Educational Leadership Commons^™

Book Review Of Preparing Educators To Engage Families: Case Studies Using An Ecological Systems Framework, Michelle H. Abrego, Jesus Abrego

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies Using an Ecological Systems Framework is in its second edition. The first edition was entitled Preparing Educators to Involve Families: Theory to Practice. Notable in the second edition’s title is the word change from involving families to engaging families. The change in wording is important, as involvement often implies one-way communication from the school toward the family, and engagement denotes a much richer concept in which a reciprocal and dynamic relationship exists between schools and families. Specifically, the book presents family engagement as a shared responsibility of parents, educators, and community entities. Such …

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 …

An Exploratory Investigation Of The Implementation Of Quality Staff Development And Campus Success, Cindy Hays Sadler

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to explore what proportion of staff development as measured by the National Staff Development Council’s Standard Assessment Inventory (SAI) contributes to campus success as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Two exploratory null hypotheses were generated and tested in an attempt to explore outcomes using the SAI and TAKS scores. H0 Campus Success (Y) based on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is not a function of implementation of the National Staff Development Council Standards (X) based on Standard Assessment Inventory. H0 Campus success (Y) is not a function …

Students With Learning Disabilities In Postsecondary Education: Differences Among Students With Varying Levels Of Self-Advocacy Skills And Academic Achievement, Diana Villanueva

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This quantitative study described factors that promote or discourage self- advocacy among students with learning disabilities at the postsecondary level. Data were gathered from students with learning disabilities at the postsecondary level and faculty members at the University of Texas-Pan American to address issues on accommodations as well as students' self perceptions regarding their learning disabilities. Five questionnaires were utilized to describe student and faculty member perceptions regarding learning disabilities and the accommodation process at the postsecondary level. Data from the study helped increase an understanding of the factors that may increase or decrease student academic success at the postsecondary …

The Development Of The Elementary Principal As A Technology Leader, Alejandro Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This qualitative study examined the reported origin and influence of technology skills, dispositions, academic preparation, experiences and technology-related professional development activities on a principal's ability to function as a technology leader. An online questionnaire and face-to-face audio taped interviews were utilized to determine technology skill and disposition categories, which align with the National Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A). Graduate school catalogs and syllabi were used as artifacts in this qualitative study. The results assisted in creating an understanding of the dynamics of the formal and informal preparation of elementary principals that contribute to their development as technology leaders.

The Impact Of Focused Tutoring And Science Lab Instruction Strategies For An Elementary School In South Texas, Annabelle Paloma

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that focused tutoring and science lab methodologies have on 5th-grade student performance in science. The study examined how focused tutoring and science lab methodologies affect performance of 5th-grade students in science as measured by Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAKS). The problem is that far too many young Americans emerge from the nations elementary and secondary schools with an inadequate grounding in science. In correlation with this problem, if adequate instructional interventions are implemented, then students may be better prepared when tested with the science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and …

Memorization Techniques: Using Mnemonics To Learn Fifth Grade Science Terms, Juan O. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to determine whether mnemonic instruction could assist students in learning fifth-grade science terminology more effectively than traditional-study methods of recall currently in practice The task was to examine if fifth-grade students were able to learn a mnemonic and then use it to understand science vocabulary; subsequently, to determine if students were able to remember the science terms after a period of time. The problem is that in general, elementary school students are not being successful in science achievement at the fifth grade level. In view of this problem, if science performance is increased at …

Teacher Perspectives On The Current State Of Computer Technology Integration Into The Public School Classroom, Ramiro Zungia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Since the introduction of computers into the public school arena over forty years ago, educators have been convinced that the integration of computer technology into the public school classroom will transform education. Joining educators are state and federal governments. Public schools and others involved in the process of computer technology integration have invested billions of dollars. Taking into account the resources that public schools, state and federal governments have invested, one is compelled to assess how far the computer technology integration phenomenon has progressed and whether all parties involved share the same perspectives. Of particular interest are the perspectives held …

Similar Districts With Different Results: Using The Baldrige Scale To Understand Outcome Differences In Rural School Districts In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Miguel Angel Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The research for this study describes the organizational characteristics and the personnel behaviors distinctive to high-achieving rural school districts. A comparison between two rural school districts, one high-achieving and the other low-achieving was completed using a survey instrument. The Baldrige National Quality Program instrument was administered used as the instrument from which seven dependent variables were utilized: (a) leadership, (b) strategic planning, (c) student, stakeholder, and market focus, (d) measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, (e) faculty and staff focus, (f) process management, and (g) perceptions of organizational performance. Fifty-eight teachers and administrators were sampled from two rural school districts in …

Use Of Distractor Analysis In Evaluating Instructional Effectiveness: A Method For Diagnosing Item Error Response Patterns To Improve Teaching And Learning, Eduardo Cancino

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the use of a method of distractor analysis for diagnosing item error response patterns and determine the effect of this intervention on student achievement levels on state administered spring mathematics assessments. Distractor Pattern Functioning was the treatment provided to teachers in this research study to evaluate examinee group performance on the incorrect answers by determining categorical patterns of group distractor selection. Methodology. This quantitative research reviewed four years of 3rd , 4th , and 5th grade mathematics Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) data. Three school districts selected for this study …

Creating Win-Win Partnerships And Adding Relevance To Educator Preparation, Michelle Abrego, Bobbette M. Morgan, Jesus Abrego

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

The authors describe a partnership between two departments, in a school of education that involves educational leadership and curriculum and instruction graduate students sharing their expertise of teaching and learning with student teachers and alternatively certified teacher interns. This project provides graduate students with active participation in delivering workshops to adult learners. The beginning teachers are the participants. Beginning teachers benefit from gaining hands-on experience and research-based instructional strategies to use in their classrooms. Researchers found this activity increased the graduate students’ sensitivity to the needs of beginning teachers. Over 1300 student teachers and alternative certification interns and approximately 530 …

“Young Man, Turn That Camera On”…Stories On Cross Cultural Connections, Francisco Guajardo

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Amistades: The Development Of Relationships Between Preservice Teachers And Latino Families, John A. Sutterby, Renee Rubin, Michelle Abrego

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

Preservice teachers from a Hispanic-serving university and Latino families reflected on their interactions during an after-school children’s tutoring program conducted at an elementary school. This paper focuses on issues that both preservice teachers and families found important to communication and relationship building. These issues were valuing what families bring to the educational process, congruency in the interpretation of teacher roles, and the importance of language to communication and relationship building.

The Principal’S Role In Retaining Para Educator Turned Teacher: Hope For Increasing Latinas In The Teaching Force, Michelle H. Abrego, Iliana Alanis, Reynaldo Ramirez Jr., Jesus Abrego

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

This article reports the results of a qualitative study done on a group of Latina para educators turned teachers along the Texas-México border. The study focuses on the para educators turned teachers’ perceptions regarding administrative support provided their first year of teaching. School administrators’ perceptions of support provided to para educator turned teachers was also measured. Findings indicated a correlation among three factors: 1.) the amount of experience the para educator turned teacher brings to the classroom, 2.) the relationship with the campus principal and 3.) the relationship with campus colleagues. Para educators turned teachers have different needs than those …

Another Shade Of Brown: A Historical Study Of “Brown V. Board Of Education” And Its Impact On The Education Of Mexican Americans In Edinburg, Texas In The Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas, Beverly F. Ashley-Fridie

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The decision of Brown v. Board of Education to desegregate schools in the United States fifty-two years ago was approached with hesitation by many school districts. For half of those fifty-two years, school desegregation proceeded at a snail's pace in southern and northern school districts as civil rights lawyers waged trench warfare in federal courts. Even though it was "law," many school districts ignored the mandate or suffered from the "with all deliberate speed" syndrome. The focus of this study was to investigate the educational segregation and desegregation of students in the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District (ECISD).

In this …

They Call Me Maestra: Preservice Teachers' Interactions With Parents In A Reading Tutoring Program, Michelle H. Abrego, Renee Rubin, John A. Sutterby

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

Our community university, located along the Texas-Mexico border, in cooperation with a local elementary school campus is involved in a project focused on working with elementary students and their families in relation to early literacy development. The project provides preservice teachers with a structured opportunity to work directly with Latino families. Two years of data, collected and analyzed from preservice teachers' reflections about their experiences, revealed positive benefits and concerns. Benefits include development of preservice teachers' skill and confidence in working with parents, their ability to build relationships with families, and their capacity to form partnerships for children's literacy development. …

From “Separate But Equal,” To Tracking To “Choice”: Perceptions Of Different Stakeholders On The Impact Of Magnet Schools On High School Students, Minerva Medrano Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to examine and compare the impact of magnet-vocational high schools on the perceptions of seniors from the magnet schools and on those from the comprehensive/host schools. Additionally, the study examined the perceptions that several stakeholders of those schools and of the services and opportunities presented to the students were also investigated. Finally, the perceptions or parents were also investigated.

The Mixed-Methods Design study used several instruments as the primary sources of self-reported data: school district course listing guides, annual progress reports, official district Web sites and literature about district magnet schools. The second component …

Field Force Dynamics, Policy Adoption, And Educational Change: Formulating A Heuristic Model, Timothy E. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research investigated factors that influence secondary teacher decisions on policy adoption. Adoption, as used in this study, is defined to include both the decision to adopt a policy and the action of implementing the policy, a process that requires changes in teacher behavior as well as classroom and school culture. One of the major difficulties with policy implementation is the failure to achieve effective behavioral changes in school sites and actual classrooms. It is anticipated that the results of this research will be useful to teachers as well as developers and administrators of future policies. The theoretical foundation for …

The Effects Of The No Child Left Behind Act Of 2001 On The Current Educational System, Morahima Villanueva

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research study presents a historical view of the United States Federal Government's initial involvement in the country's educational systems and the motives behind these educational reforms. It explores the impact these reforms have had in the country's schools and how the implementations lead to the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) under President George W. Bush. It discusses the role of the four pillars under NCLB and the changes that it has brought about in the current educational system. This study also focuses on the impact that NCLB has had on a small rural …

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 …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Hearing Examiner Legislation In Texas Teacher Dismissal Cases, Sofia Annette Adams-Valdez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

As of January 1996 a new process has been implemented in teacher dismissal cases in Texas public schools. In the new process a hearing examiner is assigned by the Texas Education Agency to oversee fact-finding duties in mid-contract teacher dismissals, thereby circumventing the previously exclusive adjudicative role of school board members in dismissal cases.

This study explores the implementation of the 1995 legislation that resulted in major changes to the teacher dismissal process in Texas, an important component of the larger and broader educational reform mandates that have been gradually introduced by the Texas legislature over the last decade.

Qualitative …

The Perceived Competency Of Hispanic Teachers In Teaching Classes Of Diversity Is A Function Of Demographic And Personality Traits, Melissa C. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

For the past three decades, multicultural education has remained a focal point in the culture wars that United States education has encountered. Multicultural education is an educational reform movement that continues to evolve as ethnic minorities make their educational concerns and needs known. The forces driving the reform effort extend beyond linguistic and cultural diversity to include issues of academic diversity, gender, social class and sexual orientation (Wilhelm, 1998). How do educators address these needs, and how does the interaction among these diverse groups impact students and society?

The purpose of this paper is to determine the perceived competency of …

Spiritual Dimension In Educational Leadership, Rosalina Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Spirit-filled experiences have been customarily silent in the discourse of education. This area has been misunderstood and solely left to the religious arena to discover its development creating compartmentalized concepts and depriving other organizational systems from implementing its rich resourcefulness. This study seeks to provide ontological and epistemological knowledge to uncover and understand the power of the spiritual dimension in the life of successful educational leaders. By conceptualizing spirituality in educational leadership, this qualitative study seeks to explore successful educational leaders' use of spirituality to strengthen their effectiveness as it relates to school and their performance. Based on the major …

Analysis Of English And Spanish Academic Proficiency Of Pre-Service Bilingual Teachers At A University In South Texas, Matthew E. Meyers

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to examine the English and Spanish academic writing proficiency of pre-service bilingual teachers at a university in south Texas and attempt to establish factors that have influenced that proficiency or lack of proficiency. Ninety-four participants who volunteered to take part in the study completed a 50-question survey that solicited demographic information and perceived proficiencies in English and Spanish. After collecting the data from the survey, participants wrote essays on four separate themes. Two of the essays were written in Spanish, and two were written in English. The compositions purported to elicit the participants' written …

Reading Instruction Practices By Teachers Of Hispanic Elementary Students: A Teacher Survey Of Classroom Time Spent In 25 Reading Instructional Activities, Richard A. Steele

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study was conducted in order to measure the amount of time spent among Hispanic elementary students in each of the most commonly used reading instruction methodologies. A survey was conducted among 500 randomly selected pre-kindergarten through fifth grade teachers instructing students who are 95% Hispanic and 63.4% English-as-a-second-language (ESL). Twenty of the 221 elementary campuses within a two-county area were randomly selected, representing ten school districts. All teachers at selected campuses were asked to estimate the amount of weekly class time spent in 25 reading and reading-readiness activities and methods of instruction. In addition, teachers provided various demographic data. …

School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: A Proactive Approach, Marisa Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study explores what an effective School-wide Positive Behavior Support program looks like, how Positive Behavior Support programs have impacted school districts and what is needed in an educational organization to implement such a program. The study also provides an overview of different strategies that have been utilized for the effective implementation of interventions at the different levels of a PBS program. Different models and projects that have been created based on this theory are also discussed through this study. In addition to this, the study will include the results of observations and interviews conducted by the researcher at X …

Acquiring North Of The Border Culture Through The Teaching /Learning Process In Spanish -Speaking Adults Along The South Texas-Mexico Border, Manuel J. Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the ways in which a second culture is being communicated to Spanish-speaking adult second language learners enrolled in selected English language acquisition programs along the South Texas-Mexico border. This study focused on adult populations in need of receiving instruction in the English language and in the north of the border American culture in southern Texas. The research questions explored in this study sought to define north of the border culture as perceived by adult students; to determine if the language programs are preparing the students culturally; and to investigate how the …

Four-Year Longitudinal Study On The Impact Of Migrant Student Identification On Academic Achievement, Graciela Villegas Perez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to study the impact of migrant student identification or non-identification by receiving schools on academic achievement. The relationship between migrant students' achievement and the condition of identification by receiving schools and potential correlates, gender, age, birthplace and language proficiency was also analyzed.

This is a four year longitudinal study on one hundred seventy five migrant students' academic achievement in grades third, fourth, fifth and sixth. The study is divided into two parts. The first part is the data analysis of student records obtained from the New Generation System (NGS), which records the identification or …

Indicators Of Teacher Collaboration In Texas Public High Schools, Michael James Mcclure

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The study employs both quantitative and qualitative data to extend the work of Rosenholtz (1991) with public elementary schools and the work of Hickey (1994) with public secondary schools in trying to assess the extent to which four pre-defined socio-organizational factors predict teacher collaboration in public schools. The four socio-organizational factors include: teacher certainty about a technical culture and their instructional capability; shared instructional goals; teacher involvement in decision making about instructional matters; and teacher involvement in team teaching. The study also investigates the hypothesis that the academic departments in public secondary schools provide structures that more nearly approach the …

Avid: A Comprehensive School Reform Model For Texas, Karen M. Watt, Darlene Yanez, Griselda Cossio

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

The implementation of a recent comprehensive school reform effort in the state of Texas bas been examined in this article. The effort, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), was studied in-depth over the two-year implementation period through school visits, observations, stakeholder interviews, and student performance data analysis. Main findings revealed that through proper implementation (strong instructional leadership, using AVID strategies school-wide, and staff development), underachieving, economically disadvantaged, ethnic minority students can succeed in a rigorous curriculum. AVID is a catalyst for school-wide reform; AVID addresses and influences school policies that can be barriers to student success; AVID is a pathway to …