Teacher alienation and plans to stay

Sandidge, William Vaughan University of Virginia 2002 해외박사(DDOD)

A shortage of special education teachers places students with disabilities in the hands of increasing numbers of unqualified or not fully certified special education teachers. Special educators continue to leave teaching at a disproportionately higher rate as compared to general educators. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the perceptions of alienation of special education teachers and their plans to continue teaching in the area of special education. Special education teachers from thirty-three elementary and secondary schools who taught in self-contained/resource or collaborative settings were surveyed. A three-part research instrument collected personal information and responses to two surveys: (a) plans of special education teachers to continue in the same or a similar position and (b) their perceptions of alienation. Survey responses generated data that was analyzed using correlational statistics and analysis of variance procedures. It was predicted that special education teachers perceiving higher levels of alienation would be more likely to plan to leave teaching as compared to special educators perceiving lower levels of alienation. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between special education teacher perceptions of alienation and their plans to continue teaching in the area of special education for an additional five years. This indicated that special education teachers registering higher levels of alienation were more likely to plan to leave within five years as compared to special educators who registered lower levels of alienation. Higher levels of alienation were not correlated to special education teacher plans to continue teaching the following year. According to analysis of variance procedures, there were statistically significant differences between teacher groups based on experience and their plans to continue teaching in the area of special education for another five years. Teachers with 3–10 years of teaching experience were less likely to plan to continue teaching in the area of special education for five more years compared to teachers with 11 or more years of teaching experience.

Technical and vocational education and training in India: A study of choice and returns

Tognatta, Namrata University of Pennsylvania 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

India has made remarkable progress and achieved near universal enrollment in primary school education. However, the quality of learning and progress beyond primary education are of concern; nearly 50 percent of fifth graders are unable to read second grade material and retention rates at the secondary level are quite low. The higher education sector has also shown impressive growth but faces several challenges around inequitable access and low quality. Low outcomes at the secondary and higher education levels have resulted in a significant deficit in employable and vocationally trained individuals in the workforce. Evidence shows that just 14 percent of new entrants to the workforce are likely to have a college or graduate degree. Research also shows that over the long-term low outcomes at the secondary and postsecondary levels are likely to translate into low lifetime earnings and well-being. In light of low educational and employment outcomes, policy in India has focused on skill development through the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector. The primary objective of these policies is to significantly improve the rate at which youth and young adults participate in these programs. However, there is limited research evidence on TVET in India. This dissertation addresses the need for empirical evidence on TVET to enable the policy dialogue on meeting the country's education and training challenges. Specifically, it examines the role of individual, household and macro-level factors in human capital investment decisions, especially as those might relate to participation in vocational education and training. Since the expected returns to education and training are a key determinant of investment decisions, the dissertation examines the economic returns to vocational education and training in India. Finally, the dissertation examines the impact of secondary-level vocational education on high school completion rates and postsecondary enrollment among participants. Large-scale secondary and primary data are used in empirical models to address the questions posed above. The findings thus generated present reliable, generalizable estimates that have the potential to inform the future direction of policy in vocational education and training in India. The findings also identify groups differentially affected by current policies and can thereby be used to address inequitable access to and stratification in education and training programs in India.

A critical ethnographic examination of New Jersey's education policy landscape and its influence on foreign language elementary school teacher practice

Raymond, Robert B. L New York University 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

Since 1996, New Jersey's K-8 foreign language authorization has accounted for the proliferation of foreign language elementary school (FLES) teaching in public schools statewide. However, recent changes in New Jersey public education policy and funding have had a negative impact on this trend. Many programs have been eliminated or teachers have been replaced with computer assisted language learning programs. Using a critical ethnographic approach, this study examines the perspectives of eight elementary school foreign language teachers regarding the current state of early foreign language education in New Jersey and how changes in education policy affect their work. Though a new wave of language education policy research refocuses attention from the role of governments to local stakeholders in influencing and shaping language education policy, little attention has been given to the role of teacher agency in the delivery of language education policy for early foreign language education in the United States. The trending research reveals that teachers, located on the front lines of delivering on education policy, identify how to most effectively adapt a policy according to the conditions in their schools and school districts. The experiences of the eight teachers who participated in this study were audiorecorded using an approach informed by multiple sequential interviewing. Their collective experience tells a story of dedication to implement the New Jersey K-8 foreign language authorization in the face of three challenges: limits to FLES teacher agency to make programs sustainable, the absence of political will to invest time and money in FLES, and low consensus about the goals of early foreign language education. Together, these factors have the circumscriptive effect of relegating elementary school foreign language programs to the margins of the curricular life of participants' schools despite the fact that foreign language is declared a major subject K-12 in New Jersey's core curriculum.

Cross-National Impacts of Public-Private Partnerships on Equitable Student Achievement: A Quasi-Experimental Assessment using PISA 2009

Baum, Donald Rey University of Minnesota 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

Public-private partnerships are being increasingly supported and advocated for, ideologically and financially, as an approach to educational reform in many countries across the world. Proponents suggest that non-state involvement in the education sector has the potential to bolster international Education for All efforts, improve school governance, increase accountability to students and parents, and improve student cognitive outcomes at a lower cost than providing all basic education services through the state. Although the political support for these partnerships from various financial institutions and reform advocates is extensive, empirical evidence investigating achievement and equity impacts on students is greatly lacking. This dissertation adds a much-needed empirical voice to the debate. I perform a quasi-experimental examination of state education finance and provision practices across 17 countries using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. Using methods of propensity score matching to reduce the private sector selection bias and hierarchical linear modeling to estimate effects, accounting for a nested data structure, I investigate differences in student cognitive outcomes and equity between public and private education sectors. The work addresses three primary questions: (i) to what extent do students in publicly-funded private schools perform differently than students in public schools?, (ii) to what extent is student socioeconomic status associated with achievement differences?, and (iii) to what extent does student achievement depend upon the school-level characteristics of choice, competition, autonomy, and accountability? This third question deals with a prominent model for engaging the private sector in education, seeking to explain effective education provision through these four key criteria, which are theorized to improve student learning outcomes. The findings of this study somewhat contradict much of what is currently understood about public-private partnerships in education. Much of the current research shows that public-private partnerships have small performance advantages over traditional public schools. The results of this quasi-experimental empirical assessment provide evidence that, holding student and school socioeconomic indicators constant, students in public schools in a number of countries outperform students in publicly-funded private schools. Where these differences occurred, however, they were small, and in the majority of cases there was no difference in performance between public and private schools. In terms of student performance, I find no evidence of systemic inequity in either school sector. That is, low-income students appear to perform at equal levels in public and publicly-funded private schools. However, there is broad cross-country evidence of social discrimination in private sector school access. Enrollment in a private dependent school is associated with higher student socioeconomic status in 13 of 17 countries and publicly-funded private schools are more likely to discriminate in admissions by student academic ability. Keeping these equity findings in mind, I assert that government policy can be used to mitigate inequalities of opportunity through access to public and private school services. This notion entails a more modern view of the state, in which government is not recognized as sole education provider but assumes a larger supervisory capacity focused on regulating learning and guaranteeing equitable educational opportunity.

Open education and the creative economy: Global perspectives and comparative analysis

Liu, Tze-Chang University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2011 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation is to deal the issues of open education, creative economies, higher education. It also compares the performances in these aspects among different countries. The conception of the "creative economy" develops within the context of "global neoliberalism" and "knowledge economy." These three notions are all concerned with economic development. In addition, the creative economy emphasizes the importance of creativity and cultural commodities in cultural and economical development. Open education adapts the openness concept in education and utilizes information communication technology (ICT) to enhance openness. Open education encourages sharing educational opportunities and providing resources to a greater number of participants. The idea of open knowledge in the creative economy and open education implies the crossing of knowledge boundaries and collective knowledge creation. With its advantageous conditions, higher education can play an important role in the development of open knowledge. From a global perspective, this dissertation adopts a statistical "comparison structure" (also known as a co-plot) to discover the categories and features of the creative economy and open education among countries and regions. Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) data from the World Bank is analyzed and compared internationally. The co-plot shows that there are differences in certain variables among countries and regions. High GDP does not necessarily lead to a highly developed creative economy, but well collective development of some particular variables can contribute to the development of the creative economy in some countries. The conclusion focuses on: (a) open education and its relationship to open knowledge and creative economy, (b) the role and significance of open education, (c) the role of higher education in creative economy and open society, and (d) the results of comparison structure (co-plot) and alternative models. This dissertation makes recommendation concerning the aspects of policy-making and higher education development, as well as future researches. Key words: creative economy, open education, open knowledge, higher education, global comparison.

An Analysis of Strategies to Improve the Quality of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa with a Focus on Tanzania

이조아 경희대학교 대학원 2013 국내석사

This thesis is an attempt to examine the overall quality of primary education in the sub-Saharan African countries and conduct in depth analysis on the education policies for quality improvement, with special focus on the policies to improve primary education in Tanzania. Due to effort made to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2, universal primary education, the access to primary education in sub-Saharan Africa has increased most rapidly compared to all the other regions during the last 12 years. However, challenges also emerged. In 2011, the global distribution of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa was the highest accounting for 43% of all the out-of-school children in the world. Only 70% of pupils survived to the last grade of primary education in the region in 2007 while the world average was 93%. Various reports and scholarly articles demonstrated that learning outcomes of the primary school students were relatively low in the region due to shortage of learning materials and facilities, qualified teachers, relevant curriculum, adequate teaching method and assessment criteria. As a result, the focus of primary education development has moved from access to quality improvement – to provide children a better learning environment and to help children learn skills relevant to their lives in a more effective way. As responses to the quality imperative, many SSA countries started including quality improvement strategies in their national education plans and are working in collaboration with other countries and development partners to tackle the challenge. The paper begins with discussing what “quality education” means and based on the framework suggested by UNICEF and UNESCO, evaluates the quality of education in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania’s quality improvement strategies have been analyzed in depth as it may be an exemplary case for other countries in the region striving to improve the quality of education.

An exploratory study of secondary educator knowledge of disability legislation and its relationship to planning for the transition from secondary to postsecondary education settings

Salter, Sharon Finkle The Pennsylvania State University 2009 해외박사(DDOD)

Due to the changes in disability legislation that protect persons with disabilities from discrimination, and allow for free, appropriate public education along with equal access to education, more and more students with disabilities are choosing to attend postsecondary educational settings. The transition planning process as outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Improvement Act (IDEA '04) mandates that supports and services be put in place while a student is in high school to help that student be successful in meeting his/her post-high school outcomes. For secondary educators this means they must understand how supports and services for students with disabilities are implemented in postsecondary education settings. This knowledge will help secondary educators develop transition plans that truly address a given student's needs, strengths and postsecondary outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which secondary educators perceive themselves to be knowledgeable of federal legislation requirements regarding the education of students with disabilities in postsecondary education settings. In addition, this study explores the perceived competencies related to secondary educators' knowledge of federal legislation for students with disabilities in postsecondary education settings. The participants in this study include secondary educators (e.g., general and special education teachers, guidance counselors and administrators) from the state of Pennsylvania. The results of this study have implications for policy, practice, and future research.

Supporting beginning special education teachers of students with low incidence disabilities in urban settings

Jackson, Sharon Y Capella University 2008 해외공개박사

Attrition rates for beginning special education teachers are extremely high contributing to the overall shortage of special education teachers nationwide. Research suggests that poor working conditions, lack of administrative support, and perceived levels of preparedness impact the retention numbers of begging special education teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of beginning special education teachers on the supports they felt may influence the quality of their teaching and their intent to remain in special education. This qualitative research study used a case study approach to interview special education teachers working in different service delivery models. A purposeful sampling technique limited participants to first or second year beginning special educators and veteran teachers who worked with students with low incidence disabilities in urban settings in New Jersey. On-site observation provided an understanding of the working conditions for each participant. Semi-structured interviewing focused on obtaining data from participants about their views of their current teaching assignments, teacher preparation, their mentoring and induction programs, and other support needs. Results of the study indicated areas that special education teachers identified, as their most significant support needs. Participant responses to open-ended questions provided insight into strategies and policies, which can be used by special education teacher educators and administrators. The research data may offer ways to improve teacher preparation and induction support programs for this group of special education teachers. Since most studies involving special education teachers of students with low incidence disabilities have been conducted in rural settings, this study may present details significant to the support and retention of such teachers in urban settings.

The politics of federal environmental education policy

Crouch, Richard Craig Harvard University 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

Both environmental governance1 and education governance 2 occupy contested territory in contemporary US political discourse. Environmental education (EE) policy has emerged at this intersection and taken on aspects of both controversies. Central to debates surrounding environmental education are still unresolved issues concerning the role of the federal government in education, the role of education in citizen-making, and the role of the public in environmental governance. As a case study of the politics of environmental education policy, I explore these issues as they relate to the National Environmental Education Act of 1990,3 attempts at its reauthorization, its continued appropriations, and its current state of policy stasis. The political controversy over the federal role in environmental education is an appropriate case study of environmental education politics insofar as it reflects the different positions held by actor groups with regard to the definition, efficacy, and legitimacy of environmental education. At the core of these debates, as we will see, is a definitional crisis---that is, there is no common understanding across the relevant actor groups as to what environmental education is, or should be. I suggest here that this definitional issue can be best understood as having technical, ideological, and structural components4---all of which are mutually reinforcing and thus perpetuate the stasis in federal environmental education policy. 1I rely on Durant, Fiorino and O'leary's definition of environmental governance in Environmental Governance Reconsidered ; "In the term environmental governance, we refer to the increasingly collaborative nature of [environmental and natural resource] policy formulation and implementation. In this vein, a wide array of third parties (for example, actors in the profit sector, the nonprofit sector, and civic society), in addition to government agencies, comprise non hierarchical networks of actors wielding a variety of policy tools (for example, rules and regulations, subsidies, and information) to address diverse, complex and evolving [environmental and natural resource] problems." p. 22-23. 2In this case, I adapt Durant, Fiorino and O'leary's definition of environmental governance to education leadership. 3See Appendix 1 for text of the Environmental Education Act of 1990. 4I am indebted to David Rejeski of the Woodrow Wilson Institute for helping me think through environmental education politics from a definitional perspective.

An academic and industry partnership: A case study of the evolving role of continuing education at the University of Minnesota

Norman, Thomas Leslie University of Minnesota 2006 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to explore an academic industry partnership sponsored through the U of M's College of Continuing Education. The study evaluated the how the University of Minnesota created an academic industry partnership involving the Lockheed Martin Corporation with funding provided by the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership program, a state of Minnesota resource designed to promote business/industry agreements designed to sponsor workforce training and new curriculum development. Research centered on how this experience contributed to our understanding of the development of continuing education at the U of M and how this experience helps in understanding of the role of continuing education in higher education generally. In addition, research focused on whether the program studied had significance beyond the curriculum itself. In addition, the research explored the role that continuing education plays in higher education through its ability to develop and deliver applied education that meets the needs of the business community using knowledge resources generated in the field. This study is significant in that is encourages educators to evaluate and recognize the fact that their actions, while seemingly benign, have broader consequences and implications. This study offered a unique opportunity to assess the ability of continuing education to address the needs of the business community by participating in an interdisciplinary academic/industry partnership.