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 …

I Cut Off My... Voice: An Autoethnography Of An Artist And Art Educator With A Brca Genetic Mutation, Nicki Lynn Hornbaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of BRCA genetic mutations on artists and art educators had not been known. Autoethnography is a qualitative method for writing about personal experiences through a cultural lens. I used my personal experiences within a BRCA positive community to understand shared experiences among artists and art educators with this genetic mutation. This study aimed to explore the commonalities that are occurring within this subgroup. Anxiety and emotional stress played a role in most of the respondents‟ lives, affecting them in numerous ways. Most of the respondents underwent salpingectomy, oophorectomy, and mastectomy surgeries which led to further emotional and physical …

The Enhancing Reading Comprehension Performance Using The Strategy Of Highlighting Electronic Text, Christa Ashbaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading comprehension is a criterial skill that an individual must utilize to navigate in the twenty-first century. This skill is developed throughout grade school and continues into adulthood. Many successful readers use active highlighting to assist in their reading comprehension. Active Highlighting is one of the most commonly used approaches to increase reading comprehension. Technology is ever growing and slowly replacing its paper-format counterparts. Educational settings are beginning to use this tool as a more efficient way to teach and test student’s abilities. High-stake tests such as the SAT, are wanting to provide an online format for their exams. As …

Student Athlete Retention And Performance In Agriculture: An Analysis Of A Mentorship Program, Nick Cates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study focuses on the effectiveness of the athletic academic mentoring and advising program at Stephen F. Austin State University and its potential to replicate a similar program in the agriculture program. With emphasis on increasing the effectiveness of the current mentoring program, increasing student retention in agriculture, and improving the transition for high school students going into college, this study utilizes a questionnaire comprised of seven questions to determine how 14 former and current student-athletes that were enrolled in agriculture felt about the mentoring program and agriculture department. Many of the challenges faced by students, such as …

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 …

A Biographical Study Of A Female Karen Refugee Who Experienced Academic Success In A Texas High School, Katherine P. Whitbeck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative biographical study explored the life experiences of a female Karen youth who moved to the United States as a pre-teenager, entering a medium-sized Texas rural public high school as a freshman. Perceptions of English Learners are that they are ill-prepared for achieving success in rigorous academic subjects taught in United States public schools. Refugees are considered to have more difficulties because of the trauma associated with their pre-immigration violent environments, which often involve little or no organized education in the native country or in refugee camps. The biographical design allowed the Karen student who achieved academic success at …

The Challenges Of Newly Adopted Mathematics Curriculum In Title I Schools: A Mixed Methods Study, Carmen Cruz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the early impacts of the newly adopted mathematics TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge Skills) introduced in 2014 by TEA (Texas Education Agency) that detail the curriculum standards for all students across schools in Texas schools, for grades K-12. The study examined the challenges that teachers and administrators have had to overcome to meet federal legislation educational compliance. Additionally the study examined how schools and districts were professionally developing their teachers on new curricular standards. Five Title 1 schools in four school districts were used in the study. Schools were selected from …

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 …

Chronic Pain Profiles And Past Bullying Experiences, Stephen Ratliff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The biopsychosocial model of chronic pain posits that chronic pain is influenced by factors such as depression, somatization, and psychological trauma (Gatchel, Peng, Peters, Fuchs, & Turk, 2007). Being bullied in childhood is one such factor that has been shown to be associated with chronic pain (Sigurdson, Wallander, & Sund, 2014; Voerman et al. 2015). Furthermore, those with chronic pain fit into one of three distinct psychological profiles (Williams, Urban, Keefe, Shutty, & France, 1995). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between chronic pain profiles and reports of past bullying experiences. It was hypothesized that …

Gated Fences, Shaina Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gated Fences is set in 1941 America and revolves around the lives of two families: The Hendersons and the Rivers. This novel addresses discrimination that existed among acquaintances, neighbors, friends, and even family members due to the lingering effects of slavery. It tackles issues such as forbidden love, life, and death obstacles, and the harsh realities faced by those who lived in a “separate but equal” society. Readers will learn about the value of family, the importance of friendship, reasoning behind why the characters place their faith in God, and the hope that conquers even in the darkest hour.