With close to a million Texas students attending rural schools, research on what influences student achievement is needed to guide policy, practice, and further research. Building on research relating student demographic variables and per student spending in rural schools to student achievement, through this dissertation research I used…

The purpose of the study is to examine the parents' perceptions of STEM-oriented public schools. The significance of study is to investigate whether any correlations were present among parental perception and ethnicity, linguistic, and income and educational background of parents. The parents from 13 different STEM-oriented schools in Texas state…

Few studies have considered bilingualism's impact on cognitive development within the sociolinguistic and cultural context of the immigrant communities where bilingualism is commonly practiced. In the United States, many Mexican-origin bilingual youth practice their bilingual skills by "brokering" (i.e. translating/interpreting between…

An estimated 4,350,000 immigrants reside in Texas, comprising 20% of the workforce and wielding a spending power of up to $112.8 billion. Negative sentiment towards migrants has created a hostile environment, despite their substantial socio-economic contributions. Efforts to mitigate this sentiment involve youth education, targeting younger…

Perceived social support and stress have been extensively examined in the literature. However, changes in online technology and changing student demographics have brought the question of whether online social support has the same benefits or effects as offline support among college students. The present study examined the role of social support…

Parents, particularly mothers, of autistic children may be especially vulnerable to the negative effects of COVID-19. The current longitudinal study examined changes in psychological distress (anxiety, depression, stress) and marital functioning of mothers and fathers of autistic children across three time points between April and October 2020,…

This study examines the effect of dual enrollment (DE) on college enrollment and degree completion for less academically prepared students who attended public high schools in Texas. The authors employ a propensity score matching method to reduce selection bias from DE participation and supplement the analysis with a bounds test. The results show…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine if and to what extent students' Cognitive Ability, first-term GPA, and ethnicity predict student graduation status from a CTE college in Texas. Student retention rates continue to be a cause for great concern for higher learning, even more so for CTE institutions.…

In this study, we identified factors influencing completion rates (graduation) of undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We used hierarchical, logistic, and linear regression models to analyze the data and found significant predictor variable interactions across various underrepresented versus…

Public school districts in Texas and policymakers need studies of efficiency in the production of College, Career, and Military Ready graduates to maximize resources in the House Bill 3 funding formula and improve ratings in the Texas public school accountability system. A replication of efficiency studies by Carter (2012) and Thompson (2017), the…

Students who delay immediate postsecondary enrollment may forego individual benefits, or represent misplaced resources for higher education institutions by not persisting once enrolled. Understanding the various pathways of diverse students is especially important in states that are experiencing a major demographic shift. Using a multi-agency…

In an effort to increase college access and success rates, the state of Texas has expanded dual enrollment programs and Early College High Schools (ECHS) that provide students with the opportunity to begin their collegiate careers while still in high school. More recently, these dual enrollment and ECHS programs have tried to broaden inclusion…

There is interest in admission criteria that predict future success in biomedical graduate school programs, but identifying predictors of PhD attainment is inherently complex. In particular, high noncompletion rates of PhD programs have long been recognized as a major crisis. Here, we present a quantitative analysis of the PhD students enrolled in…

The current study examined the heterogeneity in the development of school-based prosocial behavior from Grades 1 to 12 and the role of multiple early childhood antecedents in predicting heterogeneous developmental trajectories of prosocial behavior in a sample of 784 children facing early risks and vulnerabilities (predominantly from low-income…

This non-experimental study examined the relationship between perceived Authentic Leadership of his/her leader and special education educators' Job Satisfaction from the perception of the special education educator. The convenience sample consisted of 188 special education educators in the state of Texas. Participants completed a demographic…