This study investigated the relationship between mindset and self-efficacy among special education teachers in Region 2 of Texas. While approximately 500,000 students are provided special education services in Texas public schools, special education students perform significantly lower on state assessments in reading and math than their…

The purpose of this study was to examine the teacher self-efficacy of traditionally and alternatively-certified teachers and to determine if there is a perceived difference in levels of self-efficacy after the first-year of teaching in those teachers who completed a traditional certification program or an alternative certification program. The…

This dissertation investigated the relationship between mindset and self-efficacy among special education teachers in Region 2 of Texas. While approximately 500,000 students are provided special education services in Texas public schools, special education students perform significantly lower on state assessments in reading and math than their…

This study investigated the effectiveness of My Reading Academy, a digital learning program designed to develop foundational reading skills in early childhood education. The research examined whether the implementation of this adaptive game-based curriculum could strengthen early reading skills and increase student interest in learning to read…

Schools across Texas are tasked with detailing action plans in support of students identified as at-risk of dropping out (TEA, 2020b). The intent of this study was to learn the perspective of students, identified as at-risk of dropping out, in terms of whether there is a relationship between campus retention/recovery intervention efforts and their…

The purpose of this dissertation-in-practice was to examine the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of K-5 elementary school teachers in a suburban Central Texas school on their use of blended learning in the classroom. Before conducting the study, previous research on blended learning was reviewed in the areas of student achievement, student…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and the instructional style of community college STEM faculty to explore a possible connection between teacher self-efficacy, instructional style choice, and its possible impact on STEM reform for community colleges. This study is designed as a sequential…

Computational thinking is acknowledged as an essential competency for everyone to learn. However, teachers find it challenging to implement the existing learning approaches in K-12 settings because the existing approaches often focus on teaching computing concepts and skills (i.e., programming skills) rather than on helping students develop their…

As novice teachers gain experience, they are more efficacious and likely to overcome adversity. The more authentic, rigorous, and frequent the experience in preservice methods coursework, the better prepared candidates are to teach. We used a mixed methods, convergent, nested design to examine the Teacher Self-Efficacy (TSE) of 21 SBAE preservice…

This study evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of My Math Academy and My Reading Academy, two digital learning programs, in supporting early math and literacy skill development during the 2021-2022 school year in Tyler Independent School District, Texas. In a district where 85% of students were eligible for free and reduced-price meals,…

Following state legislation mandating corequisite support in lieu of remedial prerequisites for underprepared students, this article tells the story of a specific corequisite program piloted in South Texas. Our model transformed certain sections of our institution's first-year seminar into corequisite courses, which were paired with required…

The last five decades of educational research have shown the construct of teacher self-efficacy is related to student achievement: the higher the efficacy of the teacher, the greater the impact on the student. Additionally, teachers who demonstrate more of a growth mindset--a belief a person's intelligence can change--than a fixed mindset--a…

The purpose of this study was to determine if teacher self-efficacy is influenced by peer coaching in elementary mathematics. Survey, interview, and demographic data were collected from a purposeful sample of first year elementary mathematics teachers within a large, suburban school district located in southeast Texas. "The Teachers' Sense of…

This study examines the COVID-19 shift to online instruction and its impact on a charter school system (CSS) 3rd-10th grade students' academic achievement through the lens of noncognitive factors. We recruited 693 students and utilized qualitative and quantitative analyses. We found that students' NWEA math and ELA scores continued to increase…

Self-concept, self-efficacy, and interest are inextricably tied together. Researchers collected data from high school students' (n=44) responses to 4 short answer questions taken from a National Institute of Education interest inventory survey. These students were Texas science and engineering fair winners awarded the opportunity to attend a…