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Campbell’S Chicken Noodle Soup™ And Saltine Crackers: A Milpero’S Autoethnographic Study Of Struggle And Success In Life And In Education, Ernesto Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

The state of Texas has close to 3,000 colonias, with most of them found along the Texas/Mexico border (“Colonias in Texas,” n.d.) and the most citizens of any state living in colonias. I grew up in a colonia in South Texas called Las Milpas, located in Pharr, Texas. Colonia children are often stigmatized and marginalized. This autoethnographic study is a look into my life as an educator and the social and cultural factors that have contributed to my survival and success. As a child, I lost both my mother and father. I was fortunate that my oldest …

An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Professional And The Person: A Life's Journey Of A Hispanic Superintendent In South Texas, Gonzalo Salazar

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership effectiveness is often defined in terms of, a leader’s ability to motivate followers towards a collective goal, mission or vision (Knippenberg, Knippenberg, Cremer & Hogg, 2004). However, a leaders’ understanding of their own identity; how education, culture, upbringing, values and morals helped shape the self (Leary, & Tangney, 2002; Anzaldua, 2015; and Guajardo & Guajardo, 2017) and how the leader functions as a contributing member of the organization (Knippenberg & Hogg, 2003) is critically important.

Demographers have long held that by the year 2050, our nation will be increasingly more diverse and that there will be no racial or …

A Critical Reflection Of The Self: An Autoethnography Of A Mexican American Educational Leader, Adriana Flores-Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic study seeks to explain how my "lived experiences" both personal and academic have had a profound effect on the course of my life. Autoethnography has allowed me to utilize "reflexivity, multiple voices, and introspection" to "invoke" readers to enter into my "emergent experience" of doing and writing research. As a first generation, Latina, migrant, high school dropout, I was destined to fail according to research. Through the use of testimonies, I have inscribed the struggles and understanding, creating new knowledge, and affirming my epistemology by writing about what I know best, "familia, barrio, life experiences." Through testimonio pedagogy, …

Miguel A. Nevárez: A Life History Of Educational Leadership, Rolando Avila

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze Miguel A. Nevárez’s educational leadership style by focusing on his notable contributions to The University of Texas-Pan American. The researcher defined leadership style as actions by the leader. After examining Nevárez’s background to place his motivations and actions in proper context, this study analyzed what Nevárez did, how he perceived his actions, and how others perceived his actions. The life history written by the researcher was primarily based on data collected through 25 interviews; however, the researcher also utilized other available published and unpublished sources to supplement the interview data. The …

Meeting The Challenge Of Educational Leadership: A Historical And Biographical Examination Of Minority Women Who Have Made Major Contributions To The Education Of Students In The South Texas Rio Grande Valley, Kathleen Neal Carroll

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper addresses the accomplishments of Melissa Dotson Betts, Emilia Schunior Ramírez, Estella Minerva Cuéllar, and Silvina Solís Hinojosa, in the field of education in the South Texas Rio Grande Valley. The paper reflects the difficulties encountered by women rising to challenges in education from the 1930s until the present day, and examines legislative actions that served as the impetus for allowing all of these women to excel in the area of educational leadership. The salary discrepancies Melissa Dotson Betts suffered in the Edinburg CISD because she was an African American were investigated, along with her mentoring of African American …

Teacher Leadership Practices In Large Texas High Schools With Different Accountability Ratings: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Molina Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A promising strategy for improving education is to use the energy of teacher leaders as agents of school change. According to Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001), teaching and learning improve where shared leadership exists, and when there is no expectation of “heroic leadership” from one person. Therefore, this mixed methods study was designed to examine teacher leadership and the leadership styles and practices of principals in large Texas high schools with different accountability ratings. Two hundred and fifteen participants consisting of teachers, teacher leaders, and leadership team members from 24 high schools were surveyed; and personal interviews were held with principals …

Do Principals Make A Difference? An Analysis Of Leadership Behaviors Of Elementary Principals In Effective Schools, Rosemarie Gomez Maciel

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Studies have shown principal instructional leadership behaviors to be a factor in student achievement. There has been little research on principal leadership instructional behavior in schools where the principal and student body are predominately Mexican-American.

This causal-comparative study examined the relationships among the school, the achievement scores of third grade students as measured by the reading portion of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and leadership behaviors of elementary school principals. A key variation in this study is that the sample is entirely comprised of Mexican-American leaders of schools that have undergone (within three years after the naming of …

Relationships Between Teachers' Perceptions Of Principals' Leadership Behavior And Level Of Work Motivation, Raquenel Sanchez-Perkins

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' perceptions of the principal's leadership behavior, either initiating structure or consideration and work motivation of elementary school teachers. The three subscales of motivation are: (1) Intrinsic, (2) Extrinsic, and (3) General Satisfaction. This study also examined the relationship between work motivation and job satisfaction of elementary school teachers based on the teachers' age, years of work experience, and the student enrollment of the school they work in. The two instruments used to gather the data from elementary school teachers were the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire and the Minnesota …

An Analysis Of Key Leadership Behaviors Of The Principal In A High -Performing Elementary School Serving Mexican American Children In South Texas, Alda T. Benavides

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study is based on the theoretical framework that defines leadership as an influence process, one that depends on the extent to which people eventually perceive leadership as a quality someone possesses and as a result of that perception, consent to be led (Greenfield, 1998). Leadership is the process of being perceived as a leader (Lord and Maher, 1993). Doing good work at one's school and being seen to do such work is likely to be the most powerful strategy for positively influencing teachers' perceptions of one's leadership. This study expands on the theory that it is what you do …