A Quasi-Experimental Investigation of Tennessee Promise and Career and Technical Education Postsecondary Enrollment Responses

In this study I deployed quasi-experimental methods to explore the effect of the implementation of a statewide free-college program, Tennessee Promise, on enrollment in postsecondary career and technical education programs. State policymakers implemented the Tennessee Promise, a free-college program for recent high school graduates attending public, two-year institutions, in 2015. As postsecondary attainment in the United States falls short of workforce needs, there has been an increased focus on postsecondary career and technical education credentials and degrees linking workforce needs directly with educational programs (Lumina, 2019; Perkins V, 2019). However, it is currently unknown whether access to statewide free-college funding impacts enrollment in postsecondary career and technical education. In this study, I use federal data to estimate the causal effect of Tennessee Promise on postsecondary career and technical education enrollment. Findings from the analysis show a small but non-significant increase in Tennessee after the implementation of the grant when compared to both the national control group and the contiguous control group. I discuss the implications for research and practice, and how promise programs may be leveraged more effectively moving forward to improve outcomes in postsecondary career and technical education

Bad Faith Breach : A New and Growing Concern for Financial Institutions

A majority of courts have determined that all contracts impose on the parties to the contract an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in their actions with each other. This implied covenant prohibits a contracting party from injuring another party\u27s right to receive the benefits of the agreement. Breach of this implied covenant usually creates a cause of action based on contract rights. Moreover, California courts maintain that breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing creates a tort action as well. The California courts initially limited these tort actions to claims against insurance companies. Other states have followed California in allowing tort recovery for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in insurance contracts. The imposition of tort liability in contract suits has allowed courts to award the injured party all damages proximately caused by breach of the contract, as well as punitive damages.\u2

Development and Validation of a Survey to Identify Predictors of Choice and Early Departure among Tennessee Promise Scholarship Recipients

In this study, we developed and validated an instrument to reveal factors affecting college choice and early community or technical college departure among Tennessee Promise-eligible participants. This scale may be used by colleges and states to predict who may be at risk of either not enrolling or dropping out in free college contexts. Our findings suggest that state policymakers and institutions need to address factors beyond finances that may serve as barriers to student enrollment and success in statewide promise programs

Design and analysis of Bar-seq experiments

High-throughput quantitative DNA sequencing enables the parallel phenotyping of pools of thousands of mutants. However, the appropriate analytical methods and experimental design that maximize the efficiency of these methods while maintaining statistical power are currently unknown. Here, we have used Bar-seq analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast deletion library to systematically test the effect of experimental design parameters and sequence read depth on experimental results. We present computational methods that efficiently and accurately estimate effect sizes and their statistical significance by adapting existing methods for RNA-seq analysis. Using simulated variation of experimental designs, we found that biological replicates are critical for statistical analysis of Bar-seq data, whereas technical replicates are of less value. By subsampling sequence reads, we found that when using four-fold biological replication, 6 million reads per condition achieved 96% power to detect a two-fold change (or more) at a 5% false discovery rate. Our guidelines for experimental design and computational analysis enables the study of the yeast deletion collection in up to 30 different conditions in a single sequencing lane. These findings are relevant to a variety of pooled genetic screening methods that use high-throughput quantitative DNA sequencing, including Tn-seq

Influence of Para-Chloromercuribenzoate on Various Chemical and Culinary Attributes of Bovine Longissimus Dorsi Muscle

Food Scienc

If I go, I\u27ll probably end up dropping out too : College enrollment choices in a free college context

Objective: In this qualitative study, we explored why students in a free community college environment in Tennessee chose not to enroll in college or dropped out of college shortly after enrolling. Methods: We conducted 27 in-depth interviews with individuals who were eligible for the Tennessee Promise. Perna’s (2006) conceptual model for college access and choice guided our analysis. We analyzed data using a three-tier approach, which included open/emergent coding, followed by a priori/theoretical analysis. Results: We identified 15 emergent themes common among interview participants, which we then categorized into the four constructs of Perna’s model. Conclusions: The Tennessee Promise increases access to and enrollment in postsecondary education for many students. Our study highlights potential gaps policymakers and practitioners can address to continue improving the Tennessee Promise and other student supports. We provide our recommendations for practice, policy, and future research