Book gifting programs such as Imagination Library aim to foster a love of reading and increase children's exposure to books and academic success. This study is a conceptual replication of previous studies focused on the Imagination Library program. To examine home literacy practices and caregiver perceptions of the Imagination Library, 149…

This dissertation explored the cost and value of 1:1 computing programs in high schools in Texas. The study examines whether the total cost of ownership of these programs can be justified by the student testing gains and graduation rates. It investigates whether student learning outcomes show a definable correlation between positive gains and the…

Students who struggle to read on grade level by the end of third grade are less likely to make academic progress and graduate before the age of 19. The district leaders in a suburban district in Texas were interested in determining the root cause of stagnant reading standardized test scores. After determining the root cause, a lack of a…

Youth who are exposed to more adversities in life and at-risk for engaging in delinquent behaviors have been found to be less likely to have a caring adult in their life. Mentoring is among one of the most evidence-based preventative interventions/supports applied to at-risk youth in order to promote resilience/protective factors. Youth mentoring…

This paper is the first to examine the longitudinal results of six years of implementation of Literacy Squared, a biliteracy model for Spanish/English speaking emerging bilingual students. This model includes paired literacy instruction with grade-specific time allocations for Spanish literacy and literacy-based ELD. Furthermore, cross-language…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between learned helplessness and academic baseline levels among adult students who dropped out of high school and have returned to a high school equivalency program to prepare to take the GED examination. The study controlled for the variables of the age of…

The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between federal Pell Grant status, campus diversity statistics, and their influence on graduation rates within higher education. This study focuses on higher education institutions in the state of Texas and adopts a quantitative design that utilizes a regression analysis to…

Heightened concerns about the health of the teaching profession highlight the importance of studying the early teacher pipeline. This exploratory, descriptive article examines preservice teachers' expressed motivation for pursuing a teaching career. Using data from a large teacher education program in Texas, we use a natural language processing…

Nationally, public school districts utilize student achievement as the indicator of success or failure. In Texas, student achievement is measured by the yearly State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) assessment in Grades 3 through 12. Existing studies examined mentoring as a way of creating positive change for principals. Much of…

This quantitative study examined the relationship between implementation of a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program and academic achievement, attendance, and discipline. The data was collected from schools from South Texas Educational Regions One, Two, and Twenty. The public middle school campuses for this study were chosen…

This quantitative study examined the relationships between elementary teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy, school culture, and implementation of instructional strategies. The teachers were employed across four schools within one northern Texas school district. The data, collected through three different surveys, garnered teacher perceptions of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college persistence and family income, parental education level, and type of financial aid for first-time, full-time Hispanic economically disadvantaged students selected from a South Texas Hispanic-serving institution. The dependent variable, college persistence, was measured by…

This study examined the effect of a 10-week activity tracker, companion social website, and text messaging intervention on body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, physical fitness, and physical activity (PA) self-efficacy of children. Children (n = 98) were assigned to one of three groups: activity tracker group, text messaging group, and…

Leadership development has been viewed as a foundational component of agriculture education and the FFA since the early 20th century (Hoover, Scholl, Dunnigan, & Mamontova, 2007). To contribute to previous research in the field of leadership, this study lays the framework for future studies on the leadership styles of those individuals who…

Little is known about differences between traditional, university-based certification programs and alternative certification programs in terms of outcomes for students and teachers. Across all preparation pathways, however, too many early career teachers leave the field (over 40% within first five years). This attrition problem is likely to grow…