Perna, Laura W

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  • Publication
    The Role and Contribution of Academic Researchers in Congressional Hearings: A Critical Discourse Analysis
    (2019-02-01) Perna, Laura W; Orosz, Kata; Kent, Daniel C.
    This study uses critical discourse analysis to explain how legislators determine the role and contributions of academic researchers in Congressional legislative hearings. The discursive practices that legislators use serve to construct the social identity of academic witnesses, characterize witnesses’ qualifications, solicit information from witnesses, frame comments from witnesses, and amplify and mitigate witness testimony. The findings make visible the ways that legislators use the power of their positions to depict academic witnesses as both experts who offer independent knowledge and experts who validate or confirm a legislator’s preferences and priorities. The results have implications for academics who seek to improve connections between research and policy, and academics who seek to further advance the production of knowledge of federal policymaking processes.
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    Exploring the College Enrollment of Parents: A Descriptive Analysis
    (2010-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Walsh, Erin J.; Fester, Rachel
    Despite the substantial size of the population, relativelty little research has focused on the status and experiences of undergraduate parents. Using descriptive analyses of data from the NPSAS:04, this study provides a starting point for campus administrators, public policymakers, and educational researchers who seek to identify ways to better understand the characteristics of this population.
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    Letters to the Editor: More to the Story
    (2005-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Milem, Jeffrey; Williams, John
    Editor-We are writing to comment on your article, "A Mixed Blessing? Critics object to Mississippi's settlement of a 1975 anti-segregation lawsuit involving the state's 'historically black universities' " (National CrossTalk, Summer 2004). While shedding light on the "desegregation" of the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Mississippi, the article could also mislead readers about the extent to which colleges and universities in the 19 southern and southern-border states are providing equal educational opportunity to blacks.
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    Is a College Promise Program an Effective Use of Resources? Understanding the Implications of Program Design and Resource Investments for Equity and Efficiency
    (2020-10-19) Perna, Laura W; Wright-Kim, Jeremy; Leigh, Elaine W.
    Also known as “free tuition,” college promise programs are emerging across the United States as a potential mechanism for improving college access and affordability, Whether these initiatives are an effective use of resources depends on whether programs advance societal goals for equity and efficiency. Although some emerging research explores the role of program design, few studies have probed how program design and resource investments influence program outcomes, efficiency, and equity. To address this knowledge gap, this study draws on case studies of programs that offer free tuition to attend four community colleges. Findings illustrate how program outcomes, efficiency, and equity may be influenced by the criteria used to determine program eligibility and the resources invested in the financial award and other program components. We hope the findings are useful to policymakers and institutional leaders, as they strive to allocate resources to advance both efficiency and equity.
  • Publication
    Understanding the Human Capital Benefits of a Government-Funded International Scholarship Program: An Exploration of Kazakhstan's Bolashak Program
    (2015-01-01) Perna, Laura W; Orosz, Kata; Jumakulov, Zakir
    This study utilizes qualitative research methods to explore the human capital benefits of one government-sponsored international scholarship program — Kazakhstan's Bolashak Scholars Program — and how program characteristics and other forces promote and limit these benefits. The findings raise a number of questions for policymakers, administrators, and researchers about how a government-sponsored international scholarship program should be structured so as to maximize human capital develoment for individuals and the sponsoring nation.
  • Publication
    State of Attainment: Three Ways That States Can Help More Students Access Higher Levels of Education
    (2014-11-01) Perna, Laura W; Finney, Joni E
    Fourteenth place. That's where the United States ranked in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who achieved postsecondary degrees, according to a 2012 report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Unless the U.S. increases the share of the population that has completed a college degree, the country will lack the educational skills and training required to meet the workforce demands of a global economy. Sixty-three percent of job researchers predict, will require education beyond high school in 2018. For the U.S. to be competitive on a global scale, it must devote more effort to closing the considerable gaps in degree attainment that persist across demographic groups. The groups least likely to earn a degree are students from lower-income families, blacks, Hispanics, and those whose parents have not attended college.
  • Publication
    Are There Metrics for MOOCS From Social Media?
    (2015-12-01) Ruby, Alan; Perna, Laura W; Boruch, Robert; Wang, Nicole
    Since "the year of the MOOC" in 2012, the effectiveness of massive open online course (MOOCs) has been widely debated. Some argue that MOOCs are not an effective mode of instructional delivery because of low completion rates. In the interest of developing alternative indicators of performance this study draws from recent efforts to measure engagement in social media, as well as from research on indicators of student engagement in traditional college courses. Using data from 16 Coursera MOOCs offered by the University of Pennsylvania we calculate standardized access rates for lectures and assessments. While these indicators have clear limitations as measures of educational progress they offer a different, more nuanced understanding of the level and nature of users' engagement with a MOOC. This paper shows that a very small share of uers takes up available opportunities to access course content but notes that the standardized access rates compare favorably with those for social media sites and with response rates to large-scale direct mail marketing programs. For MOOC providers and platform managers, indicators like the ones developed in this study may be a useful first step in monitoring the extent to which different types and combinations of activities may be providing better opportunities for learning.
  • Publication
    A Gap in the Literature: The Influence of the Design, Operations, and Marketing of Student Aid Programs on College-Going Plans and Behaviors
    (2005-12-01) Perna, Laura W
    This article describes what is known from prior research about the impact of student financial aid program design, operations, and marketing on the formation of family (including parents’ and children’s) college-going aspirations, expectations, and plans, and the resulting college-going behaviors of potential students. The review focuses on the experiences of lower-income, minority, and potential first-generation college students.
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