Given that principals stand at the precipice between policy, the student body, and the community, this article examines the relationship between demographic shocks and principal turnover. In observing more than seven thousand schools in Texas over a seventeen-year period, hazard model results demonstrate that short-term demographic changes are…

The entrance into ninth grade is a critical time for urban high school students. A successful transition is needed to ensure that students do not fall behind and graduate on time with their cohort. There was a need to study the perceptions of teachers to better understand specific issues surrounding the transition to high school. The purpose of…

This qualitative dissertation explores how the principal's leadership roles build capacity for change and how chaos theory contributes to this understanding. The roles studied include distributive leadership, moral leadership, social justice leadership, democratic leadership, and instructional leadership. The tenets of chaos theory examined…

Given the importance of math in today's society, it is critical that children who are at risk for math difficulty are identified early. We developed and validated a prekindergarten math subtest (i.e., CIRCLE Progress Monitoring [CPM] Math Subtest). This teacher-completed measure evaluates domains considered important for later math development.…

This study examines the impact of a "natural experiment" that gave students the choice to place into or out of developmental math because of an unintended mistake made by a community college. During self-placement, more students chose to enroll in gateway college- and transfer-level math courses, however, greater proportions of female,…

The purpose of this qualitative, multi-case study was to explore the perceptions of administrators in an urban border district in South Texas. This study gleaned the perceptions of administrators with regard to best practices in early literacy success in underrepresented groups of students, namely English Language Learners (ELLs) in an urban…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify effective teaching strategies used with students with autism to enhance social skill development. With the growing need for teachers to address students with autism, viable strategies are needed to be implemented effectively to ensure social outcome success for students. The Individuals with…

The intention of this paper is to add to existing knowledge of how building-level spending is prioritized toward horizontal and vertical equity during severe economic downturns. Using a sample of all public schools in Texas during the Great Recession, we examine how schools undergoing the greatest spending reductions reallocated their spending on…

The engage2learn approach to educator support provides an in-person and virtual coaching system that builds capacity and engagement in public schools. Engage2learn hired LXD Research to conduct an independent evaluation and analysis of NWEA Math and Reading data collected during the 2021-2022 school year. The goal was to measure how engage2learn…

The effect of the 2008 Recession has reverberated throughout public education in the United States. This paper examines how the gifted education funding in the state of Texas changed following the Great Recession. The framework of a generalized longitudinal mixed effect model was used to explore this topic. Data acquired from the Texas Education…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has defined the past 15 years of public K-12 education. An incentive structure built around adequate yearly progress created an environment that was not aligned with gifted education. Texas, with over 11% of the total identified gifted population in the United States, state funding for gifted, and incentivized…

Word problems require students to read a language-based problem, identify necessary information to answer a prompt, and perform calculation(s) to develop a problem solution. Solving word problems proves particularly challenging for students with mathematics difficulties because skill in reading, interpretation of language, and mathematics is…

Parental involvement is integral to promoting a high quality school environment. A lack of parent involvement is a problem that currently exists in an urban, public elementary school in Texas. This issue is important because once the parents increase their engagement, the home school relationship can be improved. The purpose of this qualitative…

Background: Prior studies suggest that Federal Work-Study (FWS) participation is positively associated with student learning, persistence, and academic achievement at four-year institutions. Limited research, however, has evaluated whether FWS participation improves academic success among students attending community colleges. Purpose and Research…

Part 3 of the Houston Longitudinal Study on the Transition to College and Work (HLS) examined: (1) Supply and demand for labor in the Houston area and Texas, including an examination of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's (THECB) "60×30TX" strategic plan; (2) In-demand occupations and skills in the Houston area; and (3) Early…