Degree Level

College Readiness and Dual Credit Participation of Alternative High School Students (open access)

College Readiness and Dual Credit Participation of Alternative High School Students

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which alternative schools add value to the college readiness of their students, as well as to measure the capacity of alternative school students to successfully complete dual credit courses while enrolled at the alternative school. This mixed methods study utilized an exploratory approach with a descriptive research design to explore the extent to which alternative schools produce college-ready students. The Texas Success Initiative Assessment was used to measure participants' academic readiness levels in mathematics, reading, and writing. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to provide their own perspectives on their college readiness levels through a student survey and semi-structured face-to-face interview. The results of this study reveal that the college readiness levels of alternative high school students varied across academic areas. Of the tested participants, 41.1% were college ready in reading, 52.1% in writing, and 16.7% in mathematics. Additionally, the findings reveal that dual credit course participation was not a viable option because of course prerequisites and the amount of time needed to complete dual credit courses. Results of this study expand on the literature to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of alternative school programs, the college readiness …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Bradley, Jeffrey James
System: The UNT Digital Library
School System Improvement through Building Leadership, Adult Learning, and Capacity: A Consideration of Instructional Rounds as a Systemic Improvement Practice (open access)

School System Improvement through Building Leadership, Adult Learning, and Capacity: A Consideration of Instructional Rounds as a Systemic Improvement Practice

The problem of the study was determining the supportive conditions related to instructional rounds (rounds) to understand better what conditions may allow for sustained systemic improvement over time. Three Texas school districts were studied to understand the perceptions of district leaders, principals, teacher leaders, and teachers with regard to the sustainability of instructional rounds as a systemic improvement practice, the supportive conditions necessary for sustainability, the salient characteristics that differentiated rounds from other improvement practices, and the potential of rounds to build organizational capacity. Observation of network rounds visits and document analysis was conducted to determine alignment of perception with observation and documents. Findings include perceptions, themes, and critical factors for the sustainability of rounds as an effective systemic improvement practice. Supportive conditions emerged as the most significant perception expressed by the participants. Implications for action for school districts beginning or continuing implementation of instructional rounds are suggested based upon findings from participant perceptions and observation of networks. Suggestions for future research are shared. With supportive conditions in place, instructional rounds has the potential to serve as an effective systemic improvement practice.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Warnock, Teresa Georgeanne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Understanding the Perceptions and Indications of the Goals and Unique Aspects of the Foundations for Success (FFS) Curriculum Model: A Case Study in a North Texas Private Preschool (open access)

Understanding the Perceptions and Indications of the Goals and Unique Aspects of the Foundations for Success (FFS) Curriculum Model: A Case Study in a North Texas Private Preschool

This quantitative and qualitative case study examined the educators' perceptions of both the goals and unique aspects of the foundations for success (FFS) curriculum model. Specifically, this study was designed to explain the experiences of 55 early childhood educators and administrators who all had similar exposure to the FFS curriculum model. This study sought to understand the educators' perceptions of the specific goals of using pertinent curriculum and instruction terminology and the parallel process of content language, connecting the importance of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) and learning standards and readiness for kindergarten. In the same way, the perceptions of the unique aspects of the value based curriculum, the use of reflective supervision and the use of design thinking were gathered and interpreted. This study looked closely into program successes, challenges and future implications of the FFS curriculum model. This study also considered the extent to which future implementations of the model could change the current interdependent relationship between early childhood education and the primary grades. The researcher analyzed the perceptions, utilizing the Likert-value survey instrument responses, the open-ended survey responses, along with the focus group responses to triangulate the findings. Common themes shared across all data collection were evaluated and …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Jackey, Lisa
System: The UNT Digital Library
African American Student Placement in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (open access)

African American Student Placement in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship (predicative capability) between selected variables, specifically, African American student enrollment, teacher ethnicity, and urban or rural district classification and the number of African American student placements in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP). The study used a non-experimental ex post facto design. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were used to identify Texas schools that sent African American students to a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency were also used to identify African American student enrollment and teacher ethnicity for the selected school districts. Finally, archival data from the Texas Department of Agriculture were used to identify district classifications of urban or rural. Participants in this study consisted of 187 school districts that placed African American students in a DAEP during the 2013-2014 school year. Based on the findings, teacher ethnicity and African American student enrollment are statistically significant contributions to African American student placement in a DAEP. Urban or rural district classification is not a statistically significant predictor in the same placements. Results of this study add to existing literature by confirming that there is an overrepresentation of African American student …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Foss, Ivy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Investigating Factors that Affect Faculty Attitudes towards Participation in Open Access Institutional Repositories (open access)

Investigating Factors that Affect Faculty Attitudes towards Participation in Open Access Institutional Repositories

Open access institutional repositories (OA IRs) are electronic systems that capture, preserve, and provide access to the scholarly digital work of an institution. As a new channel of scholarly communications IRs offer faculty a new way to disseminate their work to a wider audience, which in turn can increase the visibility to their work and impact factors, and at the same time increase institutions prestige and value. However, despite the increased popularity of IRs in numbers, research shows that IRs remain thinly populated in large part due to faculty reluctance to participate. There have been studies on the topic of open access repositories with the focus on external factors (social or technological context) that affect faculty attitudes towards participation in IRs, and there is a lack of understanding of the internal factors and the psychology of the reluctance. The goal of this mix method study was to identify the overall factors that affect faculty attitudes towards participation in IRs and examine the extent to which these factors influenced faculty willingness to participate in IRs. First, from literature review and the Model of Factors Affecting Faculty Self-Archiving this study identified eleven factors that influenced faculty members' intention to participate in OA …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Tmava, Ahmet Meti
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trends in Special Education Due Process Hearings in Texas from 2010-2015: School, Parent, and Social Justice Issues that Inform a Principal's Decision-Making (open access)

Trends in Special Education Due Process Hearings in Texas from 2010-2015: School, Parent, and Social Justice Issues that Inform a Principal's Decision-Making

This study explores all due process hearings that occurred in Texas public school districts from 2010-2015. Special attention was paid to the reasons for the hearings within the legal reports addressed and their outcomes. The study was conducted using a quantitative approach involving a legal document content analysis of due process hearings to select the participants to be interviewed with a qualitative semi-structured interview protocol. Following this process, nine participants from one district were interviewed. Responses were then analyzed for themes and patterns using qualitative methods, and conclusions were drawn based on the data. The study found that campus and central office administrators believed socio-economic levels, lack of empathy shown to parents, and distrust contributed to parents' decisions to file due process complaints or litigation. They also believed that placement decisions influenced by student discipline, parent denial about the impact of the disability on children, and parent entitlement played a role. Lastly, the nine participants found that parent advocacy and communication were strong contributors to the amount of due process hearings held at Evergreen ISD.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Poton, Marcy Rose
System: The UNT Digital Library
These Walls Can Talk: An Ethnographic Study of the Interior Schoolscape of Three High Schools (open access)

These Walls Can Talk: An Ethnographic Study of the Interior Schoolscape of Three High Schools

The schoolhouse is a place in which messages for student consumption are typically found with classroom lectures, text, and activities. As with any social setting, however, the communication is not confined to one space but extends, in this case, to hallways, common spaces, and exterior of the building. One of the most common practices for the delivery of messages to students within the schoolhouse is through visual signage. Visual signage can traverse disciplines encompassing concepts from the fields of communication, semiotics, language, literacy, and even interior design. In an effort to understand the impact these signs have on student populations this dissertation asks the question: How are signs within public high schools produced, consumed, and influential to persons in contact with intended messages that are presented in public school spaces? The study utilizes ethnography to describe the production, consumption, and influence of fixed signs in the interior hallways and common spaces at three public high schools in Texas. At each campus, student volunteers, one from each grade level, provided their individual course schedule to follow their daily route from class to class at their particular high school. Post these observations these students engaged in focus groups to discuss the various …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Hamilton, Joshua
System: The UNT Digital Library
Exploring the Process of Developing a Glocally Focused Art Curriculum for Two Communities (open access)

Exploring the Process of Developing a Glocally Focused Art Curriculum for Two Communities

The world is becoming progressively interconnected through technology, politics, culture, economics, and education. As educators we strive to provide instruction that prepares students to become active members of both their local and global communities. This dissertation presents one possible avenue for engaging students with art and multifaceted ideas about culture, community, and politics as it explores the possibilities for creating a community-based, art education curriculum that seeks a merger of global and local, or "glocal" thinking. Through curriculum action research, I explored the process of writing site-specific curriculum that focuses on publicly available, local works of art and encourages a connection between global experiences and local application. I have completed this research for two communities, one in Ohio and one in Texas, and investigated the similarities and differences that exist in the process and resulting curriculum for each location. Through textual analysis, interviews, curriculum writing, and personal reflections, I identified five essential components of a community-based, glocal art education curriculum: flexibility, authenticity, connectedness, glocal understandings, and publicly available art. Additionally, I developed a template for writing glocally focused, community-based art education curriculum and produced completed curricular units for each of the communities. Finally, I have made suggestions for the future …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Hartman, Jennifer D
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship of Fifth-Grade Students' Self-Concepts and Attitudes toward Mathematics to Academic Achievement in Arithmetical Computation, Concepts, and Application (open access)

The Relationship of Fifth-Grade Students' Self-Concepts and Attitudes toward Mathematics to Academic Achievement in Arithmetical Computation, Concepts, and Application

The purpose of this study was to determine the interrelationship of self-concept and attitude toward mathematics to academic achievement in the areas of arithmetical computation, concepts, and application.
Date: August 1971
Creator: Moore, Bobbie Dean
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students (open access)

Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students

Considering the explanations of schizophrenia that presume schizophrenia spectrum disorders (e.g., schizotypal personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, etc.) to be genetically related to schizophrenia, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attention and information processing abilities of individuals who have been identified as schizotypal or psychosis-prone (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum functioning in individuals who do not have schizophrenia). Research indicates that persons identified as psychosis-prone may show attention and information processing deficits similar to individuals with schizophrenia. The identification and description of individuals who later decompensate into schizophrenia would advance the understanding of schizophrenia and its causes. The Chapman's PER-MAG scale (Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation) was used to identify 35 hypothetically psychosis-prone college students (schizotypy group) and 42 normal college students (nonschizotypy group) out of the 806 volunteer subjects. Their attention and information processing abilities were measured by COGLAB (a multiparadigmatic cognitive test battery that represents a continuum of cognitive functions, from preattentional to attentional, to conceptual). Their social adjustment was measured by the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). The hypotheses of the study were that the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects would perform poorer than controls on COGLAB measures and that COGLAB measures of a more molar nature would better predict social adjustment …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ottesen, James McBride
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) Test Scores as Predictors of Academic Success of First-Year Clarendon College Students (open access)

The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) Test Scores as Predictors of Academic Success of First-Year Clarendon College Students

The problem in this study was to determine the relationship between the scores on the three parts (reading, writing, and mathematics) of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test (TAAS) and the academic success of first-year students at Clarendon College, Clarendon, Texas. High school grade-point average and gender were also included in the study. The purpose of the study was to develop an equation to predict first-year college grade-point average at Clarendon College . The predictor variables were the three parts of the TAAS Test (reading, writing, and mathematics) , high school grade-point average, and gender. The equation was developed through multiple correlation/multiple regression multivariate procedures. All statistical analyses were calculated through sub-programs of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study was limited to using only 1992/1993 Texas high school graduates who had entered Clarendon College in the fall semesters of 1992 and 1993 directly following high school graduation. A search of Clarendon College records produced 115 students from these groups who fully met all standards defined for the study. Two predictor equations were developed. One developed through a simple regression command included all five predictor variables. The second equation was produced through a stepwise procedure. This …
Date: August 1996
Creator: Anglin, James William
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Two Types of Group Counseling Procedures with Junior College Students (open access)

The Effects of Two Types of Group Counseling Procedures with Junior College Students

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was to measure personal adjustment, emotional adjustment, home adjustment, and self-concept changes that took place in junior college students as a result of one-counselor group counseling and male-and-female co-counselor group counseling. The rationale for male-and-female co-counselor group counseling relied on the formation of a simulated family in which individuals could socialize their feelings.
Date: August 1971
Creator: West, William George
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between Self-Reported Bulimic Behavior and Cardiovascular Reactivity to a Weight Stressor (open access)

The Relationship between Self-Reported Bulimic Behavior and Cardiovascular Reactivity to a Weight Stressor

This investigation sought to identify anxiety responses to weight measurement, assessed by verbal report and cardiovascular reactivity CCR3 (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate), which might differentiate females with either high or low self-reported bulimic behavior. Secondar i ly,, the study attempted to examine specific autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal patterns of each group over time. The Bulimia Test (BULIT), Body Dissatisfaction Scale (BD), and a demographic questionnaire were administered to 105 undergraduate females at The University of North Texas. Based on BULIT scores, females were divided into high or low bulimic behavior groups. Of the 105 females screened, forty participated in the experiment which consisted of four phases: relaxation, anticipation of weight measurement, weight measurement, and recovery. Subjects had no prior knowledge of the weight stressor until presentation during the experiment. Results showed that subjects' notion of ideal weight was substantially lower than measured weight. During weight measurement, all subjects reported increased anxiety although the high group reported significantly more anxiety. Contrary to prediction, no significant group differences in CR were found when repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed. Orthogonal polynomial trend analysis was done with pooled groups, resulting in significant within-subject trends for …
Date: August 1993
Creator: Marcontell, Deborah K. (Deborah Kay)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homecourt: A Nondirective Student Support Group (open access)

Homecourt: A Nondirective Student Support Group

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how Homecourt, a nondirective support group at a public high school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, operates and how it affects students.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Nelson, Robert E., 1945-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Non-Academic Institutional Variables Related to Degree Completion of Non-Traditional Age Undergraduate Students (open access)

Non-Academic Institutional Variables Related to Degree Completion of Non-Traditional Age Undergraduate Students

A study was conducted at The University of Texas at Arlington to obtain measurements of non-traditional age undergraduate students using the Mattering Scales for Adult Students in Higher Education (MHE). The MHE is designed to assess the perceptions of adult students on how much they matter to the institution they are attending. The study also sought to determine if "mattering" and other selected nonacademic variables associated with the university environment are perceived by nontraditional age students to effect their likelihood of completing their baccalaureate degree. Of the five subscales surveyed by the MHE, significant statistical differences were found to exist in the Administration, Interaction With Peers, Multiple Roles, and Faculty subscales denoting an interaction between gender and minority status. Significant statistical differences were also found by gender on the Advising subscale and by minority status on the Faculty subscale.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Walts, Rebecca Ann.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between Employment Compensation and District Value Systems in Texas Public School Districts (open access)

The Relationship between Employment Compensation and District Value Systems in Texas Public School Districts

This study was conducted to determine what the relationship is between the employee compensation/benefit programs in Texas public school districts and the basic values and beliefs that are important to the success of the districts.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Parker, Thomas M. (Thomas Michael), 1943-
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of a Return of Native Grasslands upon the Ecology and Distribution of Small Rodents in Big Bend National Park (open access)

The Influence of a Return of Native Grasslands upon the Ecology and Distribution of Small Rodents in Big Bend National Park

In the southwestern United States there is a delicate balance between the existing grasslands and the rodent fauna. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of secondary succession of native grasslands upon the ecology and distribution of small rodents. Two methods of determining the rodent species were plot quadrates and trap lines using Sherman live traps.
Date: August 1971
Creator: Baccus, John T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920 (open access)

Changes in the Status of Texarkana, Texas, Women, 1880-1920

This study concentrates on the social status of women in one southern town during the late nineteenth century and the Progressive Era.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Rowe, Beverly J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Job Congruency and Discrepancy with the National Athletic Trainers Association Athletic Trainer Role Delineation on the Job Characteristics Model of Work Redesign in Secondary School Athletic Trainers in Texas (open access)

The Effect of Job Congruency and Discrepancy with the National Athletic Trainers Association Athletic Trainer Role Delineation on the Job Characteristics Model of Work Redesign in Secondary School Athletic Trainers in Texas

This study investigated person-situation relations of professional preparation and job classification of secondary school athletic training positions with core job dimensions and affective outcomes within Hackman and Oldham's 1980 Job Characteristics Model. Research focused on which relations show increased affective outcomes; relationships between core job dimensions and affective outcomes; and characteristics of the core job dimensions of task identification, task significance, and skill variety of athletic trainer tasks as defined by the National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Certification, Inc. 1995 Role Delineation Study.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Bunt, Stephen Churchill
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Education Programs at Community Colleges in the State of Texas (open access)

International Education Programs at Community Colleges in the State of Texas

This study examined international education (IE) programs in Texas community colleges to determine how they compare to a general, theoretical model of IE programs discussed in the literature. The study proposed: (a) to describe, through a review of literature, the components of IE; (b) to describe the administration of IE within the Texas community colleges; (c) to identify existing IE instructional activities; (d) to describe the student support services related to IE which are in practice; (e) to describe what community and out of country outreach components are in operation; and (f) to determine how the IE programs in Texas community colleges compare to theoretical components of IE programs as identified in the literature.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Emerson, Mary L. (Mary Latrelle)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Use of an Academic Library by University Students (open access)

The Use of an Academic Library by University Students

Academic librarians have for a number of decades been interested in understanding more about how and why students use libraries. This study contributes to that area of library administration by focusing on nine factors thought to be associated with student use of academic libraries.
Date: August 1988
Creator: Harrell, Charles B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Age or Previous Post-Secondary Experience on Student Evaluation of Instruction (open access)

The Effect of Age or Previous Post-Secondary Experience on Student Evaluation of Instruction

The increase in the number of nontraditional aged undergraduate students (25 yrs. and older) and students transferring between post-secondary institutions has raised the question of whether effective instruction is viewed the same by these different groups of students. This study addressed this question by analyzing the responses of these different groups to 23 instructional questions on a standard faculty evaluation form.
Date: August 1993
Creator: Klassen, James E. (James Edward)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of the Actual and Ideal Roles of Public School Superintendents in Texas (open access)

Perceptions of the Actual and Ideal Roles of Public School Superintendents in Texas

The problem of this study was to compare concepts of the actual and ideal roles of school superintendents as they are perceived by school superintendents and by school board presidents.
Date: May 1968
Creator: Sandler, Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ethical Knowledge of Counselors: A Survey of the Membership of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development (open access)

Ethical Knowledge of Counselors: A Survey of the Membership of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development

This study was designed to measure ten demographic membership variables of the Texas Association for Counseling and Development (TACD) and the respective relationships of those variables to ethical knowledge. It was also an effort to conduct a global study of the most recent revision (1988) of the AACD Ethical Standards and to find the relative knowledge of these standards by a random sample of 357 counselors in one state counseling organization.
Date: August 1992
Creator: Zibert, Jack (Jack Charles)
System: The UNT Digital Library