The vast majority of funds for pre-K through grade 12 public schools in the United States -- nearly $800 billion or over 90% -- come from state and local funding sources. States, not school districts, are obligated to ensure that all students have access to the resources they need to succeed. States can take steps to reduce disparities between…

The post-great recession period (June of 2009 to February of 2020) was marked by a decline in state funding for higher education that further necessitated institutions to rely on tuition funding. Revenues from tuition are based not only on what institutions charge, but also how many students are charged. This tuition revenue dynamic makes…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education in California, forcing students and institutions to adapt rapidly to the public health and economic crisis. Institutions' revenue streams were predicted to decline just as new and increased costs for health, safety, and online education burdened budgets. The federal government provided over $10…

Superintendents as decision-makers in public school systems, in their roles of both leader and manager, have been the topic of studies for many decades (Waters, J. T., & Marzano, R. J., 2006; McClellan, R. L., Hyle, A. E., & Ivory, G. (2010). However, there is little research regarding superintendents' decision-making related to resource…

This dissertation utilizes performance-based funding for higher education in Europe as the mechanism through which to interrogate broader relationships between universities and their external resource environments. Structured as three distinct journal-length articles, I first explore the emergence of performance-based funding systems for higher…

"Leading Thoughtful Conversations about School-by-School Spending Data" is a product of a federally-funded study to support the US Department of Education and the field more broadly to understand what data visualizations work to fuel thoughtful conversation among district and school leaders on financial strategy and management. This…

Recent public discussions and legal decisions suggest that school segregation will remain persistent in the United States, but increased transparency may help monitor spending across schools. These circumstances revive an old question: is it possible to achieve an educational system that is separate but equal--or better--in terms of spending? This…

Inclusive education affords all learners, particularly learners with disabilities, access to equitable educational services. Despite the widespread recognition and extensive scholarly attention of the 2015 Inclusive Education Policy, learners with disabilities in Ghana continue to struggle to fully participate in inclusive schools. Guided by…

The purpose of this interview-based qualitative study was to explore how individualized education program (IEP) team members determine least restrictive environment and educational placement. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment and to the…

This paper reports on a participatory case study investigating the total shift to an electronic assessment and electronic proctoring modality in a traditional higher education academic institution in Lebanon due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the novel real-time electronic assessment and proctoring system developed by the University of…

This study addresses the complex challenges of childhood obesity, food poverty and environmental degradation by developing a planetary health framework for school food in education. Drawing on Dewey's experiential learning philosophy, it adopts an integrative approach where school meals and food education converge. Rooted in the planetary health…

This paper explores pre-service life sciences teachers' behavioral intentions toward integrating artificial intelligence into life sciences teaching. Despite the growing influence of AI in education, there is limited understanding of the factors affecting teachers' willingness to integrate AI into life sciences teaching. These factors could inform…

This paper compares and critiques two budgeting models used at public universities: Central Administrative Management (CAM), and Resource Centered Management (RCM). These approaches represent alternative resource allocation methods: under CAM budgets are assigned centrally based primarily on allocation history, while RCM relies on decentralized…

The correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement does not just apply to individual students--the concentration of poverty in schools matters, too. Schools with concentrated poverty require more state funding in order to best serve their students. But it is not just about how much; to be equitable, states must spend enough…

A 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products has been endorsed by California voters to fund early childhood services under Proposition 10, California Children and Families First Act of 1998. In compliance with the legislative requirement of Result-Based Accountability (RBA) on revenue spending, this report delineates evaluation…