Increasing the racial and gender diversity of the teacher and school leader workforce in public schools has been the focus of policy efforts in dozens of states. Using administrative longitudinal data for all Texas public schools over a 20-year period, this dissertation consists of three chapters examining the role of relational demography and…

This descriptive study, modeled after Starch and Elliott's (1913b) study in which the researchers asked math teachers to grade a geometry test in an effort to explore grading disparities, similarly tasked high school math teachers with grading a geometry test. In this study, 95 participants scored a test based on their school and personal…

The concept of trauma has garnered interest since the Vietnam War and continues to be a visible topic (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment [CSAT], 2014) in the literature. Research has determined that the prevalence of trauma is widespread and its effects are potentially far-reaching, often outlasting the event for many years (Substance Abuse and…

Bangladesh, located in the Northeastern side of South Asia, is bordered by India to the west, north, and east and shares a small border with Myanmar in the hilly southeastern portion of the country. With an estimated population of roughly 163 million, Bangladesh has the world's eighth largest national population. This population lives in a total…

This study examines patterns and relations between gentrification and urban schooling across U.S. cities using longitudinal data from 2000 to 2014. The first section presents new statistics on the incidence and distribution of gentrification occurring around urban schools in the United States as a whole. Of the roughly 20% of urban schools located…

The increased lifespan of persons with disabilities living into later adulthood and the increased risks and rates of disability associated with the aging of the population have implications for the education and practice of vocational rehabilitation. However, there is a dearth of studies in the vocational rehabilitation literature on the variables…

Disengagement is a concept that captures the gradual behavioral, affective, and cognitive distancing from school, and is thus an early indicator of students being at risk for dropout. Based on a social identity framework, we predicted that higher social identification with the class and a positive classroom climate would be associated with lower…

Most students who begin at a community college do not complete their desired credential. Many former students fail to graduate due to various barriers rather than their academic performance. To encourage previously successful non-completers to re-enroll and eventually graduate, a growing number of community colleges have implemented re-enrollment…

For the United States to regain the top ranking in the world for college degree attainment, Latinos will need to earn 6.2 million degrees by 2030. To reach the Latino degree attainment goal by 2030, the United States can close the degree completion gap by accelerating Latino completion while increasing for all students and scale up programs and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the demographic characteristics of middle school students on their mathematics performance on the STAAR examination. More specifically, this study examined the effect of the variables gender, ethnicity, and at-risk status, separate and collectively, on the four mathematics components…

Students of color in the United States participate in undergraduate honors programs at lower rates than their White counterparts. Prior research suggests that students of color do not participate in honors programs for a variety of reasons. Using critical race theory and community cultural wealth as a conceptual framework, I sought to understand…

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent roughly five percent of U.S. public school students aged 3-21. Current federal policy outlines guidelines for identification of SLDs, while ultimately leaving specific procedures to the determination of state and local education agencies. Research into how the method used in…

Mass media campaigns are an effective population-level intervention for preventing tobacco use. However, little evidence exists for whether these campaigns similarly influence demographic subgroups. This study examined the effects of the truth® campaign to reduce tobacco use among demographic subgroups. We used data from a national, continuous,…

This is the protocol for a Campbell review. The primary objective for this review is summarising the effectiveness of video-based interventions (VBI) in promoting prosocial behaviours in a population of young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The research questions employed to fulfil this objective include: (1) Do VBI improve prosocial…

This paper draws on qualitative interviews conducted with school staff in four multi-ethnic urban public schools in Santiago, Chile, to provide a sociological analysis of common-sense constructs surrounding victimisation. The questions guiding the study were to what extent school staff share similar perspectives toward victimisation (as…