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The study is a two-part study that utilized the comparative method of content analysis and Policy Analysis of legal documents. Part one of the study compared special education policy documents of two systems; the Lagos State Special People’s Law and its Inclusive Education Policy to the United States’ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) to figure out how they compare for the sole purpose of mutual improvement and global competitiveness. Part two of the study is the policy analysis of the Lagos State policies that utilized the results and recommendations from the comparative document analysis (part one). This section of the study focused mainly on how the Lagos State special education documents could be improved using the IDEA of the United States as a model. It also offered alternatives that could be explored as well as recommendations that policymakers in Lagos State could use in order to improve the life outcomes of all children with disabilities in the State. The study addressed explicitly how the United States special education policies could inform the Lagos state policies and vice versa. The overarching purpose of the study was for mutual improvement that could influence special education policy revisions of both systems by respective stakeholders. The study concluded that there is a need for a special education-specific law in Lagos state that will be comparable to the IDEA of the United States so that children with disabilities in the state could become fully integrated into the system and be able to achieve their highest potentials. The study also offers directions for future research. / Special Education

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Katherine Nesse / Rural communities continue to consolidate and close schools across the country at an alarming rate. Debates surrounding school district consolidation have been known to cause deep tension throughout many communities. It is widely held that, schools in rural areas not only provide education, but create jobs, provide entertainment, and bolster social relationships within a region. Social relationships are necessary for the health and cohesiveness of any community. This in-depth case study of the rural community of Mount Hope identifies the change in cohesion over time. This research shows that there is a relationship between the closing and opening of the school and levels of community cohesion amongst some, but not all, of the groups. The key findings are that a range of social activities not directly related to the school have been affected by the closure. Personal interviews were conducted with local officials, school employees, group leaders, parents, and community members of Mount Hope. This study is relevant to planners, school administrators, and educators alike, as local communities across the state debate the value of district consolidation. The findings are beneficial to communities and school districts to help determine what is best for a community when considering school consolidation or closure.

Notwithstanding challenges facing systems of higher education world-wide, higher education in South Africa has been fundamentally re-engineered since the achievement of democracy in 1994. The University of South Africa (Unisa) emerged as the only dedicated distance education institution and the biggest provider of higher education. Against the background of transformation in higher education policy and practice in South Africa, this study aimed to address the implementation of higher education policy in relation to the provision of distance education in South Africa, with special reference to Unisa. To address the research problem, a literature study investigated theoretical perspectives, recent policy trends in higher education globally and their influence on distance education and the impact of higher education policy development and implementation in South Africa on Open Distance Learning (ODL) provision. A mixed method empirical research design was used to explore how the academic and administrative cohort of top and middle and extended management at Unisa perceive the implementation of higher education policy at their institution in relation to distance education provision. The inquiry comprised two phases: Phase 1, a quantitative component entailed a survey using a self-designed questionnaire. A non-probability purposive sampling strategy was used to select respondents for the survey, and the entire target population (Unisa employees at middle to executive management level) participated. Phase 2, a qualitative component, entailed semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample: members of top management and two council members. The survey results indicated strong agreement on the need for strategy and planning, more funding and improved levels of service. There was disagreement or ambivalence around sufficient human and infrastructural capacity, the cost of ODL, quality and the efficiency of ICT systems and processes. Four major areas of concern emerged from the interviews: Transformation (the national transformation agenda and mindset change); funding (enrolment planning and capping, the unfunded student issue and salaries); institutional efficiency (strategy, planning, capacity and quality); and the cost of ODL and the need for a dedicated ODL Policy. The study concluded with recommendations to facilitate the enhanced practice and delivery of ODL in South Africa. / Educational Studies

<p> This phenomenological study examines the work&ndash;life balance of Nigerian women leaders who are instrumental in visioning and shaping the future of Nigeria&rsquo;s public education. The research delves into the past, present, and future of Nigerian public education based on the perception and life course of key Nigerian women educational leaders located in Nigeria and in the diaspora. Further, the study explores the work&ndash;life balance of these women leaders and their vision for public education in Nigeria. This study also explores the experiences; relational style, drive, and motivation, identity, and adaptive style that shape the life course and impact the decisions in these women&rsquo;s life course. The study was prompted by the perceived change in the state of the Nigerian public educational system from pre-independence to post-independence. Public education is essential to offering hope and equity to all, including the poor. Education is a fundamental good rooted in the concept of human capital. Human capital is concerned with the human skills factor of production in the development process. The development process depends on quality education that determines one&rsquo;s earnings in market economies. </p><p> The study goes into the archives of public education in Nigeria to examine the experiences, past and present, of the sample of Nigerian women leaders and their impact on&mdash;and vision for&mdash;the future of Nigerian education. The data examine how the Nigerian government embraced the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how the women played the dual roles of leaders and managers of their households. To better understand the dual roles of women, it was essential to review the decentralization and privatization of education in Nigeria as it related to the politicization of education expenditures. </p>

Background: Improving instruction and rewarding educators for student learning creates a paradigm shift in evaluating a teacher’s contribution to individual learners. Systemic performance and teacher performance are now receiving more attention than ever before in history, as they are considered foundational for student performance. Policy makers are concerned about teacher quality and want a non-subjective measure that compares teachers based on student achievement results. Superintendents and school boards are joining forces to produce frameworks that are designed to guide school districts through strategic planning. The Vision for Public Education, Equity and Excellence in Georgia is one example. Purpose: The primary focus of this dissertation is to examine A Vision for Public Education, Equity and Excellence, a state-wide project to improve public education in Georgia. The aim of the project is to influence school board policy in seven areas, early learning and student success, teaching and learning, teaching and learning resources, human and organizational capital, governance, leadership, and accountability. Research Methods: A case study provides how individual school boards are implementing the Georgia Vision Project’s recommendations, particularly teacher evaluation. The districts chosen for this study met the criteria of implementing the Vision Project with fidelity and were deemed to be addressing teacher evaluation with commitment. An instrumental case study design allowed for an in-depth look at the Vision Project’s effect on two districts. Findings: Findings reveal how two school districts in Georgia actively used the recommendations from the Vision for Public Education to strengthen strategic planning in multiple areas. Results show how exemplary teachers, building leaders, and district leaders are aligning efforts to improve the educational experience for students. This dissertation describes common themes in student data uses, teacher evaluation, and clarity of communication to benefit student achievement. Conclusion: The results suggest the Vision Project recommendations overlapped showing the complexity of school organizations. Each district used the recommendations differently however, clarity, communication and a focus on students emerged as commonalities. Hopes and fears concerning teacher evaluation arose as teachers discussed current policy requiring student test data be incorporated into teacher evaluations.

The main objective of this study is to increase knowledge of how mother tongue as a school subject is constructed, legitimized and positioned at the policy level. Based on the analysis of governmental policy documents, the thesis deals with mother tongue instruction (MTI) in the Swedish compulsory school, its historical development and status among other language subjects. The study draws on the curriculum theory, which means that the focus lies on the relationship between content of the curriculum and the historical, social and cultural context in which it was conducted. Regarding MTI, I argue that it is located at an intersection among immigration, education and language policies and must, therefore, be viewed in the light of them. With curriculum theory and discourse analysis as theoretical and methodological framework, I examine governmental policy documents from the 1960s to the current curriculum (Lgr11). The result shows that the introduction of MTI (named “home language”) in Swedish school in the 1970s was a part of an immigration policy directed towards immigrant children in order to compensate their special needs. It was argued that mother tongue was crucial for children's personal development and learning. The subject was aimed at all pupils with the home language other than Swedish and was seen as “almost mandatory”. However, the effects of MTI became questioned in the 1980-90s, which led to decreased access to MTI for students that did not belong to national minority groups. The status of the subject was weakened; in fact, it had no natural place in the school schedule. Under this period, the individual’s freedom of choice became valued more than the equality among students. The third period of the MTI history started in the late 1990s when the government articulated its willingness to raise the status of the subject. At present, the practice of MTI is regulated not only by the curriculum but also by the school law and the language law. MTI is currently a part of language policy, which is aimed at language pluralism. Indeed, the development of bilingualism has been stated as the goal of MTI in every curriculum since Lgr69. In the meantime, other language subjects do not aim at promoting bilingualism. This means that bilingualism is something that minority groups should strive for, but nothing majority students need. The current curriculum emphasizes the mother tongue’s significance for language acquisition and for learning in general. The focus still lies on the mother tongue’s importance for individuals but not for the society. Moreover, there are no connections mentioned between MTI and future studies and job opportunities, as the case is for other language subjects. By comparing syllabuses for other school languages I concluded that MTI is constructed as a kind of support subject, rather than as a regular language subject.

This dissertation study documents in-depth the exploration of the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) between the Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) and their industry partners as well as the establishment of a framework for evaluating and assessing PPPs. The public-private partnership agreements were studied in order to answer the over-arching research question: How is an effective public-private partnership established, assessed, and evaluated in education? A descriptive case study methodology was used to study DRSS' public-private partnership agreements to determine if goals and objectives were established and whether or not the partnerships met those goals and objectives. This case study also included the development and testing of a proposed evaluation framework that will allow for consistent, systematic inquiry that can produce defensible assertions regarding the assessment and evaluation of public-private partnerships in education. Results of the case study support the findings that utilization of an evaluation framework can serve to make public-private partnerships more successful. Results also indicated that establishment of goals and objectives enable effective evaluation for informal partnerships but could not be definitively stated for formal partnerships due to the lack of data points. The data from this case study revealed many emergent themes that should be considered in the development of future public-private partnerships. Overall this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge for public-private partnerships in education.

An Evaluation of Math Assessment Policy Process in a Southwestern School District by Alicia Taber O'Brien EdS, Walden University, 2011 MA, Western Governors University, 2004 BS, New Mexico State University, 1994 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Teacher Leadership Walden University September 2015 This project study addressed the lack of evaluation of a math assessment policy in a rural elementary school district in the southwestern United States. This district implemented a math assessment policy in the spring of 2005, yet no evaluation had been conducted to determine whether the policy and its continued implementation were meeting the intended outcomes. Two conceptual frameworks that drove the study were Sabatier's theories of policy process and Bardach's eightfold path to policy analysis. Using interviews of the district's 3 K-12 math teachers and 5 administrators who had proximity to the math assessment policy, this case study explored how the math assessment policy was implemented, as well as whether the policy had met the goals it was originally created to address. Data were deconstructed by coding and then reconstructed in order to create a thick description of the findings. A review of local media documents was also used to illustrate the community's response and reaction to the local district's assessment policies. The 5 themes that developed from analysis of the interview data focused on uncertainty in the ranks, sharing power, collaborating among the mathematics disciplines, policy evolution, and policy outcomes. The results presented in the evaluation report showed that administrators believed the policy was achieving its goals but teachers did not. The evaluation included an executive summary with recommendations to facilitate better communication about the policy throughout the district. Positive social change implications resulting from the evaluation of the math assessment policy include changing the decision-making process at the local district from a top-down model to include more input from practitioners in order to create policies that maximize student success and teacher support.

<p>This study assessed the actual and perceived efficacy of TAFE as implemented across public schools in Texas with Latino populations. The graduation rates of students were analyzed to assess whether there were significant differences in graduation rates between schools implementing the program and those not implementing the program across gender and ethnicity. Surveys were administered to past and present personnel associated with TAFE to ascertain their perceptions on the program. A significant main effect for Latinos was found at TAFE schools during the five year period of the study. Survey responses were isolated to differentiate between Latino responses and those of the general population. Responses varied in consistency between Latino respondents and the overall population of respondents. In general, respondents credited the program for the higher graduation rates of Latinos and their motivation to attend college which are future indicators of success. However, the respondents were undecided as to TAFE's influence to foster teaching vocations but believe it impacts teacher retention. Respondents were also undecided, and a considerable percentage of them had a negative opinion that TAFE motivated them to become or want to become educational administrators. Finally, respondents endorsed the idea of recommending TAFE to high school students and to schools/districts for implementation.