Microfinance has become one of the most promising tools for development and poverty alleviation over the past two decades. Millions of borrowers around the globe have utilized microcredit to start or expand their small businesses and raise their household income. One poverty-induced problem microfinance could potentially alleviate is child labor. Despite international legislation prohibiting it, child labor continues to deprive millions of children of their right to education. Without education, there is little hope for a country to increase productivity and wealth in the future. A number of scholars have highlighted a negative correlation between credit rationing and child labor. However, there are no studies that examine whether or not children are less likely to work in households that participate in microfinance programs. In some circumstances, microcredit may increase household income and induce parents to withdraw their children from work while in others, raising the household income level may lead children to work more. In low-income countries with numerous microfinance institutions, many children work despite their parents’ access to credit. In order to examine this paradoxical phenomenon, this thesis presents a number of econometric models which analyze both child labor and credit at the household level. Though these models are vital in explaining the relevant trends, a purely economic analysis fails to capture the political and cultural factors that also engender child labor. To illustrate this complex relationship between economics and mores, this thesis highlights the impact of microfinance on child labor in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is an ideal country for this study because microfinance and child labor are both endemic. Finally, conclusions drawn from this analysis inform policy recommendations to amplify the effectiveness of microfinance on diminishing child labor.

<p> Today&rsquo;s high school students will face a host of economic problems such as the demise of the social safety net, mounting college student debt, and costly health care plans, as stated in the rationale for financial literacy provided by the Council for Economic Education&rsquo;s <i>National Standards for Financial Literacy</i>. These problems are compounded by growing income and wealth inequality and the widespread influence of neoliberal ideology. Although one of the major goals of economics education is to teach students to make reasoned economic choices in their public and private lives and provide the skills to solve personal and social economic problems, little empirical research has been conducted on how these goals are addressed. Secondary economics education research has primarily focused on measuring students&rsquo; grasp of neoclassical economics while a separate body of literature provides theoretical critiques of that approach. This study responds to the gap presented by these separate camps by capturing the economics discourse of a high school economics and personal finance course in relation to the role of economic decision-making in a democracy, and the space to hold values discussions. Using case study methodology that included analysis of student and teacher interviews, classroom observations, the standards and official curriculum, lesson plans, and student-produced documents, the study provides deep, context-dependent knowledge about how the official curriculum is manifest in the classroom. </p><p> Findings reveal that the role of economic decision-making and values discussions were given very little space. The discourse was heavily focused on the acceptance of the science and mastery of technical knowledge about personal finance for the dual purposes of preparing students to succeed on the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test and preparing students to navigate and succeed in a fixed economic reality firmly committed to neoclassical economics. The role of economic decision-making was diminished by the foregrounding of financial literacy over economics, which served as a mechanism of power to send the silent message that economic circumstances (such as wealth inequality) change through individual choices and that economic and social phenomena can be understood and addressed through the application of technical approaches. </p><p>

This study examined the implementation and assessment of revenue-based budgeting at a medium-size, private, mission-based graduate school of education (SOE), under the pseudonym Peter Claver University (PCU). Additionally, two other similar schools were included in the study because they used revenue-based budgeting for a period of 10 years or longer and their missions were comparable to that of PCU’s SOE. A survey and three interviews were conducted with the deans of the three schools and responses were subjected to content analysis and triangulation. Points of consensus between the deans were the following: a strong favor for the revenue-based budgeting model; the desire for regular assessment to determine the success of the revenue-based budget and to update the model based on new economies and forecasting; the belief that revenue-based budgeting would give the deans more control over their schools’ futures; and the conviction that revenue-based budgeting provided the deans with the flexibility to accomplish the strategic goals of the school. The major findings included that budget models need to be tailored to the institution’s goals and academic objectives; no specific revenue-budget formula fits all institutions; SOEs will be successful by having an interdependent financial model; deans are expected to be financially savvy; there are no service level agreements between SOEs and the service departments; SOEs with higher percentage of faculty receiving grants can be more innovative; assessment of the revenue-based model on an as-need-basis and rarely happens; and deans are supportive of a revenue-based budget model.

Die vorliegende Arbeit widmet sich den Auswirkungen verschiedener Gestaltungsaspekte des Schulsystems auf das Verhalten der einzelnen Akteure im Bildungsprozess und analysiert, welche Reaktionen durch einzelne bildungspolitische Maßnahmen bei den betroffenen Gruppen hervorgerufen werden können. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, wie eventuell ausgelöste Reaktionen oder Änderungen des Verhaltens den Erfolg einer solchen Maßnahme beeinflussen können. Den Schwerpunkt bildet die Analyse der Entscheidung der Schüler über die von ihnen investierte Anstrengung sowie der Wahl der Bildungsstandards durch die Schulen oder Behörden, da diese Gruppen von Akteuren der Erfolg der Ausbildung maßgeblich beeinflussen.

The research and analysis of Capitalism, The Reproduction of Racial Difference in American Education, and Black Student Resistance comes from my experiences working for a dropout prevention nonprofit organization in Title 1 public schools with Black middle school and high school students. I observed many conflicts between Black students and school staff that were resolved by convincing students that the cultural norms and rules of the school system were objective and morally right, and therefore Black students needed to accept and obey them. From these interactions, I could see that more than academic skills were being taught in schools. The messages of success being proposed were exerting violence on the mind, body, and spirit of Black youth. I could also see that many of the ways that Black students expressed themselves in schools was not rooted in defiance or an inability to obey but in protest to the socialization that was being imposed on them. My observations of Black students reactions to school culture and the insistence on achievement has fueled my work.

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences between selected state capital maintenance models and the model used in Tennessee. Research questions addressed the differences between the other selected models and the Tennessee model; the quantitative results of the models using data collected from the 14 Tennessee public two-year colleges, and the policy issue differences of the selected models. Research involved gathering information for each specific selected model including common factors used to calculate capital maintenance needs. Comparisons were made of the major components of each model. Actual data from the 14 Tennessee public two-year colleges was incorporated into each model. The quantitative results were then compared. Research also revealed policy issue differences between the selected models. These differences were examined. Results of this study included suggestions for enhancements to the Tennessee model which would provide more equitable funding of capital maintenance needs for each institution. Other suggestions and conclusions included the development of specific training and guidelines for the proper completion of model calculations. It was also suggested that an awareness campaign be initiated to strengthen the funding authority's commitment to the capital maintenance problem.

The purpose of this study was to obtain and analyze information about the perceptions of local school board chairpersons in Tennessee toward school accountability. A questionnaire was designed to gather information from all school board chairpersons in the state of Tennessee. The questionnaire contained 32 attitudinal statements related to school accountability and 11 demographic questions about the chairpersons and the system they represent. The mean score, frequency, and percentage of the responses were computed and analyzed. The Kruskal-Wallis one-was ANOVA was computed to determine if significant differences existed in the mean score of the 32 attitudinal statements based on the 9 demographics which contained more than two subgroups. When only two subgroups were available in the demographics, or the Kruskal-Wallis identified that a significant difference did exist among the subgroups, the Mann-Whitney U - Wilcoxon Rank Sum W Test were computed. The Mann-Whitney U Test identified the differences and pinpointed the subgroups that did have significant differences. Findings derived from school board chairpersons' responses to the questionnaire: (1) Parents are responsible (99.1%) for getting children to attend school. (2) Schools should be equally funded (98.2%) before a school accountability program is implemented. (3) More research on value-added testing needs to be completed before teachers and principals are held accountable by test results. (4) Programs to improve attendance (86.7%) and graduation rates (85.7%) need to be implemented for all school systems. (5) School board chairpersons need more education concerning site-based management and how it relates to accountability.

The purpose of this study was to identify issues that are considered important to the legislators and higher education leaders of Tennessee in making decisions that affect the funding of higher education. A further purpose was to identify actions that such individuals believe should be taken by higher education leaders to ensure that higher education is accountable and worthy of continued or increased financial support. Using a qualitative research design, interviews were held with 10 legislators and 6 higher education leaders selected in accordance with the concept of purposeful sampling. Legislative participants included five members from the Senate and five members from the House of Representatives. All participants served on either the Education Committee or Finance Ways and Means Committee within their chamber. Higher education leaders consisted of a university president, the President of the University of Tennessee System, Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, Executive Director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Comptroller of the Treasury, and a member of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. Issues identified from the interviews were reduced to eight categories: (a) issues affecting higher education and (b) findings regarding the accountability of higher education. The issues category was divided into eight categories: (a) financial issues that was further subdivided into funding issues, accountability issues, capital expenditures, taxes, fees, and other general financial issues; (b) administrative structure and costs; (c) quality outcomes; (d) faculty issues; (e) technology; (f) program duplication; (g) relationship to K-12 education; and (h) other general issues. Issues that emerged related to accountability included the measurement of educational outcomes and the communication of those results to legislators and the public. Based on the findings of this study, three recommendations are offered: (1) a committee consisting of appropriate representatives should be established to study the issue of accountability and determine appropriate measurements that will provide relevant information; (2) leaders in higher education should make a concerted effort to improve communication with legislators and their staffs; and (3) those in higher education must improve their communication with the public.

This paper examines the impact on pension generosity on teacher turnover in North Carolina Public School teachers. It specifically focuses on the impacts of vesting, employer contribution, and pension generosity for out-of-state teachers in their first five years of teaching. High rates of teacher turnovers, especially teachers in their early career, have been shown to negatively impact North Carolina students. As states search for solutions to decrease turnover and recruit more qualified teachers, the effects of pension programs on teacher turnover has yet to be thoroughly examined. This paper found that there was a slight negative correlation between teacher turnover and the generosity of pension programs.

Public higher education has evolved over time under the control of each individual state. The public system in each state is made up of distinctive types of institutions that together provide higher education in different formats. Public institutions may largely be classified into three groups based on the level of education provided including community colleges, regional institutions, and research universities. While the institutions employed are largely the same in each state, the extent to which each is utilized and the support given reflect the individual characteristics of the state. This dissertation examines appropriations and enrollments by state and year in three classifications of universities: research universities, regional universities, and community colleges. The appropriations and enrollments in regional and community settings are measured relative to the same for research universities. The explanatory variables are political, economic, and demographic variables relevant in state finance to the allocation of state budgets. There are three empirical chapters. The first uses Granger causality concepts to examine whether appropriations and enrollment have strong predictive effects on each other in the following year. Enrollment has no such effect on appropriations, while there is a weak effect the other way. The second chapter studies relative appropriations, finding that the proportion of appropriations allocated to regional institutions has remained consistent, while states have proportionally shifted toward community colleges. The third chapter studies enrollment, which is very stable for regional universities and has shifted toward community colleges relative to research universities. Again, political and economic factors are somewhat different in these models. Examining year effects net of economics and politics, there are no such effects on appropriations; but for enrollment, regional universities grew somewhat relative to research universities in the earlier years (1986 to 1993), and community colleges grew throughout the period with pauses. The Great Recession is clearly visible in community college enrollments, growing as usual during an economic downturn.