State postsecondary education research : new methods to inform policy and practice / edited by Kathleen M. Shaw and Donald E. Heller.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Shaw, Kathleen M., editor.

Heller, Donald E., editor.

Series:

Stylus higher education policy series.

Stylus Higher Education Policy Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Higher education and state--United States.

Higher education and state.

Higher education and state--Research--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (153 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Sterling, Virginia : Stylus, 2007.

Summary:

This is an opportune time for researchers in higher education to examine policy via cross-state comparative analyses. Momentous court, legislative and policy developments that impact state-level higher education policy are emerging at a rapid rate. The states have emerged as postsecondary policy innovators in the areas of student financing, institutional accountability, and student access.Following political scientists' "rediscovery" of states as units of analysis--because they constitute unique "natural laboratories" for testing theory and hypotheses about political behavior and policy adoption dynamics--this book introduces this perspective as an increasingly important tool for researchers in higher education.State Postsecondary Education Research provides an in-depth examination of the challenges and opportunities inherent in conducting cross-state higher education policy research. The authors of each chapter use their individual research projects to demonstrate the array of methodological, theoretical, analytical, and political challenges inherent in conducting comparative state-level policy research. Among the innovative methods described is the use of pooled cross-sectional time-series analytic techniques and event history analysis--now widespread within the disciplines of economics and political science--to shift the unit of analysis from the state to the state-year, thus expanding greatly both the statistical power of the models being tested and the data-demands of those models.The goal is to introduce comparative state-level postsecondary policy research to a broader audience, and to contribute to discussions of both the challenges and the importance of this approach to higher education policy research.The book is intended as a resource for researchers in higher education policy and as a text for higher education policy courses. It may also appeal to scholars of educational policy as well as higher education policymakers.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Contents

INTRODUCTION The Challenges of Comparative State-Level Higher Education Policy Research

1. INCORPORATING POLITICAL INDICATORS INTO COMPARATIVE STATE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY

2. CAN ACCESS TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOR LOW-INCOME ADULTS BE IMPROVED? Testing a Model of the Policy Change Process Across Six Diverse States

3. THE ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN STATE BUDGETS

4. TRACKING HOW IDEAS BECOME HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY AND PRACTICE The Challenges of Gathering Comparative State Policy Implementation Data

5. CHALLENGES TO DESIGNING CROSS-STATE MEASURES OF STATE RESOURCES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

6. DEVELOPING PUBLIC AGENDAS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Lessons for Comparative Higher Education State Policy

CONTRIBUTORS

INDEX.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

ISBN:

9781620360422

162036042X

OCLC:

945135973