The Attainment Agenda

"While the federal government seeks to promote educational attainment and equity through its extensive investment in student financial aid, states have primary responsibility for policies that affect the educational attainment of their populations. Despite the centrality of state policy, however, we know relatively little about the relationship between state policy and these outcomes. This book addresses this knowledge gap. Drawing on data collected from descriptive case studies of the relationship between public policy and higher education performance in five states (Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Washington), this book offers a more complete conceptual framework for understanding how state public policy can promote educational attainment. The resulting framework has five central tenets that help us understanding how to improve overall educational attainment and increase equity in that attainment. At its core, the model assumes that higher education performance is determined by effective state policy leadership for higher education. The book also illustrates the need for state policies that reduce the cumulative negative implications of policies that perpetuate differences in educational outcomes across groups and that proactively address the barriers that limit educational attainment for underachieving groups. This book has important implications for public policymakers, college and university leaders, educational researchers and others who are interested in understanding how public policy can improve educational attainment and equity in attainment across groups"-- Provided by publisher.

How state leadership determines effective higher education attainment. Although the federal government invests substantial resources into student financial aid, states have the primary responsibility for policies that raise overall higher educational attainment and improve equity across groups. The importance of understanding how states may accomplish these goals has never been greater, as educational attainment is increasingly required for economic and social well-being of individuals and society. Drawing on data collected from case studies of the relationship between public policy and higher education performance in five states—Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Washington—The Attainment Agenda offers a framework for understanding how state public policy can effectively promote educational attainment. Laura W. Perna and Joni E. Finney argue that there is no silver bullet to improve higher education attainment. Instead, achieving the required levels of attainment demands a comprehensive approach. State leaders must consider how performance in one area (such as degree completion) is connected to performance in other areas (such as preparation or affordability), how particular policies interact to produce expected and unexpected outcomes, and how policy approaches must be adapted to reflect their particular context. The authors call for greater attention to the state role in providing policy leadership to advance a cohesive public agenda for higher education and adopting public policies that not only increase the demand for and supply of higher education but also level the playing field for higher educational opportunity. The insights offered in The Attainment Agenda have important implications for public policymakers, college and university leaders, and educational researchers interested in ensuring sustained higher education attainment.

Research shows that having a highly educated workforce is critical to states and territories' economic competitiveness and to the well-being of their citizens. A growing number of state policymakers are concerned that the nation as a whole and their states are falling behind in the race to accumulate the educational capital needed to ensure that their states will be world-class, not second class. While everyone is talking about the critical need to develop a more competitive workforce, relatively few states have taken major steps to actually move the agenda forward. More specifically, few states have publicly identified their goals for increasing college completion. This paper presents strategies that governors can adopt to increase their states' educational attainment.

This book offers a new model of educational achievement to explain why some students are committed to preparation for college.

Why are the economic interests and priorities of lower- and middle-class Americans so often ignored by the U.S. Congress, while the economic interests of the wealthiest are prioritized, often resulting in policies favorable to their interests? In Hijacking the Agenda, political scientists Christopher Witko, Jana Morgan, Nathan J. Kelly, and Peter K. Enns examine why Congress privileges the concerns of businesses and the wealthy over those of average Americans. They go beyond demonstrating that such economic bias exists to illuminate precisely how and why economic policy is so often skewed in favor of the rich. The authors analyze over 20 years of floor speeches by several hundred members of Congress to examine the influence of campaign contributions on how the national economic agenda is set in Congress. They find that legislators who received more money from business and professional associations were more likely to discuss the deficit and other upper-class priorities, while those who received more money from unions were more likely to discuss issues important to lower- and middle-class constituents, such as economic inequality and wages. This attention imbalance matters because issues discussed in Congress receive more direct legislative action, such as bill introductions and committee hearings. While unions use campaign contributions to push back against wealthy interests, spending by the wealthy dwarfs that of unions. The authors use case studies analyzing financial regulation and the minimum wage to demonstrate how the financial influence of the wealthy enables them to advance their economic agenda. In each case, the authors examine the balance of structural power, or the power that comes from a person or company’s position in the economy, and kinetic power, the power that comes from the ability to mobilize organizational and financial resources in the policy process. The authors show how big business uses its structural power and resources to effect policy change in Congress, as when the financial industry sought deregulation in the late 1990s, resulting in the passage of a bill eviscerating New Deal financial regulations. Likewise, when business interests want to preserve the policy status quo, it uses its power to keep issues off of the agenda, as when inflation eats into the minimum wage and its declining purchasing power leaves low-wage workers in poverty. Although groups representing lower- and middle-class interests, particularly unions, can use their resources to shape policy responses if conditions are right, they lack structural power and suffer significant resource disadvantages. As a result, wealthy interests have the upper hand in shaping the policy process, simply due to their pivotal position in the economy and the resulting perception that policies beneficial to business are beneficial for everyone. Hijacking the Agenda is an illuminating account of the way economic power operates through the congressional agenda and policy process to privilege the interests of the wealthy and marks a major step forward in our understanding of the politics of inequality.

Publisher description.

This text examines sociopolitical, economic, familial, and educational agendas that influence attainment of second language literacy. This book examines the sociopolitical, economic, familial, and educational agendas that influence an immigrant's attainment of literacy in a new language. Each agenda is introduced through illuminating case studies drawn from research in North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The book addresses teachers and teachers-in-training involved in second language education, whether their students are in special language classes, bilingual education, or enrolled in the mainstream curriculum. It also provides valuable insights to individuals responsible for developing second language literacy policies in the political, labor, and educational sectors.

This book presents papers from the 10th Applied Research Conference in Africa (ARCA), showcasing the latest research on education and inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable communities. The conference is focused on applied research discussion and its dissemination, developing understanding about the role of research and researchers in the development of the continent. Education is a key driver to transform lives, build peace, eradicate poverty and drive sustainable development in Africa. Researchers face large challenges to making a meaningful contribution to the development of Africa. It is a continent where research can at time be not viewed directly related to development. The aim of the Applied Research Conference in Africa is to provide a platform for capacity building and networking among researchers in Africa. The proceedings is focussed on applied research, its discussion and dissemination and will be if interest to researchers, professors, graduate students, policymakers and professionals in industry.

Why and how American colleges and universities need to change in order to meet the nation's pressing needs American higher education faces some serious problems—but they are not the ones most people think. In this brief and accessible book, two leading experts show that many so-called crises—from the idea that typical students are drowning in debt to the belief that tuition increases are being driven by administrative bloat—are exaggerated or simply false. At the same time, many real problems—from the high dropout rate to inefficient faculty staffing—have received far too little attention. In response, William G. Bowen and Michael S. McPherson provide a frank assessment of the biggest challenges confronting higher education and propose a bold agenda for reengineering essential elements of the system to meet them. The result promises to help shape the debate about higher education for years to come. Lesson Plan shows that, for all of its accomplishments, higher education today is falling short when it comes to vital national needs. Too many undergraduates are dropping out or taking too long to graduate; minorities and the poor fare worse than their peers, reinforcing inequality; and college is unaffordable for too many. But these problems could be greatly reduced by making significant changes, including targeting federal and state funding more efficiently; allocating less money for "merit aid" and more to match financial need; creating a respected “teaching corps” that would include nontenure faculty; improving basic courses in fields such as math by combining adaptive learning and face-to-face teaching; strengthening leadership; and encouraging more risk taking. It won't be easy for faculty, administrators, trustees, and legislators to make such sweeping changes, but only by doing so will they make it possible for our colleges and universities to meet the nation’s demands tomorrow and into the future.