UNT Theses and Dissertations - 650 Matching Results

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Seeking Method in the Madness: Demystifying Students' Multimodal Digital Composing Processes

Description: The study of writing has moved through process and product movements. The rapid introduction of technology into classroom spaces has provided new platforms and opportunities for students to integrate multiple modes of communication into a single act of composing. While there is an acknowledgment that digital multimodal composition is a highly complex act and set of processes, much of the literature and investigation into this digital turn in composing has largely been product focused versus pro… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Stamm, Brett M.
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Immigrant Children's Perspectives of Books that Share Stories of Early School Experiences

Description: Guided by the importance of children's voices and perspectives, this study aims at finding the immigrant children's perspectives of books that share stories of early school experiences of immigrant children. Before working with children, there was a careful selection process and analyzing of the three picture books chosen for the study using critical content analysis and childism lenses. The participants are three Arab immigrant children at the age of 6 who are bilingual and attended school in … more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Alharbi, Sara Abdullah
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open access

An Analysis of Litigation against Kansas Educators and School Districts under the Kansas Tort Claims Act

Description: This dissertation examines the significance of the Kansas Tort Claims Act of 1979 on state of Kansas court decisions in litigation against Kansas school districts and their employees. Through providing a historical perspective of the adoption and abolishment of the doctrine of sovereign immunity in the United States, which subsequently led to the enactment of the Federal Tort Claims Act, and ultimately led to the Kansas Tort Claims Act, the researcher analyzes pertinent case law and scholarly … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Perry, Shaun P.
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open access

The Use of an Online Readiness Assessment to Determine Necessary Skills, Aptitude, and Propensities for Successful Completion in a Secondary Online Credit Course

Description: A gap exists in education research in the area of online readiness for secondary courses. In the current study, I examined the use of an online readiness assessment to inform students and educators of the necessary skills, aptitudes, and propensities needed for secondary course completion. In this research study, the perceptions of 17 secondary students in a North Texas public school were examined. Using a three-phase design, qualitative demographic surveys, focus groups, and open-ended end-of-… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Vineyard, Tracy Elizabeth
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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open access

Funds of Knowledge and Early Literacy: A Case Study

Description: When teachers are charged with educating students that are racially, culturally, or economically different from them, they may have little information on the culture and type of family involvement of their students. This lack of information contributes to perceptions of working-class families as socially disorganized and intellectually deficient. However, research embodying the theoretical framework funds of knowledge (FoK) attempts to counter deficient models through its assertion that all fam… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Butler, Ami R.
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open access

Teacher Decision-Making: Cultural Mediation in Two High School English Language Arts Classrooms

Description: Although studies have addressed high school English language arts (ELA) instruction, little is known about the decision-making process of ELA teachers. How do teachers decide between the resources and instructional strategies at their disposal? This study focused on two monolingual teachers who were in different schools and grades. They were teaching mainstream students or English Language Learners. Both employed an approach to writing instruction that emphasized cultural mediation. Two questio… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Araujo, Juan José
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open access

A Comparison of Principals’ Perceptions of Preparedness Based on Leadership Development Opportunities

Description: This research study identified the frequency in which six public school districts in Texas provided principals with effective development opportunities prior to the principalship excluding university or certification programs. A purposive sample of over 200 principals from six school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area were asked to participate in the study yielding a response rate of 41%. Respondents identified through a questionnaire their leadership development opportunities and percept… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Holacka, Karin V.
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open access

Novice Generalist and Content teachers’ Perceptions of Contextual Factors Affecting Personal Teaching Efficacy

Description: New teachers begin the school year with optimism and enthusiasm, but their excitement quickly wanes as they encounter the realities of the everyday life of a teacher. When they do not experience the successes they predicted, many begin to doubt their capabilities, which results in a lowered sense of teaching efficacy. This descriptive study was designed to identify the contextual factors novice teachers perceive as influences on personal teaching efficacy and to examine the relationships betwee… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Hooten, Dorleen Billman
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open access

Transfer From a UTeach Replication Site to the Classroom: A Study of First and Second Year Instructional Practices

Description: Concerns based adoption model (CBAM) instruments were used to examine instructional practices of six graduates from a highly stylized, inquiry-based secondary math and science preparation program. Teachers were in the first or second years of teaching mathematics in six different secondary settings, ranging from poverty to wealthy schools. CBAM assumptions were tested. The primary assumption about concerns was that new teachers’ highest concerns would be within the self and task dimensions. Acc… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Fields, Melanie
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open access

A Descriptive Analysis of the Critical Thinking Model in Texas Elementary Education

Description: Contributions from elementary education to the practice and reality of critical thinking are rare, largely because attempts in basic education to elucidate a concept of critical thinking have a hard time breaking through the elusiveness and indeterminacy that characterize the history and reality of the concept. This situation is due to, and a consequence of, the difficulty of delimiting critical thinking from related fields, such as metacognition, higher-order-thinking, problem solving, informa… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Quijano, Oswaldo Jorge
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open access

The (Mis)representation of the Middle East and Its People in K-8 Social Studies Textbooks: A Postcolonial Analysis

Description: Critical examinations of cultural groups and the ways in which they are presented in schools are missing from current elementary and middle school curricula. Issues of this nature often fall under the umbrella of “multicultural education” or “cultural pedagogy,” but this rhetoric is dismissive in nature. Constructing the non-Western child as “culturally deprived,” “culturally disadvantaged,” or “at-risk” perpetuates an “us/colonizer” versus “them/colonized” mentality. The purpose of this stu… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Salman, Rania Camille
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open access

Funds Budgeted for Educational Programs in Texas Schools during a Period of Changing Enrollment

Description: This study analyzes budgets of Texas school districts experiencing declining enrollments, as opposed to districts with increasing or steady enrollments. This study identifies how schools are expending funds to meet those needs while dealing with enrollment changes. A total of 924 school districts are studied. The changes in average daily attendance from 1993-1994 to 2003-2004 are used to categorize each district as having increasing, stable, or decreasing enrollments. The total dollar amount ex… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Perry, Russ F.
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open access

From Block to Traditional Schedule: The Impact on Academic Achievement, Attendance Rates, and Dropout Rates

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of school schedule on student achievement and attendance of ninth and tenth grade students in metropolitan area Texas high schools (n = 22) and campus dropout rates. High schools that were analyzed in this study made a transition from A/B block scheduling in the 2003-04 school year to a traditional school schedule in the 2004-05 school year. Academic achievement, attendance rates and dropout rates were gathered through the archived files of th… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Schott, Patrick W.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The relationship of teacher efficacy to teacher concerns and job-embedded professional development.

Description: As educators search for ways of improving student achievement, it is imperative that focus be placed on teacher learning and development. Currently, the trend in public schools throughout the country is to look directly at students and the deficits they bring to the learning environment when responding to those who find fault with the educational system. The current study directed attention to teachers' beliefs about their ability to affect change in student learning. The study centered on seve… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Doughney, John F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Perceptions of agency: Beliefs of four adolescent girls in high school as revealed through literature discussions.

Description: Published research suggests that cultural practices and institutional structures influence adolescent girls' engagement and achievement in school. This study was an attempt to further investigate that claim by describing the perceptions of agency held by four adolescent girls in high school. Members of the same English class, the girls volunteered to participate in three lunchtime meetings to discuss Evelyn Coleman's (2001) Born In Sin. Analysis of classroom observations, transcripts of audio r… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Curtis, Joan Scott
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open access

Children of Teenage Mothers: School Readiness Outcomes and Predictors of School Success.

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teenage motherhood on the school readiness, literacy skills, and parental involvement of children participating in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) early intervention program, as well as make recommendations for optimal outcomes. Study children were participants in HIPPY at five diverse, urban school districts. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the results of quantitative measures of children… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Brown, Amber L.
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open access

The Effects of the Recapture Provision of Senate Bill 7 of 1993 Upon the Quality of Schools: an Analysis of Perceptions of Administrators in Both Chapter 41 and Chapter 42 Schools.

Description: The purpose of this 4-case study was to determine the significance of the effects of the recapture legislation in Texas upon the quality of schools as perceived by administrators in participating school districts, including those surrendering funds (Chapter 41) and those receiving funds (Chapter 42). The recapture provision requires districts above a designated level of property wealth to surrender excess funds to be appropriated to districts with property wealth below a designated level. The s… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Warren, Susanne Steele
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open access

Searching for hidden treasure: The identification of under-represented gifted and talented students.

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of staff development on the nomination and identification of culturally diverse and/or economically disadvantaged students for gifted programs. Teachers kindergarten through fifth grade from ten districts (N = 100) received 30 hours of staff development in gifted education. The experimental group (n = 50) received a specialized version of the training. The control group (n = 50) received the standard training provided by the Education Service… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Tucker, Tammy Newman
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Parents' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs in Taiwan.

Description: Western educational policies and practices have impacted Taiwanese early childhood programs. The concept of developmentally appropriate practice has become part of the educational program for young children in Taiwan. This research study was completed to: (a) describe Taiwanese parents' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in early childhood programs; (b) examine group differences between fathers' and mothers' beliefs about DAP; (c) investigate group differences between pare… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Yen, Yaotsung
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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open access

Student Teachers’ Changing Confidence in Teaching

Description: Research shows that student teachers find the mentor teacher and the student teaching experience itself the two most influential factors in their practicum experience. This study examined five student teachers and the two mentor teachers of each in elementary school settings within a metropolitan school district in North Texas. Lave and Wenger’s (1991, 2002) community of practice theory informed this study. Data sources included mentor teacher interviews, student teacher interviews, student tea… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Stearns, Catherine L.
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open access

GIS in AP Human Geography: a Means of Developing Students’ Spatial Thinking?

Description: Geography education is undergoing change in K-12 education due in part to the introduction of geospatial technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS). Although active engagement in GIS mapping would seem to enhance students’ spatial thinking, little is known about the mapping strategies that students employ or about changes in their geographic knowledge that would result. This study, set in a high school Advanced Placement human geography class, sought to contribute to these are… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Webster, Megan L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Case Study of an Urban Charter School’s Journey of School Improvement: Organizational Theory, Institutional Learning and School Reform

Description: The problem for this study was the need to increase and maintain in student achievement in charter schools. The purpose of this single-case study was to discover how an inner city charter school with a high percentage of at-risk students increased overall student achievement and attained acceptable performance status when faced simultaneously with administrative challenges and increases in state and federal standards. The participants for the single-case study included the school district’s s… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Subjinski, Amanda
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open access

A Comparative Analysis of State Funds on Student Achievement of Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Schools in Independent School Districts and Charter Schools in the State of Texas

Description: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the instructional outcomes in the independent school districts and charter schools in relation to the expenditure of public funds for instruction and total operating expenditures from the general fund. The study considered Texas elementary charter schools and independent school districts, whose school populations were identified as having greater than or equal to 50% of economically disadvantaged students, according to the Texas… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Applewhite, Gary
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open access

Levanten La Mano Si Me Entienden: Receptive Bilinguals’ Linguistic and Cultural Perceptions in Secondary Spanish Classes

Description: Receptive bilinguals have been in a dilemma of knowing just enough Spanish to write and aurally comprehend the curriculum at the beginning-intermediate levels of a Spanish language course. This dichotomy in classrooms with mixed-ability learners has created a need to reconsider placement and pedagogical structures tailored for these students in foreign language courses. Thus, this descriptive study examined the perceptions of receptive bilinguals, drawn from two secondary Spanish courses regard… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Baker, Adelita Gonzales
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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