UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Domestic Politics of Implementation: A Case Study of U.S. Denuclearization Agreements with North Korea(2018) Aoki, Naoko; Destler, I.M.; Gallagher, Nancy W; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The United States has employed a wide range of foreign policy tools to try to stop North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, including two cooperative agreements that ultimately failed to produce the desired outcome. The breakdown of the 1994 Agreed Framework and the Six Party Talks process in the 2000s has led many to conclude that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program cannot be constrained through cooperation. According to this view, Pyongyang violated its previous commitments once it received economic and political benefits and it will do so again in any future negotiations. The underlying assumption is that Washington was fully implementing its own commitments until Pyongyang broke the deal. Is this true, or did U.S. domestic politics complicate the implementation of the agreements? This dissertation explores this question through a four-part case study using three analytical lenses: a rational actor model, an institutional interests model, and an individual mindset model. It finds that the United States retreated from full cooperation with North Korea not just because of Pyongyang’s actions, but also due to domestic political considerations. Washington reduced its level of cooperation when tolerance for concessions weakened in the domestic system, sometimes because of institutional interests and sometimes due to political maneuvers by individuals who favored stronger coercive measures and more concessions from North Korea. The study shows that domestic politics impacts not only the negotiation and ratification of international cooperation agreements, but also their implementation. The findings also suggest it is incorrect to assume that past engagement efforts did not succeed solely due to North Korean actions. Whether a more fully implemented engagement policy would have led to North Korea’s denuclearization is beyond the scope of this study, but it indicates U.S. policy was not applied consistently to North Korea. Any future engagement strategy should aim at a more consistent approach for it to produce the desired results.Item An Experimental Study Of Mentoring Practices In An America Reads Program: Measures of Intervention Fidelity And Implementation(2013) Nelson, Janaiha Faith; Gottfredson, Gary D; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The America Reads (AR) program at the University of Maryland serves approximately 350 local elementary school students per semester, and trains undergraduate tutors to teach reading using techniques drawn from Reading Recovery methods. Previous research implies that the implementation of interventions should be evaluated prior to gauging their effectiveness. The present study assessed aspects of program implementation for America Reads at the University of Maryland. In addition, it examined the efficacy of a self-monitoring and corrective feedback procedure for improving level of implementation. AR tutors were randomly assigned to the experimental self-monitoring and feedback procedure or to usual and customary monitoring to assess the effects on mentor implementation. Controlling for school assignment, the effect of this self-monitoring and feedback procedure on mentors' self-reported level of implementation was not significant in the small sample of mentors. Descriptive results including information about the effectiveness and utility of existing procedures for monitoring program implementation, and tutor training have a number of implications for strengthening the Maryland realization of AR; they have implications for the use of monitoring and feedback in the design of similar educational service programs.Item A Case Study: Change Facilitator Activity to Support the Implementation of a District's Pre-K-12 Aligned Mathematics Program(2008-05-05) Kubic, Kathryn Leigh; Mawhinney, Hanne; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT James County Public Schools was a 74,000 student school district in Maryland that chose to implement a pre-K - 12 aligned mathematics program in response to state mandated assessments imposed by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation. Schools that fail to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress on these assessments may descend into a spiral of sanctions. Consequently, districts must choose and implement programs that will increase student achievement. This study sought to determine the characteristics of the pre-K - 12 aligned mathematics program and explore and describe the dynamics of its implementation through the lens of a change facilitator. The study used a case study design methodology. The findings revealed the district implemented four parts of an instructional component: district assessments, pacing guides, professional development, and a single text adoption program. The change facilitator undertook activities to support the implementation. The study found three positive results of the implementation: Creation of Student Support Courses, Creation of a Benchmark Data System, and Creation of a University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Cohort. When the pace of the implementation was analyzed, conflict surrounded the implementation and it yielded three negative results: Competition for Scarce Resources, Defensive Professional Development, Trail of Memos, and Professional Blunders. The findings of this study added to the research and literature on implementation, particularly the role of the change facilitator. The findings also will assist other districts in policy and practice as they too seek to implement new instructional programs in their efforts to comply with the demands of NCLB.