context. Plato was sceptical about the moral value of the arts and regarded them as of dubious educational significance. He thought the arts were more a matter of rhetoric than reason. However, taking a more positive view of the moral power of the arts, Aristotle defended both the arts and rhetoric as potentially contributory to personal formation and the development of moral virtue. At all events, if the arts are to remain educationally defensible, it is arguable that educational theorists and policy makers need to demonstrate their capacity for: (i) objective aesthetic judgement; and (ii) the communication of knowledge and/or truth. Both of these are contentious, as artistic and aesthetic value judgements have often been said to be subjective or personal. In this context, the distinction between judging something as good (which requires reasons) or simply liking it (which does not) is crucial. Here, establishing the objective rational character of the arts seems to be a precondition of demonstrating their potential for knowledge or truth. Arguably, however, there are different respects in which arts may be said to contribute to the development of understanding and appreciation in human agents of themselves, of their relationships with others and of the world, e.g.: (i) aesthetic (sensory) appreciation; (ii) development of imagination; (iii) understanding of aspects of human psychology; (iv) education of the emotions; (v) and moral understanding. In this essay, various philosophical defences of the ‘intrinsic’ (personally formative) educational value of the arts will be drawn from the literature of philosophy and education. Following discussions of ancient arguments for and against the arts, the thesis will discuss at some length defences of the educational value of the arts offered by the American great books tradition, British literary and cultural critics and more recent educational philosophers and theorists. In the final ‘conceptual’ chapter of the thesis, two contemporary works of cinema are discussed to reinforce the key arguments of the thesis. However, having explored the nature and potential of the arts and arts education from a philosophical perspective, this study then seeks to enquire into recent Scottish educational policy developments with reference to the role of arts in arts education and in education more generally through: (i) the exploration of policy documents and official guidelines; and (ii) the voices of interviewees and other research participants involved in Scottish policy making. The thesis will conclude from this enquiry that the educational value and significance of the arts is not adequately appreciated in contemporary Scottish (and perhaps other) educational policy and practice. The study concludes by advocating a return to Aristotle’s conception of the arts as contributory to phronesis (the practical wisdom of virtue), rather than techne (the technical knowledge of skill). Narrow specialisation in forms of training are liable to leave people uninitiated into the wisdom and moral power of the arts –benefits that should ideally be available to all. From the perspective of this thesis, only a broad educational approach that encompasses thorough arts education will result in well-rounded, emotionally intelligent and truly educated human beings.

<p>Across the globe, the viability of welfare states depends on the success of policy adaptations to a post-industrial, internationalized economy and domestic demographic changes that encompass family formation, declines in fertility, and lifespan extensions of the elderly. One of the most important issues facing contemporary welfare states is the need to adjust social policy to the demise of the male breadwinner model in favor of the increased participation of women and mothers in the workforce. Whereas childrearing was traditionally the central occupation of stay-at-home mothers, their workforce participation has necessitated out-of-home care for children under the ages of five or six, before the start of primary school. Providing financial supports and investing in early childhood care and education are several policy instruments that can be used, not only to ease the burden of care faced by working mothers and their partners, but to promote the well-being and long-term economic productivity of their children as adults. In turn, the increased economic productivity of future generations can mitigate social risks and threats to the survival of the welfare state. Using a social investment approach based on human capital development in children, a set of indices is constructed to measure public investments in early childhood by ten member countries of the OECD from 2001 through 2011. The indices permit a theoretical exploration of patterns of expenditure and characteristics of policy design relative to their conformity to acknowledged types of welfare state regimes. The indices are also used to detect empirical changes in welfare state expenditures for early childhood investments pre- and post- the fiscal crisis of 2008. The study contributes to the literature of welfare state theory by situating investments in early childhood as a stage in the evolution of family policy; by creating a set of measures that characterizes public investments from a child-centered developmental perspective, one that is less prominent than work-family balance and gender equity viewpoints; and lastly, by combining expenditures and policy design components into a single measure.

<p> Despite the growing population of Muslim students in U.S. public schools, few empirically grounded studies appear in the literature that have reported the opinions and viewpoints about U.S. public schools from the perspective of Muslim parents. This study deeply investigates the perceptions Muslim parents hold about U.S. public schools and focuses on how Muslim identity and other factors shape those views. <i>Q</i> Methodology, a mixed methods technique for the systematic study of subjectivity, is applied to reveal and analyze a varied set of distinct models of shared viewpoints held by Muslim parents about public schools in the U.S. Data were analyzed from 54 Muslim parents in the metropolitan New York City region. This study identified and examined 8 models of shared viewpoints held by Muslim parents. Further analysis demonstrated the relative prevalence of each of the revealed shared viewpoints about U.S. public schools and ways in which the identified models reflect disagreements, consensus, and absence of salience in views about U.S. public schools. Muslim parents&rsquo; Muslim identity, their experience attending schools in the U.S., their children&rsquo;s experience attending schools in the U.S., their experience as school teachers or administrators, their gender, and their highest level of education were examined to predict the likelihood a parent would share views with a particular <i>Q</i> model. Understanding the shared viewpoints of Muslim parents can be useful for educational policymakers, leaders, and teachers, who must ensure an effective and comfortable learning environment for all of their students.</p>

<p> This study investigates parental health literacy and parental health seeking behavior for pediatric primary care utilization as a response to childhood obesity among 220 parents from 12 Head Start and Non Head Start preschools in New Castle County, Delaware. Four paper surveys collected data with the Newest Vital Sign, STOFHL-A, a Parent Survey, and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS). Green and Kreuter's 2005 Precede-Proceed model is applied to an original logical model for determining a need for a preschool health literacy intervention to inform better child health outcomes. Results indicate that low-income, minority families, have fewer health books at home, which is associated with lower parental health literacy, higher child BMI, and more health care referrals for managing childhood obesity. Nutritional health literacy scores are lower among Hispanic parents who are Head Start participants. Black parents who are Head Start participants had significantly lower parent functional health literacy. Head Start programs offer more parent health education and twice the rate of referrals for the same level of health seeking behavior as Non Head Start parents. Health seeking behavior was lower overall for Black parents from the Head Start program. Further study should explore cultural notions and family characteristics associated with lower pediatric health care utilization in relation to both health literacy scores and health care referrals. </p><p>

<p> Although Kreyol is the language spoken and understood by the majority of Haitians, French is the language used as the medium for instruction. The use of a foreign language as a means for students to acquire literacy is a practice that has led to an ineffective educational system in Haiti. The aim of the quasi-experimental research study is to study the effects of using Kreyol versus French as the instructional method in math and science classes. Participants were selected from a target population of 246 girls enrolled at Institution X, a private school in the Ouest Department. Students from this institution are part of the 29% of people who attend secondary schools in Haiti. The 139 students that were part of the sample were randomly divided into two groups per class (standard and Kreyol condition) and were given a pre-test followed by a lesson then a post-test. Students in the standard group were taught in French and those in experimental group in Kreyol. Data gathered from the intervention were analyzed and results indicated that pre-test scores of French condition and Kreyol condition groups were normally distributed. When ANCOVA was used as one of the data analysis tools, because it French conditions for pre-test values and allows for observation of post-test scores, results yielded confirmed a significant difference between the French condition and Kreyol condition groups. The results from this quasi-experimental study provided data that aligned with the literature review and demonstrated that there was in fact a significant difference in performance when Kreyol was used as a medium for instruction instead of French. The results further provide statistical data confirming the important role that Kreyol should play in the improvement of the Haitian education system.</p><p>

<p> To improve community college student success outcomes, accountability has shifted from the student to the institution. Institutions now must identify potential barriers to student success and take action to improve completion outcomes. One plausible way to begin an investigation of the factors that lead to student success is to examine the extent to which placement into developmental education impacts completion. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the extent to which students placed into developmental English or Math, succeeded in their developmental coursework within one year, progressed in college-level coursework within two years, and graduated within three years. </p><p> This study examined the records of 1478 students at a large multi-campus community college located in the Northeast. Frequencies were employed to ascertain whether students placed in developmental-level courses were successful in those courses within one year. Phi coefficient tests examined the relationship between success in developmental English or Math in one year, success in the college-level English or Math courses within two years, and success in developmental education and degree completion within three years. A supplemental analysis, utilizing binary logistic regressions, was conducted to determine whether success in developmental English or Math predicted of graduation within three years. </p><p> The results indicate that students in the program under review graduated at higher rates than the national average. Transfer data improved both institutional performance and student success outcomes by 8 percent. Success in developmental education within one year was an important indicator of success in a college-level (gatekeeper) course within two years and progress towards degree completion within three years. Students who were successful in developmental education were more likely to graduate than those who were not successful in developmental education. Finally, the binary logistic regression results showed that success in developmental English and Math were significant predictors of student graduation within three years.</p><p>

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration