Utilizing rich data on nearly 11,000 educators over 17 academic years in a highly diverse context, we examine the career paths of teachers to determine whether and when they transition into the principalship. We utilize a variety of event history analyses, including discrete-time hazard modeling, to determine how an individual's race, gender, and…

As the United States population approaches a minority majority, the need to address educational inequities is intensified, especially for Latin@ students who are among the fastest growing ethnic minority group across the United States and at four-year colleges and universities. Concerns for educational equity also demand broadening participation…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to describe and compare the redemption of a substitute teacher certificate at a college in south Texas that is embedded in an introduction to the teaching profession course. Upon successful completion, the student was required to redeem the certificate by paying a nominal fee through a continuing…

Community colleges provide access, preparation and pathways to the four year institution. Transfer students from community colleges are deeply embedded in the higher education system though many have to face the issues of being academically unprepared, varying expectations of the transfer institution, and the stigma of being a transfer student.…

There is a paucity of research on the digital literacy of graduate-level students. The study examined whether academic discipline, age, gender, race, parental education, international status, GPA, and self-perceived skills is associated with web-use skills among this population. Hargittai and Hsieh's 27-item Web-use Skills Index was used to…

Purpose: Four purposes were present in this journal-ready dissertation. The first purpose was to examine the degree to which the percentage of beginning teachers in traditionally configured elementary, middle, and secondary Texas schools differed as a function of two distinction designations (i.e., Academic Achievement in Reading/English Language…

Work experience can be beneficial to high school students, especially when the work is regular and less than 20 hours/week. Previous studies have found that school-related work experience provides more learning opportunities with fewer negative consequences than jobs unrelated to school. This study analyzed responses of 22,183 seniors from 868…

Educators are under increasing pressure to improve the climate and safety in urban schools. Unfortunately, schools have addressed school safety concerns by increasing exclusionary measures such as suspensions and expulsions. Knowing that exclusionary measures can have detrimental effects, state legislatures have called for more proactive…

Letters of recommendation are commonly used to assess the potential of undergraduate students to be successful undergraduate research assistants/interns or their potential as graduate students. However, there is evidence to suggest that reference letters can include unconscious (or implicit) bias that can affect decisions and limit opportunities…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the degree to which changes had occurred in the ethnic/racial diversity of first-time in college students who were enrolled full-time in Texas community colleges. Specifically, the ethnic/racial diversity changes (i.e., Asian, White, Hispanic, and Black) of first-time in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the differential effects of access to gifted education on the mathematics and science achievement of fourth-grade Black girls. This study utilized mean difference effect sizes to examine the magnitude of differences between groups. By convention, White girls were included as a comparison group. Girls…

Academic performance is a primary predictor of college graduation, yet few studies have examined one of the earliest indicators of academic performance--first-semester grade point average (GPA). Given the considerable public and private investment in ensuring access for underrepresented students, a focus on the role of first-semester GPA for these…

Prior research shows that rural students' education expectations and aspirations, as well as their postsecondary enrollment and persistence rates, tend to be lower than those of nonrural students. However, much of that prior research may not apply to today's students because it uses old data or focuses on individual states or purposive samples.…

This study examined college admission criteria and college readiness in an effort to reduce barriers in college admission. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was administered to a convenience sample of 74 participants among 503 students during their first semester at a two-year college. Scale scores were compared to demographic characteristics,…

Drawing upon the Community College Socio-Ecological Outcomes model, this study is among the first to have addressed the outcomes of nonfirst-generation community college men of color. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences across ethnicities for key factors in two socioecological domains, including noncognitive and campus ethos…