Student Achievement, School Structure, and the Effects of Small Learning Community Implementation in Los Angeles: A Network Approach

Abstract

This production of this dissertation is the cumulative result of years of educational study and idea conception, and would not have been possible without the help of many other individuals. While I cannot mention everyone separately, I would like to take this space to acknowledge several particularly special individuals.A special acknowledgement and thanks to my wife, Claudia, for providing perspective, love and support at all times, in ways I cannot adequately put into words.A special acknowledgement to this dissertation's funder, Douglas Smith, and the Susan Way-Smith Memorial fund, for their dedication to the cause and concept of a public education system; and to my committee members and external reader: Paul Dreyer, for his sage advice and support throughout the dissertation process and for being a most enthusiastic and interesting professor;Harold Green, for providing copious and most helpful comments on many dissertation drafts;Francisco Martorell, for being a great econometrics professor, and providing support throughout my PhD studies; and my external reader, Philip Kovacs, for his helpful comments on the draft document.To my mentors, friends, and colleagues at the RAND Corporation and the Pardee RAND Graduate School: Jamie Gayton, for sharing his family, life advice, and leading the way, and whose warmth, friendship, and drive provided inspiration; Roberto Vargas, for a multitude of pep talks, strategic advice, and life lessons, and who helped me create and stick to a tight timeline; Benjamin Kim, who helped me stay focused and accountable during the writing iv process; Yang Lu and Diana Epstein, for being great friends and mentors; and the current and former administrators, professors, and staff of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, for their warmth, dedication, can-do attitude, and whose overall vision for the school -to be the premier policy graduate school, interdisciplinary, practically focused, and quantitatively rigorousprovided the foundation upon which this integrative dissertation was built.Finally, to my family, friends, former teachers and colleagues: Adriel Bowman, for being most logical and standing by me when the chips were down; Cecelia Bowman, for being a great example of perseverance by earning her doctorate a couple years before me; my brothers and sisters, for their support; Peggy Barber, for her knowledge, understanding, support, comments, hours spent editing, and great friendship; Deborah Steinert and Paul Del Rosario, for recognizing my potential many long years ago and pushing me to do something great (after I invented cold fusion and a cure for cancer, of course); Edward Victoria, for encouraging me to vigorously pursue what was right, regardless of the consequences; Katharine Paull, for her stubborn insistence that writing is a continuous process, not a product, and causing me to focus on my competitive advantage; Gloria Brewster, Marie Lara, and Stephanie Hancock from the California Institute of Technology for proving invaluable support during my undergraduate time there; and las...