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 …

The Ends of Smaller Worlds is a collection of short stories set in Indiana. The preface is about the representation of the information age using elements of dirty realism and Gothic fiction.

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.

The Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport is located in a densely urbanized area with one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S.A. The airport property includes a large tract of "protected" riparian forest that is unique to the urban surroundings. This dissertation explores variables that influence the benthic macroinvertebrate community structure found in urbanized prairie streams that were initially assessed by the University of North Texas (UNT) Benthic Ecology Lab during four, non-consecutive biomonitoring studies (2004, 2005, 2008, and 2014) funded by the DFW Airport. Additionally, land use analysis was performed using 5-meter resolution satellite imagery and eCognition to characterize the imperviousness of the study area watersheds at multiple scales. Overall, flow conditions and imperviousness at the watershed scale explained the most variability in the benthic stream community. Chironomidae taxa made up 20-50% of stream communities and outperformed all other taxa groups in discriminating between sites of similar flows and urban impairments. This finding highlights the need for genus level identifications of the chironomid family, especially as the dominant taxa in urban prairie streams. Over the course of these biomonitoring survey events, normal flow conditions and flows associated with supra-seasonal drought were experienced. Prevailing drought conditions of 2014 did not …

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 …

The history of the United States' occupation and administration of the Philippines is a premiere example of the evolution of the American military's civil administrative approach as it evolved from simple Army security in 1898, through an evolving ‘whole-of-government' method, to what was practically the full military administration of the country by March 1945. The second liberation and subsequent administration of the Philippines by the United States Army was unique, not simply because of the physical characteristics of the operations, but more so because of the theater commander, General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur used a rather self-reliant approach that rejected much of the direction from various authorities in Washington and adopted independently authored local solutions, but he took advantage of external resources when necessary. Ultimately the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under his command had to accept external direction to gain external resources. The Army's civil administrative planning and execution in the Philippines in 1944-1945 was the direct result of the social, political, economic, and military relationships between Americans and Filipinos from 1898 to 1944, much of which involved MacArthur, and the institutional changes that developed from these interactions. The result was civil administration that met the …

In urban environments, ozone air pollution, poses significant risks to respiratory health. Fixed site monitoring is the primary method of measuring ozone concentrations for health advisories and pollutant reduction, but the spatial scale may not reflect the current population distribution or its future growth. Moreover, formal methods for the placement of ozone monitoring sites within populations potentially omit important spatial criteria, producing monitoring locations that could unintentionally underestimate the exposure burden. Although air pollution affects all people, the combination of underlying health, socioeconomic and demographic factors exacerbate the impact for socially vulnerable population groups. A need exists for assessing the spatial representativeness and data gaps of existing pollution sensor networks and to evaluate future placement strategies of additional sensors. This research also seeks to understand how air pollution monitor placement strategies may neglect social vulnerabilities and therefore, potentially underestimate exposure burdens in vulnerable populations.

The purpose of this study was to examine a novel campus-based multi-tier systems of support (MTSS) framework. The framework included a standard-response protocol approach to response to intervention (RTI), integrated with a reversed process to professional learning communities, to support learning for students who were struggling to learn. Using a causal-comparative research design, a secondary analysis of quantitative data from one Title I school of approximately 500 students during the 2016-2018 school years was conducted to determine the level of impact MTSS had on reading achievement. Independent and paired samples t-tests were used to analyze iStation indicators of progress reading scores, resulting in statistically significant results. Kindergarten through 5th grade students' reading scores were significantly higher after one year of MTSS intervention than students who did not receive MTSS. One year of MTSS intervention had a statistically significant impact on both early and intermediate readers. Early readers, who began below grade level, performed significantly higher in reading achievement after just one year of MTSS as well. Intermediate readers, who began on or above grade level did not perform significantly higher in reading achievement after one year of MTSS, however. Possible long-term implications for MTSS were analyzed by comparing one year …

This study examined the influence of instructional technology on Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) vocabulary acquisition and the intrinsic motivation language learners present while learning vocabulary in a second language. A quasi-experimental design helped determine the impact of the instructional technology intervention using Quia and Quizlet to learn vocabulary over direct instruction. A nonrandom convenience sample of (N = 47) participants was divided into the experimental group (n = 25) and control group (n = 22). Data was collected from face-to-face interactions. Participants were secondary Spanish two students, ages 14–17, and from a north Texas public school. I taught 10 lessons over 10 days during a 30–45-minute instructional technology or direct instruction activity independently. The findings revealed whether the strategies, (a) instructional technology or (b) direct instruction, have a significant impact on Spanish vocabulary acquisition and student intrinsic motivation. The study's findings were derived from independent t-tests, which indicated that using instructional technology did not impact vocabulary acquisition over participants learning through a direct instruction method. Student intrinsic motivation was also not impacted. The analysis determined no significant impact between instructional strategies or the student's intrinsic motivation while learning vocabulary in a second language. While this study provides practical …

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.