The three essays in this dissertation each examine how aspects of contemporary administrative structure within American research universities affect faculty outcomes. Specific aspects of administrative structure tested in this dissertation include the introduction of new administrative roles, administrative intensity (i.e., relative size of…

Hoping to spur dramatic school turnaround, the federal government channeled resources to the country's lowest-performing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, prior research on SIG effectiveness is limited and focuses primarily on student achievement. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate program…

Hoping to spur dramatic school turnaround, the federal government channeled resources to the country's lowest-performing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, prior research on SIG effectiveness is limited and focuses primarily on student achievement. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate program…

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) expects all Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grantees to conduct an evaluation of their programs. Experience with earlier rounds of TIF grants has shown that evaluations can provide valuable information for managing and improving TIF-supported activities, as well as evidence that these activities have had a…

This study focused on the socially-constructed meanings, implications, and institutional factors that influence the extent to which faculty members engage in collaborative teaching at a research university. Drawing upon theoretical foundations of interdisciplinarity and collaborative teaching and in-depth findings from faculty focus groups, we…

We evaluate the effects of state-provided financial incentives for biotech companies, which are part of a growing trend of placed-based policies designed to spur innovation clusters. We estimate that the adoption of subsidies for biotech employers by a state raises the number of star biotech scientists in that state by about 15 percent over a…

The purpose of this case study was to examine random student drug testing in one school district relevant to: (a) the perceptions of students participating in competitive extracurricular activities regarding drug use and abuse; (b) the attitudes and perceptions of parents, school staff, and community members regarding student drug involvement; (c)…

This report measures trends in performance among urban schools receiving federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) awards as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Council of the Great City Schools aims to document how member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools implemented SIG and specifically what…

Student employment subsidies are one of the largest types of federal employment subsidies, and one of the oldest forms of student aid. Yet it is unclear whether they help or harm students' long term outcomes. This document contains the appendices to the report "Should Student Employment Be Subsidized? Conditional Counterfactuals and the…

Recent research on loan effects on student borrowers has focused on pre-college and post college behavior, neglecting the loan effects during the within-college period. This study integrated the student retention models and financial nexus model to investigate the effects of different kinds of financial aid on degree attainment of undergraduates…

A recent article by Lillis and Tonkovich that discusses the impact upon a regional economy of the "export" of grant and contract research services by a university is criticized. Several analytical errors are identified. (LBH)

An econometric model that allows any institution to study the effect of financial aid and other variables on within-year persistence of college students is described. It is concluded that total amount of aid and the amounts of grants and loans received are significant in promoting persistence. (Author/MSE)

The effectiveness and efficiency of financial aid programs for providing equality of choice between public and private institutions are examined. (SF)

Intended to serve as a model for those wishing to assist librarians in conducting research, this guide describes the funding sources and computing, consulting, writing, and other resources available to University of Colorado Boulder librarians who want to engage in research. Sources of funding to support research are listed first, including the…

State and Federal Governments can provide aid to local school districts in many different forms, which, in general, will have different effects on school district spending. Policymakers, therefore, need to know what the impacts of alternative aid programs will be in order to best achieve their objectives. This report presents a method, based on a…