Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item THE IMPACT of PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON DEMOCRATIC VALUES: EVIDENCE FROM US EDUCATION(2022) Han, Xu; Egan, Toby M; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although performance management is supposed to be a generic, values-neutral tool that can be adapted for any purpose, it has been criticized for ignoring important democratic values. Critics claim that violating these democratic values makes performance management counterproductive to the stated aim of restoring public trust in government through improved outcomes. This dissertation comprehensively examines the impact of performance management on equity and civic engagement in U.S public high schools. Performance management may incentivize prioritizing high-value students who are more likely to contribute to school performance ranking at the expense of others, creating an inequity problem. However, it can also promote the well-being of disadvantaged groups by providing incentives and information on improvement in disaggregated performance. Performance management may draw resources and attention to activities aiming to improve students’ academic performance in high-stakes subjects (reading, math, and science) at the expense of other important activities where students develop skills in and interests for civic engagement. However, activities aiming to improve students' academic performance also prepare students to perform tasks such as reading, writing, speaking, and quantitative reasoning, integral parts of civic engagement. To conduct the analysis, the dissertation draws on a nationally representative survey of administrators and students at public high schools. As students’ academic performance is the result of collaborative efforts among students and staff (teachers and principals), performance management is operationalized for students and staff respectively. The student component includes established student performance standards, frequency of standardized testing, and imposed consequences. The staff component includes principals’ managerial autonomy, teachers’ evaluation, and imposed consequences. Through a multilevel analysis of how performance management influences students, especially for racial minorities’ standardized test scores in math, findings point to an unfilled promise regarding equity. Performance management components for students and staff are each associated with increased average student test scores, but do not shrink the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged student subgroups. Still, not all aspects of performance management perpetuate inequity. Of the two performance management components focusing on staff and students, the staff component is associated with lower test scores for struggling students while the student component increases struggling student performance. By simultaneously analyzing the indirect effects of performance management on volunteering behaviors through cognitive abilities, civic skills, and civic norms in structural equation modeling, the dissertation finds mixed effects of performance management on civic engagement. On the one hand, the student component has a positive but small indirect effect on civic participation by improving students’ cognitive abilities. On the other hand, the staff component has a negative but small indirect effect by reducing students’ participation in extracurricular activities where they develop civic skills. However, the student component does not negatively affect civic engagement. Overall, the findings suggest that despite the negative effects of performance management on equity and civic engagement, performance management can be used to mitigate inequity and reverse the recent decline in civic engagement.Item State-level Differences in Charitable Giving in the United States(2022) Wu, Zhongsheng; Bies, Angela; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Previous studies usually posit that heterogeneity in charitable giving within countries is less than the variation between them, yet the philanthropic landscapes in the states of the United States have more differences than expected. Substantial variations in both the level and rate of charitable giving exist across the states in the U.S., yet empirical evidence on why there are such substantial differences across the states is very limited and inconclusive. To address the gap in the literature, this study collected individual and/or state level data from multiple sources to answer whether and how state-level political, social, and cultural factors can explain the geographical variations in the level and rate of charitable giving across the states in the U.S. Based on statistical analyses using multiple regressions and multilevel modelling, the results indicate that state-level factors, including political ideology, public welfare expenditure, social capital, income inequality, and cultural capital contributed to the variations in both the level and rate of charitable giving at the state level. Specifically, state-level political ideology is found to have significant relationships with both the level and rate of charitable giving, while the marginal effects of political ideology on both the level and rate of charitable giving are moderated by the public welfare expenditure per capita at the state level. In addition, the density of associational organizations is found to consistently have a significant negative correlation with both the level and rate of charitable giving, while the impacts of the density of charitable organizations on both the level and rate of charitable giving are moderated by income inequality. This study contributes to the literature by revealing a more complex and nuanced picture on why there are substantial regional differences in both the level and rate of charitable giving across the states in the U.S. Specifically, the findings can help challenge the notions that “red (Republican-leaning) states are more donative”, that “higher density of nonprofits attracts more donations”, and that “government spending crowds out private contributions”. This study also shows the necessity to differentiate the impacts of the density of charitable organizations and the density of associational organizations on the level and rate of charitable giving at the contextual level1. What’s more, this study is the first empirical research that not only explored both the level and rate of charitable giving at the contextual level at the same time, but also compared the two stages of charitable giving, and revealed that different factors might behave differently on the level and the rate of charitable giving at the state level.Item EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF HOME HEALTH CARE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH COMPLEX MEDICAL NEEDS RECEIVING PRIVATE DUTY NURSING SERVICES IN THE MARYLAND RARE AND EXPENSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM(2020) Minang, Dyllis Sefeh Mbah; Simon-Rusinowitz, Lori; Chen, Jie; Health Services Administration; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)OBJECTIVE: To use process and structural measures to evaluate the quality of Private Duty Nursing (PDN) services provided to individuals with complex medical needs in the Rare and Expensive Case Management (REM) program in the state of Maryland. The results will form the basis for recommendations for legislative changes regulating Private Duty Nursing provider agencies. BACKGROUND: Individuals with defined complex medical needs diagnosed before age 21, may receive skilled nursing level of care at home under the Maryland Medicaid REM program. The REM and similar programs have been shown to be cost effective, providing cost-savings to both state Medicaid programs and private insurance companies as the beneficiaries avoid long stays in short-term and/or long-term care facilities. Unfortunately, the quality of care in the REM program is not consistent. Thus, there is a need to evaluate REM program services to understand the reasons for these inconsistencies and make recommendations for fixes to the State and PDN provider agencies. TARGET POPULATION: Individuals with complex medical needs receiving REM program services and PDN provider agencies in the state of Maryland. DATA: Results of audits of client and personnel records of PDN provider agencies performed by the Division of Nursing Services (DONS) in the Maryland Department of Health were reviewed and analyzed. ANALYTICAL METHOD: This was a mixed-methods study, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods for data analyses. A descriptive study method with a retrospective analysis was also employed. Frequencies, percentage scores, and means with confidence intervals were generated in Google Sheets and Stata software. Finally, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the DONS auditors’ comments, to find themes from key words or phrases. RESULTS: The study found major deficiencies in the client and employee records. Out of 99 employees and 30 client records from about 13 PDN provider agencies, 100 % of the records had deficiencies of one kind or the other, the most prevalent being discrepancies between the physician orders and the medication administration records. CONCLUSION: Study findings indicate that improvements to the quality of nursing services to REM program participants can be implemented at provider agencies as well as the executive and legislative levels of state government.Item Modeling the Relationship Between the Housing First Approach and Homelessness(2020) Boston, David; Lung-Amam, Willow; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A growing body of evidence from individual-level studies demonstrating that the Housing First approach is effective at keeping those experiencing homelessness in stable housing has led to the approach being championed by many leading experts, especially as a way to address chronic homelessness (O'Flaherty, 2019). This helps us understand the relationship between Housing First and an individual’s homelessness, but we know very little about the relationship between implementation of a Housing First approach and overall homelessness rates in a community. In a 2019 survey of homelessness research published by the Journal of Housing Economics, Brendan O’Flaherty wrote: “What has been missing in studies of Housing First are estimates of aggregate impact: does operating a Housing First program actually reduce the total amount of homelessness in a community?” Through this study, I sought to understand if Continuums of Care (CoC) that have adopted a Housing First approach by dedicating a higher proportion of their resources towards permanent housing units are associated with a lower proportion of people experiencing homelessness between the years 2009 and 2017 than CoCs dedicating a higher proportion of their resources towards emergency shelter and other short-term solutions. Additionally, I sought to understand how that relationship between the implementation of a Housing First approach and homelessness rates change as the values of median rent, unemployment, and other covariates typically associated with homelessness rates change. I hypothesized that CoCs adopting a Housing First approach, as defined in the context of this study, would experience lower homelessness rates. The hypothesis that homelessness rates would decrease as the Housing First index increases was supported by the results, but the relationship is more complex than hypothesized. The relationship between Housing First and homelessness rates was quadratic in nature and influenced by an interaction effect with housing tenure. Jurisdictions that adopted a Housing First approach generally experienced lower homelessness rates, except where a vast majority of households are owner-occupied.Item ANALYTICAL TOOLS AND DECISION RULES: CREDIT BUDGETING AND TAX EXPENDITURES(2018) McClarin, Elizabeth Anne; Schick, Allen; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Numerous reforms have improved the supply and quality of federal financial, budget, and performance information. Debate persists, however, about the value of information and how to best use it to improve decisions and outcomes. To make information more powerful, some reforms move beyond enriching information to using it as the basis of decision rules that dictate or constrain decisions, actions, or outcomes. A motivation behind decision rules is the concern that information alone does not suffice, but decision rules raise fresh challenges and disagreements. The dissertation’s case studies examine the emergence and evolution of federal budget decision rules. The first case – the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) - examines a budget decision rule that has been sustained for almost three decades. The second case - budgeting for tax expenditures – examines reforms that resulted in more analytical information but stopped short of a tax expenditure specific budget decision rule. In both cases, concerns emerged decades ago about a lack of budget oversight and control; analytical tools were improved; and budget decision rules were proposed. By juxtaposing a “successful” reform (i.e., enacted and sustained) and an “unsuccessful” reform (i.e. non-enacted) the dissertation examines the factors and conditions influencing whether analytical information is reformatted into a workable and sustained budget decision rule. The case study experiences suggest a cautioned approach to the establishment of federal budget decision rules with a first principle of avoiding overloading the budget and budget processes, especially when existing budget processes are not fully functioning. While sound budget principles and technical expertise help shape budget decision rules, the quest for analytical improvement must be balanced with political, institutional, and implementational realities. The case studies indicate that analytical tools and budget decision rules matter, but that those seeking to establish new budget decision rules should consider the fragile role they play, and avoid overpromising benefits and underestimating the need for careful design and continued oversight and refinement.Item PERFORMANCE BUDGETING AND THE USE OF PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AT THE LINE MINISTRY LEVEL: THE CASE OF CHILE(2017) Martinez Guzman, Juan Pablo; Joyce, Philip G; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Many governments around the world have introduced performance budgeting reforms. Despite numerous research papers, lack of clarity remains on whether performance budgeting leads to increased use of performance information for decision-making. This dissertation first analyzes that relation through a meta-analysis of studies of performance budgeting in more than 80 different countries. The findings support two claims found in recent literature: performance budgeting tends to have a greater impact on line ministries than on the executive cabinet and the legislature; and it is not only relevant for resource allocation, but also for management during budget execution. Another finding is that most of the studies do not present any research framework. Consequently, the meta-analysis ends by building a research framework. Motivated by those findings, this dissertation provides an in-depth examination of the case of Chile, which has a longstanding performance budgeting system. The case study is based on a structured comparison of eight units of analysis: four line ministries (selected based on size) and two programs within each line ministry (selected based on availability of performance information). The analysis is based on the research framework proposed in the meta-analysis and uses the process-tracing methodology. The study has three objectives: (1) testing a research framework, (2) having a better understanding of line ministries, and (3) discussing the findings in the context of Latin America. The results confirm the claim that line ministries are the most likely to use performance information, and that performance information is more prominent during budget execution. The results provide important considerations about performance budgeting at the line ministry level. First, centralized information systems may have a limited impact. Instead, decision-making relies on institutional- and program-level monitoring systems internal to each organization. Second, there are intrinsic characteristics that determine how difficult it is to implement performance budgeting. Two examples are the size of line ministries and the types of goods and services that they provide. Finally, the support from those in managerial positions is a critical success factor. The dissertation ends with policy recommendations for Chile, implications for other countries, and a proposed research framework for future studies.Item The opposition to early federalism(1937) Davis, Chester Arthur; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Item States-rights in Maryland, 1789-1832(1940) Remington, Jesse A.; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Item The Federal Government in the American novel, 1900-1950(1953) Linebarger, Genevieve Collins; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Item Use of the staff and auxiliary functions in the United States Bureau of Animal Industry(1950) Bartilson, Thomas H.; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)