Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Educational funding'

The gaps of school funding and student achievement are particularly pronounced in Illinois, raising statewide concerns about the inequity of school funding and the injustice of the achievement gap. While Illinois educators generally recognize the differences in funding levels and achievement levels in Illinois schools, studies to determine the relationships between the two are lacking. This study examines the relationship between per pupil spending and student achievement in Illinois elementary schools. This study also examines the relationship between student achievement and racial composition of the school and between student achievement and poverty level of the school. Additionally, relationships between per pupil spending and racial composition of the school and per pupil spending and poverty level of the school are examined. Finally, this study investigates the perceptions of principals on how funding inequity in their school affects student achievement.

The California Community Colleges funding model has rich historical, political, and cultural ties embedded in the model foundation. The general funding of the California Community Colleges is enrollment-based and shaped by a long history of legislation based on the K-12 education model. The funding is not tied to performance or outcomes and is driven by how many students are enrolled. Although there has been increased categorical funding in the California Community Colleges over the past 3 years to improve student success and equity, the overall persistence or completion rates of students remains low. Research has demonstrated that many other states are implementing an outcome-based or performance-based funding model to reduce the gaps and improve student success and fiscal sustainability. The purpose of the study was to explore the gaps in the current California Community Colleges funding model and the effect of these gaps on student success and fiscal sustainability for the California Community Colleges. The study additionally investigates effective models in order to design and develop a funding model that will support the mission and outcomes of the California Community Colleges system while planning for fiscal strength.

School facilities issues in rural America and the resources to remedy them are made more complex by rural population trends, building deterioration and inadequacies, financial constraints, and education policy. The challenge for rural districts is to generate the revenues required to build or renovate school facilities. The resulting long-term underfunding of school facilities has left a pattern of crumbling school buildings across rural communities. Rural school districts, particularly those with older structures, need to improve energy efficiency of buildings and upgrade building infrastructure to support new technology

This case study was conducted to ascertain and gain an understanding of the decision-making process of a rural school board as it related to policy and funding for construction, renovation, and maintenance of school facilities. A review of the literature, to understand why rural schools are often in deteriorating condition, revealed a limited scope of research addressing rural education. Kingdon’s (1984) Agenda-Setting Theory provided the conceptual framework for the analysis of the board of education’s complex decisions made, both collectively and individually. Applied was Kingdon’s The Three Streams Model to understand what factors influenced board members when making financial and policy decisions for school facilities.

This single case study utilized field research methods to collect interview data and documents for archival analysis. Interviews were conducted with the school board members who made the decisions for the capital building project investigated in this study.

A key finding in this study was how changes in district leadership and the shifting mood of the school board precipitated the initiation of a policy and reinforced the chances for survival. This finding was particularly true in respect of financial feasibility, which did, in fact, result in enabling the policy to become a building project. This case study serves as a foundation for continued analysis. To connect the larger themes of rural school facility issues with decision making, policy development, and the effects of changing social-economic dynamics shaping the rural school agenda locally, statewide, and nationally.

While there exists extensive research on the historical development of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States, there is limited research focused on the current development of HBCUs in terms of institutional effectiveness and strategic planning. This gap in the research is particularly relevant in the midst of shifts in state funding that have occurred over the past decade. This research study is designed to move further towards filling this research gap by determinations through the examination of: (1) the interplay of fiscal issues and institutional effectiveness in relation to the historic mission, strategic efforts, and state mandates within the context of HBCUs; (2) the perceived institutional effectiveness of HBCUs by key internal and external stakeholders; and (3) the alignment of HBCU mission statements with mandated metrics of institutional effectiveness. Using a qualitative research design, an exploratory multisite case study was employed across two institutions. Nine key HBCU stakeholders such as the Presidents and the Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Financial Affairs, and Alumni Affairs were interviewed to gain their perspectives on institutional effectiveness in relationship to shifting funding, heightened accountability, planned strategies to address these issues, and how these issues directly impact institutional effectiveness at HBCUs. Interviewee perspectives of shifts in funding were examined using a researcher-developed conceptual framework. In addition to conducting interviews, the researcher engaged in document review of relevant university documents, as well as a review of funding patterns of state allocations retrieved from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Data from the three sources were triangulated and a two-layered coding strategy was used for further analysis. Findings from this data analysis were then used to address the five research questions presented in this study. The findings revealed that fluctuating shifts in state allocated funding has created a complex environment for HBCUs. Key HBCU administrators held similar perspectives, that in the midst of such a complex environment, emergent institutional response strategies have been put into place to maintain HBCU institutional effectiveness within the context of the historic HBCU mission.

Since their inception in the 1960s, federally funded workforce development programs have promised a solution to unemployment, labor market skills gaps, and income inequality. However, until recently, lack of data and methodological challenges have made evaluation of these programs difficult. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor in response to the Great Recession of 2008, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program, represented a nearly $2 billion investment in community colleges and the U.S. labor force. Using third-party evaluations to provide evidence of strong outcomes for TAACCCT participants was one of its key objectives. Through a systematic review of TAACCCT third-party evaluation studies and case study analyses of two institutions, this study examined the impact of TAACCCT on participant completion, employment, and earnings and institutional capacity building during its first two funding rounds. TAACCCT enabled community colleges to invest in capacity-building activities, experiment with innovative program strategies, and strengthen and scale partnerships. It also had a positive and significant impact on participant completion and employment. Future workforce development programs should be informed by these successes. The experiences of grantees during these two rounds also offer insights into improvements for future programs.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how school superintendents were using general fund referenda to meet their school district’s operational budgets. However, after interviews began it became clear that the superintendents wanted to tell a different story and that was how the current school funding mechanism and property tax caps has changed the job of the school superintendent. The research consisted of one-on-one guided interviews of a mixed qualitative methods framework combining theories of hermeneutics and phenomenology. The interviews combined open-ended, guided questions and conversations and were with superintendents who were leaders of school districts that have passed general fund referenda. Each of the superintendents worked for school districts that were in the top 50 national schools, as reported by USA News and World Report, serve affluent communities and serve a low free and reduced lunch population of less than 20% of their student population. Data collected came directly from the interviews and were framed and verified within the context of newspaper articles, public blogs, and public social media posts. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, organized, and coded using a modified data analysis table, which combined elements of item analysis and an unfolding matrix. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to understand the superintendents’ understanding of the phenomena that is a general fund referendum campaign and their role during its passage. The purpose of this study evolved into how the superintendents perceive their role in light of their new financial realities, which is driven by changes in how schools are funded and the institution of property tax caps. This study is intended to inform current and future superintendents with guidance in how important political communication is for successful execution of the duties of a superintendent. In addition, this study should guide superintendent preparation programs by showing the importance of training and internships for future superintendents in the skills of effective political communication and managing political campaigns.

Due to funding diminishment from traditional sources, many insurance and risk management undergraduate degree programs have turned to alternative funding resources in order to survive. This qualitative multi-case study interviewed key participants (college faculty, department chairs, and deans) in three insurance and risk management programs in order to identify the effects of systemic budget constraints and alternative public and/or private funding strategies and resources that were being utilized. Additionally, the collected data were analyzed to evaluate the appropriateness of Bess and Dee's Models of Organization - Environment Relations to an undergraduate insurance and risk management degree program. Their model incorporates organizational theories (resource dependency theory, contingency theory, institutional theory, population ecology theory, niche theory, and the random transformation model) to explicate policies and practices in higher education institutional organizations. Interview participants confirmed the effects of the funding decline, with the most significant impact being on faculty engagement. Alternative funding strategies were identified and categorized by the source of funds. An analysis of the majority of collected data indicated an alignment with contingency theory in all three programs. In exploring the efficacy of Bess and Dee's Models of Organization - Environment Relations (2012), this theoretical construct was evaluated for contextual appropriateness. This study proposed that this theoretical model may have value for consideration in evaluating an undergraduate insurance and risk management program's relationship with its external insurance stakeholders and donors. Keywords: insurance and risk management undergraduate degree programs; alternative funding; Models of Organization - Environment Relations; organizational theories