Intention for this study is driven by finding patterns that may be shown to reveal primary factors of influence for the abundance and diversity of wetland birds. These correlations may be used to promote wetland management strategies for the benefit of waterbird species, and help illuminate current local wetland conditions for waterbirds, respectively. The idea is to help enliven individuals to become a more conscious steward and manipulator of our environment through incorporating structural and biological components into wetland development and management strategies, and broadly speaking, urban development practices.

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 potential for validation. Qualitative results indicate Latinx students' perceptions of their academic careers align with four themes. Latinx students are keenly aware of their teachers as a person, their school as a community, the intrusion of the outside world, and students as agents. Qualitative results support the importance of the three components of the construct, student trust in teachers, student academic press, and student identification with school. As a new source of data, combined with existing metrics of instructional effectiveness, student academic optimism could increase the ability of decision makers to improve the overall efficacy of school systems especially when addressing the persistent opportunity gaps for Latinx and other students of color.

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 facilities. At the same time, other districts in fast growing areas of Texas are able to pass school bonds with little to no issues. This begs the question, is there a formula for getting school bonds passed? The purpose of this study is to discover what key factors influence a bond package; to help find those answers, eight districts in Texas were selected, five considered to be a fast-growth district" and three considered to be no-growth district. The study used a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with 24 participants. After all factors were analyzed, a pattern and recommendation is developed for districts to follow allowing a high degree of success for school bonds.

The aim of this thesis is to narrate and analyze lynching and atypical violence in Denton County, Texas, between 1920 and 1926. Through this intensive study of a rural county in north Texas, the role of law enforcement in typical and systemic violence is observed and the relationship between Denton County Officials and the Ku Klux Klan is analyzed. Chapter 1 discusses the root of the word lynching and submits a call for academic attention to violence that is unable to be categorized as lynching due to its restrictive definition. Chapter 2 chronicles known instances of lynching in Denton County from its founding through the 1920s including two lynchings perpetrated by Klavern 136, the Denton County Klan. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between Denton County Law Enforcement and the Klan. In Chapter 4, seasons of violence are identified and applied to available historical records. Chapter 5 concludes that non-lynching violence, termed "disappearances," occurred and argues on behalf of its inclusion within the historiography of Jim Crow Era criminal actions against Black Americans. In the Prologue and Epilogue, the development and dissolution of the St. John's Community in Pilot Point, Texas, is narrated.

A suburban district in the southwestern region of the United States created a choice-based program in which students have the opportunity to address their social, emotional, and academic needs through a mid-day period where they have the ability to attend tutorials or engage in a variety of club and social activities. Each day, students choose the activity that best serves their needs, be those academic, social, or emotional. In order to determine students' attitudes, opinions, and uses of the program in an effort to improve its effectiveness for student success, this qualitative study was planned to respond to the research questions: (1) how do students spend the emPower period? and (2) what are students' thoughts, attitudes, and opinions with regards to emPower? The research began by examining student responses to a previous principal survey asking their opinions on the program. Following the analysis of the survey, focus group sessions of five students from each high school grade were held to discuss student perceptions, choices, and uses of the program. The discussions were audiotaped and transcribed. Thematic data analysis resulted in themes of stress, social life, environment, regulations, choice and tutorials. Findings included a continuum of maturity evident with students' choices …

The Texas High Plains produces the most substantial amount of cotton in Texas. The region is a semi-arid area with limited precipitation, and it is, therefore, susceptible to climate change. Cotton production in the Texas High Plains is mostly dependent on irrigation to increase yield. The overall goal of this research was to study the interrelationships between climate change and cotton yield using correlation analysis and also to study how climate has changed in the region using trend analysis. A three-decade data (1987-2017) was analyzed to establish the relationship between climate change and cotton and also to determine how climate has changed in the area over the last 30 years. The research used precipitation and temperature data to assess climate change.The results of this research showed that annual mean temperature has lesser impacts on cotton yield, and the correlation between annual precipitation and cotton yield is insignificant. It also found out that high rates of temperature at the boll opening stage of cotton growth results in decreased cotton yield and that at the boll development and boll opening stages, precipitation is needed. Again, the research indicated that, on average, there had been a significant increase in temperature, but precipitation trends …

The primary goal of the research project was to organize a community needs assessment, which culminated in a report attached in the appendix. Data from sixteen interviews with community leaders involved in mental health promotion throughout Dallas County, Texas was used as the foundation of the professional report. This data revealed several key barriers faced by those with mental illness in their ability to access mental health services in Dallas County. The information gathered prompted further exploration into the intersection between public transit and mental health. Transit became the focus of this work when it came up as simultaneously a barrier to care and mode of prevention in the majority of the interviews. Interestingly, Dallas County has public plans to address transit related disparities; however, their intervention pulls from strategies determined to be ineffectual among the poor and disenfranchised. In this work we explore community needs and the civic culture of Dallas with a specific focus on transportation.

When governments are unable or unwilling to provide necessary relief to communities, local faith-based congregations (FBCs) step in and fill the gap. Though shown to provide for so many needs following disaster, FBCs have largely been left out of the institutional emergency management cycle. The aim of this study was to explore the role of FBCs in the disaster response and recovery process and investigate how recovery impacts FBCs. The primary objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of FBCs and how to better integrate them into the formal emergency management process.The main questions were as follows: First, what is the role of FBCs during the disaster recovery process? Second, how do FBCs change (temporarily and permanently) during disaster recovery, and what factors may promote or inhibit change? To answer these questions, qualitative semistructured interviews were held to develop a case study of Katy, Texas and its recovery from Hurricane Harvey of 2017. The applied and conceptual implications resulting from this study, which apply to FBCs, researchers, emergency managers, and policy makers, highlight the opportunity to better incorporate FBCs formally into emergency management practices.

This work examines the lynching of twelve female victims in Texas from 1885 to 1926.

As more Saudi individuals temporarily settle in the United States to pursue higher education, it becomes increasingly important to understand the impact this experience has on their families. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to examine Saudi mothers' experiences and motivations after transitioning to life in the United States. The main research question was: What are Saudi mothers' experiences of supporting their children maintaining and developing Arabic language skills and Islamic-Saudi identities while they are learning English and Western culture in U.S. schools? The sub-questions of the study were: Why do Saudi mothers in this study want their children to learn the Arabic language and culture? What are their concerns? What are the challenges Saudi mothers face in socializing their children to develop their Islamic-Saudi identity? What practices do mothers use to help their children preserve their Arabic language and develop the Islamic Saudi-identity while growing up in the United States? This study was conceptually framed within the theories of parenting style and acculturation. Participants in the study were five Saudi mothers pursuing higher education in Texas. Data were collected through three semi-structured interviews and four audio journals with each participant, and a focus group with the …

Engine Running: Essays is a collection of creative nonfiction that explores, in parts, a persona's distancing from home and self against the backdrop of an increasingly fractured family doing the same. Through a variety of forms, the essays seek to balance themes like loss, self-discovery, and manhood in reflections on the role of childhood memory, the early revelations and experimentation of sexuality, and the carving-out of personal identity in West Texas.

The current study employed both a variable- and person-centered approach to analyze data taken from a large sample of U.S. adults (N = 602, 59% males). For the former, structural equation modeling was utilized to empirically articulate the links between the four facets of psychopathy (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial) and the six facets of ethnocentrism. For the person-centered approach, descriptive discriminant analysis was used to assess for differences in psychopathic trait profiles between those elevated or low in ethnocentric attitudes. Consistent with expectations, the affective dimension positively predicted denigration of out-group members whereas the lifestyle domain negatively predicted all facets of ethnocentrism. Unexpectedly, the antisocial facet positively predicted group cohesion and devotion towards one's ethnic in-group. Additionally, those elevated in ethnocentrism had higher interpersonal and affective scores and lower lifestyle scores relative to those low in ethnocentric attitudes. Results are discussed in the context of risk assessment for hate-based violence and the overlap in the nomological network of psychopathy and prejudicial attitudes.

West Dallas AR is an interactive location-based app, using the power of multimedia and augmented reality to highlight the stories shared by West Dallas residents.

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to highlight the lived experiences of Christian African American college males attending a Christian predominately White institution (PWI) in the South. Through in-depth personal interviews, I offer insights into this specific student population's experience. Furthermore, I provide recommendations for key stakeholders at Christian PWIs in the South as they strive to create an inclusive campus environment. The ultimate goal of the research is to aid in the recruitment and retention of this particular student population.

This was a mixed-method user-centered study regarding the University of North Texas's student-owned learner record and credentialing system. Through methods of quantitative and qualitative inquiry, student perceptions were unearthed and recommendations to improve the system were provided.

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 (RPs). Additional intents of this study were to discover the challenges students encountered when they returned from a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) and determine whether RPs helped or hindered their transition to the home campus. Six middle-school male students of color who were placed at the district's DAEP and returned to their home campus participated in the study. The conceptual framework was based on Braithwaite's concept of stigmatized shame following an exclusion and Nathanson's human reactions to shame. The study yielded seven major themes: (a) student perceptions of exclusion, (b) behaviors related to exclusion from school, (c) human reactions to shame—attacking others, (d) human reactions to shame—avoidance, (e) the need for reintegration and acceptance, (f) traumatic events, and (g) dissonance in the discipline process.

This study implemented a GIS-based analysis of local climate zones (LCZ) in Denton, TX with data sets from 2009, 2011, 2015, and 2016. The LCZ scheme enables evaluation of distinct regions' thermal characteristics with greater granularity than conventional urban-rural dichotomies. Further, the GIS-based approach to LCZ mapping allows use of high-resolution lidar data, the availability of which for the study area enabled estimation of geometric and surface cover parameters: height of roughness elements, sky-view factor, and building surface fraction. Pervious surface fraction was estimated from National Landcover Database impervious imagery. A regular grid was used to estimate per-cell mean values for each parameter, and with a decision-making algorithm (if/then statements) two maps were produced (2011 and 2015) and six LCZ identified in each: LCZ 6 (open low-rise), LCZ 8 (large low-rise), LCZ 9 (sparsely built), LCZ A (dense trees), LCZ B (scattered trees), and LCZ C (bush/scrub). Post-processing was carried out to ensure identified zones met the spatial minimum for qualification as LCZ. Landsat Collection 2 Level 2 surface temperature products from various seasons of 2011 and 2015 were acquired to examine LCZ thermal differentiability, and preliminary surface urban heat island intensity values were estimated. Particular attention was afforded to …

The dissertation investigates the form of network governance in the context of U.S. homeless service networks (namely continuum of care programs; CoCs). This research examines CoC homeless service networks by applying the institutional collective action (ICA) perspectives to understand the forms of network governance as a reflection of network context. The ICA perspective has been applied to understand the rational behavior of network members for the network governance form to mitigate the collective action problems. The ICA perspective helps understand why network members accept specific governance structures with their expectation to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs and uncertainty in their process of collaboration. This dissertation uses the data of CoC networks and point in time data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2019 and Census. The data developed for this study offers the homeless incidences, geographical characteristics, and governance structure based on the contact information. For an in-depth understanding, interview by CoC leaders was integrated. This dissertation consists of four essays about 1) Literature review on network governance and the theoretical argument in the ICA framework, 2) Background and network governance of the U.S. homeless service networks, 3) Factors affecting the choice of network …

During the Great Depression, for the first time in its history, the federal government provided relief to the unemployed and destitute through myriad New Deal agencies. This dissertation examines how "general relief" (direct or "make-work") from federal programs—primarily the Emergency Relief and Construction Act (ERCA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)—was acquired and administered by the government of Texas through state administrative agencies. These agencies included the Chambers of Commerce (1932-1933), Unofficial Texas Relief Commission (1933), Texas Rehabilitation and Relief Commission (1933), Official Texas Relief Commission (1933-1934), Texas Relief Commission Division of the State Board of Control (1934), and the Department of Public Welfare (1939). Overall, the effective administration of general relief in the Lone Star State was undermined by a political ideology that persisted from, and was embodied by, the "Redeemer" Constitution of 1876.

A considerable amount of research has been done surrounding education in classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 12, but little research has been done surrounding early childhood education (ECE) beginning with birth to age 4. As a result, research is needed that examines interventions aimed to improve the quality of early childhood education for young bilingual learners at the earliest stages of schooling. The present study examines current efforts to serve the specific population of young bilingual children entering classrooms in an urban school district in North Texas. The focus of this study includes the access and examination of quality ECE programs (defined by the extent to which bilingual children have access to bilingual education programming). The present study also observes the visibility of young bilingual children who receive services that are responsive to their characteristics, experiences, and specific needs. Lastly, this study used a multiple regression analysis to examine the Kindergarten Early Assessment test that has been put in place to measure the school readiness performance of bilingual children in this urban district. Specifically, the analysis included program type, language of assessment, socio-economic status and gender variables.

On May 18, 2018, a shooter entered Santa Fe High School, killing eight students and two teachers. Using ethnographic methods, this research examines the role of faith, rituals, language, and symbols in the trauma-affected community during the response, recovery, and resiliency efforts as perceived by the Santa Fe community and those impacted by the tragedy. Qualitative data collected from 100 individuals ages of 17-84 illustrated how historical trauma, community culture, and faith-based organizations impact community resiliency and how illusions of a homogenous view of the community left many feeling shocked, divided, forgotten or muted.

The client for this study, the Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education (ERIE), was interested in the use of anthropological methods to examine the experiences of people who use psychedelics beyond the clinical setting. Through collaborative discussions with the client, we decided that the central questions guiding this research are to understand the various reasons why people consume psychedelic substances across the United States as well as examine the self-reported influences of psychedelics in various areas of participants' life and identity. Participants were recruited using stratified sampling and were given a confidential, online survey that also provided an option to arrange a semi-structured interview. In total, there were 103 completed survey responses and 25 interviews. The results of this research indicate that the reasons for participants' psychedelic use often change over time from strictly recreational or out of curiosity to intentions based on therapeutic and psychospiritual development. Additionally, the majority of both survey and interview participants believed their psychedelic use to have had a transformative influence on their health and well-being, perception of nature, identity, spirituality, and creative expression of art and music. Another theme uncovered in this research is the impacts of punitive drug laws on psychedelic use such as …

This case study investigated the phenomenon of the black white test score gap by seeking to determine if there was a difference in the academic performance of African American students and their White peers. The determination of student academic performance was made using scores from second semester Algebra II classes at two high schools in the Tucson Unified School District. The data covered three academic years and was analyzed via SPSS (independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and a pairwise analysis) and content analysis for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that there was no variance in the scores of African Americans and their White peers attending an affluent school; however African Americans attending a low-income school scored lower than all groups that were compared in this study.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and determine the predictive power of individual and a combination of different indicators that are used to determine college readiness. For this study a logistic regression analysis was conducted due to the dichotomous nature of the dependent variable. The dependent variable for the study was the earning of a post-secondary credential. The independent variables included high school diploma type, Advanced Placement course taken, Advanced Placement test performance, SAT performance, ACT performance, a multidimensional index made up of all the variables, and high school GPA. The study found that high school GPA had the strongest odds ratio, Exp(B), for the participants earning a post-secondary credential (Exp(B) = 6.597), followed by diploma type (Exp(B) = 6.316), taking an Advanced Placement course (Exp(B) = 4.368), earning at least one qualifying Advanced Placement test score (Exp(B) = 3.846), a multidimensional index (Exp(B) = 2.318), ACT score (Exp(B) = 1.161) and SAT score (Exp(B) = 1.003). Future analysis is needed by using live data of student's college performance, stratifying the data to account for differences in post-secondary performance by different racial and socio-economic groups, and studying the effects of the State of Texas' chosen college readiness variables.