ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- Creators: Fischman, Gustavo
Description
School safety is a wicked problem due to shifting needs and available information, the diverse actors affected and involved, fluctuating budgetary demands and ramifications, and relations to broader social and political issues. School safety challenges encompass a range of factors, including threats of violence and fears related to school shootings, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and well-being, and research and rhetoric on punitive discipline practices and the school-to-prison nexus, especially regarding the use of School Resource Officers (SROs). Following the murder of George Floyd by police in the Summer of 2020 and the subsequent civil unrest, several school districts across the United States began to reconsider the use of police on campuses, with some choosing not to renew contracts with police departments for SROs. In most cases, school district leaders (e.g., governing boards or superintendency) unilaterally made this decision without authentic school community input or participation in inclusive processes and shared decision-making opportunities. Phoenix Union High School District (PXU), a diverse, urban high school-only district that serves 25,000 students, was one of those districts that did not renew its contract with the local police department for SROs. Instead, PXU undertook efforts to reimagine school safety through two parallel participatory processes: School Participatory Budgeting (PB) and a Safety Committee. Drawing from the literature on school safety, participatory governance, and student voice, I explore school safety's historical and current landscape, specifically the use of SROs and punitive discipline measures, alongside methods of participatory governance within K-12 educational institutions and the benefits, challenges, and implications of student voice in shared decision-making processes. I then chronicle the two processes implemented in PXU using the Empowered Deliberative Democracy (EDD) conceptual framework and a case study methodology. I analyze and discuss the tensions and the transformative potential of participatory processes that include student and school community voices in finding solutions to difficult challenges. In conclusion, I summarize the case study and raise recommendations for using participatory processes to address wicked problems in K-12 educational institutions.
ContributorsBartlett, Tara Lynn (Author) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Pivovarova, Margarita (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
I conduct a series of analyses aimed at assessing equity in selective American colleges over a 20+ year time frame. My main measures of equity are enrollment and completion in selective colleges, which I disaggregate by race/ethnicity. After creating an institutional-level panel data set with variables on college revenues and expenses, tuition, institutional control, and affirmative action case law decisions, I estimate a Generalized Least Squares (GLS) model with institutional level random fixed effects to identify factors associated with enrollment and degree completion for white and non-white students at selective United States colleges. My results suggest that affirmative action case law is associated with changes in enrollment and degree completion rates of white and non-white student alike. Increasing equity for non-white students does not compromise equity for white students. There was a statistically significant relationship between federal spending, enrollment, and degree completion for non-white students. When selective colleges increased tuition, instructional costs, academic support services expenditures, and student support services, Asian American/Pacific Islander students were likely to see enrollment and degree completion declines. Degree completion and enrollment differences were observed for Asian American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and white students at public, private and for-profit colleges. In the years after the Adams and Hopwood court decisions, equity for non-white students declined at selective colleges. Enrollment and degree completion for non-white students increased following Grutter, Gratz, Coalition, and Fisher decisions. Enrollment of white students increased following Fordice and Hopwood. Degree completion for white students increased post Coalition and decreased post Fisher.
ContributorsOkolo, Tiffany (Author) / Powers, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Thesis advisor) / Pivovarova, Margarita (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020