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open access

Superintendents' and Special Education Directors' Perceptions Regarding a Minimum Competency Testing Framework in Texas

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine superintendents' and special education directors' perceptions regarding a special education minimum competency testing framework in Texas. Additionally, this study attempted to determine a relationship between school districts' demographic characteristics and superintendents'and special education directors' perceptions. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of seventy five superintendents, seventy-five special education directors of single dist… more
Date: May 1985
Creator: Clary, Elaine D. (Elaine Devenport)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Strategic Design: Developing Community Relations in a Texas School District

Description: School leaders often contemplate implementing measures that will increase community and parent involvement in schools. There is a shortage of research that concisely takes school leadership through a process that details how to integrate parent and community input in a school transformation initiative and careful analysis of student outcomes. Within this study, I provide an in-depth look at one school district’s efforts to engage its community through strategic planning and mission and vision r… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Jund, Nicole C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Determinants of Principal Pay in the State of Texas

Description: The purpose of the study was to examine district, campus, and community determinants of principal’s salaries using a spatial econometric framework. Among the district variables business tax (p = 0.001), property tax (p < .01), and the Herfindahl Index (measure of competition) were statistically significant indicators of principal salaries. The results suggest that more affluent districts tend to pay principals higher salaries, which was expected. Regarding campus characteristics, the percent… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Asbury, Elizabeth Ann
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Exploring District and Campus Leaders' Practices that Support Homeless Students in Public Schools

Description: This qualitative case study explored how school district and campus-level administrators coordinate resources and services for currently enrolled homeless students. Participants in this study included three district-level administrators designated as the homeless liaison and three campus principals. Data collected and analyzed included audio recordings of semi-structured interviews of each participant, documents at the district and campus-levels, school board meeting notes, and research field… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Walker, Tonia L
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Teacher Perceptions of Pay-for-Performance: An Investigation of Four Middle School Pay-for-Performance Programs in a Large Urban School District

Description: In this study, I explored the different perceptions of teachers in a large urban school district in Texas towards a pay-for-performance program used on their respective campuses between 2011-2016. In total, 97 teachers from four different middle school campuses participated in this study. A descriptive analyst was conducted on teacher responses to an online survey to answer the research questions examined in this study: 1) What are teachers' perceptions of the pay-for-performance program's impa… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Whitaker, Norbert L., Sr.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

State Created Danger and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Texas Schools: A Legal Examination

Description: The recent breakthroughs in the research of brain trauma as it relates to athletics has revealed never before seen damage linked with football participation. Known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), it is caused by activities inherent to the sport of football. School sponsored football has been granted immunity through case law and legislation in Texas. Recent research however indicates a different type of injury than those that school districts have been protected of liability from.… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Switzer, Aaron Gray
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Identification and Participation of Latino Students in Advanced Mathematics Courses

Description: Using a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study examined the perspectives of Latino parents and their involvement in the decision of their child to enroll in an advanced mathematics course in sixth grade. Since enrollment in Algebra I in high school is said to be a strong predictor of college attainment and with the growing number of Latino students across the nation, this study has the potential to help district and campus leaders establish whole-school systems for communicating wit… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Blanchard, Myrna Elizabeth
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Spatial Econometric Study Examining the Determinants of Principal Salaries

Description: The lack of evidence on reforms, such as determinants of principal salary, points to data and research deficiencies to be addressed in order to learn more about their effects and make sound public policies. The purpose of the study was to examine district and community determinants of principals’ salaries using a spatial econometric framework. The findings have implications for education policy development related to pay for contribution, rather than pay based on tenure, experience, or district… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Bland, J. Edward
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Mixed Method Inquiry into Student Academic Optimism: Validation of the Construct and Its Use to Give Voice to Latinx Student Experiences

Description: This study examined student academic optimism in four diverse North Texas school districts. This study used a convergent parallel mixed methods design to analyze results of an online administration of the survey, and Latinx student responses to a focus group protocol derived from the survey. Quantitative results indicate the individual scales making up the construct align with previous research results. The three scales were found to be strongly and significantly correlated, indicating the p… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Viamontes Quintero, Jesika
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Key Factors in Developing a Successful Bond Referendum in Texas School Districts

Description: In May of 2002, Wichita Falls ISD, a district in Texas with a stagnate enrollment of 14,000 students for multiple years, asked for the community to support a $120 million bond to help cover the cost of four new elementary campuses and to maintain and upgrade aging facilities. The bond failed. Additionally, a 2004 bond failed again. Finally, in 2006, the district is finally able to pass a $60 million bond and only includes two new elementary campuses and no funding to address the aging facilitie… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Griffiths, Peter Edward
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effects of Bring Your Own Device Initiatives Related to Instructional Planning and the Classroom Environment in Two Texas High Schools

Description: This study was an examination of 20 North Texas high school teachers' perceptions about the effects of bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives on instructional planning and classroom environment. The BYOD initiative at two high school campuses was studied through a qualitative approach, i.e. a collective case study. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and reviews of participants' lesson planning documents. The findings indicated teachers had to plan for inequitable … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Miller, Shawn J.
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
Partner: UNT Libraries
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
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Professional Learning Community Dimensions in a North Texas Elementary School’s Culture and Their Impact on Reading and Math Student Growth Scores

Description: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine which dimensions, as represented by the Professional Learning Community Assessment – Revised dimensions, are present in the environment of North Texas elementary schools and their impact on student growth. A survey design was utilized in which elementary principals and teachers in a selected school district completed the Professional Learning Community – Revised survey developed by Hipp and Huffman (2009), to gather perceptions of PLC imp… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Patrick, Linda Denise
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Adequacy and Equity: How the Texas Supreme Court's Perceptions Have Changed Over the Past 50 Years

Description: The purpose of this study identifies state court cases involving public school finance specifically related to adequacy and equity in funding. Results address how state court cases have challenged the constitutionality of school finance in the United States, including Texas, over the last 50 years. The study further shows how the decisions from previous cases have influenced the Supreme Court of Texas decision in the Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness litigation.
Date: May 2017
Creator: Ford, Daniel William
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Resource Allocation Efficiency at the Elementary and Middle School Levels in a Texas School District

Description: In recent years much attention has gone to school efficiency, as determined by assessing student achievement relative to expenditures at the school district level. The present study built on prior work in school efficiency with a focus on the school campus level instead of the district level. Included in the study were 28 elementary and middle school campuses in a selected school district in Texas. The approach taken in the investigation was data envelopment analysis (DEA), which provided sc… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Hamlin, Lance
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Perceptions of Restorative Practices by Male Students of Color in Middle School

Description: Zero-tolerance discipline policies have been in use in U.S. schools for almost 25 years. Since their enactment in the 1990s, researchers have found that zero tolerance disciplinary policies and practices can cause students to enter the school-to-prison pipeline. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the perceptions of middle-school male students of color regarding the discipline process on a campus that supplemented zero-tolerance discipline with restorative practices (… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Millican, Deborah
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Supportive Conditions for the Successful Development of Ninth-Grade Centers

Description: The transition from middle school to high school can be challenging for some students. Many school districts are implementing practices to ease the transition to high school. The current study examined one school district's practices and procedures for the development and implementation of a ninth-grade center. In this study, I examined the perceptions of 12 participants (teachers, counselors, and campus and district administrators) in a suburban Texas school district with a ninth-grade cent… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Hunt, Bradley Allen
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Student Perceptions of Teacher Credibility: A Predictor of Academic Success

Description: While the idea of source or teacher credibility dates back to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, research to connect this perceived credibility with individual affective and cognitive growth is a more recent phenomenon. In 2009, a credibility learning model connecting perceived credibility to cognitive learning with university-aged subjects was established. In contrast, this research project focused on determining a link between K-12 students' perception of teacher credibility, as determined b… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Mathews, John R., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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