Purpose: Examine tobacco use on college campuses by assessing: (1) types of tobacco products used, (2) where they are most commonly used, and (3) the sociodemographic characteristics of students most likely to use on campus. Method: Participants were a convenience sample of 3,575 18- to 25-year-old enrolled in 14 Texas colleges during Spring 2021…

Purpose: Principal demotion is recognized as a signal of principal ineffectiveness and often coincides with other school-level challenges, but little is known about the demoted principals or their school contexts. This study therefore investigates the demography and timing of principal demotion in order to assess whether it is a differential…

Racial/ethnic minoritized youth are underrepresented in autism research. Documented inequities in accessibility to and utilization of autism-specific services highlight the importance of better understanding for whom and under what conditions autism evidence-based practices (EBPs) work. This report examines the race, ethnicity, sex, and gender of…

Utilizing a lottery-based natural experiment, this study assessed the longer-term impact of early colleges on postsecondary degree attainment. It found that early colleges significantly increased the overall degree completion and associate degree completion rates within 10 years of expected high school graduation. While the impact on bachelor's…

In-school suspensions represent one of the most frequently employed components of school exclusionary discipline systems, and they are also largely left up to the discretion of principals. The purpose of this study is to investigate in-school suspension disparities across student racial/ethnic groups, with a focus on differences between school…

This quantitative study examined the comparative factors of academic success between ECHS students (ECHS) and non-ECHS traditional college students, and utilized secondary data from National Student Clearinghouse and an East Texas community college. The enrollment of students in ECHS and non-ECHS traditional college students guided the study. The…

Across the U.S., the number of youths who experience homelessness is increasing. The increase of youth homelessness is growing most rapidly for Black and Hispanic students and is occurring in both small and large states. In Texas, one of the states with the largest population of students experiencing homelessness, its youth homeless population is…

The United States is facing growing teacher shortages that may disproportionately affecting schools serving high proportions of students of color, low-income students, and those in rural or urban areas. Special education teachers (SETs) are particularly in demand. Each year, nearly half of all vacancies are filled with teachers switching from one…

Present-day college students are particularly impacted by the disconcerting effects of COVID-19 because of their vulnerability towards mental health struggles. The current study identified coping strategies used by students in the United States and how those strategies are associated with trauma-related distress. Results showed acceptance,…

The construct of science identity has been gaining attention across various domains in the educational arena. To date, however, no studies have used a person-centered quantitative approach within science identity research that is based upon traditional identity theory. Hence, there is an absence of a theoretical underpinning of the number of…

We draw on rich longitudinal data from one of the largest teacher education programs in Texas to examine the properties of rubric-based observational evaluations of preservice teachers (PSTs) during clinical teaching. Using a variance decomposition approach, we find that little of the variation in observation scores is attributable to actual…

A nonexperimental, quantitative, correlation study was utilized as the research design to explore the relationship between multiple academic and demographic variables on the final clinical assessment score and Health Education Systems, Inc., (HESI) Exit Exam (E2) score from a South Texas ADN program. The research was conducted to address the…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on graduates and dropouts in Texas public secondary schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal graduation and dropout rates, and state attrition rates. In addition to statewide statistics, the report provides historical information about dropout…

As an independent school district, Houston Independent School District (HISD) contracted with four operators of seven External Performance Contract Campuses, or contract campuses. Houston ISD contract campuses receive funding through the district. HISD has implemented a comprehensive performance accountability and compliance monitoring system that…

Student enrollment at community colleges within the U.S. has remained flat or decreased for over a decade (AACC, 2019). Before COVID-19, community colleges had been experiencing a steady decline in enrollment for approximately ten years (Irwin et al., 2021). The purpose was to determine whether demographic, environmental, and academic variables…