Education Commons^™

De-Colonizing Media Literacy: An Indigenous Positive Deviance Case Study Of A Guam-Texas Community Empowering Civic Education For Inafaâ??Maolek Self-Determination, Roque Aguon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DE-COLONIZING MEDIA LITERACY: AN INDIGENOUS POSITIVE DEVIANCE CASE STUDY OF A GUAM-TEXAS COMMUNITY EMPOWERING CIVIC EDUCATION FOR INAFA’MAOLEK SELF-DETERMINATION

This case study delves into the realm of civic and media education within varied municipalities in Guam and Texas, which, to date, have been underexplored by contemporary Indigenous social science researchers within the dominant white culture. The investigation focuses on elucidating how influencers from diverse cultural groups employ education and propaganda in the municipal public policy-making process, contributing to holistic community development, democratic citizenship education, and social transformation. The primary aim of this study is to underscore the imperative need …

Implementation Of State Of New Mexico's Manual Of Procedures Psab Supplement 12 Capital Assets By A Southern New Mexico School District In Disposal Of E-Waste In The Post Covid 19 Environment, Hector Serrato Giron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused diverse social, economic, and political challenges. The particular challenge that was the focus of this study is the upsurge in electronic use and consequent upsurge in electronic waste. This was caused by the implementation of online instructional delivery processes during Covid-19 (Ermakova, 2021), the switch to home offices (Adejumo & Oluduro, 2021) and the fact that school districts have directed massive financial investments to instructional technology (Baldé & Kuehr, 2021). This trend of heightened e-waste generation is likely to continue (Jiang et al., 2021).

I used a qualitative approach to address the two research questions. …

High School Career Guidance: From The View Of A Street-Level Bureaucrat, George Clair Thomas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

High school counselors struggle to complete the tasks assigned to them. Often serving more than 500 students, counselors must address requirements specified by the American School Counselor Associationâ??s national model. They must also perform duties required by state and local policy, as well as campus-designated priorities. Empirical studies of school counselors have focused on identifying the duties that counselors perform, the effectiveness of training that counselors have received, and issues that occur from the standpoint of local control of counselor duties. I found no study that identified how counselors prioritize what they do or the level of discretion that counselors …

Environmental Justice Issues And Sea Level Rise In Frontline Communties Along The Gulf Coast, Karla Michel Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sea level rise poses a great threat to coastal areas and our way of life. As flooding increases in frequency and intensity across the country, vulnerable populations become a target to its impacts. The U.S. dedicates much research to risk communication and climate change adaptation strategies; however, these coastal areas are home to a large percentage of underserved and underrepresented communities that can be challenging to meaningfully engage. The impacts of short-term sea level rise combined with long-term sea level rise will not only cause flooding, erosion, and intrusion of saltwater into freshwater resources but also increased financial consequences, such …

Predictive Measures Of College Academic Success For Secondary Students At An Hispanic Serving Institution, Steven Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of one of the latest Texas legislative efforts to increase the college readiness of Texas high school graduates. The study assessed whether students falling under this mandated measure of college readiness are as successful in their college level math and English courses as students who pass the Texas Success Initiative Assessment. Using a secondary data set, a set of binary logistic regression models were developed to analyze the predictive value of six variables in determining student success in their first college level math or English course. Descriptive statistics were used …

"The Complete Disregard For Our Children's Lives, The Targeting Of A Community That Can't Fight Back:" Families' Testimonios On Resisting School Closures On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Joshua Acevedo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Through the use of Latinx Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), with testimonios as a method of inquiry, this study analyzed families' experiences that led them to resist school closures. This study also chronicled families' experiences with the transition to new schools, after the school closures. Once schools closed, families described their transition to new schools. LatCrit was applied to interpret school closures through a social justice lens and understand how families experienced interconnected oppression related to their race/ethnicity, class, culture, immigration status, socioeconomic status, language, environment, and gender. The testimonialistas in this study were all members of Familias Unidas del Chamizal, …

Principals' Perceptions Of Their Preparedness To Lead Inclusive Schools For Students With Disabilities: An Action Research Study Of A Principal Preparation Program On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Ignacio Estorga Iii

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the "age of accountability," every student counts. This includes students with disabilities. Principals play a vital role in ensuring that students with disabilities receive a high-quality education. How are university-based preparation programs preparing aspiring administrators to meet the challenges of ensuring a fair and equal education for every student, including students with disabilities? Nearly 25 years ago, a study of principal preparation programs concluded that most principals were ill prepared when they began their leadership tenure. In 2009, a study found that, although there had been an increase in the number of hours that principal preparation programs required for …

Dual Enrollment Participation In The United States: Findings From The High School Longitudinal Study Of 2009, Luis Eduardo Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Today, dual enrollment programs are ubiquitous in the United States' secondary educational system. As a form of accelerated coursework, policy makers and school districts push dual enrollment as a means to improve college readiness and attainment. This paper studies the composition and characteristics of dual enrollment participants in the United States. Employing the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 restricted dataset, three discrete logistic models are created to estimate the probability of a high school student participating in any dual enrollment coursework across the United States. The results from these models suggest that gender, prior academic achievement, and family socioeconomic …

College And Career Readiness:Texas House Bill 5 Reform Realities In A Far-West Texas School District, Tomas Sigala

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Efforts by the 83rd Texas Legislature (2013), along with decades of state legislative measures to address access and equity for Texas school children, helped create House Bill 5 (HB 5). This policy stipulates that public schools need to more accurately reflect a college and career readiness culture through the expansion of curriculum options for students, the reduction of standardized testing, and the enhancement of school accountability (Texas Education Agency, 2014a). These type of outputs provide the structure and guidance that schools need to streamline a successful student pathway aimed at preparing them for a college and career choice. If students …

Latina/O High School Students' Standpoint On Environmental Justice In A Border Community: A Phenomenological Study, Cynthia Christina Ontiveros

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative research is a transcendental phenomenology seeking to understand Latin@ high school students’ perceptions and standpoints as they participated lessons that addressed border environmental justice issues in an underrepresented, marginalized community. Seven students from Borderland High School, enrolled in a senior level course, Environmental Science, participated in the study which focused on their experiences in an environmental justice air quality thematic unit built around the complex issues surrounding a local refinery, American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO). The study analyzed the meaning students made and their standpoints regarding the impact of the factory and its one-hundred year history polluting …

The Construction Of Gender Occupations In Mexico: Government Issued Elementary Textbooks, Anna V. Haro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Historically, gender occupational stereotyping has mainly affected women across numerous social areas. Given that political socialization plays a key role in the classroom, analyzing the gendered language and images in textbooks can help determine social expectations and the efficacy of gendered policies. Previous works suggest that elementary textbooks (through gendered words and images) structure children's perceptions of women's and men's occupations. In addition, much work remains with respect to exploring how such depictions may contribute to the gendered stereotyping that continues to permeate across certain Mexican communities, specifically in the private and public sphere. To fill this gap, I conduct …

Distortion, Disparity, And Dubious Data: The Impact Of Accountability On Instructional Practice, Curtis Jack Barnes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the impact that state and federal accountability systems have had on instructional practice in two large Texas school districts by comparing the performance of students at these schools on individual items from the 2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and relating performance to item difficulty and the schools' accountability risk as determined by prior accountability performance. To make this comparison, schools were placed into accountability risk groups based on past performance on the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) accountability instrument. The researcher then calculated the mean differences between average performance …

School Based Management In Colorado Public Schools: The Impact Of Administrative Decision Making On The Achievement Of Low-Socio Economic And Minority Students, Belinda A. Lujan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

One of the most popular reform initiatives of the 20th century was the decentralization of administrative services and decision making in public schools. The implementation of site-based decision making (SBDM) or school-based management (SBM) was an effort to delegate decision making authority to the schools sites. The hope was that those working closest to the students would be able to make the best decision to improve student achievement. As popular as this reform effort became, over the years there has not been much research to measure its direct impact on student learning and achievement especially for minority and low-socio economic …

Exploring Dialectic Tensions In Teachers' Relationships In School Settings, Griselda Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the feasibility of using dialectic theory to study of dialectic oppositions in teachers' school-based relationships. Employing relational dialectics as a theoretical framework, this study exposed several sets of dialectical forces emerging in teachers' relationships. 23 high school teachers were interviewed utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire; interviews were transcribed and coded for analysis. The analysis revealed that the dialectic tensions of control vs. emancipation, empowerment vs. oppression are prevalent in teachers' relationships with administrators; the dialectic tensions of solidarity vs. autonomy and fragmentation vs. unity are common in the relationships of teachers with administrators and colleagues as well; while …