Since 2001, U.S. states have mandated that principals in unsuccessful schools author a school improvement plan (SIP) using the rational model of planning. Research on their efficacy is sparse and evidence suggests that principals satisfice on these SIPs, producing work that is "good enough" to meet concerns for external legitimacy over…

Numerous policies and reforms have been proposed and implemented to increase accountability and improve performance in higher education in the United States (U.S.), which has included an emphasis on the state's role in authorizing colleges and universities to operate and award degrees. The recent surge in peer-reviewed and grey literature has…

Significant disproportionality in special education is a persistent problem that has plagued the American public education system for over 50 years. Despite federal, state, and local efforts; this problem has yet to be solved. The persistence of this problem, despite intervention, suggests that significant disproportionality in special education…

This dissertation includes three studies that investigate the factors that shaped emergency educational policymaking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon scholarship on federalism, bureaucratic behavior, and partisanship, these studies expand our knowledge on the impact that local and state politics can have upon street-level bureaucrats'…

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…

This dissertation captures the 10-year contemporary history of implementing the facilities element of New Jersey's historic "Abbott V" decision. New Jersey's Legislature and Governor took this Supreme Court decision and created legislation responding to multiple constituencies and lobbyists while shaping a school construction program to…

In 1973, the state of Florida implemented the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). The program was developed to distribute available funds to public school districts in a more equitable manner than the Minimum Foundation Plan it replaced. Almost immediately, the Florida Education Finance Program came under attack as less equitable and…