In 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic led to nationwide school closures, followed by a mandate for schools to reopen in 2020, posing challenges for ensuring both educational continuity and student safety. This paper presents findings from a mixed-method study involving ten campus principals in District A, South Texas, post-pandemic. Qualitatively, the…

Racial disparities in infant health conditions have persisted for decades. However, there is surprisingly limited evidence regarding the long-term consequences of these disparities. Using novel linked administrative data from Texas and the shift to Medicaid Managed Care (MMC), I show that MMC-driven declines in infant health worsened cognitive and…

The COVID-19 pandemic led to notable disruptions in student learning, particularly in mathematics, impacting students from marginalized backgrounds. This quasi-experimental quantitative study examines whether the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Mathematics results from 2019 to 2024 indicate that students have recovered…

This statewide, multiyear study was an examination of industry-based certification attainment rates by the economic status of Texas public high school graduates. Data analyzed were provided by the Texas Education Agency via the Texas Academic Performance Reports for the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school years. Inferential statistical…

Background: Inequality along racial and economic dimensions is well-documented and widespread in educational contexts. Achievement gaps are observed among children as early as primary school and are especially notable in standardized testing (Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Fryer & Levitt, 2013; Bond & Lang 2013). In response, some observers and…

Earning a bachelor's degree or work certificate can close social equity gaps and increase social mobility and economic stability in American society. Barriers exist to upward mobility for underrepresented groups (first-generation, low socioeconomic, African American, and Hispanic). Underrepresented students are falling below their peers in…

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to discover Second through Fifth Grade rural North Texas teacher perceptions focusing on reading and mathematics student achievement gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown affected students not only academically but also socially…

This dissertation consists of two chapters studying problems faced by youths in two contexts that could be pivotal to their future: admissions to higher education and the juvenile criminal justice system. The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has been studied extensively, and there have…

The extent to which differences were present for African American girls as a function of their economic status in their performance on the Texas state-mandated Algebra I End-of-Course exam was examined. Specifically addressed was the extent to which African American girls differed in their performance on three Grade Level performance standards:…

This qualitative phenomenological research study used interviews of Title I Secondary School principals regarding their leadership styles and how they get buy-in from their teams. The data collected was analyzed by transcribing the interviews and reading to find common trends in the information. The data collected was compared to each school's…

This research uses a descriptive quantitative statistical design to examine campus-level results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). The focus is on describing the achievement disparities between campuses that implemented Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) programs and those implementing Dual Language (DL)…

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and…