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open access

Academic excellence and instructional expenditures in Texas.

Description: Public school per pupil costs and demands for better performance have increased over the past several decades. While the overall per pupil expenditures have increased, the percent of the educational dollar directed toward instructional activities has remained at approximately 60%. A grass-roots movement known as the "65% Solution" caught national attention by claiming that schools are not efficiently allocating resources into areas that have the greatest link to student achievement, such as i… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Helvey, Jearl Kenton
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Beating the High Stakes Testing Game: A Three-Year Study of Improvement Rates on the TAKS Social Studies Exit Exam.

Description: The Texas high school class of 2005 faced a defining test that had no precedent in Texas and little nationally. Social studies testing is a relatively new addition to the world of high stakes testing currently impacting United States high schools. Although other diploma dependent areas of mandated testing have some testing history and, therefore, related paradigms for curriculum and instructional assistance, the area of social studies largely lacks that perspective. Texas Education agency provi… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Evans, Barbara Anne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Beliefs About Language Learning Strategy Use in an EFL Context: A Comparison Study of Monolingual Korean and Bilingual Korean-Chinese University Students.

Description: This study compared strategy use and beliefs about language learning, and the relationship between beliefs and use reported by 428 monolingual Korean and 420 bilingual Korean-Chinese university students. This study also examined the influence of background variables (e.g., gender, self-rated English proficiency, and academic major) on learners' beliefs and strategy use. Data was collected using three questionnaires, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), the Beliefs about Languag… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Hong, Kyungsim
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A Comparison of the Self-Efficacy Scores of Preservice Teachers Based on Initial College Experience

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine if any statistically significant difference exists between the self-efficacy scores of student teachers who began their college experience at the community college level and student teachers who began their education at the university level. The study was used to determine whether or not the type of initial college experience impacted the first two years of college study, in relation to the development of a sense of self-efficacy at the end of the prog… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Ritchie, Kelly Renea
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effects of an Inquiry-based American History Program on the Achievement of Middle School and High School Students.

Description: Implicit in the call for educational reform in the teaching of social studies has been the suggestion that pursuing inquiry-based principles will lead to improvement in student achievement. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two types of pedagogy: traditional and inquiry-based upon student achievement as measured by a standards-based, state administered examination. Second, this study examined the relationship between the treatment teachers' level of implementation … more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Harmon, Larry G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

The Effects of District Expenditure Per Pupil and Low Socio-Economic Status on the Grade 10, 2000 and 2002 Disaggregated Student Performance Scores on the TAAS

Description: Educators can no longer simply look at student totals to distribute instructional dollars. Databased decision-making must be instituted to overcome achievement gaps between white and non-white students. In low-socioeconomic (SES) settings, districts must increase expenditure per pupil (EPP) as low-SES rates rise for all students as district administrators must be in a position to show product rather than process. It was attempted to determine if a positive or negative relationship existed betwe… more
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Date: May 2006
Creator: Iker, Gary A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effects of Using Children's Literature with Adolescents in the English As a Foreign Language Classroom.

Description: This study provides quantitative and qualitative data about the effects of using children's literature with adolescents in a language classroom and the role of children's literature in students' second/foreign language development, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The study presents qualitative data about the role of children's literature in developing more positive attitudes toward reading in the second/foreign language and toward reading in general. With literatur… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Belsky, Stella
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

An exploration of the relationships among teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher demographic characteristics in conservative Christian schools.

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine whether teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy are interrelated and how these two constructs may be impacted by teacher demographic characteristics, such as educational level, grade level taught, and number of years of teaching experience. This study focused entirely on the interrelationships of teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy in three suburban, conservative Christian schools in north Texas. Specifically… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Egger, Karen J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Exploring Thai EFL University Students' Awareness of Their Knowledge, Use, and Control of Strategies in Reading and Writing

Description: The purpose of this research was to conduct case studies to explore and describe Thai university students' awareness and application of cognitive and metacognitive strategies when reading and writing in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL). Four participants, including two high and two low English language proficiency learners, were selected from 14 students enrolled in a five-week course called English for Social Sciences offered at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand in 2005. The major s… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Tapinta, Pataraporn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Home-based family literacy practices of an Hispanic family: A case study of activities, functions, and the interface with school-based literacy expectations.

Description: This study examined the home-based family literacy practices of one Hispanic family, especially focusing on the parents' memories of home-based and school-based literacy activities, current home-based literacy activities and functions, and the interface of home-based family literacy practices and school-based literacy expectations. Ethnographic data offered insight into the understanding that literacy acquisition begins in the home and is dependent and reflective of literacy experiences that ar… more
Date: August 2006
Creator: Page, Jim Larkin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The impact of selected school factors on the test performance of African-American economically disadvantaged elementary students.

Description: In order for America to retain its superior position in a global economy it is imperative that all students receive educational opportunities that will prepare them for the future. Currently, African-American economically disadvantaged students in the United States perform lower on standardized tests than their grade and age-level peers. Educators must find ways to improve the performance of students in this group in order to maximize future opportunities. Through a mixed-methodology approach… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Griffin, Wynette O.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Impact of Teachers' Common Planning Time on the Academic Performance of Students in a Middle School Setting

Description: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the common planning time for a team of middle school teachers by comparing the standardized test scores of middle school students selected from two school districts located in North Texas. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) 2 * 4 design was utilized to measure the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) math and reading scale score for 7th grade students from the test administered in spring 2005. The data for this study were compared by… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Smitt, Shauna M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

The impact of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program on reading, mathematics, and language achievement of Hispanic English language learners.

Description: This study sought to answer if the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program had a positive academic impact on Hispanic English language learners (ELL). HIPPY is a free, 2-year, home-based early intervention program for 4-and 5-year-old children. The program is intended to provide educational enrichment to at-risk children from poor and immigrant families, increase school readiness, and foster parent involvement in their children's education. A quasi-experimental desi… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2006
Creator: García, Maria G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A multi-state political process analysis of the anti-testing movement.

Description: I applied McAdam's political process model for social movement analysis to examine the level of collective resistance to high stakes testing in California, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Texas from 1985 to 2005. Data on protest occurrences in those states were gathered from online news reports, anti-testing organization websites, and electronic interviews from individuals associated with the anti-testing movement. Variables used in the analysis included each state's key educationa… more
Date: December 2006
Creator: DeMerle, Carol
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Photographic metaphors: A multiple case study of second language teachers' experiences using the acquisition model.

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine and document second language teachers' perceptions of their implementation of a meaning-making approach, known as the Acquisition Model, to second language instruction. Of particular focus were the concerns and strategies the second language teachers experienced when changing their pedagogical practice from mechanical to meaning making. The main research question, which guided this study, was: "What is the 'lived experience' of L2 teachers as they imp… more
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Date: May 2006
Creator: DeLaCruz-Raub, Jeanne Marie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The School-Family-Community Partnership: A Superintendent's Perspective

Description: The purpose of this study was to describe, from a superintendent's perspective, the current status of school-family-community partnerships in North Texas school districts. A secondary purpose of this study was to allow the superintendents to express themselves in an open-ended format regarding factors that encourage and limit the development of these partnerships, as well as their three-year goals for creating successful partnerships in their districts. A review of the literature revealed that … more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Perry, Brant Patrick
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Social skills use of adolescents with learning disabilities: An application of Bandura's theory of reciprocal interaction.

Description: This was a mixed methods study designed to investigate the social skills use of adolescents with learning disabilities through an application of Albert Bandura's theory of reciprocal interaction. Data were collected through ranking surveys, observations, interviews, and school records. Three questions were investigated. The first question was to determine whether the language deficits of LD students contributed to their general decreased social competency. Through data from the Social Skills… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Clore, Christine W.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

A study of computer technology use and technology leadership of Texas elementary public school principals.

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine Texas elementary principals' level of computer technology use and their leadership in technology integration activities as defined by the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS*A). Additionally the study addressed technology implementation as an innovation and used the literature concerning change and innovation models to identify organizational and personal factors that might affect the level of technology use and the leade… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: May 2006
Creator: Weber, Mark J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Teacher certification content area tests: Predictors of teacher knowledge for post-baccalaureate secondary candidates.

Description: In response to a growing teacher shortage, increasing numbers of secondary teachers are prepared through streamlined certification programs. For this reason, assessing candidates' content area knowledge gained from institutions of higher education across the United States is an important program admission factor as candidates must demonstrate content area knowledge by passing a Texas content area certification test (TExES). This study examines content knowledge for candidates enrolled in an o… more
Date: May 2006
Creator: Jackson, Jennifer K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Theatre teachers' attitudes toward the University Interscholastic League One-Act Play contest.

Description: The focus of aesthetic education is reflected in an arts curriculum designed for students to learn skills that make it possible for them to experience the world in a satisfying and meaningful manner. Incorporating aesthetics into school curriculum can be approached through the use of coordinated programs. In the state of Texas, over 1100 schools participate annually in the One-Act Play contest (OAP). The contest is governed by the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which has designed and … more
Date: December 2006
Creator: Gotuaco, Jennifer E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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