Education Commons^™

A Multi-Case Study Of Electronic Communication Policy In Rural East Texas School Districts, Laura Lynn Dacus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to conduct a policy analysis regarding electronic communication between educators and students in three rural East Texas school districts. The policy analysis for each district began with the initial implementation of teacher communication via electronic sources provided by the districts. The focus of the study was limited specifically to the policy regulating nonschool related, electronic communication by educators with students. The challenge faced by school districts to embrace technology with one-to-one classrooms, virtual classrooms, constant connectivity, school texting applications, and open availability to teachers via email, complicates restrictions placed on non-school related …

Examining The Meaning Of Course Evaluation, Tyesha Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teaching evaluations significantly influence faculty members’ annual evaluations and progress toward tenure and promotion within academic programs in higher education. Those with consistently strong, positive, teaching evaluations have been deemed effective instructors and often validated with increases in salary, teaching awards, and promotion and tenure. This is especially the case when strong course evaluations are received in addition to documented scholarship and research activities and positively evaluated professional service. However, questions are being raised about the meaningfulness of students' ratings of course instruction. Do these measures effectively assess competence as instructors or do they measure other unknown processes in the …

Factors Impacting Teacher Turnover In Texas Public School Districts With Fewer Than 500 Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Paige N. Benoy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rural Texas districts experience higher rates in teacher turnover compared to other districts. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study was designed to explore the relationships among district size and the factors that contributed to teacher turnover. Data was collected from Texas public school districts with fewer than 500 students. A simple correlation determined that no relationship existed between district size and teacher turnover rate during the 2016-2017 school year in the 313 districts that had fewer than 500 students. Participating districts came from two different regions. Four superintendents were interviewed about the factors surrounding turnover regarding the teacher turnover in …

A Quantitative Study Of The Relationship Between Athletic Spending And Institutional Enrollment Measures In Fcs Athletic Institutions, Rob Mcdermand, Robert D. Mcdermand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As university budgets face fiscal challenges, it is important that university leaders make smart fiduciary choices. University leaders are quick to argue that athletics act as a front porch for universities, are a fundamental part of collegiate life, and that increased athletic funding will lead to enrollment increases and higher quality applicant pools. Critics of athletic spending, on the other hand, argue that money spent on college sports could be spent in other areas of the university.

Using a regression analysis similar to previous research, the purpose of this panel data regression analysis was to examine the relationship between intercollegiate …

Developmental Mathematics: A Quantitative Investigation Of Instructor Classification As Related To Student Success, Brittany A. Fish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine what type of predictive power exists between an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status on a student’s academic success in developmental mathematics, as measured by final semester grades at a regionally comprehensive state university in Texas between fall 2013 and spring 2017. Data were collected from the institution under study and the sample population included 1932 unique student observations. The data collected in this study were analyzed through a binary logistic regression model to determine whether an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status …

Exploring Scholar--Practitioner Leadership: Superintendents' Application Of Theory To Practice In Texas Public School Districts, Michael D. Jones 6674845

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study was designed to investigate the methods of practice employed by Texas school superintendents who have completed a doctoral program centered on scholar–practitioner leadership. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how serving superintendents apply their prior learning and knowledge to the articulation and translation of their district’s mission/vision. The study described how six serving superintendents translate theory to practice by inquiring how each participant articulates the district’s mission/vision. Through the analysis of face-to-face interviews, phone conversations, emails, and informal observations recorded in a researcher’s journal, four common elements of scholar–practitioner leadership practice were …