ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Interstate Survey: What Do Voters Say about K-12 Education in Six States? Polling Paper No. 1
Author: DiPerna, Paul
Date: 2010-11-29
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Surveys,School Statistics,Educational Change,Educational Finance,Expenditure per Student,Politics of Education,Voting,Graduation Rate,Academic Achievement,Charter Schools,Virtual Classrooms,Tax Credits,Scholarships,Educational Vouchers

The core purpose of the Interstate Survey series is to survey statistically representative statewide samples and report the &quot;levels&quot; and &quot;gaps&quot; of voter opinion, knowledge, and awareness when it comes to K-12 education and school choice reforms--particularly with respect to state performance, education spending, graduation rates, achievement rankings, charter schools, virtual schools, tax-credit scholarships, and school vouchers. In this paper the author and his colleagues compare voter responses in six states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York. Why choose these states? In a sense these states comprise the open frontier for reforms in K-12 education. None has enacted school voucher or tax-credit scholarship systems. Arkansas, New Jersey, and New York have seen some growth in the charter school sector, but charter school student populations do not exceed 2 percent of the overall student populations in these states. Only New Jersey has had a consequential public debate about voucher or tax-credit scholarship programs in the last couple of years. This project's six states are similar in that none has been exposed to school choice programs in action, and the charter school sectors (non-existent in Alabama) and virtual school sectors (non-existent in New York) are still in early stages of development. The paper is presented in four sections. The first section summarizes key findings. The second section, &quot;Survey Snapshots,&quot; represents the body of the paper. The third section describes the survey's methodology, summarizes response statistics, and presents additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews. The fourth section lays out the questionnaire and question-by-question results (topline data), essentially allowing the reader to follow the actual interview as it was conducted in terms of question wording and ordering. This paper sets out to provide fundamental analysis, going light on editorial commentary, and letting the charts and numbers communicate the major findings. (Contains 12 footnotes.)
Lessons for Tennessee from Florida's Education Revolution
Author: Ladner, Matthew
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Change,Strategic Planning,Public Officials,State Standards,Accountability,School Choice,Social Promotion,Teacher Salaries,Incentives,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gains,National Competency Tests,Reading Achievement,Hispanic Americans,Grade 4,African Americans,Comparative Analysis

Jeb Bush campaigned for governor on a clear and bracing set of education reforms in 1998. Having won office, he immediately pursued a dual-track strategy for reforming Florida's K-12 education system: standards and accountability for public schools, choice and options for parents. Florida lawmakers followed those reforms with additional measures. They enacted instructional-based reforms, curtailed social promotion, introduced performance pay for teachers, and expanded school choice for families. A decade of bold reforms led to dramatic achievement gains in Florida, while academic improvements in Tennessee were held back by a lack of strong policy changes. Ten years after Governor Bush's election and subsequent work to improve K-12 education, this study lays out the cumulative impact of his reforms, using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Looking particularly at NAEP's reading test, 47 percent of Florida's fourth-grade students scored below Basic in 1998, meaning they were unable to master &quot;fundamental skills.&quot; By 2009, however, 73 percent of Florida's fourth graders scored Basic or above--a remarkable improvement. What's more, after a decade of strong improvement, Florida's Hispanic students now have the second-highest reading scores in the nation; Florida's African Americans rank fourth-highest when compared to their peers in other states. Compared to Tennessee, the average Florida Hispanic student scored higher than the average score for all &quot;Tennessee students&quot; on NAEP's fourth-grade reading test in 2009. Tennessee's students are not alone. Florida's Hispanic students also outscored the statewide averages for all students in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition, Florida's African American students went from being far behind their peers in Tennessee to being significantly ahead of them. This paper lays out Florida's reforms, and suggest how Tennessee policymakers could emulate the Sunshine State. Florida's work wasn't easy, but the academic success that has occurred should make it easier for other states to follow, including Tennessee. (Contains 6 figures and 22 notes.) [This report was released by the Foundation for Educational Choice and the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.]
Reforms with Results: What Oklahoma Can Learn from Florida's K-12 Education Revolution
Author: Ladner, Matthew
Date: 2010-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,State Legislation,Educational Change,Accountability,Parent Participation,School Choice,Program Effectiveness,At Risk Students,Underachievement,Achievement Gains,Disadvantaged Youth,Low Achievement,Reading Achievement,Grade 4,Elementary School Students,Hispanic American Students,Low Income Groups,Grades (Scholastic),State Standards

Florida lawmakers began a comprehensive education reform effort in 1999 combining accountability, transparency, and parental choice with other far-reaching changes. In March 2010, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released new results showing just how successful Florida's reforms have been and how futile Oklahoma's efforts have proved. This study documents how the latest NAEP results strengthen the case for Florida-style reforms. In 2009, some groups of traditionally underperforming students from Florida--including that state's Hispanic students--widened their leads over the statewide average score for &quot;all Oklahoma students.&quot; This report explains in some detail why Florida's reforms, while benefiting all students, have been especially beneficial to disadvantaged students. For example, Florida's method for grading schools looks not only at students' overall performance and overall gains, but also considers gains among the 25 percent of students with the lowest scores. Importantly, those 25 percent of students are counted in all three categories, providing a strong incentive for schools to help their lowest-performing pupils. This paper details the key components of Florida's K-12 education reform strategy and explains why the adoption of the Florida reforms in Oklahoma would aid all children, especially disadvantaged students. (Contains 8 figures and 17 notes.) [This report was released by the Foundation for Educational Choice, Oklahoma Business &amp; Education Coalition, and Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.]
California's High School Dropouts: Examining the Fiscal Consequences
Author: Stuit, David A.
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: High Schools,Dropouts,Economic Factors,Taxes,Labor Market,Public Health,Costs,Institutionalized Persons,Hispanic Americans,African Americans,Unemployment,Poverty,Salary Wage Differentials,Income,Health Insurance,Dropout Rate,Prevention,Economic Impact,Educational Attainment,Graduation Rate

This report analyzes the economic and social costs of the high school dropout problem in California from the perspective of a state taxpayer. The authors' analysis considers the consequences of this problem in terms of labor market, tax revenue, public health, and incarceration costs. The authors' quantification of these costs reveals the sizeable taxpayer benefits that stand to be gained by aggressively combating the state's dropout problem. Their analysis reveals the following findings: (1) According to the California Department of Education, 98,420 public high school students dropped out of school in 2007-08, suggesting 19 percent of California high school students in any ninth-grade class will drop out over a four-year period. Hispanic and African American students drop out at an estimated rate of 24 percent and 33 percent respectively; (2) California dropouts experience difficulty in the labor market. They are more likely to be unemployed or out of the labor force and twice as likely to be living in poverty; (3) The lower earnings of high school dropouts cost the state more than $54 billion per year in lost taxable personal income; (4) Dropouts report worse health than graduates and require more public health resources. Close to 20 percent of California high school dropouts report fair or poor health and close to half receive Medicaid; (5) Dropouts drive up the state's incarceration costs. Over a lifetime, a dropout costs the state $8,484 because of higher incarceration rates than higher-educated peers; and (6) California's economy will benefit tremendously by reducing dropouts. The authors estimate that each prevented dropout will result in a present value lifetime benefit of $28,227. By permanently cutting the dropout rate in half, each new graduating class of high school students would yield more than $1.4 billion in direct gross economic benefits to the state. Completely eliminating the dropout problem would save the state $2.8 billion annually, or approximately 14 percent of its present budget deficit. (Contains 9 tables, 9 figures, and 40 notes.)
Tax-Credit Scholarships in Nebraska: Forecasting the Fiscal Impact
Author: Gottlob, Brian
Date: 2010-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Scholarships,Tax Credits,Private Schools,School Districts,Tuition,Public Schools,Transfer Students,Student Financial Aid,State Aid,Expenditure per Student,Educational Finance,Access to Education,Socioeconomic Influences,Equal Education,Enrollment Trends,Expenditures,Student Characteristics,Educational Opportunities,Participation,Poverty,Income,Eligibility

This study seeks to inform the debate over a proposal in Nebraska to give tax credits for contributions to organizations that provide scholarships to K-12 private schools. The study constructs a model to determine the fiscal impact of tax-credit scholarships on the state and on local school districts. The author estimates the impact that tax-credit-funded tuition scholarships will have on the distribution of students between public and private schools in Nebraska by estimating the likely transfer of students from public to private schools depending on the average dollar value of scholarships. The author uses these estimates to model the impact tax-credit scholarships will have on state education aid to school districts and to calculate the break even rate of &quot;transfer,&quot; or the number of public school students that would have to transfer from public to private schools in response to the scholarship program, in order to make the tax credit fiscally neutral from the perspective of Nebraska state government. The author uses district-level expenditure and enrollment data to estimate the percentage of expenditures that vary with changes in enrollment levels across school districts in Nebraska and compare the revenue and expenditure impacts of tax-credit scholarships on school districts to determine the net impact of tax-credit scholarships on district finances. In addition to allowing Nebraska to expand educational opportunities to lower- and middle-income families and improving the equity of its education system, a tax-credit-funded scholarship program would generate fiscal benefits for local school districts, increasing the available resources for students who remain in public schools. Because much of their revenue does not vary with enrollment, school districts would retain much of the funding associated with students who use scholarships to transfer from public to private schools. The overall impact on public schools would be to increase the financial resources available per student. Depend a few key program design elements, it could also result in fiscal savings to the state budget. (Contains 11 tables, 10 figures and 19 notes.)
What Do Indiana Voters Say about K-12 Education &amp; School Choice? Executive Summary
Author: Foundation for Educational Choice
Date: 2010-01-10
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,School Choice,Surveys,Voting,Educational Attitudes,Public Opinion,Knowledge Level,Educational Change

The &quot;Indiana K-12 &amp; School Choice Survey&quot; project, commissioned by The Foundation for Educational Choice and conducted by Braun Research Incorporated (BRI), measures Indiana registered voters' awareness and opinions on a range of K-12 education issues. &quot;What Do Indiana Voters Say about K-12 Education &amp; School Choice?&quot; reports the &quot;levels&quot; and &quot;gaps&quot; of voter opinion, knowledge, and awareness when asked about issues in K-12 education and school choice reforms. (Contains 1 footnote.)
My Lifelong Learning Realm: An Autoethnography Experiential Learning in Finland
Author: Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh
Date: 2011-02-11
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Ethnography,Autobiographies,Reflection,Theory Practice Relationship,Learning Theories,Socialization,Lifelong Learning,Experiential Learning,Personal Narratives

My journey to write autoethnography report started with inclination to learn cultural and social phenomena in Finland. This was my realm of learning through experiential learning. The ontological philosophy was perceived through objectivistic and subjectivistic approaches. The lifelong experiential learning realm was a benchmark for me to perceive learning behaviour through cognitive learning, social learning, conditioning learning making the meaning out of the learned phenomena and constructing a critical reflexive picture to shape my behaviour, attitude in social and cultural settings. Experiential learning was an important aspect of practicing the previously learned phenomena to mould the behaviour to accustom with the situation. This is where theories of learning and practices meet to reflect the phenomenal views to critical reflexive. Moreover, experiential learning provided me with additional benefits to understand and learn in terms of initiating the paradigm shift of thought, feelings and acting in social behavioural context. This was nevertheless, the learned phenomena in sociocultural setting instigating in bringing my behavioural changes to adapt with situational context I encountered with in Tampere, Finland. (Contains 4 figures, 2 pictures, and lists 4 internet sources.)
Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Critical Review of the State of Knowledge and a Taxonomy to Guide Future Research. Policy Research Brief. Volume 21, Number 1
Author: McEathron, Mary
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Postsecondary Education,Access to Education,Classification,Mental Retardation,Developmental Disabilities,Outcomes of Education,Models,Educational Research,Quality of Life,Severity (of Disability),Sampling,Employment Level,Student Needs,Cost Effectiveness,Conferences (Gatherings),Institutional Characteristics,Literature Reviews

This Policy Research Brief proposes an organizational framework for understanding the characteristics of Postsecondary Education (PSE) programs for persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and the relationship of those characteristics to outcomes. The adoption of such a taxonomy could increase understanding of the variety of PSE program models for persons with IDD, provide a basis for comparing outcomes across program sites, and provide a framework for future research. Using the taxonomy to cluster programs and identify testable hypotheses will invite researchers to consider new research questions that will lead to improvements in PSE programs, in person-program fit, and in program-institutional fit. As new evidence accumulates, the PSE Taxonomy itself can be modified to reflect the growing state of knowledge about whether and how various PSE programs contribute to improving the lives of persons with IDD. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)
50+1: A Federal Agenda for New York City
Author: Bowles, Jonathan
Date: 2009-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Urban Areas,Federal Government,Presidents,Safety,Crime Prevention,Transportation,Community Development,Economic Development,Housing,Housing Needs,Immigration,Educational Improvement,Labor Force Development,Poverty Programs,Energy,Environment,Health Programs,Health Promotion,Consumer Economics,Urban Renewal,Program Proposals

The inauguration of a new president is a typically a time of great hope, and this year is certainly no exception. But the advent of the Obama administration offers residents of New York and other city-dwellers special grounds for optimism: that the period of years, if not decades, when the federal government all but turned its back on the needs of urban communities is finally at an end. President-elect Obama's early pronouncements, from creating a White House Office of Urban Policy to promising bold new investments in infrastructure, education and alternative energy, suggest that the new president understands something that many of his recent predecessors clearly did not: what's good for cities is good for America. New York is the nation's biggest city by population, economic activity, and cultural importance; its success is inextricably linked to that of the country. But if the Obama administration and the 111th Congress appear to present an exciting opportunity for cities, exactly how should policymakers in New York and other urban centers seek to capitalize on this? This paper lays out 51 specific recommendations for what the federal government could do to help New York City. These ideas range from taking immediate steps to ensure that the 2010 Census does not undercount New York and providing anti-terror funds to localities based on risk rather than politics, to accelerating the rollout of new air traffic control technology to reduce fight delays and streamlining the visa process to make it easier for artists to enter the country. While the authors' recommendations are squarely focused on New York, many if not most of them would bring great benefit to cities and metropolitan regions across the United States. (Contains 124 endnotes.)
Subsidizing Care, Supporting Work
Author: Hilliard, Thomas
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Economically Disadvantaged,Child Care Centers,Low Income Groups,Child Care,Unemployment,Urban Areas,Costs,Federal Aid,State Aid,Grants,Socioeconomic Influences,Enrollment,Welfare Services

The recent uptick in New York City's economy could provide a huge sigh of relief for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who lost their job in the Great Recession and are still out of work. But many of the city's unemployed will need more than just enhanced skills to take advantage of the new job opportunities; they'll need access to affordable child care. In recent years, subsidized child care has become an essential work support for New York's large and fast-growing population of working poor--those who hold jobs but, because of low wages and the city's high cost of living, still struggle to adequately support a family here. It's also a critical support for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers to successfully complete a postsecondary degree program, which in today's economy has become fundamental to accessing higher-paying jobs. Unfortunately, as the author details in this report, the supply of subsidized child care in New York City, while never adequate, has slipped over the past few years. And the city's working poor--those who earn too much to qualify for subsidized care but too little to comfortably afford the high cost of child care in New York--have been the biggest losers. Today, just one in four low-income children under the age of six is being served by child care programs across the five boroughs. At the same time, waiting lists for child care centers in the city are extensive--as many as 40,000 parents are waiting for child care services. And signs point to continued deterioration unless the city and state change course. (Contains 5 charts and 38 endnotes.) [Funding for this report was provided by the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and the Working Poor Families Project, a national initiative supported by the Annie E. Casey, Ford, Joyce and Mott Foundations.]
Operating Efficiencies at Some UC and CSU Comparator Universities. Report 11-03
Author: Sidarous, Natalie
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Universities,Educational Finance,School Surveys,Comparative Analysis,Coping,Financial Problems,Tuition,Fees,Input Output Analysis,Job Layoff,Cost Effectiveness

In December 2010, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) staff surveyed public universities in other states to learn how they have dealt with cuts in state funding. All of the institutions CPEC surveyed have increased tuition and or fees at least once in the last two fiscal years, and many project additional increases. All have made cost-saving measures or efficiencies over the budget year. Many have reduced general administrative spending, cut academic programs and class offerings, and reduced faculty and staff with voluntary or involuntary retirement or termination. While none of these institutions have managed to completely protect academics, a few have managed to increase need-based financial aid. This paper presents their findings.
Affordability of Higher Education: California and Other States. Presentation to the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Report 11-01
Author: Jones, Jessika
Date: 2011-02-15
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Higher Education,Community Colleges,Universities,Family Income,College Bound Students,Student Costs,Comparative Analysis,Grants,Commuting Students,Fees

This is a summary of a presentation to the Assembly Higher Education Committee on college fee and total cost comparisons of California public universities with comparator universities in other states. This summary also includes grant award estimates and net cost of college by family income.
College Costs and Family Income: The Affordability Issue at UC and CSU. Report 11-02
Author: Jones, Jessika
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Universities,Family Income,Paying for College,Tuition,Costs,Attendance,Grants,Educational Finance

Rising costs are putting an education at California's public universities out of reach for many Californians. Eroding state funding for higher education has meant that more costs are passed on to students and their families in the form of increased fees. Room and board and other costs have grown much faster than inflation. Incomes have not kept pace with these rising costs, particularly for lower- and middle- income families who have seen little income growth in recent years. This report identifies the total annual cost of attendance at California public 4-year institutions, including educational fees, room and board, books, and other costs. It also identifies estimated grant and fee waiver amounts based on family income and the net cost of attendance after grants are subtracted from total costs.