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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the changes in Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores and the changes in Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) after the enactment of First to the Top Act of 2010 and the receipt of $501,000,000 in federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grant monies. Half of that money was retained by Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) for education reform initiatives. The other half was awarded to each Local Education Agency (LEA) according to the Title I formula after TDOE approval of individual Scopes of Work. Reform initiatives included transition to Common Core State Standards, changes to standardized testing, teacher evaluation system reflecting teacher effect partly based on student achievement, changes to tenure, and establishment of an Achievement School District for low-performing schools. Fast-paced reforms and increasing accountability for student achievement and gap closure brought a climate of pressure and tension. Secondary data were readily available on the Tennessee Report Card from TDOE’s website (www.tn.gov/education). Data from each LEA were collected, organized, and analyzed in the areas of PPE; TCAP scores in math, reading/language arts, and science for 2010, 2011, and 2012; and student population. No significant relationships were found between the changes in PPE and the changes in TCAP scores. Significant differences were found between the math scores for Year 1 and Year 2. No significant differences were found between the reading/language arts scores for Year 1. A significant difference was found between the reading/language arts scores from 2010 to 2012. Significant differences were found for the science scores for both time periods; however, Year 1 science scores fell while 2010 to 2012 science scores rose. Mixed results were found when investigating the relationship between PPE and number of students. This study indicates the importance of careful discussions of how school funds are spent, perhaps even more than how much money is spent. Implications for further study might include qualitative investigations of the perceptions of stakeholders at all levels about the climate during the fast-paced reforms. Further study of data for Years 3 and 4 of the grant is also recommended.

<p>This dissertation explores the issue of under-representation of women in STEM fields in high school and the early years of college. One of the major contributors to the persisting gender earnings gap is male-domination in the STEM workforce. Women are under-represented in STEM occupations since they are less likely than men to take advanced STEM courses in high school and to choose STEM majors in college. While the gender STEM gap does not exist at early ages according to most studies, it has been shown that girls start to lag behind boys in Math tests after middle school.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In Chapter 1, I investigate the STEM gender gap in the context of teacher-student gender matching. Using a fixed-effects regression model, and Chilean administrative education data on SIMCE and PSU exams and college application, I explore whether high school girls perform better in Language and Math when they have female teachers, and whether a female Math teacher impacts girls’ preference towards STEM programs when enrolling in college. I find that female teachers improve girls’ overall performance in high school Math exams for all school types, and college entrance exam Math scores for public school girls. However, they negatively affect girls’ probability of choosing STEM majors when enrolling in college. They negatively affect boys’ high school and college entrance exam Language performance and private school boys’ college entrance exam Math performance, but positively affect boys’ college STEM preference. The presence of female Math teachers in high school has negative effects on both boys’ and girls’ college entrance exam Science scores. There is significant heterogeneity in these effects between public, voucher and private schools. The negative preference effect is significant only for</p> <p>high-performing girls.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Chapter 2 uses restricted NCES data (HSLS:2009 and ELS:2002) and difference-in-difference methodology to explore whether the $4.35 billion federal Race to the Top (RTT) program of 2009 had impacts on overall educational and enrollment outcomes, and gender gaps in these outcomes for high school students in the US. Besides the major objective of making students better prepared for college and future careers, a significant aspect of the RTT program was its emphasis on reducing barriers to women’s entry and success in STEM fields in higher education and the STEM workforce. I find that the program was not successful in fulfilling the major objectives of improving students’ educational outcomes, reducing achievement gaps or improving women’s representation and performance in STEM fields. It prompted students to take fewer and easier courses in high school and increased gender gaps in 12th grade GPA and SAT Math score. While there was a modest reduction in the gender gap in first year college GPA, there were neither any improvements in boys’ or girls’ college STEM credits and grades, nor</p> <p>any reduction in gender gaps in these outcomes.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In Chapter 3, I use the same restricted NCES data as in Chapter 2, data on state policy obtained from Howell and Magazinnik (2017) and difference-in-difference methodology to explore whether states’ adoption of “college and career ready” common K-12 standards affected the overall educational and enrollment outcomes of high school students in the US and gender gaps in these outcomes. I use the 2009 Race to the Top (RTT) program as a source of exogenous variation, since one of the major policies promoted by the program was the adoption of higher K-12 standards across the US. I find that the tougher standards led to students taking relatively more non-STEM oriented, and thus arguably “easier” courses and increased gender gaps in STEM coursetaking.</p> <p>Notably, they drove low performing girls out of college education, which resulted in a more competitive college-going female population. This in turn, led girls to outperform boys once enrolled in college, specially in STEM courses. Thus, common standards-adoption whose goal was to improve college and career readiness failed in this endeavor, but made the pool of college-going women more competitive and inadvertently levelled the playing field</p> <p>for college-bound women.</p>

This mixed methods study examined relationships between third, fourth, and fifth grade teacher attendance as well as teacher and administrator perceptions of teacher attendance during the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 school years. Third, fourth, and fifth grade student test scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement test given in the spring of 2006, 2007, and 2008 were also examined. TCAP score data for this study were gathered electronically, with published data from the Tennessee Department of Education. Teacher attendance records were collected using Siesta, a teacher attendance tracking program. Teacher and administrator perceptions were gathered through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The population for this study included five K-5 schools and two K-8 schools in a small, rural, public school system in Tennessee. All students in grades 3 through 8 take the TCAP test each spring. Students must take a total of 4 subtests. Quantitative variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics including t tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Mann Whitney U, and Pearson correlations. Qualitative data including interviews, focus groups, surveys, documents, handbooks, and school calendars were analyzed to better understand teacher and administrator perceptions about teacher absences. The results of this study were mixed. Teachers and administrators who participated in this study agreed that teacher absences do affect student test scores, but the quantitative data did not support this. The null hypotheses were retained in all courses and grades except third grade Math. This means there was no relationship between teacher absences and student test scores.

This mixed-methods study was conducted to explore the professional opinions of educational leaders regarding selected components in the Race to the Top (RTTT) grant concerning teacher evaluation and compensation and the potential impact on student achievement. A target university was selected that had students who were professionals in the field of education in either instructional or administrative jobs and were pursuing their doctorates in both Education and Educational Leadership. A researcher created survey and follow-up interview were utilized to gather both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis. Quantitative findings revealed that statistically significant differences in the opinions of educational leaders about the potential impact of the RTTT grant teacher evaluation and compensation components on student achievement existed between two types of professional classification (instructional or administrative). No statistically significant relationship was found between self-reported knowledge of the RTTT and opinions of the fairness of the RTTT teacher evaluation and compensation components. Also, no statistically significant difference was found in the professional opinions about the potential impact of the RTTT grant teacher evaluation and compensation components on student achievement when self-reported school poverty percentage was considered. From qualitative findings, themes emerged surrounding the uncertainty and lack of understanding about the RTTT grant’s implementation. Though this study provided baseline data on the opinions of educational leaders on the RTTT teacher evaluation and compensation components, there is still much to be learned about the RTTT grant.