Does Institutional Aid Compensate for or Comply with State Policy?

To what extent does state policy for student financial aid affect the distribution of institutional aid awarded to students at public institutions? Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey we employ a Tobit model to investigate the relationship between student characteristics, including family income and academic qualifications, and the amount of student financial aid awarded from institutional sources at public masters’ and bachelors’ degree granting institutions. We then ask if the institutional aid is awarded in a manner that complements or compensates for the student financial aid policy in the state. The results support our hypothesis that state policy for student financial aid affects the distribution of institutional aid, but instead of institutional compensation for state policy, we observe what appears to be compliance.     

Rethinking Policy Diffusion: The Interstate Spread of “Finance Innovations”

Recently a number of studies have focused on states' adoptions of postsecondary-specific policies. Cutting across much of this research is the presence and influence of interstate diffusion of policy adoptions, a phenomenon for which support is scant. This paper seeks to address this through broadening the categorization of policies beyond the discrete form traditionally used to one that encompasses a larger conception of "finance policy." Our sample uses 131 finance innovations for 47 states over a 29 year period, finding that upon broadening our definition, we can detect the process of diffusion. However, the findings are striking, showing that while states do learn from one another, the process is dynamic and shifts across time.     

Impact of Institutional and Student Characteristics on Texas Community Colleges under the State’s Performance Funding Model

The study examined how institutional and student characteristics may influence the earning of student success points by state-supported community colleges under the Texas performance funding system that was fully implemented in the 2016–2017 biennium. Texas has historically funded community colleges based on an enrollment formula; however, the funding system was revised in 2013 by setting aside 10% of the enrollment-based formula funding appropriations to be earned back through a performance funding system based on student success points earned. The quantitative study used a correlation design with three hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine the relationships between the student outcomes measures for public community colleges and institutional and student characteristics. The data examined were collected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and made available to the public through an interactive website tool. Findings showed that although several student and institutional characteristics were significant predictors of the total success points earned, when the analysis focused on the change in success points between two sets of three-year averages, none of the student or institutional characteristics were significant predictors. These findings support the design of the Texas performance funding system and suggest that community colleges serving higher proportions of at-risk students, including students who are a minority, low socioeconomic status, part-time, and are age 25 and older, will not be disadvantaged using the system’s methodology of comparing an institution to its own historic performance. The contributions of this study are intended to assist state policymakers who are designing performance funding systems.     

Giving “Credit When It’s Due”: A Case Study of Reverse Transfer Policy Implementation

More states are considering what kinds of policies or processes can be put in place to successfully improve the degree attainment of their postsecondary students, and one popular option is a reverse transfer policy. Reverse transfer policies usually involve authorizing community colleges to award a degree or certificate to students that have transferred away from the institution to a university/baccalaureate granting institution if they have since met the requirements for the degree. In this study, the researcher interviewed staff members within the Hawaiian higher education system to determine what elements contributed to or influenced the successful implementation of a reverse transfer policy. Five individuals who participated in the implementation committee were interviewed and the implementation process was presented as a case study with implications for other states introducing similar policies discussed. Findings included the presence of strong leadership; the consideration of implications for policy, perception, and personnel; and communication and involvement of staff as important aspects influencing the implementation process.     

State standardized testing programs: Friend or foe of gifted education?

This study investigates the effects of state testing programs on the instructional practices of elementary teachers and the effects of such practices on their gifted students’ attitudes toward school and motivation. Results obtained from a national survey of elementary teachers, representing a variety of metropolitan areas and school poverty levels, as well as qualitative case studies from teachers in three states suggest that the perceptions teachers have of standards, tests, and students shape their classroom actions. These findings indicate that teachers are not likely to engage in effective classroom practices but instead engage in one‐size‐fits‐all practices. Implications of these perceptions on professional development and talent development are discussed.     

The Politics of “Giving Student Victims a Voice”: A Feminist Analysis of State Trafficking Policy Implementation

Little research explores factors shaping those policies and actors involved in state-level sex and labor trafficking prevention. This study examined the organizational, political, and normative dynamics that influenced implementation of Texas House Bill 1272 (HB 1272, 2013), which included educators in trafficking prevention. Part of a larger study that used feminist critical policy analysis and multifocal theory as overarching guideposts, findings highlight important factors bound up with policy actor enactment and normative roadblocks to successful long-term curriculum and training implementation. This study fills a gap in the educational research literature both in its unpacking of the normative politics involved in eliminating youth commercial and sexual violence experienced and thick qualitative research findings, neither of which would be possible through one theoretical or methodological device. Implications of and recommendations for educational research and practice are offered.     

Competence or Performance? A Bernsteinian Analysis of Basic Competency Assessment in Hong Kong

This article analyses an assessment initiative known as the Basic Competency Assessment (BCA) in Hong Kong using Bernstein’s performance and competence models of pedagogic practice. On the one hand, BCA is aligned with a competence model through its official projection as a low-stakes, student-focussed and formative assessment. However, an examination of the public perception of and context for BCA reveals its high-stakes, disciplines-centred and summative nature; it is argued that BCA reflects a performance model with strong classification, strong framing and visible pedagogies. The example of Hong Kong illustrates the usefulness of Bernstein’s theory and extends the existing research on the interactions between local culture and pedagogic practices.     

A Practical Adoption of Methodologies in“Practical English”Teaching

ABSTRACT Teachers play a most important role in general-English teaching at college. They must constantly develop their practical skills in the light of their students level and purpose. The present essay focusses on different methodologies and provides materials based on the author's teaching practice.     

Will the Tide Lift All Boats? Examining the Equity Effects of Performance Funding Policies in U.S. Higher Education

Research in Higher Education - This study considers whether performance funding policies systematically tend to harm some types of institutions of higher education while helping others. Building on...     

Accession or Exclusion? University and the Disabled Student: A Case Study of Policy and Practice

Students who are disabled are under-represented in higher education. One reason for this may be that education is not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and disability statements to government made by individual institutions are more for information than an expression of mission or committed action. The growing empowerment of disabled people themselves has radically shifted thinking about the disabled in society and in this paper student views on provision in one large UK University are collected. Questionnaire and interview data highlight the existing shortcomings in terms of physical access but also in terms of disability awareness among those whose job it is to provide effective university education for all. The findings are broadly in line with researches elsewhere. The paper urges that further research be undertaken and that all universities urgently examine their own situation.     

“趁雪打劫”or“雪中送炭”?

1月28日晚上,河南郑州市多处立交桥上均出现了下雪导致道路结冰的情况.在某立交桥上,由于坡路雪多,车辆打滑,几名守在这里的人以50至100元不等的价格收费推车,沿途司机不得不给钱求帮助. 推车人王军(化名)说,他和朋友两人以前在东北打工的时候,经常靠给人推车挣钱,运气好的时候一晚能挣七八百.今天他们已经推了两辆车了,第一辆“宝马”给了100元,后面的“大众”给了50元.     

Measurement Error or Meaningful Change? The Consistency of School Achievement in Two School-Based Performance Award Programs

When measures such as student achievement scores are used to hold schools accountable, and in particular to identify some schools as eligible for rewards or sanctions, the reliability or dependability of these measures become an important issues. High levels of random measurement error reduce the dependability with which schools are classified as meeting or not meeting accountability goals, which in turn puts the fairness of school-based performance award programs based on these measures in doubt, and may reduce the motivational value of the rewards or sanctions provided. This paper describes the temporal consistency of school classification observed in the Kentucky, and secondarily, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, school-based performance award programs. Using information obtained from the Kentucky Department of Education, the degree to which the observed temporal inconsistency of classification in Kentucky could be due to measurement error is evaluated. The paper concludes with a discussion of other potential reasons for the observed temporal inconsistency of school classifications.     

The Effects of University–Industry Relationships and Academic Research On Scientific Performance: Synergy or Substitution?

This paper evaluates whether university–industry relationships (UIR) and academic research activities have complementary effects on the scientific production of university lecturers. The analysis is based on a case study of two Spanish universities. We find that the effects of R&D contracts with industry, and academic research activity on scientific production are synergistic, but only when the R&D contracts account for a low percentage of a lecturer’s total funding. This suggests that the positive effect of UIR on a lecturer’s scientific production comes fundamentally from the capacity to provide complementary resources (cognitive, technical, and/or financial) for research activities. If lecturers are not involved in research and dedicate most their time to the development of activities related to UIR, their scientific production will be negatively affected.     

Core Elements of the European (Higher) Education Policy: Market-Driven Restructuring or Impetus for Intercultural Rapprochement?

For many years there has been a debate about the existence or not, of a common European education policy. In this article I argue that there has been a real European education policy since the approval of the Maastricht Treaty, with a proper content and which offers many new possibilities to students. The core of this policy is the setting up of the European Higher Education Area, designed not only for attendance-based universities, but also for distance and virtual universities. However, the policies, expected to be in force by 2010, have not been without problems and a critique of the implications for European higher education institutes is offered following an outline of the development and evolution of the policies.