Fall 2018

This qualitative research seeks to determine the perceptions of school stakeholders regarding educators with visible tattoos. A snowball sampling technique using social media to access the sample garnered 246 responses to an open-ended survey linked from an online survey tool. While approximately 71% of the respondents felt that educators should not be required to cover visible tattoos in the workplace or at school-sponsored activities, a majority of the responses indicated that administrators monitor the content and placement of tattoos to avoid the presentation of inappropriate content or placement based on the age and maturity level of the students.  Detractors of this position cited religious opposition or a generally negative stereotype of the types of people with tattoos as a reason to restrict the visibility of any body art at school or while at school-sponsored activities. Based on these findings, school districts should evaluate educator dress code standards to reflect the acceptance of tattoos as a method of personal expression similar to that of choice of dress or accessories.

This study examines the uses of education experts in mass media broadcast outlets through content analysis to determine the reliance on pundits, political correspondents and educational experts.  Utilizing Wimmer & Dominick’s content analysis procedure, an examination of reporting related to DeVos’ confirmation across media outlets were analyzed and quantified. The study finds a significant lack of reliance on educational experts, teachers, professors, scholars, or others who have spent time studying education.  Instead, most of the reporting relied on correspondents, pundits, a few video sources from the hearings, and precious few educational experts. This study explores the few experts that were consulted, what is lost when experts are left out of the equation and the extent to which this tendency is more marked because of the educational context.

Teachers are the main driver of quality outputs in secondary schools. The professional attitudes displayed by teacher matters a lot in the educational process. This study investigated teachers’ professional attitudes and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Ilorin Metropolis of Kwara State. The survey research design was found suitable for this study. The population of the study consisted of all the secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis. Two instruments Teachers’ Professional Attitudes Questionnaire (TPAQ) and Students’ Academic Performance Proforma (SAPP) were developed and used for data collection. Pearson product-moment correlation statistic was used to test all the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed a significant relationship between all the sub-variables of the independent variables and students’ academic performance. Recommendations were made that teachers should adopt effective verbal communication attitudes, classroom management attitudes, and pedagogical attitudes.

This article is an analysis on higher education state agencies in eight states in the Midwest and upper South. Analyzing these state agencies through a qualitative case study design, the purpose of this article is to develop an understanding on how a region might define and measure college affordability.  The findings highlight that there is a broad understanding of what it means for a state to offer postsecondary education at an affordable level, but there is no consistent definition or formula in any state individually or within the region collectively.  Recommendations going forward include developing comprehensive policies towards college affordability, as well as modifying and implementing in Kentucky policies that have been successful in other states.

College and career readiness is important for the future of students (Conley, 2010).  Texas leads the nation in the number of public policies aimed at improving college and career readiness, however, not all policies have been effective (Blume & Zumeta, 2013).  This quantitative causal-comparative study examines the effect of House Bill (HB) 5 from the 2013 83rd Texas legislative session on college and career readiness.  Specifically, 304 Texas high schools’ participation rates in advanced courses and Career and Technical Education (CTE) coherent sequences were measured before and after the passage of HB 5 to determine if there was a significant change.  While only one of the four analyses resulted in statistically significant findings, in all four cases the average participation rate for both advanced courses and CTE coherent sequences increased.