After the first democratic elections in 1994, the newly elected democratic government of South Africa tried to remedy social inequities from the past by implementing more development-oriented social policies. The Department of Social Development's Integrated Service Delivery Model (ISDM) is one of these efforts. However, the integration of social services has been fraught with challenges. During a practical placement at a community clinic in Fisantekraal in the Western Cape, the researcher, as a social work student, observed that many nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) were ignorant of additional social services available in the area. Amongst the social services being offered, the researcher discovered duplication, fragmentation, and gaps. As a result, a closer examination of these observations was required. Not even the government social development authorities knew about the ISDM. The social service providers in Fisantekraal did not know about the principles of the developmental approach and the Generic Norms and Standards for Social Welfare Services, stated in the ISDM. According to the ISDM, integrated service delivery requires collaboration between NGOs, government, and the private sector; consequently, research into promoting integration in social service delivery in South Africa is critical. The question that framed and led this study is what challenges confront efforts to promote integration in social services delivery in South Africa. In order to investigate these challenges, this study administered a sample survey to social service providers across government, non-profit organisations and private practitioners. According to the core findings, the great majority of social service providers understand the concept of integrated social services. However, the data revealed that translating a widespread understanding of the concept of integration faces many operational obstacles. Many service users do not have access to specialised services because of the cost and distance required to travel. In addition, inadequate communication hinders partnering with the government on a provincial and local level. The mindset of lowering workload by exploiting the incentive of collaborating vi with other organisations has yet to become commonplace, even though there has been some progress in this area in the past. Promoting collaboration proved to be one of the most significant barriers to integrating social services, along with budgetary and capacity constraints. The NGO sector is financially stretched, and many organisations believe that a lack of funding impedes them from integrating their services. However, the opposite should be the case because combining their services would allow them to share costs and workload. In addition, many organisations have their own objectives and directives, which militate against the establishment of unified goals. Collaboration with the government was the most major roadblock to reaching a goal consensus. This was owing to a lack of access to their social service practitioners and their rigid mandates. A significant number of respondents have also not received training on the ISDM, implying that they are unaware of the model's intricacies and thus unable to implement it. The study reveals that social services providers are ill-equipped to deliver integrated social services. There appears to be a lack of know-how about how to create strong and effective organisational collaborations on the ground. A thorough understanding of integrated social services is not taught in the South African social services field despite a strong appreciation for the value of the concept. A shift in mindset is necessary, and this may be possible if more widespread training on integrated social services is provided.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) calls on school counselors to take part in collaborative work experiences using data to address problems of practice. School counselors experience professional isolation leading to underperformance (Elliot et al., 2004; Stone-Johnson, 2015). School structures that lack collaborative experiences for school counselors leads to isolation (Bardhoshi et al., 2014). The purpose of this action research study was to assess the influence of a professional learning community (PLC) on the perceptions of school counselors to perform the elements of a PLC, their use of data to solve problems of practice, and their perceptions of benefits and challenges to collaboration within a PLC (DuFour & Eaker, 1998). This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of 6 high school counselors in one suburban school district as they took part in one cycle of a multicycle action research PLC to address school engagement. Qualitative data sources included semi-structured interviews, PLC transcripts, and one focus group. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. Findings indicate: (a) school counselors perceived themselves as capable of positively contributing to the elements of PLCs, (b) PLCs positively influenced school counselors’ data use to make decisions, and (c) school counselors perceived both benefits and challenges to PLC implementation. Results of this study can be used to understand the influence of PLCs on school counselor practices as they move from isolated practice toward comprehensive school counseling practice.

Public support for market-based education reforms persists despite evidence that these reforms exacerbate the educational marginalization of Black and Brown students. Even among Democrats and ostensibly equity-minded policy actors, support for reforms like charter schools is widespread. How do people come to support racially stratifying policies despite their supposed commitment to ethic of social justice? The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the theories of unconscious racism (Lawrence, 1995a) and moral disengagement (Bandura, 1999) in the state takeover of a majority Black school district by a majority white state government. Methods included a critical race analysis of Doe v. Arkansas Department of Education (2016) and a critical discourse study of the state takeover speech of elite white policy actors. Findings included two parallel appeals: to the legal precedent on which Lawrence based the theory of unconscious racism, from the court in Doe v. DOE; and to the mechanisms of moral disengagement, from white policy actors justifying the takeover. It is therefore plausible that public support for racist education policies is a result of morally disengaging policy rhetoric, and that these policies are protected by strict legal obstacles to discrimination claims. Recommendations include increased political involvement on the part of school leaders, including principals; further critical policy studies of pre-adoption policy discourse and policy outcomes; and deeper interdisciplinary investigation of the moral disengagement of individual policy actors and citizens in an education policy arena.

In an attempt to maintain on-time graduation rates and reduce dropout rates, school districts, such as the one in this study, implement credit recovery programs. In an effort to improve student graduation rates and address graduation disparities, the Virginia school district in this study implements a summer credit recovery program that utilizes accelerated online learning as opposed to traditional direct instruction. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the summer program as it relates to the success of student credit recovery and verified credit achievement to determine if there is a correlation to program participation and remaining on-track for on-time graduation. The program evaluation focused on the short term outcomes of the summer online credit recovery program for high school students. The study analyzed four years of post ex facto data. The findings show a relatively high rate of participation of economically disadvantaged, special education, and Black students. The results of this study show that the online credit recovery program is an overall effective instructional method for students in need of recovering failed credits. Results show significant success for students enrolled in English and math courses, a moderate level of success for social studies courses, and a marginal level of success for science courses. There is no correlation between final course grade and accompanying SOL test, and the SOL pass rate was 23%. Ultimately, participation in the summer online credit recovery program proved likely to keep students on-track for on-time graduation.

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation rate. We compared the number of mathematics and science courses students in a STEM magnet program completed to the number of courses completed by students not participating in a STEM magnet program. Additionally, we surveyed teachers and administrators to learn their perceptions of student success factors in STEM magnet programs. There was a positive difference in graduation rates with a low effect size. The differences in the number of math and science courses completed were not practically significant. Moreover, magnet students earned a statistically significant higher GPA than non-magnet students. Furthermore, teachers reported a high degree of teacher efficacy, while administrators rated themselves higher on general leadership ability than on STEM leadership. We recommend clearly defining STEM education, additional professional development for teachers and administrators, streamlining accountability for STEM programs, and continuing to invest in STEM education as a pathway to producing college and career ready students.

This qualitative study examined the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in Virginia and how this implementation impacts student achievement. Three research questions were the focus of this study. First, how is a local rural district implementing components of ESSA related to school improvement? Second, what are principals' beliefs about the potential benefits and liabilities of the implementation of ESSA regarding school improvement? Finally, what are the recommendations to principals regarding improving the implementation of ESSA to enhance the effectiveness of school improvement? This study supported the idea that entrepreneurial or creative thinking is essential in providing sustainable success for improvement in schools. A document review of school improvement plans found that schools contained elements of best practice and were in alignment with the requirements for school accountability under ESSA. Structured interviews were conducted to explore principal beliefs and perceptions of ESSA accountability and school improvement policies. Common themes identified from school improvement plans included recognition of gap groups, specific academic goals for gap groups, steps or initiatives to close gaps groups, implementation of social emotional learning, and steps to increase attendance. Common themes from principal interviews included principals identifying the benefits of evaluation measures beyond standardized testing, participant understanding of ESSA and social emotional learning as an intervention.

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The Great Recession produced rising debt, deficits, and exposed vulnerabilities for municipalities in a globalist economy. The two-month COVID recession in 2020 accelerated these burdens; a lagging downturn recently added pressures of reduced economic activity, record inflation, and rising costs in 2022. This dissertation studies how local financial sustainability (FS) and financial condition (FC) approaches can work in concert towards a set of indicators with internal and external categorization to explain municipal financial health (MFH). Unassigned fund balance plus select formal stabilizations measure MFH, are conceptually supported in having retrospective (FC) and prospective (FS) value as an intergenerational resource and are theoretically supported by common-pool resource theory. The resource-based view supports 51 unique predictor variables within MFH elements—demographics, economics, organizational structure, fiscal management, and politics/fiscal policy. This exploratory-predictive research uses partial least squares structural equation modeling, 2017 data, and a final sample of 391 Florida cities to predict variations in MFH using three primary models: FC, FS, and Hybrid. The study found the models have valid measurement assessment. The Hybrid model was the best in structural assessment. Advanced testing of Hybrid modeling found politics/fiscal policy to have the strongest relationship with MFH. Higher order modeling found the internal construct (fiscal management and politics/fiscal policy) outperformed external (demographics and economics). Multigroup testing of binary organizational structure attributes found cities with utility-enterprise revenue different than those without. The residential stock equity measure offered can improve resident understanding of MFH and (inter)intragovernmental analysis for researchers and public agencies in any economic climate.

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