School principals are tasked with a daunting number of responsibilities, all of which must culminate in increased student achievement. The complexity of these responsibilities have left school leaders overwhelmed, resulting in diminished confidence and potentially substandard job performance. This study addressed the problem that many school…

Objective: This study examines the psychometric strength, including cross-ethnic validity, of two subscales of Muris' Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children: Academic Self-Efficacy (ASE) and Social Self-Efficacy (SSE). Methods: A large ethnically diverse sample of 3,358 early and late adolescents completed surveys including the ASE and SSE.…

Guided by self-determination theory, this study investigated the extent to which factors of teachers' school-work environments predict their self-efficacy and intrinsic value for teaching. Participants were 217 mathematics teachers working in Texas public schools. Results indicated that principals' autonomy support positively predicted teachers'…

The Families of Merit Program was designed as an adult education course that could build individual self-efficacy and parental self-efficacy to effect outcomes that would benefit their child and the school. Building this self-efficacy in a community where those children served are predominately in poverty presents a compounded challenge. The…

This study investigates the relationship between internal teacher profiles and pre-K teacher-child interaction quality in the pre-K classroom. Two questions were addressed: (1) What internal profiles exist for pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers? and (2) Do internal profiles relate to observed structural and process quality in the pre-K classroom?…

Central to the issues of assistive technology utilization and competency is the need to understand how in-service and preservice teachers feel about their knowledge and skill levels. In order to identify teachers of students with visual impairments' perceptions of their mastery of assistive technology devices and services, two studies were…

The purpose of this research was to compare the beliefs and attitudes of teachers using the flipped versus the traditional class model. Survey and interview data were collected from a matched sample of in-service teachers representing both models from a large suburban southeastern Texas school district. The Attitude Towards Technology Scale, the…

The impact of high school counselors' support on Mexican American adolescents' college-going beliefs was examined. We used a quantitative, predictive design to explore predictors of Mexican American adolescents' college-going beliefs. Perceptions of accessibility and expectations from school counselors positively impacted college-going beliefs…

The purpose of this study was to research the gap between teachers and leadership. There is a disconnection in addressing characteristics that are represented by the transformational, transactional, or laissez-faire teacher leaders. This study was focused on teachers and the type of leadership they are more inclined to display (transformational,…

New analytical tools have facilitated the exploration of the trajectories of alcohol use; however, there are a limited number of studies that explore early adolescence. A sample of 5,903 youths followed from sixth through eighth grade was used to (1) examine the trajectories of alcohol use and (2) determine the degree to which common correlates…

The current study examined the impact of high school counselors' support of Latina/o students' career development outcomes. We used a quantitative, predictive design to explore Latina/o students' vocational self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Perceptions of investment, accessibility, positive regard, appraisal, and expectations from school…

Objective: To assess colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) prevalence and psychosocial correlates of CRCS among Latinos in South Texas. Method: Using multivariable analyses, we examined the association of perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, pros and cons, subjective norms, knowledge and fatalism on CRCS among 544 Latinos (50 years and older).…

Leadership has been identified as an essential ingredient of educational reform aiming to ensure that every student gets the education they need to succeed in an era of high accountability. Transformational leadership in the educational context is conceptualized as a process of building commitment to meet the challenges faced by professionals in…

Floating describes the act of staff moving from one unit to another based on the needs of the patients in a hospital. Many staff who float to different units express negative feelings, including anxiety and lack in self-efficacy. However, floating is both an economical and efficient method to use staff across the hospital, especially with current…

This doctoral study examined the relationship between middle school students' reading experiences and behaviors, reader self-perceptions, and reading achievement. This study also explored whether or not the characteristics of middle school readers differ because of gender or ethnicity. Participants attended a rural middle school, grades six…