Browsing by Subject "equity"
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Actions Speak Louder than Words: A Case Study of a School District's Commitment to Equity(2014-07-31) Warren, Rachelle LeAnnWhat happens when a school district commits to equity? The focus on the school district is driven by the use of a framework that defined the school district as an institutional actor in reform efforts. Accordingly, the school district plays a critical role in all reform efforts, especially when making value judgments. In order to understand the potential of a school district as an institutional actor, the research was conducted as a qualitative case study. This singular focus on an individual district enabled tools such as semi-structured interviews and document analysis to convey the intimate journey of a school district making a value commitment to equity. The review of literature began with the topics of neo-institutionalism, the central office and district leadership. Next, a description of Critical Race Theory was included to critically review the district?s role as an institutional actor. Following a recap of equity and social justice literature, current research regarding the use of professional development, especially professional development related to social justice, completed the literature review. A large suburban school district in Central Texas served as the research site. Several experienced leaders, representing central office, school board, and principal components of the organized collective, were individually interviewed. Documents created or influenced by this group of leaders during the 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013 school years were also reviewed. Restricting the case study to this time period allowed leaders to narrowly focus on a time of shared experience. Findings suggested that while various members of the organized collective may collaborate to support a district value that aligned well with their personal values, this did not guarantee emergence of the school district as an institutional actor. A CRT analysis revealed a district primed by interest convergence yet hampered by the slow pace of liberalism and the continuing impact of institutional racism. This study affirmed the value of using a CRT approach when designing and implementing reform aimed at increasing student achievement. It is recommended that this case study become one of many seeking to understand the importance of the school district as an institutional actor.Item Development of an instrument to assess residents? perceptions of equity(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) West, Stephanie TheresaThis study examined equity in the context of the allocation of park and recreation resources within a community. The contributions made by this study include: extending the original taxonomy of equity models proposed by Crompton and Wicks (1988); development of a theoretical framework for their original model; providing a current synthesis of equity based literature; advancing the Equity Implementation Model (Wicks & Crompton, 1989) by developing an instrument capable of measuring residents? perceptions and preferences of park and recreation resource allocation in their community; empirically confirming the legitimacy of alternate dimensions of equity through Structural Equation Modeling; applying information gained from using the instrument to determine the usefulness of selected variables in predicting equity preferences; and comparing data on equity preferences with those of prevailing perceptions to illustrate the utility of the instrument in guiding resource allocation decisions. Five of the original operationalizations of equity were validated (Compensatory, Taxes Paid, Direct Price, Efficiency and Advocacy). An additional operationalization, Professional Judgment, was included and also validated, while one of the original dimensions suggested by Crompton and Wicks, Equal Outcomes, could not be distinctively conceptually differentiated and so was discarded. The operationalizations of Equal Inputs and Equal Opportunity could not be differentiated to reflect distinctively different equity concepts. However, further efforts should be invested in operationalizing these two equity concepts, since they do appear to be conceptually different. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a model consisting of all seven operationalizations (Compensatory, Taxes Paid, Direct Price, Efficiency, Advocacy, Professional Judgment and Equality) was an acceptable fit and all paths were significant at the .05 level, suggesting that the proposed 23-item, seven-dimension scale, P&R-EQUITY, effectively measures seven facets of residents? perceptions of equity in the allocation of park and recreation resources. Two additional operationalizations (Demonstrated Use and Coproduction Opportunities) emerged during the research which suggested that Demonstrated Interest was inadequately operationalized, so future efforts could be focused on operationalizing those three. The scale developed in this study is intended to help officials make appropriate decisions when allocating park and recreation resources.Item An examination of urban public transportation equity in San Antonio, Texas(2009-08) Barrow, Tricia Ann; McCray, Talia; Oden, MichaelThe aim of this report is to demonstrate the ways in which inadequate transportation systems and policies create constrains and inequalities in San Antonio. It discusses the important role that equity plays in transportation planning. In addition, it explores various policies and planning reforms that might help achieve equity objectives. The concern for transportation equity is rooted in the desire for just distribution of resources and growing awareness of environmental justice concerns. This report will explore some of the ways that San Antonio's transportation systems and policies can be improved to enhance the quality of life and create opportunities for all residents, specifically for the disadvantaged.Item Interrogating the Lack of Pay Transparency in Library Faculty Job Postings(Texas A&M University System Virtual Library Conference, 2022-06-15) Hight, Alexa; Hernandez, Patricia Lynn; DeForest, LeaItem Justice and Fairness in Tourism: A Grounded Theory Study of Cultural Justice in Quintana Roo, Mexico(2012-07-16) Camargo Ortega, Blanca AlejandraEquity and fairness in the distribution of tourism benefits and participation in tourism decision-making are key tenets of sustainable tourism. However, little attention has been paid to the study and conceptualization of justice in tourism and robust theoretical or methodological foundations to examine fairness and justice; in particular, in regards to the well-being of ethnic, minority and/or disadvantaged groups are especially lacking in tourism studies. This dissertation reports the results of a grounded theory study of justice and equity in relation to tourism and the Yucatecan Maya in Quintana Roo, Mexico. A robust framework is offered to guide the study of cultural justice in tourism, which was developed based on theoretical contributions from environmental justice, social justice, and political philosophy, among others, and empirical data from multiple sources. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 47 tourism stakeholders, participant observation, and examination of tourism-related government reports, statistics and other data related to legislation, planning and development. Issues of justice were found to be complex and multifaceted, rooted in post-colonial and contemporary power dynamics that affect the economic, social, and cultural status of the Yucatecan Maya in society. The study identified four major issues directly related to tourism that affected the economic and cultural well-being of this ethnic group: cultural exploitation, cultural marginalization, cultural racism, and cultural domination. The extensive research also identified the positive role of tourism in providing for cultural justice, in particular, recognition and respect for cultural, ethnic and minority groups and the cultural sustainability of their cultural manifestations. Based on the above findings and drawing upon theoretical contributions in the extensive literature on justice and fairness, it is argued that discourses of justice and equity in tourism should look beyond the distribution of tourism benefits and access to political power and address intangible matters of respect, recognition, and cultural valuation. A number of key principles to help address cultural injustices are suggested and implications for tourism policy and practice discussed.Item Pre-service Teachers' Knowledge of Algebra Teaching for Equity(2013-12-09) Anderson, LatoyaThis study examined validity and reliability of an instrument used to measure the cultural awareness beliefs and problem-solving strategies of pre-service mathematics teachers created by the Knowledge for Teaching Algebra Equitably (KATE) project team at Texas A&M University. The dissertation was comprised of three journal articles. The first article synthesized literature pertaining to teacher?s cultural awareness knowledge and beliefs for teaching mathematics equitably in the middle grades. A search of the Texas A&M Library database was used to find articles that matched criteria related to instruments that determined information from pre-service mathematics teachers pertaining to cultural awareness knowledge and beliefs, equity, and mathematical content knowledge. An exhaustive meta-synthesis showed that there were no current instruments that matched all of the above criteria. The second article estimated the reliability and validity of the KATE instrument. Internal consistency reliability for the equity items was estimated to be .77 using Cronbach?s alpha. An alpha value of .6 was used as the baseline for determining suitable internal consistency reliability. Content validity was estimated for the entire KATE instrument by discussing the appropriateness and wording of the items from the Knowledge for Teaching Algebra Equitably (KATE) instrument with a panel of experts reading responses PTs gave on the KATE instrument, and assessing feedback from PTs enrolled in the course. This resulted in the insertion, deletion, and rewording of items. Construct validity was estimated by conducting an exploratory factor analysis of the equity items which estimated six factors. Lastly, the third article revealed preliminary results from pre-service teachers who participated in the Knowledge for Teaching Algebra Equitably Project at Texas A&M University in the fall of 2011 and fall of 2012. An analysis of the test scores from the pre-service teachers (PTs) from the pre-test to the post-test was done comparing scores from PTs in both semesters. The two groups were not statistically different. The effects of the course on (a) beliefs about equity, (b) problem solving, and (c) teaching problem solving was reported in confidence intervals that showed the equity items were not statistically significantly different, but the problem solving and teaching problem solving items were. A MANOVA was used to determine the difference in teaching problem solving scores was due to semester, race, and class by certification. The adjusted R^(2) values were reported to provide the correlation between the independent and dependent variables.Item Session 13C | The OER Equity Blueprint: Work from the Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success Collaborative(2021-03-12) Karoff, RebeccaThis interactive session will introduce participants to the OER Equity Blueprint, developed by the Driving OER Sustainability for Student Success Collaborative. It also will allow participants to delve more deeply into the equity dimensions of OER, including time spent applying the rubric to their own institutional contexts.Item Two Essays in Asset-Pricing(2012-10-19) Petkevich, AlexeyPast research documents a positive link between momentum and firm-level default risk, yet this anomaly is not connected to default risk at the macro level. Namely, there is no documented momentum during recessions, when default is higher on average. In the first essay, "Momentum and Aggregate Default Risk," we attempt to resolve this puzzle by analyzing momentum pro ts over time, conditional on both business cycles and unexpected changes in aggregate default risk. First, we show that momentum is driven by shocks to aggregate default, rather than general economic conditions such as expansions and recessions. Using the Fama and MacBeth procedure, we find that a conditional default shock factor is priced and can explain a large portion of the total momentum returns. Second, we provide a risk-based explanation for this anomaly by linking the returns of momentum portfolios to shareholder recovery during financial distress. We find that losers have higher recovery (i.e., shareholders have high bargaining power) on average, and, as a result, have relatively lower risk in high default states of the world. Therefore, loser stocks have a lower risk premium and lower expected returns in worsening aggregate default conditions, leading to the observed momentum. This effect is more pronounced among stocks of firms with low credit ratings. Our results help to reconcile the seemingly contradictory evidence documented by previous studies and o er a rational explanation for the momentum anomaly. In the second essay, "Sources of Momentum in Bonds," we study the relationship between momentum in bond returns and aggregate default. We document that momentum in corporate bonds occurs mainly during periods of high default shocks and is driven by losers. Supporting this result, we find that conditional default risk is priced in the cross-section of corporate bond portfolios. Motivated by these findings, we develop a theoretical model connecting bond momentum returns to the ability of bondholders to recover value in financial distress. Specifically, we find that losers have relatively higher recovery potential and, therefore, become less risky when high default shocks occur. Thus, losers have lower expected returns in high default shocks, leading to the observed conditional momentum. Further, US government bonds, with default risk approaching zero, feature no momentum, however this anomaly prevails in sovereign bonds with positive default risk, consistent with our main results.