RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Higher Education Effectiveness

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780871549921
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (499 download)

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Book Synopsis RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Higher Education Effectiveness by : Steven G. Brint

Download or read book RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: Higher Education Effectiveness written by Steven G. Brint and published by . This book was released on 2016-04-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American system of higher education includes over 5,000 degree granting institutions, ranging from small for-profit technical training schools up to the nation's elite liberal arts colleges and research universities. Over 20 million students are enrolled, with federal, state, and local governments spending almost 3 percent of GDP on higher education. Yet how can we evaluate the effectiveness of such a large, fragmented system? Are students being adequately prepared for today's labor market? Is the system accessible to all? Are new business methods contributing to greater efficiency and better student outcomes? In Higher Education Effectiveness, editors Steven Brint and Charles Clotfelter and a group of higher education experts address these questions with new evidence and insights regarding the effectiveness of U.S. higher education. Beginning with the editors' authoritative introduction, the contributors assess the effectiveness of U.S. higher education at the national, state, campus, and classroom levels. Several focus on the effects of the steep decline in state funding in recent years, which has contributed to rising tuition at most state universities. Steven Hemelt and David Marcotte find that the financial burdens of attendance, even at public institutions, is a significant and growing impediment for students from low-income families. John Witte, Barbara Wolfe, and Sara Dahill-Brown analyze 36 years of enrollment trends at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and find increased enrollment of upper-income students, suggesting widening inequality of access. James Rosenbaum and his coauthors examine the effectiveness of "college for all" policies and find that on a wide range of economic and job satisfaction measures, holders of sub-baccalaureate credentials outperform those who start but do not complete four-year colleges. Two papers - by Kevin Dougherty and coauthors and Michael Kurlaender and coauthors - find that the use of new regulatory mechanisms such as performance funding and rating systems are plagued by unintended consequences that can provide misleading measures of institutional effectiveness. Lynn Reimer and co-authors examine the effectiveness of the "promising practices" in STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) promoted by the National Academy of Sciences, and find that they can increase completion rates among low-income, first-generation, and under-represented students. Expanding college access and effectiveness is a key way to promote economic mobility. The important findings in this issue illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. system of higher education and suggest new avenues for improving student outcomes.

Social Science for What?

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610444302
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Science for What? by : Alice O'Connor

Download or read book Social Science for What? written by Alice O'Connor and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2007-04-02 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much like today, the early twentieth century was a period of rising economic inequality and political polarization in America. But it was also an era of progressive reform—a time when the Russell Sage Foundation and other philanthropic organizations were established to promote social science as a way to solve the crises of industrial capitalism. In Social Science for What? Alice O'Connor relates the history of philanthropic social science, exploring its successes and challenges over the years, and asking how these foundations might continue to promote progressive social change in our own politically divided era. The philanthropic foundations established in the early 1900s focused on research which, while intended to be objective, was also politically engaged. In addition to funding social science research, in its early years the Russell Sage Foundation also supported social work and advocated reforms on issues from child welfare to predatory lending. This reformist agenda shaped the foundation's research priorities and methods. The Foundation's landmark Pittsburgh Survey of wage labor, conducted in 1907-1908, involved not only social scientists but leaders of charities, social workers, and progressive activists, and was designed not simply to answer empirical questions, but to reframe the public discourse about industrial labor. After World War II, many philanthropic foundations disengaged from political struggles and shifted their funding toward more value-neutral, academic social inquiry, in the belief that disinterested research would yield more effective public policies. Consequently, these foundations were caught off guard in the 1970s and 1980s by the emergence of a network of right-wing foundations, which was successful in promoting an openly ideological agenda. In order to counter the political in-roads made by conservative organizations, O'Connor argues that progressive philanthropic research foundations should look to the example of their founders. While continuing to support the social science research that has contributed so much to American society over the past 100 years, they should be more direct about the values that motivate their research. In this way, they will help foster a more democratic dialogue on important social issues by using empirical knowledge to engage fundamentally ethical concerns about rising inequality. O'Connor's message is timely: public-interest social science faces unprecedented challenges in this era of cultural warfare, as both liberalism and science itself have come under assault. Social Science for What? is a thought-provoking critique of the role of social science in improving society and an indispensable guide to how progressives can reassert their voice in the national political debate. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation's Centennial Series

Developing Effective and High-Performing Teams in Higher Education

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Publisher : IGI Global
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 665 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (693 download)

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Book Synopsis Developing Effective and High-Performing Teams in Higher Education by : Burris-Melville, Tashieka Simone

Download or read book Developing Effective and High-Performing Teams in Higher Education written by Burris-Melville, Tashieka Simone and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2024-10-17 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the context of higher education, teamwork and collaboration have become integral to organizational success. While there remains inherent complexity to developing high performing teams in higher education, many institutions have prioritized the integration of collaboration efforts, goal attainment, and student support. Academic excellence achieved through teamwork prioritizes improved student engagement, innovative teaching methods, and collaborative research environments. Developing Effective and High-Performing Teams in Higher Education explores the strategies, best practices, and case studies for developing effective higher education teams. It brings together diverse insights on effective academic collaboration to achieve a myriad of higher education goals. This book covers topics such as student culture, education psychology, and information sharing, and is a valuable resource for educators, administrators, policymakers, academicians, and researchers.

Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education

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Publisher : Teachers College Press
ISBN 13 : 0807766763
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education by : Rebecca S. Natow

Download or read book Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education written by Rebecca S. Natow and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive description of the federal government's relationship with higher education and how that relationship became so expansive and indispensable over time. Drawing from constitutional law, social science research, federal policy documents, and original interviews with key policy insiders, the author explores the U.S. government's role in regulating, financing, and otherwise influencing higher education. Natow analyzes how the government's role has evolved over time, the activities of specific governmental branches and agencies that affect higher education, the nature of the government's influence today, and prospects for the future of federal involvement in higher education. Chapters examine the politics and practices that shape policies affecting nondiscrimination and civil rights, student financial aid, educational quality and student success, campus crime, research and development, intellectual property, student privacy, and more. Book Features: Provides a contemporary and thorough understanding of how federal higher education policies are created, implemented, and influenced by federal and nonfederal policy actors. Situates higher education policy within the constitutional, political, and historical contexts of the federal government. Offers nuanced perspectives informed by insider information about what occurs behind the scenes in the federal higher education policy arena. Includes case studies illustrating the profound effects federal policy processes have on the everyday lives of college students, their families, institutions, and other higher education stakeholders.

The Economics of Higher Education in the United States

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Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 1623497442
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (234 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economics of Higher Education in the United States by : Thomas Adam

Download or read book The Economics of Higher Education in the United States written by Thomas Adam and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-27 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Economics of Higher Education in the United States, editors Thomas Adam and A. Burcu Bayram have assembled five essays, adapted from the fifty-second annual Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lecture Series, that focus on the increasing cost of college—a topic that causes great anxiety among students, parents, faculty, administrators, legislators, and taxpayers. Essays focus on the funding of colleges, the funding of professional schools, and the provision of scholarships and student loans for undergraduate students to reveal the impact of money on the structure of institutions of higher education and the organization of colleges. The cost of higher education has risen dramatically as both states and the federal government have significantly lowered their contributions to offset that cost. With rising tuition and cost of living—on top of a growing student population—too many graduates find themselves in financial trouble after earning their undergraduate degree. Mounting student debt prevents an increasing number of young professionals from embarking on the very life for which their education was supposed to prepare them. How have we come from a political environment in which higher education was perceived as a public good, normally free to the user, to an environment in which higher education is seen as a privilege subject primarily to market forces? The Economics of Higher Education in the United States offers a desperately needed analysis in an attempt to understand and tackle this looming problem.

Improving College Student Retention

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Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000981118
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis Improving College Student Retention by : Robert D. Reason

Download or read book Improving College Student Retention written by Robert D. Reason and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-03 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Higher education institutions have already begun to see decreasing enrollment numbers, even as higher education enrollment is predicted to drop precipitously starting in 2025. Much of the decrease in enrollment will be driven by demographic trends about which higher education institutions can do little, making the retention of students who do enroll that much more important. Overall retention rates have stagnated and differential retention rates by race and ethnicity have persisted. If higher education institutions, researchers, and policy makers are to improve retention rates, a critical examination of the current state and future directions of retention research is essential.This edited volume begins that examination by addressing several questions: What are the needed directions in theory and research on college student persistence and how do we translate new theory and research into effective practices? Are we asking the right questions, looking in the right places, or trying to apply out-of-date theories to new populations? In short, how can the research community help institutions improve retention in this challenging time?

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education

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Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 1529725917
Total Pages : 4205 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (297 download)

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Book Synopsis The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education by : Miriam E. David

Download or read book The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education written by Miriam E. David and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2020-05-21 with total page 4205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Higher Education is in a state of ferment. People are seriously discussing whether the medieval ideal of the university as being excellent in all areas makes sense today, given the number of universities that we have in the world. Student fees are changing the orientation of students to the system. The high rate of non repayment of fees in the UK is provoking difficult questions about whether the current system of funding makes sense. There are disputes about the ratio of research to teaching, and further discussions about the international delivery of courses.

Higher Education Policy in Developing and Western Nations

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000533409
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis Higher Education Policy in Developing and Western Nations by : Beverly Lindsay

Download or read book Higher Education Policy in Developing and Western Nations written by Beverly Lindsay and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-07 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recognizing that institutes of higher education function simultaneously in local and global contexts, this volume explores the applications of domestic and global policies in a range of industrialized nations in North America and Australia, and developing ones of Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, and in Southern Africa and the Caribbean The chapters focus on policies relating to global matters such as diversity, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) innovations, and development amid natural disasters and conflicts. In each case, authors consider how policies were envisioned, how they compare to the realities of implementation, and how far they have been successfully supported by the communities and translated into legislations and formal or informal programs. Based upon decades of research and executive positions by senior scholars and perspectives of emerging professionals, the volume concentrates on motifs that portray relationships among policies and comparative analysis that reveals the need for global collaborations. This important book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars, postgraduates, and government and philanthropic professionals in the fields of higher education, public and educational policy, comparative education, and international affairs.

Street-Level Bureaucracy

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610443624
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Street-Level Bureaucracy by : Michael Lipsky

Download or read book Street-Level Bureaucracy written by Michael Lipsky and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1983-06-29 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Street-Level Bureaucracy is an insightful study of how public service workers, in effect, function as policy decision makers, as they wield their considerable discretion in the day-to-day implementation of public programs.

Documenting Desegregation

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610447883
Total Pages : 413 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Documenting Desegregation by : Kevin Stainback

Download or read book Documenting Desegregation written by Kevin Stainback and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enacted nearly fifty years ago, the Civil Rights Act codified a new vision for American society by formally ending segregation and banning race and gender discrimination in the workplace. But how much change did the legislation actually produce? As employers responded to the law, did new and more subtle forms of inequality emerge in the workplace? In an insightful analysis that combines history with a rigorous empirical analysis of newly available data, Documenting Desegregation offers the most comprehensive account to date of what has happened to equal opportunity in America—and what needs to be done in order to achieve a truly integrated workforce. Weaving strands of history, cognitive psychology, and demography, Documenting Desgregation provides a compelling exploration of the ways legislation can affect employer behavior and produce change. Authors Kevin Stainback and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey use a remarkable historical record—data from more than six million workplaces collected by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since 1966—to present a sobering portrait of race and gender in the American workplace. Progress has been decidedly uneven: black men, black women, and white women have prospered in firms that rely on educational credentials when hiring, though white women have advanced more quickly. And white men have hardly fallen behind—they now hold more managerial positions than they did in 1964. The authors argue that the Civil Rights Act's equal opportunity clauses have been most effective when accompanied by social movements demanding changes. EEOC data show that African American men made rapid gains in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Similarly, white women gained access to more professional and managerial jobs in the 1970s as regulators and policymakers began to enact and enforce gender discrimination laws. By the 1980s, however, racial desegregation had stalled, reflecting the dimmed status of the Civil Rights agenda. Racial and gender employment segregation remain high today, and, alarmingly, many firms, particularly in high-wage industries, seem to be moving in the wrong direction and have shown signs of resegregating since the 1980s. To counter this worrying trend, the authors propose new methods to increase diversity by changing industry norms, holding human resources managers to account, and exerting renewed government pressure on large corporations to make equal employment opportunity a national priority. At a time of high unemployment and rising inequality, Documenting Desegregation provides an incisive re-examination of America's tortured pursuit of equal employment opportunity. This important new book will be an indispensable guide for those seeking to understand where America stands in fulfilling its promise of a workplace free from discrimination.

Trust in Schools

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 161044096X
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Trust in Schools by : Anthony Bryk

Download or read book Trust in Schools written by Anthony Bryk and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2002-09-05 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans agree on the necessity of education reform, but there is little consensus about how this goal might be achieved. The rhetoric of standards and vouchers has occupied center stage, polarizing public opinion and affording little room for reflection on the intangible conditions that make for good schools. Trust in Schools engages this debate with a compelling examination of the importance of social relationships in the successful implementation of school reform. Over the course of three years, Bryk and Schneider, together with a diverse team of other researchers and school practitioners, studied reform in twelve Chicago elementary schools. Each school was undergoing extensive reorganization in response to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called for greater involvement of parents and local community leaders in their neighborhood schools. Drawing on years longitudinal survey and achievement data, as well as in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and local community leaders, the authors develop a thorough account of how effective social relationships—which they term relational trust—can serve as a prime resource for school improvement. Using case studies of the network of relationships that make up the school community, Bryk and Schneider examine how the myriad social exchanges that make up daily life in a school community generate, or fail to generate, a successful educational environment. The personal dynamics among teachers, students, and their parents, for example, influence whether students regularly attend school and sustain their efforts in the difficult task of learning. In schools characterized by high relational trust, educators were more likely to experiment with new practices and work together with parents to advance improvements. As a result, these schools were also more likely to demonstrate marked gains in student learning. In contrast, schools with weak trust relations saw virtually no improvement in their reading or mathematics scores. Trust in Schools demonstrates convincingly that the quality of social relationships operating in and around schools is central to their functioning, and strongly predicts positive student outcomes. This book offer insights into how trust can be built and sustained in school communities, and identifies some features of public school systems that can impede such development. Bryk and Schneider show how a broad base of trust across a school community can provide a critical resource as education professional and parents embark on major school reforms. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology

Beyond Obamacare

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610448499
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Obamacare by : James S. House

Download or read book Beyond Obamacare written by James S. House and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2015-05-31 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Health care spending in the United States today is approaching 20 percent of GDP, yet levels of U.S. population health have been declining for decades relative to other wealthy and even some developing nations. How is it possible that the United States, which spends more than any other nation on health care and insurance, now has a population markedly less healthy than those of many other nations? Sociologist and public health expert James S. House analyzes this paradoxical crisis, offering surprising new explanations for how and why the United States has fallen into this trap. In Beyond Obamacare, House shows that health care reforms, including the Affordable Care Act, cannot resolve this crisis because they do not focus on the underlying causes for the nation’s poor health outcomes, which are largely social, economic, environmental, psychological, and behavioral. House demonstrates that the problems of our broken health care and insurance system are interconnected with our large and growing social disparities in education, income, and other conditions of life and work, and calls for a complete reorientation of how we think about health. He concludes that we need to move away from our misguided and almost exclusive focus on biomedical determinants of health, and to place more emphasis on addressing social, economic, and other inequalities. House’s review of the evidence suggests that the landmark Affordable Care Act of 2010, and even universal access to health care, are likely to yield only marginal improvements in population health or in reducing health care expenditures. In order to rein in spending and improve population health, we need to refocus health policy from the supply side—which makes more and presumably better health care available to more citizens—to the demand side—which would improve population health though means other than health care and insurance, thereby reducing need and spending for health care. House shows how policies that provide expanded educational opportunities, more and better jobs and income, reduced racial-ethnic discrimination and segregation, and improved neighborhood quality enhance population health and quality of life as well as help curb health spending. He recommends redirecting funds from inefficient supply-side health care measures toward broader social initiatives focused on education, income support, civil rights, housing and neighborhoods, and other reforms, which can be paid for from savings in expenditures for health care and insurance. A provocative reconceptualization of health in America, Beyond Obamacare looks past partisan debates to show how cost-efficient and effective health policies begin with more comprehensive social policy reforms.

After Prison

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 161044891X
Total Pages : 350 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis After Prison by : David J. Harding

Download or read book After Prison written by David J. Harding and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The incarceration rate in the United States is the highest of any developed nation, with a prison population of approximately 2.3 million in 2016. Over 700,000 prisoners are released each year, and most face significant educational, economic, and social disadvantages. In After Prison, sociologist David Harding and criminologist Heather Harris provide a comprehensive account of young men’s experiences of reentry and reintegration in the era of mass incarceration. They focus on the unique challenges faced by 1,300 black and white youth aged 18 to 25 who were released from Michigan prisons in 2003, investigating the lives of those who achieved some measure of success after leaving prison as well as those who struggled with the challenges of creating new lives for themselves. The transition to young adulthood typically includes school completion, full-time employment, leaving the childhood home, marriage, and childbearing, events that are disrupted by incarceration. While one quarter of the young men who participated in the study successfully transitioned into adulthood—achieving employment and residential independence and avoiding arrest and incarceration—the same number of young men remained deeply involved with the criminal justice system, spending on average four out of the seven years after their initial release re-incarcerated. Not surprisingly, whites are more likely to experience success after prison. The authors attribute this racial disparity to the increased stigma of criminal records for blacks, racial discrimination, and differing levels of social network support that connect whites to higher quality jobs. Black men earn less than white men, are more concentrated in industries characterized by low wages and job insecurity, and are less likely to remain employed once they have a job. The authors demonstrate that families, social networks, neighborhoods, and labor market, educational, and criminal justice institutions can have a profound impact on young people’s lives. Their research indicates that residential stability is key to the transition to adulthood. Harding and Harris make the case for helping families, municipalities, and non-profit organizations provide formerly incarcerated young people access to long-term supportive housing and public housing. A remarkably large number of men in this study eventually enrolled in college, reflecting the growing recognition of college as a gateway to living wage work. But the young men in the study spent only brief spells in college, and the majority failed to earn degrees. They were most likely to enroll in community colleges, trade schools, and for-profit institutions, suggesting that interventions focused on these kinds of schools are more likely to be effective. The authors suggest that, in addition to helping students find employment, educational institutions can aid reentry efforts for the formerly incarcerated by providing supports like childcare and paid apprenticeships. After Prison offers a set of targeted policy interventions to improve these young people’s chances: lifting restrictions on federal financial aid for education, encouraging criminal record sealing and expungement, and reducing the use of incarceration in response to technical parole violations. This book will be an important contribution to the fields of scholarly work on the criminal justice system and disconnected youth.

Golden Years?

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610448774
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Golden Years? by : Deborah Carr

Download or read book Golden Years? written by Deborah Carr and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to advances in technology, medicine, Social Security, and Medicare, old age for many Americans is characterized by comfortable retirement, good health, and fulfilling relationships. But there are also millions of people over 65 who struggle with poverty, chronic illness, unsafe housing, social isolation, and mistreatment by their caretakers. What accounts for these disparities among older adults? Sociologist Deborah Carr’s Golden Years? draws insights from multiple disciplines to illuminate the complex ways that socioeconomic status, race, and gender shape the nearly every aspect of older adults’ lives. By focusing on an often-invisible group of vulnerable elders, Golden Years? reveals that disadvantages accumulate across the life course and can diminish the well-being of many. Carr connects research in sociology, psychology, epidemiology, gerontology, and other fields to explore the well-being of older adults. On many indicators of physical health, such as propensity for heart disease or cancer, black seniors fare worse than whites due to lifetimes of exposure to stressors such as economic hardships and racial discrimination and diminished access to health care. In terms of mental health, Carr finds that older women are at higher risk of depression and anxiety than men, yet older men are especially vulnerable to suicide, a result of complex factors including the rigid masculinity expectations placed on this generation of men. Carr finds that older adults’ physical and mental health are also closely associated with their social networks and the neighborhoods in which they live. Even though strong relationships with spouses, families, and friends can moderate some of the health declines associated with aging, women—and especially women of color—are more likely than men to live alone and often cannot afford home health care services, a combination that can be isolating and even fatal. Finally, social inequalities affect the process of dying itself, with white and affluent seniors in a better position to convey their end-of-life preferences and use hospice or palliative care than their disadvantaged peers. Carr cautions that rising economic inequality, the lingering impact of the Great Recession, and escalating rates of obesity and opioid addiction, among other factors, may contribute to even greater disparities between the haves and the have-nots in future cohorts of older adults. She concludes that policies, such as income supplements for the poorest older adults, expanded paid family leave, and universal health care could ameliorate or even reverse some disparities. A comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of later-life inequalities, Golden Years? demonstrates the importance of increased awareness, strong public initiatives, and creative community-based programs in ensuring that all Americans have an opportunity to age well.

Working and Poor

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610440579
Total Pages : 447 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Working and Poor by : Rebecca M. Blank

Download or read book Working and Poor written by Rebecca M. Blank and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2007-01-09 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last three decades, large-scale economic developments, such as technological change, the decline in unionization, and changing skill requirements, have exacted their biggest toll on low-wage workers. These workers often possess few marketable skills and few resources with which to support themselves during periods of economic transition. In Working and Poor, a distinguished group of economists and policy experts, headlined by editors Rebecca Blank, Sheldon Danziger, and Robert Schoeni, examine how economic and policy changes over the last twenty-five years have affected the well-being of low-wage workers and their families. Working and Poor examines every facet of the economic well-being of less-skilled workers, from employment and earnings opportunities to consumption behavior and social assistance policies. Rebecca Blank and Heidi Schierholz document the different trends in work and wages among less-skilled women and men. Between 1979 and 2003, labor force participation rose rapidly for these women, along with more modest increases in wages, while among the men both employment and wages fell. David Card and John DiNardo review the evidence on how technological changes have affected less-skilled workers and conclude that the effect has been smaller than many observers claim. Philip Levine examines the effectiveness of the Unemployment Insurance program during recessions. He finds that the program's eligibility rules, which deny benefits to workers who have not met minimum earnings requirements, exclude the very people who require help most and should be adjusted to provide for those with the highest need. On the other hand, Therese J. McGuire and David F. Merriman show that government help remains a valuable source of support during economic downturns. They find that during the most recent recession in 2001, when state budgets were stretched thin, legislatures resisted political pressure to cut spending for the poor. Working and Poor provides a valuable analysis of the role that public policy changes can play in improving the plight of the working poor. A comprehensive analysis of trends over the last twenty-five years, this book provides an invaluable reference for the public discussion of work and poverty in America. A Volume in the National Poverty Center Series on Poverty and Public Policy

Administrative Burden

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Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 087154444X
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (715 download)

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Book Synopsis Administrative Burden by : Pamela Herd

Download or read book Administrative Burden written by Pamela Herd and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2019-01-09 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2020 Outstanding Book Award Presented by the Public and Nonprofit Section of the National Academy of Management Winner of the 2019 Louis Brownlow Book Award from the National Academy of Public Administration Bureaucracy, confusing paperwork, and complex regulations—or what public policy scholars Pamela Herd and Donald Moynihan call administrative burdens—often introduce delay and frustration into our experiences with government agencies. Administrative burdens diminish the effectiveness of public programs and can even block individuals from fundamental rights like voting. In AdministrativeBurden, Herd and Moynihan document that the administrative burdens citizens regularly encounter in their interactions with the state are not simply unintended byproducts of governance, but the result of deliberate policy choices. Because burdens affect people’s perceptions of government and often perpetuate long-standing inequalities, understanding why administrative burdens exist and how they can be reduced is essential for maintaining a healthy public sector. Through in-depth case studies of federal programs and controversial legislation, the authors show that administrative burdens are the nuts-and-bolts of policy design. Regarding controversial issues such as voter enfranchisement or abortion rights, lawmakers often use administrative burdens to limit access to rights or services they oppose. For instance, legislators have implemented administrative burdens such as complicated registration requirements and strict voter-identification laws to suppress turnout of African American voters. Similarly, the right to an abortion is legally protected, but many states require women seeking abortions to comply with burdens such as mandatory waiting periods, ultrasounds, and scripted counseling. As Herd and Moynihan demonstrate, administrative burdens often disproportionately affect the disadvantaged who lack the resources to deal with the financial and psychological costs of navigating these obstacles. However, policymakers have sometimes reduced administrative burdens or shifted them away from citizens and onto the government. One example is Social Security, which early administrators of the program implemented in the 1930s with the goal of minimizing burdens for beneficiaries. As a result, the take-up rate is about 100 percent because the Social Security Administration keeps track of peoples’ earnings for them, automatically calculates benefits and eligibility, and simply requires an easy online enrollment or visiting one of 1,200 field offices. Making more programs and public services operate this efficiently, the authors argue, requires adoption of a nonpartisan, evidence-based metric for determining when and how to institute administrative burdens, with a bias toward reducing them. By ensuring that the public’s interaction with government is no more onerous than it need be, policymakers and administrators can reduce inequality, boost civic engagement, and build an efficient state that works for all citizens.

The Political Economy of Education

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1009364472
Total Pages : 563 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis The Political Economy of Education by : Martin Carnoy

Download or read book The Political Economy of Education written by Martin Carnoy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2024-02-15 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A textbook providing academically rigorous yet clear explanations of the economics and politics driving today's educational systems and how economists analyze them. This essential text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in economics, public policy, and education covers all major topics and is packed with international examples.