Education is a pillar of the United States development and civilization priorities. The principles of both the U.S. settlers and the Founding Fathers point to the essence and value of education. Nonetheless, these benefits remain futile when the state fails to ensure inclusivity and equality in their campaign. Often, race, gender, and…

This dissertation explores how federal education policies affect outcomes for special populations and their teachers. The first study uses a differences-in-differences design and data from the Stanford Education Data Archive to determine if "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) waivers reduced district-level white-black and white-Hispanic…

This study posits that the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA) represented the culmination of nearly a century-long process through which education was linked to national defense in periods of wartime, and later retained a strategic utility for defense purposes in times of peace. That a defense rationale for federal support of public…

Performance measurement has emerged as a management tool that, accompanied by advances in technology and data analysis, has allowed public officials to control public policy at multiple levels of government. In the United States, the federal government has used performance measurement as part of an accountability strategy that enables Congress and…

Turning around persistently low-performing K-12 schools and districts has been an elusive goal despite prioritization at the highest levels of government. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Education encouraged states to adopt tiered accountability systems, like the Massachusetts model, which allows state takeover of districts in cases of…

Signed into law in 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments was designed to eliminate gender discrimination throughout the American educational system. Title IX applied to all educational programs at any level of schooling including admissions, financial aid, academic programs, and social organizations. However, Title IX has primarily been…

The purpose of this research project was to explore what the core factors are that play a role in the development of the smart-grid. This research study examined The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 as it pertains to the smart-grid, the economic and security effects of the smart grid, and key factors for its success. The…

This study focused on the federal and Illinois State the reform legislation titled the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and Senate Bill 7. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act or "PERA" was created from collaboration between stakeholders as Illinois competed in a federal competition titled "Race to the Top." The legislation…

The purpose of this policy analysis was to examine the responses of selected states to the special education monitoring requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) with particular attention paid to the years after this most recent reauthorization. This study examined the legislative and litigative history of…

Of the numerous public policy debates currently taking place throughout the United States, perhaps no issue receives more attention than the persistence of "chronically" low-performing public schools. As of 2009, approximately 5,000 schools--5% of the nation's total--qualified as chronically low performing (Duncan, 2009d). Certainly,…

This qualitative research study, in the format of an historical narrative, chronicles the issues, process of consensus, and the impact of the National History Standards Project (NHSP) on local policies and curricula in history education. The "culture wars" for the "National Standards for History" of 1994-1996 and quest for a…

This dissertation is a study of the policy process behind the legislation and regulation governing international student access to U.S. higher education since the immediate aftermath of World War II. The particular research focus of this dissertation is on NAFSA: Association of International Educators (originally established as the National…

The intent of this study was to investigate changes in the curriculum caused by high-stakes testing mandates within 3 Southwest Virginia school systems to find best practices for instructional application in classrooms. This qualitative study was comprised of in-depth interviews and observations with elementary school teachers and administrators.…