Education Commons^™

Racial Diversity Of Texas School Teachers, Julie Ann Olguin-Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing gap between the racial demographics of public-school teachers and their students. Teachers with demographic backgrounds similar to a school’s student population are often successful, particularly in Title 1 schools with high proportions of minority students; however, teacher turnover is high. The students in Texas public schools are a growing minority-majority population. Changes in the student body racial composition and other school-related variables could influence teacher workforce demographics. The focus of discussion of this quantitative research study is to determine the factors that predict the racial diversity of teachers in Texas high schools. The research questions addressed …

Responses Of Education Preparation Program Instructors Toward Mental Health Legislation, Alison Bradford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, Texas State legislature passed Senate Bill 460 which implemented a law that requires the inclusion of knowledge relating to students’ mental health status in teacher preparation curriculum. This requirement is explained in Texas Education Code (TEC) §21.044(b). The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of awareness of the new requirement and the attitudes toward mental health among Education Preparation Program (EPP) instructors. In addition, faculty were asked about their implementation plans for the new requirement.

A survey was developed to address these research questions. Thirty-five public and private universities in Texas were targeted, which resulted …