Domestic Programs¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Domestic Programs is home to several separate programs and activities, many of which are described in detail elsewhere in this report. Some of these programs link the college with the community. The other activities and projects aim to inform the debate on public policy in the metropolitan Atlanta area, the state of Georgia, and the nation through research and education. The issues that are addressed include those associated with the structure of urban areas, government tax and expenditure policy, education, program evaluation, social policies, and economic development. Some of the specific topics include the evaluation of pre-K programs, analysis of the transition from welfare to work, studies of teacher retention, a multi-year study of public housing transformation, and studies of the labor market opportunities of low-skilled workers. Domestic Programs also houses Atlanta Census 2000 — a portal that allows easy mapping of census data. Funding comes from a variety of governmental, foundation, and business sources. David L. Sjoquist is the Director of Domestic Programs.

Domestic Programs has extensive experience in measuring performance of programs in areas as diverse as education, transportation, and information systems. The evaluation and policy analysis projects have included many studies of educational programs. The office’s work in analyzing the effects of Georgia’s innovative HOPE Scholarship and in evaluating the nation’s first universal pre-kindergarten program has brought national attention. Evaluations conducted by the office’s staff range from large-scale statewide and national programs to school based innovations.

In this Section:

• Activities
• Projects
• Reports
• Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center

Activities

The Fiscal Research Center provides nonpartisan research, technical assistance and education in the evaluation and design of state and local fiscal and economic policy, including both tax and expenditure issues. (See the Fiscal Research Center section of this report.)

The Neighborhood Collaborative project, an extension of the Atlanta Project started by the Carter Center, provides the University with a means of enhancing research, teaching and service through more effective partnerships with its urban environment and neighborhoods. (See the Neighborhood Collaborative section of this report.)

The Nonprofit Group is devoted to informing the discussion of policy issues confronting nonprofit organizations in the Southeast. (See the Nonprofit Studies Program section of this report.)

Research Atlanta is a private not-for-profit public policy research organization that studies public policy issues affecting the metropolitan Atlanta region. At the end of 2005, Research Atlanta merged with the Regional Leadership Forum to form the Regional Atlanta Civic League. (See the Research Atlanta section of this report.)

AtlantaCensus 2000 is a collaborative effort between the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Fiscal Research Center to support a Web site that provides access to the 1990 and 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing, allows the creation of maps, and contains reports focused on the Atlanta region.

Atlanta Outreach Consortium is an inter-university collective working to bridge community outreach and service-learning programs at Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Clark Atlanta University, and Clark Atlanta University. Domestic Programs houses the Director of the AOC.

The Educational Policy Group provides research and recommendation on issues related to education policy in Georgia.

The Georgia Administrative Data Project involves the development of a database built on the unemployment insurance records from the Georgia Department of Labor and welfare records for the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

Regional Leadership Forum (RLF) is a Metro Atlanta citizens organization dedicated to creating discussions by citizens and leaders about the future of the Atlanta region. Although independent, RLF is housed at the Andrew Young School, which partners with RLF. At the end of 2005, the Regional Leadership Forum merged with Research Atlanta to form the Regional Atlanta Civic League. (See the Regional Leadership Forum section of this report.)

Survey Research and the Georgia Poll provides data collection and expertise in data management, study design, and project management. The Survey Research Lab has worked on projects varying widely in size, scope, methodology, and complexity, ranging from collecting the opinions of students within Georgia State University to conducting national public opinion surveys.

The Urban-Regional Policy Group provides research and recommendation on issues related to urban and regional policy in Georgia.

Projects

A Study of the Implementation of Georgia’s Third Grade Retention Policy and Remediation Activities. (Georgia Department of Education). Gary Henry, PI. This project studies the 2004 implementation of Georgia’s third grade retention policy and remediation activities. ($100,000)

Georgia’s Third Grade Retention Policy Evaluation. Gary T. Henry and Dana K. Rickman. The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University evaluated the outcomes of Georgia’s Third Grade Retention Policy. The two primary purposes for the evaluation were:

1. Using administrative data, assess differences in spring 2004 pass rates for the third grade reading assessment, including differences attributable to the categories of children specified in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and differences attributable to the demographics or other characteristics of schools.
2. To evaluate the effectiveness of programs designed to prepare students who initially did not pass the reading assessment to pass the assessment by the end of the summer 2004 and inquire as to why eligible students did not participate in the summer program.

The Georgia Prekindergarten Resource Coordinator Program. Dana K. Rickman. The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Office of Domestic Programs, is conducting an evaluation of the state-funded Resource Coordinator (RC) Program operated in conjunction with the Georgia Prekindergarten (Pre-K) Program for four-year-old children. This program is administered By Bright From the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). The evaluation has two objectives: 1) to determine the effectiveness of the RC Grant Program, especially in terms of its effectiveness in transitioning Category One Pre-K children from high poverty families into kindergarten; and 2) describe the RC program services and benefits to children who are served through the Georgia Pre-K Program. ($167,987)

Lumina Foundation for Higher Education Evaluation. Gary T. Henry and Dana K. Rickman. This project aims to develop an evaluation strategy to examine the Lumina Foundation for Education’s impact on higher education policy in the United States. This is a formative evaluation that utilizes in-person interviews, focus groups, administrative data, file reviews and online surveys to produce guidance for the Foundation on ways in which its research and grant-making efforts can more effectively create opportunities to influence policy. ($277,400)

NC DSSF Evaluation. Gary T. Henry and Dana K. Rickman. The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is developing and implementing an evaluation plan for the North Carolina Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Funding (DSSF) program. ($74,993)

The evaluation will address whether DSSF is promoting improvements in the following areas:

1. learning for disadvantaged students
2. teacher recruitment & retention
3. principal effectiveness, and individualized instruction for at-risk students
   

Office of School Readiness: Registry Project. Gary T. Henry and Judith Ottoson. The project offers accurate data on children's Pre-K experiences and provides a base for future research and evaluation. The project conducted for the Office of School Readiness consists of three major data components: class rosters, lead teacher credentials, and resource coordinator reports. The project is in its fourth and final year. ($776,252)

Regional Leadership Forum. Steve Rieck. Funded by the Woodruff Foundation, this project is dedicated to creating discussions by citizens and leaders about the future of the Atlanta region. ($150,644)

Studies of Pre-K Programs in Georgia. Gary T. Henry. There are two current longitudinal studies evaluating early childhood programs across the state of Georgia. The first longitudinal study is a five-year evaluation of Georgia's Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) Program. This study followed a probability sample of over 3,000 four-year-olds from 203 Pre-K classes selected from across the state. Student outcomes, including teacher assessments of academic and behavioral skills and promotion, have been collected and analyzed annually. Current efforts are focused on analyzing data and report writing from the fifth year data collection. Previous years' reports are among the most downloaded documents from the Web site.

The second longitudinal study, also known as the Georgia Early Childhood Study, began in July 2001. This study samples approximately 650 children participating in a variety of preschool settings, including Pre-K, Head Start, and other preschool facilities serving four-year-olds. This study will help determine the impact of the various types of preschool experiences on children's future school success, as well as investigate the reasons behind parents' choices for child care arrangements. Children will be followed into the first grade. Each year, data collection efforts will include: individualized standardized assessments with sampled children in key developmental areas, teachers' and parents' assessments of children's skills and behaviors, classroom observations rating the quality of the classroom environments, surveys with teachers and program directors regarding early childhood education, and surveys with parents about preschool arrangements and family demographics. (The Office of School Readiness funds both of these projects. Total funding for the two projects is $2,071,892.)

Understanding the Impact of Preschool Policy. Gary T. Henry. This project studies the impact of alternative types of preschool and other childcare and expands the work of  the Early Childhood Study (ECS), which began in 2001. This project is funded by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. ($199,845)

Reports

Laura W. Henderson, Dana K. Rickman, Elizabeth A. Stone, Karen F. DeVivo*, and Monica Herk. “Final Report of the Findings from the Georgia Evaluation of Technical Assistance,” The Child Policy Initiative, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, February 2005.

Gary T. Henry, Dana K. Rickman, C. Kevin Fortner*, and Christopher C. Henrich. “Report from the Findings From Georgia’s Third Grade Retention Policy,” Domestic Programs, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, 2005.

Gary T. Henry, Dana K. Rickman, Bentley D. Ponder**, Laura W. Henderson, Andrew Mashburn, and Craig S. Gordon**. “The Georgia Early Childhood Study 2001-2004,” Domestic Programs, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, 2005.

Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center Working Papers 2005 Series

Paper #2005-001
Listing Project, Ben Thompson, Dotti Crews, Jean McRae, Nick Ogden & Mike Vaquer, January 2005, (56 pp.).

Paper #2005-002
Residential Water Demand Management Programs: A Selected Review of the Literature, Peter Terrebonne, January 2005, (48 pp.).

Paper #2005-003
An Evaluation of Water Quality Trading for Georgia Watersheds, Kristin Rowles, January 2005, (7 pp.).

Paper #2005-004
Enhancing Water Supplies in the Flint River Basin: A Preliminary Exploration of the ASR Alternative, Ronald G. Cummings and Douglas Wilson, January 2005, (16 pp.).

Paper #2005-005
Designing Water Conservation Policies that Match Sense with Cents: A Case Study Approach, Ronald G. Cummings and Douglas Wilson, January 2005, (20 pp.).

Paper #2005-006
Georgia’s Agricultural Water Use Metering Program: Using Results to Benefit Farmers and the State, Ronald Cummings, Mary Beth Walker, Krawee Ackaramongkolrotn, Elliott Marsh, Douglas Wilson and Marty McKimmey, January 2005, (45 pp.).

Paper #2005-007
Conservation Pricing of Household Water Use in Public Water Systems in Georgia’s Coastal Communities: A Preliminary Exploration, Ronald Cummings, Jeremy Hill, Ben Thompson and Douglas Wilson, January 2005, (14 pp.).

Paper #2005-008
Review of the Current State Desalination, Ulrich Ebensperger and Phyllis Isley, January 2005, (32 pp.).

Paper #2005-009
Accounting for Georgia’s Public Water Supply, Ulrich Ebensperger and Phyllis Isley, January 2005, (45 pp.).

Paper #2005-010
Water Management with Downstream Externalities: The Case of the Ogeechee River Basin, Ujjayant Chakravorty and Donna K. Fisher, January 2005, (29 pp.).

Paper #2005-011
Estimation of Costs of Phosphorus Removal in Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Adaptation of Existing Facilities, Feng Jiang, M.B. Beck, Ronald G. Cummings, Kristin Rowles, and D. Russell, May 2005, (45 pp.).

Paper #2005-012
Decentralized Sewer Unit Packages as an Alternative for Bulloch County to Manage Fast Growth, Russell K. Williams, Jr., Donna K. Fisher, and Cheryl Tatum, May 2005, (20 pp.).

Paper #2005-013
Conservation Pricing: Phase II Report, Ronald Cummings, Mary Beth Walker, and Douglas Wilson, with Peter Terrebonne and Nick Ogden, June 2005, (20 pp.).

Paper #2005-014
Investor Reactions to Information Disclosure: Can Providing Public Information About Firms’ Pollution Improve Environmental Performance?, Paul J. Ferraro and Toshihiro Uchida, June 2005, (8 pp.).

Paper #2005-015
Can Encouraging Voluntary Development of Environmental Management Systems Augment Existing Regulations?, Toshihiro Uchida and Paul J. Ferraro, June 2005, (30 pp.).

Paper #2005-016
Experimental Approaches to Understanding Conflict Over Natural Resources, Paul J. Ferraro and Ronald G. Cummings, June 2005, (27 pp.).

Paper #2005-017
Can Public Goods Experiments Inform Environmental Policies?, Paul J. Ferraro and Christian A. Vossler, June 2005, (32 pp.).

Paper #2005-018
Irrigated Acreage in Georgia’s Altamaha River Basin During the Drought Year 2000, Krawee Ackaramongkolrotn, Peter Terrebonne, and Ronald Cummings with the assistance of graduate research assistants Ki-Whan Choi, Kovadio Dongo, Panupong Panudulkitti, and Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, June 2005, (17 pp.).

Paper #2005-019
User-friendly Software That Allows Farmers To Use Agricultural metering Data For Management Purposes, Elliott Marsh and Chad Ingersoll.

Paper #2005-020
A Feasibility Analysis of Applying Water Quality Trading in Georgia Watersheds, Kristen Rowles.

Paper #2005-021
Water Quality Trading: Legal Analyses for Georgia Watersheds, Kristen Rowles and Ben Thompson.

Paper #2005-022
Are We Getting What We Paid For? -- The Need for Randomized Environmental Policy Experiments in Georgia, Paul J. Ferraro.

1. For a complete listing of AYSPS Active Research Sponsored Grants from CY2005, see the Appendix: Report on External Funding.