Browsing by Author "Lopes, Tobin, committee member"
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Item Open Access Colorado secondary ensemble teachers' perceptions of the integration of students with disabilities(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Gray, Samuel David, author; Johnson, Erik, advisor; Bacon, Joel, committee member; Lopes, Tobin, committee memberInclusive practices are required of K-12 educators regarding the inclusion and integration of students with special needs through the Individuals with Disabilities Act (1975) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). However, barriers to integrating students with disabilities may exist in secondary performing ensembles. These barriers include paraprofessional staffing, educator efficacy, community stakeholder expectations, and educator professional development. Implementing and understanding these barriers is vital to providing secondary music educators with the proper tools to provide an integrated performing ensemble. While the inclusion of students with disabilities often occurs in a performing ensemble, the scope of integration may vary depending on educator decisions. When an educator faces this situation, understanding any decisional difference is needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate Colorado music educators' perceptions regarding the current practices of inclusion and integration of students with disabilities in Colorado's secondary public schools (middle or high schools). Furthermore, this study examines educators' perceptions regarding inclusive practices where students with disabilities are included in ensemble settings. This study can help inform discussions, methods, and policies related to the professional development of in-service educators and pre-service educator preparatory programs regarding the integration and inclusion of students with disabilities. In this study, the following research questions were asked: What is the level of concern and self-efficacy of Colorado secondary music educators about integrating students with disabilities? What is the relationship between years of teaching experience, concerns, and self-efficacy about the inclusion and integration of students with disabilities? Do Colorado secondary music teachers vary in their level of concern and teaching efficacy at various stages of their career or by school location? The adapted SACIE-R and TSES questionnaire included the concerns subset of the Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education – Revised Scale (Forlin et al., 2011) and the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). Both scales utilized a four-point Likert scale. Data was compiled from mid-November through early mid-December of 2022. Findings from this preliminary investigation indicate that as educator experience increases, the level of educator concern about integrating students with disabilities decreases. Additional findings suggest no statistical significance between educator district setting and the level of concern and efficacy about students with disabilities.Item Open Access Essays on economics of education(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Io, Kenese, author; Pena, Anita, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, advisor; Miller, Ray, committee member; Lopes, Tobin, committee memberChapter one analyzes the opt-out movement in Colorado and New York. In 2015, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and reinforced the focus on educational equity through the mechanism of standardized tests. The ESSA maintained a 95% participation requirement for grades 3-8 English and Language Arts (ELA) and Math state assessments. I utilize state education data from Colorado and New York to identify how standardized test protests, which are now referred to as the opt-out movement, impact the participation rates in both states. I employ fixed effects regressions to assess the participation rates before and after the protests by interacting the opt-out movement with racial composition, region, and free and reduced lunch status and find that White students are primary participants in the movement in both states. I provide visual estimates of the fixed effect regressions to demonstrate the decline in participation rates with time varying controls. The decline in participation rates is persistent through 2018 in New York but trends back to pre opt-out levels in Colorado. I find a positive relationship between participation rates and performance in both states but this relationship is dampened after the opt-out protests. Finally, I calculate a counterfactual for school level performance to assess the relationship if schools maintained their pre opt-out levels. Results indicate that if policy makers use raw data to assess achievement gaps they could underestimate achievement gaps. The second chapter utilizes regional codes from the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), this study compiles district and school level data to provide additional insight on the relationship between learning modes and performance. Jack et al. (30) estimated the impact of different instruction modes during the 2020-21 academic year on standardized test performance in 11 states and find that districts with full in-person learning experienced significantly smaller declines in pass rates. Colorado experienced a smaller performance decline relative to other states in the sample and appeared to be an outlier in their study. I use District-level data from their study to show a full transition to in-person learning would have reduced learning loss by 3-6 percentage points in Colorado. School-level analysis in Colorado indicates that the reduction in learning loss attributed to full in-person instruction is small and largely statistically insignificant apart from a few grades in Math. Analysis by racial subgroup indicates that increasing participation rates for minority students would positively impact performance. Finally, the third chapter uses administrative data from Colorado State University's Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness (IRPE) and Student Athlete Support Services to identify the relationship between support services and student athletes' semester GPA and credit earned ratio. I analyze the relationship for four types of support services at the extensive (meetings versus no meetings) and intensive margins (number of meetings). I find that the relationship between support services and GPA varies based on the nature of the support service and the time of reception. In semesters that student athletes receive intensive support services, like tutoring, they earn lower GPAs. Student athletes who receive less intensive support services, like mentoring, earn higher semester GPAs. I find that support services and student athletes credit earned ratio exhibit no statistically significant relationship across all specifications. Negative selection is present in the sample because student athletes who are academically unprepared are more likely to receive support services. More intensive support services like tutoring highlight this selection in the result. I attempt to isolate the effect of support services by using the first support service session provided by SASS. I differentiate between early intervention and general support services and find that the benefit to student athletes from support services comes from receiving services in the first four weeks of the semester.Item Open Access Predictors of membership in music therapy professional organizations(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Bevilacqua, Lauren F., author; Knight, Andrew, advisor; LaGasse, Blythe, committee member; Lopes, Tobin, committee memberA healthy professional membership organization is vital to the longevity and sustainability of a profession. The purpose of this survey study is to identify predictive variables that determine if a professional music therapist becomes a member, former member, or never a member of the professional membership organization. Within the context of social exchange theory and social identity theory, it was hypothesized that a strong sense of cost-to-benefit exchange and professional identity are predictors of professional membership. The Predictors of Membership in Music Therapy Organizations questionnaire consisted of satisfaction questions and the Professional Identity and Organizational Identity scales (Mael & Ashforth, 1992). Out of 7590 board certified music therapists, 948 responded (570 were current American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) members, 335 were former members and 43 had never been members). Members were more likely to recommend membership. Most music therapists who are former members or have never been members indicated that they would join the organization if financial assistance was available. Music therapists scored higher on the professional identity scale than on the organizational scale. There was no statistical significance between professional and organizational identity scores between those who were unlikely to recommend AMTA membership and those who were neutral or moderately unlikely to recommend membership. Results support the ideas of social exchange and professional identity with organizational identity predicting satisfaction ratings with AMTA. Considerations for future research and practical application of the data are discussed.Item Open Access Three essays in cultivating regional growth: brownfields and charter schools(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Trouw, Michael Frans, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Pena, Anita Alves, committee member; Zahran, Sammy, committee member; Lopes, Tobin, committee memberThis dissertation is comprised of three chapters focused on two important factors in cultivating regional growth. The first factor considered in chapter one is potential barriers to contaminated land reuse. As cities and towns grow, over time the stock of land within an area can be impacted by prior land use. A property which currently has a contamination issue from prior use which must be remedied before the land may be used in the future, whether for production or settlement, is called a brownfield. In this chapter we employ a survey of real estate professionals, and find developers require an additional risk premium on top of their normal rate of return on investment to incentivize them to invest in a brownfield. Importantly, this risk premium is found to be in excess of cleanup costs. Informed by the results of the survey analysis, a theoretical framework is used to explore the implications of this risk premium. We show this risk premium generated by information asymmetries potentially leads to inefficiency in the market for real estate and can perpetuate a cycle of underdevelopment due to a first mover problem. The redevelopment of this land is important, as these brownfield properties are typically located in the urban core of cities and towns and if not remediated can leave potentially productive swaths of land fenced off while expansion occurs in a sprawling manner on the fringes. The second factor in cultivating regional growth considered in chapters two and three of this dissertation is the role of educational alternatives. Specifically, I focus on the determinants of charter school formation and growth. Education quality and availability has been shown to be important in determining economic growth and migration patterns. Specifically, a strong education system can be viewed as an amenity to households and firms debating moving to a particular locale. Charter schools are publicly funded, privately run institutions crafted first as a pilot program for innovation, and more recently as a substitute or competitor for public schools. While the efficacy of charter schools has been heavily researched and remains controversial, little work has focused on the determinants of demand for the schools themselves. Chapter two builds on a small existing literature to provide light on what factors outside of direct measures of educational quality affect the creation rate of charter schools. Using a panel of core based statistical areas over the period 2006-2015, this analysis finds evidence that the composition of industry within a Core Based Statistical Area is related to the rate at which new charter schools are created, with more technical employment associated with a greater demand for alternative school options. The connection between industry and charter school creation is further explored by measuring the impact of intra-industry entrepreneurship on charter school proliferation, where findings suggest that higher levels of entrepreneurship within an CBSA is correlated with a higher charter school formation rate. Chapter three further explores the connection between charter schools and their interconnectivity with the broader economy. Posed as a method of returning education to the private market, charter schools are considered to be more exposed to market conditions, potentially more nimble to changing conditions and methodologies, but also potentially functioning in a more volatile market where school closings can occur more easily. This chapter uses the impact of the 2007 financial crisis to determine if charter schools were impacted differently than public schools. Using a nationally representative sample and aggregating to the Core Based Statistical Area, I find both traditional public and charter schools experienced small decreases in revenue but were largely sheltered from recessionary forces due to Federal intervention. Using a difference-in-differences approach I find that charter schools experienced both an increased rate of openings and an increase in the stock during the Great Recession. I attribute this effect to the decreased opportunity cost of charter school entrepreneurship. However, areas most affected by the Great Recession experienced a decrease in the stock of charter schools, as the challenges associated with opening a new school likely increased and lowered the viability relative to education entrepreneur's next best venture.