Bachelor of Arts, Ohio University, 2017, Political Science

Through the use of OHIO Upward Bound as a case study, the purpose of this research is to show how Upward Bound impacts low-income and first generation college students enrolled in the program. This data was collected by interviewing five recent alumni of OHIO Upward Bound, who concluded that Upward Bound helped them develop skills typically used to succeed in college. Upward Bound is a federally-funded program that is dependent upon grant-based funding from the Department of Education. The funding is given to Upward Bound programs based on the percent of students who earn a Bachelor's degree within six years of their high school graduation. The interviews showed the value of participating in Upward Bound beyond learning the skills to earn a Bachelor's degree. This research is used to highlight the value of participating in Upward Bound and to propose an alternate way of measurement for the program to earn funding from the Department of Education.

Committee: Barry Tadlock (Advisor) Subjects: Continuing Education; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Public Policy and Management

How government delivers public services can have broad societal effects, beyond the impact on programmatic outcomes. Such societal effects are particularly likely in the delivery of public education, as educational concerns drive residential and school choices, and public schools are the second largest public employer in the United States. My dissertation explores how innovations in the way we administer public education may affect societal inequities by race, gender, academic ability, and socioeconomic status. The first essay examines how the emergence of online “virtual” public schooling, which families within a state can access regardless of where they live, has affected school-based segregation by race and poverty. The second essay examines the impact of the sudden closure of a large virtual charter school on district segregation by race and academic ability. Finally, the third essay estimates the impact of introducing teacher collective bargaining—which empowers teachers in the management of public schools—on the diversity of staff and employment and pay of women. Overall, this dissertation explores how education administration affects with whom students interact in school and who has access to quality public sector jobs—all of which, in turn, have well documented long-term impacts on children.

Committee: Stéphane Lavertu (Advisor) Subjects: Economic Theory; Economics; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Technology; Experiments; Public Administration; Public Policy; Social Research

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2011, Higher Education (Education)

Student achievement in postsecondary education is not only critical to the success of public higher education in America but remains a core component of a national strategy to remain competitive within a global economy. Yet public higher education in America is undergoing a transformation driven by economic stress from reduced public fiscal support, competition from for-profit institutions and the emergence of new technologies. Concurrently, the demographic composition of the undergraduate student population continues to evolve with more non-traditional students attending degree granting institutions, increasing numbers of military undergraduates and students enrolling in courses delivered through distance learning. Against this landscape of change, this study sought to explore the role of distance education to student attainment by examining a cohort of first-time beginning students. The literature is replete with studies of student persistence from a variety of theoretical constructs including sociological, organizational, psychological, and environmental with differing degrees of empirical support. While scholars agree on the benefits of increasing the body of research regarding student retention and attainment, there remains a deficiency in empirical research using a nationally representative dataset that seeks to examine the role of distance learning. Finally, the previous longitudinal study of beginning postsecondary students conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) studied student cohorts from 1996 to 2001. Research conducted using this data is becoming rapidly outdated. This study used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to explore persistence or attainment among a nationally representative sample of first-time beginning students who enrolled in 2003-2004 and participated in distance education. The findings indicated older adults, independent students, married students, single parents, and students with higher incomes were (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Valerie Conley PhD (Committee Chair); David Descutner PhD (Committee Member); Gordon Brooks PhD (Committee Member); Robert Young PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education