There is a growing expectation that school librarians function within their job descriptions beyond the role of reading promoter and resource manager. With college and career readiness standards, technology use and digital learning standards and information literacy standards now in place for student learning expectations, it is vital that students have opportunities to acquire, develop and practice such skills for future success in the global market economy. For students to receive such opportunities, there should be designed instruction delivered to students that allows for them to learn and practice information gathering techniques to access, use and apply information effectively, efficiently and ethically while developing technology skills within context of their content learning and real-world connections authentically. This study examined how school librarians conveyed information gathering techniques to students through a qualitative, constant comparative approach. Five middle school librarians in an urban school district participated in an observation and interview. Findings suggest that school librarians do claim an instructional role regarding information gathering and technology usage, although it manifests in diverse ways. Implications for future studies and practice suggest that the position become more defined such that the expectation to function in these roles is widely accepted by all stakeholders, and …

This study examined how in-service teachers transformed professionally and personally as a result of participation in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange Program (ITTTE). Six teachers, 3 from the U.S. and 3 from Guatemala, were paired. Each pair spent a total of 8 weeks together, in each other's countries, over the course of 2 years. The pairs reciprocated home stays, school engagement, and cultural learning in three cohorts; 2012-2014, 2014-2016, 2016-2018. In 2018, each participant engaged in a structured interview tailored to the ten meaning phases of Mezirow's transformative learning theory (TLT). The data were analyzed deductively, through the application of the ten meaning phases of transformation. The data were also analyzed inductively to determine additional themes of transformation. The deductive findings revealed 5 out of 6 participants experienced full transformative learning. All 3 Guatemalan teachers transformed professionally with new understandings of mathematics pedagogy. Two U.S. teachers transformed personally, one by learning how to be a more caring teacher and the other by overcoming shyness to engage as a relational teacher. The third U.S. teacher adopted the point of view that speaking a second language had value. The inductive analysis revealed emerged themes of learning, language, relationships, and program affecting …

Today's early childhood programs are required to have high-quality inclusive classrooms that serve preschool children with disabilities and diverse needs employed by highly-qualified early childhood teachers. The problem of this study was to describe the current status of pre-service teachers' perspectives of their own teacher self-efficacy, philosophical beliefs, and epistemological beliefs for inclusive practices in an early childhood classroom at the conclusion of an introductory early childhood education course. The study also looked at differences by certification track- EC-6 bilingual (n = 5), EC-6 generalist (n = 8), EC-6 ESL (n = 12), and all-level SpEd (n = 7). The participants (n = 32) were a convenient sample in an Introductory to Early Childhood Education course at a Texas university. Three post-course assignments (i.e. the final self-evaluation, the post-course philosophy of education, and the post-course successful early childhood inclusive teacher drawing) were given to students in an introductory early childhood course and were subjected to content analysis and thematic analysis. The TEIP survey was used as a framework for content analysis. The group-as-a-whole, the EC-6 bilingual, the EC-6 generalists, the all-level SpEd, and the EC-6 ESL certification track participants' teacher self-efficacy perspectives content showed high teacher self-efficacious comments in regards …

Article investigating the current practices of digital game-based language learning to support English language learning. This article provides strategies for educational researchers to improve their rigor in research, along with explicit criteria that digital game designers can apply toward language-learning game development.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric undermines Latinx parents' epistemic legitimacy as producers of valued parental knowledge, irrespective of immigrant status. Little is known about the epistemic harm to Latina mothers who must negotiate their maternal scripts against the backdrop of a parenting discourse steeped in deficit thinking. This study used testimonio to explore the experiences of Latina mothers of young children living in the borderlands of South Texas via a Chicana/Latina feminist epistemological framework that conceptualizes the self as multiplicitous and responsive to the straddling of multiple cultures, nationalities, races, languages, and physical borders. The research questions guiding the study included: (1) How do Latina borderland mothers experience epistemic harm in the context of mothering knowledge? and (2) What strategies do borderland mothers employ to nurture strength and counter epistemic harm? Two theoretical constructs emerged from data analyses. First, the borderland was a site of recurring credibility battles as well as a site of "in-the-flesh" encounters that deepened human connection. Supporting themes included "Brown-on-Brown conflict vs. like-me counters" and "situating injustice vs. denying injustice." The second theoretical construct asserted that borderland mothers' ways of knowing are polyvocal and reflect a Brown body ethic of care. Its two supporting themes included "co-family as sources …

This study aimed to take asset-based approach and identify Latino male students who were persisting in college, and to identify what strategies made them successful. This qualitative study consulted Tinto's revised student departure model, Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, as well as Yosso's theory of community cultural wealth. A phenomenological design was utilized to identify the shared experience of first-generation Latino male college students who had persisted in college and maintained a 3.0 grade point average. Findings revealed that Latino students entered college with goals to provide better opportunities for the next generation. They encountered unfamiliarity, culture shock, and marginalization, all obstacles centered not on academic preparedness, but on unfamiliarity with the environment. They used their linguistic, navigational, and aspirational capital to navigate their two worlds. Their cultural upbringing stressed a strong commitment to family and community, i.e. familismo. They found community among in-group peers and college staff. This support network provided what Laura Rendon refers to as validating experiences. Once familismo was obtained they gained a sense of belonging and grew their cultural capital to become familiar with the college going culture. The learned the rules of the game which enabled students to focus on their goal of earning …

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

The Journal of the Effective Schools Project covers topics related to the member schools involved in the program. The Journal includes articles from several educators and education specialists.

The UNT Graduate Bulletin includes information about class offerings as well as "policies, regulations, procedures and fees in effect at the time [the] publication went to press"

Report describing the performance of Houston Independent School District including educational, financial, and operational functions.

Article examining how administrators help teachers and other administrators make sense of a system reform during the first two years of implementation.

Weekly student newspaper from San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas that includes campus news along with advertising.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Catalog of undergraduate and graduate courses offered by Texas Tech University for the year 2019-2020, as well as general information about the university, programs, and policies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective teachers' conceptions of science instruction prior to the commencement of their early childhood education methods courses. A sample of 100 prospective teachers' drawings and narratives were analyzed using the STLP3 instrument and inductive analysis respectively. Merging findings from the aforementioned analyses resulted in 10 distinct conceptions and these included: (a) science instruction (1) as a demonstration, (2) as engagement, (3) as doing experiments, (4) as inquiry, and (5) as observation all underscored by active learning and social, implementation and cognitive dimensions; (b) science instruction (6) as implementing safety, and (7) as an interaction both underscored by active learning and a social dimension; and (c) science instruction (8) as a demonstration, and (9) as engagement both underscored by passive learning and an affective dimension; and (d) science instruction (10) as enjoyment underscored by social and affective dimensions. These findings reflected the complexity and multidimensionality of the prospective teachers' conceptions of science instruction. Implications include the need for teacher educators to situate their prospective teachers' prior and new knowledge of early childhood science instruction within theoretical frames rather than simply relying on prospective teachers' knowledge of science instruction from K-12 experiences. Implications for …

Asian American students have done well in school; they have had higher academic achievements, higher academic scores, lower dropout rates and higher college entrance rates as compared to other minorities and generally other students in the United States (U.S.). A possible explanation to the higher academic performance and achievement of the Asian American students is that they are more likely to have experienced an environment that is conducive to learning at home; their parents were involved and held higher expectations. Immigrant minorities have been found to do well in schools in many parts of the world. Similarly, here in the U.S. there has been increasing evidence that students of Asian ancestry, both immigrants and U.S. born, complete more years of education than most of the other ethnicities. Current research and data on the academic performance of Asian immigrants includes most Asian countries. This study reviewed the current literature regarding the factors that influence the academic performance of "Asian Indian Americans" who attended high schools in the U. S. This correlational study examined the relationship between various factors, such as parental participation, parental expectations and involvement, discipline, cultural beliefs, personal identity and values, language spoken at home, and the academic performance …

Two groups of students were compared to determine the impact of early intervention at the Early Childhood School on academic outcomes in later elementary school years for both math and reading. Students who were determined to be disadvantaged in some way, either by income, limited English proficiency, or having been identified as needing specialized instruction and who attended an early intervention program, prior to kindergarten, were compared to a similar group who did not attend the intervention program. Scores on district level assessments in math and reading were tracked for both groups of students through the third grade. Scores on high stakes standardized testing of the students in third grade were also analyzed. Results indicated that students in the control group outperformed students in the treatment group on the majority of district level assessments. However, the opposite was true for high stakes testing where the treatment group outperformed the control group on a consistent basis. These results were consistent, regardless of the nature of the disadvantage. Students who attended the prekindergarten program at the Early Childhood School had higher scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam than disadvantaged students who did not attend. Since this …

This study was intended to evaluate the impact of socioeconomically disadvantaged children's participation in the Texas Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (TX HIPPY) Program on their school readiness and academic achievement. The study used a quasi-experimental design and applied full and optimal propensity score matching (PSM) to address the evaluation concern of the impact of the TX HIPPY program on HIPPY participants' academic achievement compared to non-HIPPY participants. This evaluation targeted former HIPPY participants and tracked them in the Dallas ISD database through Grade Levels K-8. Data were obtained by administering Istation's Indicators of Progress (ISIP) for kindergarten, TerraNova/SUPERA for Grades K-2, and State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness for math and reading (STAAR) for Grades 3-8. HIPPY and non-HIPPY groups were matched using propensity score analysis procedures. The evaluation findings show that the TX HIPPY program positively influences kindergarten students to start school ready to learn. The findings of math and reading achievements suggest that HIPPY children scored at the same level or higher than non-HIPPY children did on math and reading achievement, indicating that TX HIPPY program has achieved its goal of helping children maintain long-term academic success. However, the evaluation findings also indicated that …

Weekly newspaper from Tulsa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of participation in the district's early childhood program on later academic achievement as measured by the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) mathematics and reading assessments in Grades 3, 4, and 5. The studied district opened a centralized early childhood school in 2009 and implemented the Texas Pre-K Guidelines. The STAAR test results were available for five cohorts of students who attended the early childhood school and took the STAAR mathematics and reading assessments in the years 2014-2018. A quasi-experimental design was used to analyze differences in STAAR mathematics and reading scores for students who attended the district's early childhood program and students who did not attend. A two-way factorial ANOVA was used to examine the effect on test scores of attending the district's early childhood school and other demographic categories, Latinx, African American, socio-economic status, and English language learners (ELL). The results show that attending the early childhood program did not have a statistically significant effect for Latinx or African American students. However, the mean mathematics scores for economically-disadvantaged students who attended the early childhood program were higher than their peers who did not attend. ELL students …

Weekly newspaper from Sanger, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Passed in 1985, the Texas Education Code (TEC) §38.003, Screening and Treatment of Dyslexia and Related Disorders, required public school districts and charters to identify and provide remediation services for students with dyslexia. While Texas was the first state to pass such a requirement, the question remains: What is the prevalence and proportionality of dyslexia in Texas public school districts and charters? In Phase 1 of this study, a secondary analysis using point prevalence and disproportionality calculations was conducted to analyze the impact of this more than 30-year-old law. In order to better help understand these findings, semi-structured interviews with district leaders were conducted in Phase 2 to gain insight on how students were identified with dyslexia across the state. The results of Phase 1 showed the estimated prevalence of dyslexia in Texas public school districts and charters to be low in comparison to the literature. Additionally, the findings suggested a discrepancy in identifications between gender and district type (public school versus charter) and across racial and ethnic groups. Meanwhile, the results of Phase 2 revealed that leadership, support, funding, and accountability impact dyslexia identifications. This study emphasizes the need to further explore and analyze how to best identify and …

In rural, low socioeconomic public schools, the diversity of the student population challenges teachers beyond their means to meet the wide-ranging needs of students, and therefore creating opportunity gaps. The purpose of this study was to explore one district's leadership support of teachers to create an equitable learning environment for all students. The present study built on existing literature by discovering leadership practices and perceived necessary supports for closing achievement gaps in K-12 classrooms. Through interviews with district and school administrators, classroom teachers, and observations of leadership meetings, the research for this case study included data collection and analysis. From the interview questions and observations, six themes emerged. The themes revealed from the data collected and analysis for this qualitative study aligned with the components of the conceptual framework, a sequence of initiative requirements for equitable learning environments. Developing a sequence of initiatives among all levels of educators could benefit sustainment of an equitable learning environment in Rural ISD. Recommended for further research is professional development to both leadership and teachers about professional learning communities (PLCs). In addition, study of parent education programs and how relationships achieve more parental involvement requires further research. A final recommendation for collegiate education preparation …

Weekly newspaper from Sanger, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.