Accountability policies (i.e., "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top") in education over the last two decades have produced a culture of fear and anxiety, undermined teacher autonomy over curriculum and instruction, and pressured teachers to focus on raising student test scores, resulting in a narrowing of the curriculum.…

Limited research results have been provided on the influence of schools on dropout prevention, which consist of the accountability system and how teachers' attitudes affect students' decisions to dropout. The specific problem of interest was how the accountability model and teacher-student relationships plays a vital role in student dropout. The…

The community school model is rooted in John Dewey's (1902) conceptualization of the public school as a hub for the community. This work has evolved over a hundred years and recently experienced prominence in the public eye as a fundamental component of New York City's school turnaround policy. This dissertation describes findings and…

This study explores the outcomes of policy implementation from the perspective of the policy makers and the educators who are charged with implementation, specifically examining the decision-making process for district leaders during implementation. The study identifies the outcomes from the perspective of the policy-maker utilizing accountability…

To ensure optimal patient care an especially high level of accountability is required when entering the workforce. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore, describe, and define perceptions of accountability as described by sophomore and senior nursing students in two baccalaureate nursing programs. The research questions aimed to (a)…

The goal of this study was to investigate New York State's Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) from the perspectives of secondary science teachers and their administrators. Examining their perceptions through interviews was insightful due to the subjects' proximity to the teaching and learning processes. Five science…

Recent changes in teacher education program accreditation and in the accountability requirements for both the school district and the higher education partners precipitated the need for this study. Partners must understand the priorities, needs, and challenges facing collaborative partnerships called for in new accreditation standards. This study…

In New York City, early childhood education has become the topic of conversation when talking about public education due to Mayor Bill De Blasio's Pre-Kindergarten for All initiative which was introduced in September of 2014. New York City has always invested in early childhood education through Head Start, Early Head Start, Child Care and…

Institutions of higher education both value and need student assessment data. Faculty, as seen in numerous studies, however, have generally negatively received the formalization and reporting of student assessments to gather this assessment data. If we could better understand faculty experiences and perceptions of student assessment data within…

Throughout 2015, there have been 52 school shootings within the United States that have left 30 individuals dead and another 53 injured (Reuters-USA, 2015). Since Friday, December 14, 2012, the date of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 26 people lost their lives, there has been on average one school shooting per week. It is…

This study examines the internal and external networking strategies of leaders furthering potentially disruptive innovations in higher education. The goal of the research was to understand specifically what types of networks they develop, activate, and leverage; the functions of those networks; and the ways they engage them to further their…

The purpose of this study was to identify how one district attempted to meet the need for greater accountability in the teacher evaluation process as mandated by law and to describe strategies that were employed by the district to ensure the integration of student achievement data. This research highlighted how a teacher evaluation instrument…

Nearly 30 states have adopted or are transitioning to performance-based funding programs for community colleges that allocate funding based on institutional performance according to defined metrics. While embraced by state lawmakers and promoted by outside advocacy groups as a method to improve student outcomes, enhance accountability and ensure…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of teachers during their job searches for employment in the field of education which could inform recruiters in a rural, low-wealth LEA in southeastern North Carolina of the behaviors they need to display and the strategies they need to employ in order…

The purpose of this case study research was to understand the ways in which an innovative, urban secondary English teacher (Ms. B) approached English Language Arts, when a set, standardized curriculum and testing were in place. The Common Core standards were prescribed within a required module-based presentation format. New literacies pedagogy…