Digital Commons Network^™

Attrition In A High School College Readiness System: Advancement Via Individual Determination (Avid), Michael D. Mozingo

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the substantial attrition that occurs during the high school years in the college readiness system known as Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). The literature on this topic is very minimal, and studies in which students are dropping out of AVID are virtually non-existent. Through this study, I attempt to determine which characteristics of students that join AVID in the ninth grade are associated with exiting AVID prior to high school completion, and relative to one another, how strong those characteristics are as predictors of AVID dropout. I analyze student-level data from a …

Case Studies Of Women Of Color Leading Community Colleges: Pathways To Reconfigure The Leadership Pipeline, Maria Yareli Delgado

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

Using De Anda’s (1984) framework of Bicultural Socialization theory that indicates that individuals from minority groups have to learn to function in two environments, the environment of their own culture and that of the main society culture. This research study present findings from a qualitative study that examined how women of color (African American, Asian American, Hispanic, and Native American) navigated the community college pipeline and were able to achieve success by obtaining higher-level administrative positions. Six women of color who held higher ranking administrative positions at a community college district in North Texas shared their experiences, achievements, adversities, and …

Exploring Floating Substitutes: Perceptions Of Their Jobs, Kristi Armstrong

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the research question how does a small group of floating substitute teachers describe their sense of belonging to the district? Floating substitutes are full-time, contracted teachers for the district in which they work, receive benefits and are assigned a computer. Each floating substitute is assigned a “home school,” meets with this school for staff development and spends unassigned days there. Floating substitutes are assigned jobs each morning within the district. This topic was important to the author because at the time it was the author’s profession.

The review of the literature indicated that although substitute teachers …

Motivating Students With Different Needs, Elizabeth L. Boyd

Honors College Theses

The study that was conducted focused on the similarities and differences in the way the teachers of gifted students, the teachers of students with special needs, and the teachers who teach on­-level students, motivate their students. The teachers that were interviewed will teach students from one or more of the different ability levels, in order to achieve a range of data. The gap that this research filled is the more specific and detailed ways that teachers believe can be used to motivate students and what methods work across multiple ability levels. Studies have shown that teachers have an exceptional influence …

Ideological And Legal Determinants Of U.S. Courts Of Appeals Judges' Voting In K-12 Idea Reimbursement Cases Involving Children With Learning Disabilities, Tara L. Stephens

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the seminal federal legislation entitling children with disabilities to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The law permits parents who contend their child was denied a FAPE to contest the education offered the child by removing their child to a private school, paying tuition for that education, and then seeking to recover those payments from the district. Under the IDEA, parents may prevail in such proceedings where they show the child was denied a FAPE by the school district, and the private program they selected met the child’s special needs. Legislation amending …

Capturing The Impact Of Career And Technical Education Participation On Graduation Likelihood, Jeffrey Shawn Seeton

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

Graduation rate is a common measure of public school system productivity. Previous literature indicates some of the characteristics known to be associated with disparities in graduation rates include associations of race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and English language learner/proficiency status. In Texas, the graduation gap facing historically marginalized populations of students continues to present a problem for educators, citizens, policy makers, and society as a whole. Industry input, future earning potential, and potential future employment can play a significant role in most learners’ decisions. The integration of work-based learning with a streamlined curriculum can lead to higher wages after high …

The Impact Of Shared Leadership On A Career And Technical Education Campus, Samantha Lee Ward

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

Programs of career and technical education (CTE) have grown in popularity across the U.S; over 7.5 million students enrolled in one or more CTE courses during the 2013-14 school year (Association for Career and Technical Education, 2017). With millions of students enrolled in these courses, it is imperative that school curriculum remains up-to-date and aligned with industry practices. School districts must adapt to changes occurring in business organizations so that CTE programs remain relevant for graduates looking to enter the workforce (Scott, Annexstein, Ordover, Esters, Bowen, & Reeve, 2003). Businesses increasingly are utilizing teams (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009; Pearce …

Baccalaureate Attainment In Stemcommunity College Transfer Students’ Success In Stem Fields Of Study: The Impact Of Engagement On Baccalaureate Degree Attainment, Trang Van Dinh

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This study focused on community college transfer students and sought to determine the extent to which their baccalaureate degree attainment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields of study can be predicted by their demographic characteristics, precollege academic preparation, and their engagement in a wide range of domains while in college. The study used data drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002) to examine the demographic background and college experiences of 1,761 community college transfer students. Astin’s (1993) theory of involvement, or the Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model, was adopted as the guiding theoretical framework. In this study, the input variables …

The Impact Of Participation In A Coherent Career And Technical Education Course Sequence On Student Discipline Outcomes, Natalie Castro Lopez

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

Disproportionalities in school discipline exist for children of color and those in other marginalized categories. Researchers consistently discover that the disparities cannot solely be contributed to differential behavior, indicating that these students receive different treatment and disciplinary processing. Seemingly, ineffective discipline systems and practices in schools are one of many components contributing to the disproportion. Although changing the inequities in schools and in disciplinary approaches is warranted, analysis of the potential for existing programs to curtail negative student behavior and reduce disciplinary infractions such as referrals, suspensions, and expulsions in all races and groups of students is necessary. A possible …

Student Government Elections: The Experiences Of Candidates And Their Perceptions Of Political Efficacy, Jennifer Fox

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study fills a void in the research on collegiate student government elections by examining the experiences of 10 candidates for president and vice president at large, public, four-year universities in Texas. Participation in student government has been shown to support students’ learning and lead to future political engagement. However, until this study, little has been understood about the experiences of candidates in the student government elections process. Using political efficacy (Campbell et al., 1954) as a theoretical framework for the coding and analysis of the data, several themes emerged, including the students’ motivations for running for president or …

Ideological, Legal, And Caseload Effects On Courts Of Appeals Judges’ Voting In Race-Based Title Vii Cases Brought By African-American Plaintiffs In K-12 Public Education, Herman Jackson

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This study investigated how effectively U.S. Courts of Appeals judges’(1) political ideology, as measured by party of the appointing president or judges’ DW-nominate scores; (2) legal developments, as measured by the 1991 Amendments to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) judicial caseload carried by courts of appeals three-judge panels; and (4) plaintiffs’ gender predict liberal-pro-employee and conservative-pro-employer voting in K-12 Title VII racial discrimination cases brought by African-American plaintiffs decided between 1964 and 2015. The study used logistic regression as its primary statistical tool. The principal findings for this group of K-12 decisions are: (1) political …

What Motivates Secondary Social Studies Teachers To Be Politically Active: A Phenomenological Study, Tracey E. Louth

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

Members of countries with democratic governments rely on the political involvement of its citizens to elect individuals to positions of power as well as to approve legislative initiatives that are presented for voter approval on ballots (Hahm, 2000; Mayer, 2011). However, voting is just one of many examples of political activity (Wiltfang & McAdams, 1991). This qualitative study was designed to address a gap in the research by analyzing factors that motivated secondary, social studies teachers to become politically active. Teachers are overwhelmingly absent from political activities other than voting (National Teacher Association, 2010). Even though they teach a subject …