This narrative phenomenological study examined the experiences of public school teachers in three rural East Texas school districts to understand how facilities effect the attitude of teachers as it applies to their job. The intent of this study was to answer, do facilities in a school district affect the attitudes teachers have about their jobs?…

Little is known about the experiences of school counselors in their role of disseminating college information to Latinx students. In this study, ten school counselors provided qualitative data which was then analyzed by the researchers for major themes. Themes highlighted the critical role of social capital: school counselors serve an overwhelming…

Learning through the fine arts possesses many benefits, yet efforts to address the arts within public schools, particularly rural schools, are insufficient. In an effort to support rural public schools in Texas, Window On a Wider World (WOWW) began providing fine arts enriched education programming in 2006 to area partner schools that serve…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many school districts have moved from brick-and-mortar instruction to remote instruction with little planning time and limited resources. Rural localities, already facing barriers and hardships, attempted to provide special education and related services in accordance with rapidly changing state and federal…

Covey (1990) suggested that to achieve success in leadership, one must identify core values and principles and ensure that managerial and organizational systems are aligned with these values and principles. These values explained by Covey in principle-centered leadership are built upon the foundation principles of trustworthiness at the personal…

There are racial/ethnic disparities associated with school punishment practices and academic progress. In addition, research suggests that urban schools have stricter school punishment practices and higher grade retention rates. What remains unknown, however, is the relationship between race/ethnicity, school punishment practices, and retention…

There are 339 schools in Texas that are struggling, defined as "improvement required" by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) (txschools.gov, 2018) and received a "F" rating due to low academic performance. This designation is earned through a formula that measures general student achievement, school progress based on a comparison…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of RTI implementation among administrators in rural Texas elementary schools. Qualitative research was needed to provide administrators with a comprehensive understanding of the demands of RTI implementation (Benjamin, 2011). The researcher conducted a qualitative study…

The purpose of this case study was to describe the experiences of rural school district leaders who implemented and have sustained a one-to-one technology program at the secondary level so to provide school districts considering one-to-one implementation knowledge of best practices. This study was a qualitative, bounded case study that used a…

This case study focuses on the diverse discourses Latinx bilingual students bring to class to make sense of power relations in the world. The study implements critical literacy practices such as read-alouds, discussions, writing, and drawing activities that help students critique and disrupt power discourses embedded in texts and visuals. With the…

In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fifth grade economically challenged students' science achievement in the curriculum-based and standardized assessments. A total of 27 treatment students and 20 comparison students from two intermediate schools in a rural district in South Texas in the…

"Math Expressions" is a curriculum for students in prekindergarten through sixth grade that aims to build students' conceptual understanding of mathematics and to develop fluency in mathematical problem solving and computation. The curriculum encourages student learning of mathematics through real-world situations, visual supports such…

In this descriptive and comparative study, we present results highlighting the complexity and scope of the challenges facing rural districts as they navigate the changing demographics of the students and families they serve. Rapid increases in the number and concentration of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in rural areas…

In 1935, as part of a relief project funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA 65-66-7752), the State of Texas undertook a statistical and research study of the Texas Public School situation with particular attention to be paid to the efficiency of the existing organization of administrative units, adequacy of public school plants, and the…

Integrating art into science as a means of involving students in learning about their environment offers the promise of engaging students both cognitively and emotionally. However, few studies have investigated the use of art as a learning and assessment tool in science. As such, we conducted a research study with 4th and 5th grade students at a…