Browsing by Author "Gottlieb, Jessica"
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Item A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of pre-service science teachers trained in low-diversity environments and placed in multicultural student teaching field experiences(2020-08) Haderlie, Ehren F.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Hite, Rebecca; Hunt, Jason L.This phenomenological study focused on the lived experience of seven pre-service science education teachers who were trained in the same educator preparation program, located in a low-diversity community, who were involved in a cross-cultural student teaching field experience. The primary data collection methods were in-depth interviews and weekly reflections. The qualitative data were coded and analyzed in an iterative process according to the research questions. The research resulted in one primary theme and three associated subthemes, which emerged from the experiences shared and described by the participants: 1) the participants changed in their intentionality and self-efficacy with the use of CRT and NOS; 1a) the participants increased intent to act on CRT and NOS principles; 1b) the participants increased in self-awareness of the outcomes and results from applying CRT and NOS; and 1c) the participants increased in self-awareness of influences on their self-efficacy and conceptual understanding of CRT and NOS. These themes were analyzed through the theoretical lenses of multicultural theory, the constructs of the nature of science, and experiential learning theory. The experiences associated with the participants in this study serve as the foundation for the discussion about the changes in intentionality and self-efficacy through a cross-cultural science teaching experience. The theme and subthemes that emerged from this research provided support and additional insight to the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study. Wherein the primary theme revealed a change in the participants’ intentionality and self-efficacy through a cross-cultural field experience, the conclusion that was drawn from this finding was that experiential learning is an important component of educator preparation in that it provides pre-service teachers with the opportunities to develop an awareness of their skills and pedagogical understanding. Prior experiences and training influence the conceptual understanding and levels of self-efficacy of pre-service teachers as they embark on cross-cultural student teaching and other field experiences. Their conceptual understanding of the constructs of the nature of science influence their views and awareness of the role and influence of culture in science learning and, in turn, their intent to act on these. As pre-service teachers engage in cross-cultural field experiences, they develop a self-awareness of the influences of culture on the learning process, the many outcomes and results of addressing or including culture in learning, and the myriad outside influences on their self-efficacy and conceptual understanding of culturally responsive teaching in a science class. Recommendations are offered for pre-service teachers, educator preparation programs, and possible additional research. Given that there are many variables and additional aspects that influence the intentionality and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers, the proposed recommendations should be considered on an individual basis and with associated limitations.Item A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study Measuring the Effects of Implementing the Bayh-Dole in International Contexts(2023-08) Nenow, Adirenne; Wiseman, Alexander; Kirksey, Jacob; Gottlieb, JessicaThis study explores how the implementation of a Bayh-Dole Act in other countries affects trilateral partnerships between higher education institutions, government, and industries. The purpose of this study is to assess whether the policy incentivizes resource sharing for innovation and encourages these trilateral partnerships. The policy was originally implemented in 1980 in the United States and the argument remains whether it increased innovation. Yet, the policy caught attention on the international stage with countries hoping to increase their research and development activities despite the lack of evidence of the policy’s effectiveness. With a specific emphasis on Japan, the Philippines, and South Africa, a sequential exploratory mixed method study using the quantitative method of synthetic control analysis, and a qualitative comparative case study approach through interviews and document analysis, examines how these countries borrowed and adapted the policy to fit within their specific cultural contexts. Data analysis is framed using the Triple Helix theory, which guides the identification of a set of traits from these policies that can be used as a model for other countries to borrow and encourage trilateral partnerships. This study found that the countries of Japan, the Philippines, and South Africa are implementing a technology transfer policy with borrowed elements of the Bayh-Dole Act. As a result, the adapted policies are leveraging each countries’ respective strengths in technology transfer to form beneficial trilateral partnerships that respond to specific needs in the areas of commercialization, spin-off companies, and generating revenue.Item Anticipated Parent Involvement in a Hybrid School: Does Parent Self-Indicated Predicted Time Commitment Relate to Student Achievement?(2023-12) Sanders, Lynn D.; Wiseman, Alexander W.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Stevens, TaraThe variety of educational options in the United States provides families with an important decision to make regarding schooling each year. Private schools, home schooling, public school, online school, and charter schools have traditionally been at the forefront of a school choice discussion. New to this scene is the hybrid school option. Hybrid schools typically combine two or three days on campus in a traditional school setting with the remaining days at home completing teacher-planned assignments. Since parent involvement is such an extensive component in this model, the hybrid school admissions process has the option of including questions related to parent commitment on the new student application. This correlational design research study examines the relationship between parent self-reported commitment to the hybrid model and student achievement through first quarter grades in Math, Reading, and Science at a K-12 private, hybrid school. Three hierarchical regressions were used to examine the self-reported commitment level of 207 applicants utilizing the independent variables of grade level, student gender, parent highest level of education, and date of application in the first model and adding the key variable of the parent self-predicted commitment in the second model. An analysis of the results, including an examination in the differences in R2 values yield statistical significance in Math and Science with no statistical significance in Reading. The surprising findings may be a result of skewed and limited data. Regardless, important policy considerations and future study possibilities can be considered.Item Beyond the Binary: English Learners in Alabama(2023-05) Crain, Deidra; Kirksey, J. Jacob; Wiseman, Alexander; Gottlieb, JessicaAlabama’s educational leaders and policy makers need a more well-rounded view of linguistically diverse students in order to improve language services and support systems. The purpose of this dissertation is to illustrate the enrollment, classification, and achievement patterns of English learners in a large suburban school district in west Alabama between 2016-2021. No research specific to the alignment of Alabama ESL policy, support services, and the current reading needs of Alabama’s ELs exists, and the following three empirical studies address the gap in the literature through quantitative methods aligned to a social justice and equity framework. I used descriptive analysis, fixed effects regression, regression discontinuity, and multiple data sources to describe how EL demographics have changed over time, how reclassification impacts language arts achievement, and how direct instruction in foundational literacy supports growth in reading for middle schoolers with newcomer-like English proficiency. I did so to help policy makers and instructional leaders make informed decisions regarding state and local school system policy, programming, and resource allocation to better support the academic outcomes of ELs, and I connect the policy and leadership concerns to the tenets of social justice. Study 1 used administrative data to examine how EL enrollment and classification patterns have changed between 2016 and 2021 in the large suburban Alabama school district. The results of this descriptive analysis indicated that not only is EL enrollment growing at a faster rate than general population enrollment in the system, but the enrollment patterns by school cluster and community are changing as well. The schools with the highest populations of ELs were maintaining or slowly decreasing in EL enrollment, while schools with historically low EL enrollment were growing in EL numbers. This has serious implications for district leaders to consider regarding the allocation of funding, resources, personnel, and curricular selections, all of which will require policy development and revision at the school system level. Additional considerations are established for state level policy, such as how state per pupil ESL funding allocated via Title III could be optimized for improved programming, if the state department provided recommendations to school systems to make allocations according to local EL enrollment and classification patterns. Study 2 used iReady universal reading screener data and fixed effects regression to explore how supplemental instruction in foundational literacy supports reading growth for ELs in middle grades who have newcomer English proficiency. The study is meaningful to both policy and practice because it established a significant discrepancy in student reading outcomes between students who received only content language integrated learning (CLIL), which is minimally required by the state, and those students who received foundational literacy instruction, not required in Alabama’s ESL programming. In the large suburban school district in west Alabama, middle school ELs with newcomer-like English proficiency who received specialized instruction in foundational literacy, in addition to CLIL, took their regularly scheduled reading screeners. Their reading growth was compared to the growth of ELs with the same English proficiency ranges in other middle grades school settings that were not assigned the specialized foundational literacy instruction. The students who did not receive the supplemental foundational literacy instruction received CLIL in an immersion setting, as minimally required by the state. Study 2 results indicate that students receiving the foundational literacy instruction scored significantly higher and made significantly more growth in reading after a few months of intervention when compared to the students who did not receive the intervention. These results have immediate implications for operational procedures including scheduling, budgeting, and personnel. On a larger scale, if future research continues to support the effectiveness of foundational literacy instruction with secondary ELs, instructional leaders in the school system and policy makers at the state and federal level could reexamine the minimal requirements for CLIL and immersion. Study 3 used student achievement data from the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, regression discontinuity, and fixed effects regression to explore how reclassification impacts language arts achievement for ELs in grades 3-8. Although the results were not statistically significant for either regression discontinuity or fixed effects regression, the lack of difference in the performance of ELs who are still receiving language support services and ELs who recently reclassified but have similar English language proficiency is an interesting starting point for further study. This is especially notable for instructional leaders and policy authors. ELs are reclassified in Alabama before they reach native-like proficiency, so non-significant results produce questions about the alignment between language support services, classroom instruction, standardized assessment, and EL academic outcomes. Alabama’s ESL educational policy and supports services have not evolved at the same pace as the growing needs of local school districts’ ELs. When examined through a lens of social justice and equity, this presents concerns related to leadership, policy, and programming that bear further study and discussion. It particularly applies to newcomers in the secondary setting with no previous schooling and ELs entering United States schools for the first time in secondary grades. This dissertation informs instructional leaders’ understanding of the nuance and complexity belied by the binary EL1 and EL2 classification status used in Alabama, and how students’ holistic academic trajectories better determine the types of language support services that are most appropriate for them, rather than blanket supports determined by binary EL classification alone. The implications of these studies will promote increased alignment between leadership, policy, ESL programming, and language support services.Item Catching Up After COVID-19: Learning Loss Among Texas Students Incorporating the Implementation of House Bill 4545(2023-08) Nichols, Cherise; Wiseman, Alexander W.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Parker, Jasmine D.Accountability for public schools continues to be a much-debated topic in educational policy. House Bill 4545 is a policy in Texas that brings many stipulations to public schools concerning students who are not meeting the state’s accountability standards. One of the standards this bill moved to the forefront of educational policy is accelerated instruction or 30 hours of intervention per subject for a student not meeting the standard for each grade level. This study looks at the application of the 30 hours of intervention through the option of summer school provided to middle school students to increase their math learning. This study uses the difference-in-difference model to determine if 30 hours of summer school tutoring impacts or positively influences the students’ learning. The study’s participants include one Texas school district’s fifth, sixth, and seventh-grade students who took the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) mathematics test in May of 2022 and have moved on to sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The data for the students who participated in summer school were compared to those for those who did not attend summer school. The researcher analyzed each student's academic progress (MAP) testing data before and after treatment. The analysis also examines covariates of student performance, including race, gender, economic disadvantage, attendance, at-risk, special education indicator, and emergent bilingual.Item Changes in advanced educators’ conceptualization of and concerns about global education as a result of participation in formal professional development(2019-08) Myers, Kimberly Beth; Smith, Walter S.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Rice, RichThe purpose of this convergent parallel mixed methods research study was to examine the concerns and perceptions of advanced educators as they participated in formal professional development while mentoring multiple teachers who were institutionalizing Global Collaborative STEM Education (GCSE) across a grade-level or department. Within this study, 15 students within the Texas Tech University's Global PRiSE Doctoral program were examined using the concerns-based adoption model (CBAM) as the framework. This study was a part of a larger, longitudinal study that examined advanced educators as they shifted from mentoring one teacher who was implementing GCSE projects to mentoring multiple teachers across a department as a part of their formal professional development (PD). The research questions focused on the concerns of the advanced educators as they participated in formal PD, the progression that occurred according to the CBAM model, the specific perceptions and descriptions of these concerns, and the relationship between the advanced educators' concerns and explanations of GCSE. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected before and after the advanced educators participated in the formal PD. The CBAM Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and an open-ended survey were used regarding their concerns and descriptions about GCSE. Pre- and post-quantitative data were analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to examine the survey responses. Results showed a significant difference z = 2.31, p < .021, r = 0.60. Additionally, there was some evidence of individual progression from the lower stages on the CBAM to the higher concern stages. Moreover, five themes emerged from the open-ended essays revealing the advanced educator’s perceptions of GCSE. The top two were that GCSE promotes college, career, and life skills, global partnerships and collaboration, or glolaboration. Furthermore, mentoring teachers, support, and PD was a theme that was described as being necessary for the institutionalization of GCSE practices. This study may inform higher education institutions and K–12 schools and districts regarding PD practices for institutionalizing innovative practices. Moreover, this study is important for improving educators’ skills through PD practices and in turn improving the education of students.Item Conceptualizing and investigating student pathways into secondary STEM-CTE concentrations(2021-12) Perry, Anthony M.; Childers, Gina; Kelly, Daniel; Gottlieb, JessicaSTEM-CTE in American high schools constitutes a set of curricula aimed at preparing students for high paying, in demand occupations. Scholars have observed that the number of concentrators in these pathways have grown over time though the demographics of students who enroll continue to skew White, male, and from higher income families. From the federal policy point-of-view, STEM-CTE emerged as a unique construct in in the mid-2010s as K-12 STEM education and CTE policies seem to be intertwined in policy intent. Little is known about the conditions under which this policy window emerge or the motivational factors which influence students to pursue such pathways. This dissertation consists of three manuscripts investigating these issues. The first contains an historical policy analysis applying Kingdon’s policy window framework to investigate how federal K-12 STEM education and CTE policies have changed over time and to explain how the current policy window enables these policy windows to intertwine in 2021. The second manuscript uses data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 to investigate the motivational factors which influence students to concentrate in these pathways through the lens of Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT). The third manuscript builds from the second by administering a new survey instrument, also designed with EVT, to investigate the degree to which technology-related measures are associated with intent to concentrate in a STEM-CTE pathway relative to the math and science items included in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 survey instrument. The results indicate that the STEM-CTE policy window resulted from the need to address existing workforce supply issues framed as a matter of national defense. Issues relevant at the school and classroom level (equitable access and defining the appropriate skills to teach) and not addressed by federal policy. More research is needed to define the variety of curriculum enacted as part of STEM-CTE, and the institutional systems and supports which could address issues beyond the federal policy. While the math and science motivational factors were largely not associated with increased odds of STEM-CTE concentration, additional research should continue to pursue applying EVT to investigate why certain groups of students choose certain CTE pathways.Item Concerns and perceptions of experienced STEM educators before and after continuing professional education on global collaborative STEM education(2019-12) Whittenburg, Kristin; Smith, Walter; Gottlieb, Jessica; Rice, RichEducator continuing professional education (CPE) is an important tool for changing practices in schools. One current area of need for CPE is global education. This study looked at concerns and perceptions of experienced educators before and after a semester-long global education CPE activity. The participants in this study were 18 doctoral students in their first semester of coursework. This study used a convergent mixed methods methodology to investigate educator change. The data collected included Stages of Concern Questionnaires, open-ended statements of concern, and 250-word essays describing participants’ perceptions of Global Collaborative STEM Education (GCSE). Results of this study showed that the participants did experience change in their knowledge about GCSE as well as in their affective stance toward GCSE after completing the GCSE CPE activity. Implications for CPE for experienced STEM educators were generated based on the concerns and perceptions of the participants and how those changed during the study.Item Confronting chaos: How secondary campus principals face novel crisis events(2021-08) Magill, Alexandra; Wiseman, Alexander; Cruz, Joshua; Gottlieb, Jessica; Rorhbach, KennethThe Coronavirus Pandemic drastically altered not only the education systems in Texas and the US, but the reality of society across the world. Public schools continue to be in varying states of distress, and secondary principals are at the front lines of the ever-evolving crisis scenario. The strategies employed by these campus principals during such a novel crisis event, must be studied in order to understand the critical lessons learned during these events and to impact policies relating to the crisis management training of future campus principals. This study uses grounded theory methods to develop a functional theoretical model, describing the key elements to novel crisis management as seen through the lesson’s principals learned while facing this crisis. Initial codes found individual concerns or challenges, such as issues with technology, concerns and fears of the unknown, the benefits or lack of autonomy, issues between secondary and elementary based policies, and the challenges of state level guidance. These codes converged into themes such as, the need to be forward thinking in education, the impact poverty and geographical locations have during a crisis, the critical roles of power and control during a crisis, and the human element to crisis management. The final round of coding and analysis worked to bring together the universal experience of participants through the lens of the complexity theory. Each participant’s circumstances sometimes worked to alleviate the obstacles arising, while sometimes compounding those obstacles increasing stress and frustration. These results facilitate the conclusion that district leaders need to examine the way they train campus leaders, broaden their focus to incorporate more human element-based trainings, and examine the level of autonomy they afford their campus principals. State organizations need to examine their impact on districts during a crisis event when releasing conflicting and ever-changing policy guidance. The Coronavirus Pandemic emphasized the need for these changes, and while this crisis is no long in its initial novel stages, the next novel crisis event may be approaching faster than anticipated. Because of this, district and state leaders should listen and acknowledge the lessons learned by campus principals during the Coronavirus Pandemic, in order to be better prepared and ready for the next novel crisis event.Item Creating Equity in Texas Schools: A Qualitative Exploration of the Texas Equity Toolkit Policy(2022-12) Moreno Juarez, Andrea; de León, Vanessa; Wiseman, Alexander; Valle, Fernando; Gottlieb, JessicaEquity is a core value utilized in education to guide policy development and opportunities for students. While federal and state policy includes provisions and requirements to address educational equity, the problem is that inequities continue to exist in education. This research attempts to address educational equity qualitatively by analyzing the Texas Equity Toolkit policy serving as the intervention to address state-specific equity gaps. The overarching goal of the Texas Equity Toolkit policy is closing the achievement gap between high and low-performing students as well as creating equitable access to effective educators, emphasizing the equity gaps between minority and non-minority students. The purpose of the research is to develop an in-depth description and analysis of how the Texas Equity Toolkit policy addresses the existing equity gaps for economically disadvantaged, Title I students in rural, Region 17 school districts.Item Didactic and clinical nutrition content in dental hygiene programs: Directors’ perspective(2021-12) Onofrietti, Stacy L.; Wiseman, Alexander; Gottlieb, Jessica; Louder, Justin; Gurenlian, JoAnnConcern over inadequacy and implementation processes of nutritional content in dental hygiene education curriculum policy at both a didactic level and clinical level exists. The professional education and development section of the National Dental Hygiene Research Agenda that involves the evaluation of education curricula policy and methods to prepare students to meet community oral health needs could include nutrition knowledge. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine dental hygiene education programs extent and practices of didactic and clinical nutrition curriculum content policy. A qualitative descriptive research design was utilized, and dental hygiene education program directors were recruited through purposive sampling. Interviews were transcribed directly following each interview and data was analyzed simultaneously. The thematic analysis process was a hybrid approach incorporating both the data-driven inductive approach and a template of codes deductive approach. These codes merged into themes such as, the value of nutrition services in a DHEP, the critical roles of power in an institution of education, the capacity building expectations of DHEP clinical and didactic nutrition content, and nutrition curriculum distribution concerns in a DHEP. The last stage of coding and analysis connected the experiences of participants through the lens of Kotter (1996) and Bridges’ (1996) organizational change models. One of the most significant findings of this study was the directors’ intentions with nutrition content and the overwhelming agreeance amongst directors for a future nutrition model standard to guide curriculum content implementation in a uniform manner. The findings of this study revealed power struggles in the directors’ role with policy implications in the implementation of adequate DHEP didactic and clinical nutrition curriculum content. The lack of power as the educational leader of a DHEP in the form of decreased autonomy due to policy implications from the state, institution, and CODA filtered across all interviews. The findings further noted the capacity building expectations needed among DHEPs in areas of faculty and student calibration to create uniformity and establish baselines, as well as creating programs to calibrate consistently. The generalized DHEP director challenges were not astounding as barriers regarding credit limits, program length, and curriculum overload were faced by most participants. To further substantiate these findings from the directors’ perspectives more research must be conducted on a larger scale throughout the U.S. in DHEPs.Item Examining teacher global citizenship through the lens of Bandura’s triadic reciprocity(2020-05) Douglass, Michelle; Hamman, Doug; Coward, Fanni; Gottlieb, JessicaTechnology is creating an increasingly interconnected society, but educators in the U.S. have struggled to find ways to help our citizens become globally competent. Teachers, however, are likely to be key contributors to fostering global citizenship in students, but little is known about how global citizenship influences teaching practices; and even less is known about the origins of teachers’ own global citizenship beliefs. Using Bandura’s concept of triadic reciprocity as a framework, SEMs were constructed that fit the data showing (a) connections between global citizenship beliefs and current teaching practices; and (b) connections among past beliefs, environments, experiences and current global competencies and teaching for global readiness. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.Item Factors that influence the collection, organization, and analysis of data in a small rural district: An explanatory sequential mixed methods study(2023-08) Higginson, Erin; Park, Mihwa; Zimmerman, Aaron; Gottlieb, JessicaThe use of data-driven instruction by teachers has risen in the past two decades with the passing of accountability mandates by the federal government. Data use, or data-driven instruction, has mostly been studied in the context of large, urban schools. Through these studies a series of promoting and hindering factors that influence the implementation of data-driven instruction have been identified; time, leadership, training, data literacy, comfort (self-efficacy), data coach/expert, and a school data culture. There is limited research for data-driven instruction in the context of a small, rural school. The purpose of this research was to examine if the seven factors identified in large, urban school influence the perceived success (from the teacher’s perspective) of their PLC team in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data in the context of a small, rural school district. This study used a mixed methods explanatory sequential design with the follow-up variant to collect data through a quantitative digital survey, teacher interview, district document analysis, observation, document analysis, and follow up focus group with a PLC Team, administrative interview, high school leadership team qualitative survey, and focus group with the 6-8 mathematics team. This study found that the seven influencing factors identified in large, urban school influence small, rural school’s implementation of data-driven instruction, but that influence was compounded and extrapolated by the characteristics of rural schools. Further, it was found that the seven factors are extremely dependent on one another. For example, if there is leadership that provides the needed training, then data literacy, comfort, and school data culture are improved.Item Hispanic students’ postsecondary access and persistence: Closing the gaps from an expectancy-value theory (EVT) and school climate context(2021-05) Eicke, Dustin; García, Hugo; Gottlieb, Jessica; McNaughtan, JonHispanic students continue to make up an increasing percentage of college students in the United States, and this trend is expected to continue. It is important that secondary and postsecondary professionals ensure that this historically marginalized student group does not lag their White peers in terms of postsecondary outcomes. Earning a college degree can have a significant positive impact on a person’s financial success and personal wellness. Furthermore, the benefits of a well-educated workforce are essential to a strong and competitive national economy. Improving postsecondary outcomes for the Hispanic student population may go far in contributing to the wealth and strength of the nation. Hispanic students disproportionately attend secondary schools that experience increased levels of school disorder (i.e., student truancy, delinquency, and victimization), and it is imperative that researchers and education professionals understand the consequences of this reality. The present study is guided by the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) framework to better understand how secondary students’ postsecondary expectations, academic task-valuations, and the associated social costs impact their postsecondary enrollment and persistence. Additionally, this research models any mediating effects these students may face from a negative school climate (i.e., more school disorder) on the EVT constructs. To achieve this, two logistic multi-level structural equation group models (Hispanic and non-Hispanic White student groups) were developed utilizing data from the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The non-Hispanic White student group had more significant EVT constructs associated with both the persistence and enrollment outcomes than their Hispanic peers. Student expectations to achieve postsecondary success exhibited the greatest impact on postsecondary enrollment and persistence for both student groups. Additionally, the effects of a negative school climate were negatively associated with postsecondary enrollment and persistence for the non-Hispanic White student group and for Hispanic student persistence. Implications for practice and future research are presented and discussed.Item How a Coalition Engaged in Enacted Sensemaking During the COVID-19 Pandemic(2023-05) Gonzalez, Amanda; Gottlieb, Jessica; Hite, Rebecca; De Voto, CraigThis dissertation examines how coalition members, individually and collectively, made sense of the outbreak of COVID-19 and describes the events that occurred during the pandemic that influenced their policymaking and implementation process for K-12 public schools. An 8-part conceptual framework was employed to explore how coalition members navigated through the pandemic, their interpretations, and how they made sense of the COVID-19 crisis to create reopening protocols for schools. The coalition was first designed as a policy group to provide recommendations for safely reopening schools in River County, Texas, but quickly transitioned into an advisory group and had no influence on the policy development or implementation process. Findings in this dissertation highlight the challenges the workgroup members experienced while serving on the coalition during the pandemic, which has the potential to provide recommendations on best practices to help other cities and counties be better prepared for a future crisis.Item The Impact of State Supervision Policy on Physical Therapy Student’s Clinical Education: A Comparative Case Study(2023-05) Goodman, Jessica; Wiseman, Alexander W.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Litsey, RyanThe healthcare system in the United States is under stress due to (a) the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to (b) the rapidly aging population in the United States. This strain can be relieved through the education of the next generation of healthcare workers such as nurses, pharmacists, doctors, and physical therapists. Yet, policy in certain states has limited educational opportunities for an expanding workforce of physical therapists. Of these policies, laws surrounding the supervision of students during clinical education limit opportunities and may restrict best educational practices in states such as Arizona, where the number of students practicing clinical educators can supervise is restricted by state statute compared to Colorado, which does not restrict the number of students. This comparative case study provides evidence for changes to these laws. Using two research questions allowed for the examination of the underlying theory of why clinicians take students on clinical rotation. Research question #1 examines the different impacts of state laws on the incidence of adverse events occurring to the public, while research question #2 explored the impact of these policies on the student’s clinical education experience. Based on these questions and explanatory theory, multiple factors were used as markers including input from all clinical education stakeholders. Data to answer research question #1 included evidence from the state board of physical therapy, the institution of higher education housing physical therapy programs, and clinicians. Qualitative results found no difference between states in (1) the incidences of student involvement in state board violations, (2) the need for student insurance (3) the frequency of student involvement in patient injuries per clinician. Student survey data using two primary tools (CTEI and modified CLEI) was used to answer research question #2. Quantitative results found no difference in student rating of the clinical education experience between different “in clinic” supervision ratios. Significantly higher (p = 0.05) student ratings on the CTEI were noted in states with no limit on student supervision, demonstrating a negative impact of supervision ratio on student perception of their clinical education experience. To further explore the underlying theories, this study examined the motivation of clinicians when accepting a student on clinical rotation. Although clinicians did report they gained benefits from taking a student, the capability of the student to improve the clinician’s productivity was rated low amongst clinicians across both states. This suggests motivational factors other than profit/gain are prioritized by clinicians. Data was triangulated using Yin’s (2018) pattern matching finding that neither proposed theory best-explained clinician motivation. State supervision policy had no impact on incidences of public harm. Further, these limits had a negative impact on the student experience. Given this, there is a need to revisit state-restricted supervision ratios in Arizona. Finally, this data provides deeper insight to clinician motivation, suggesting a professional autonomy model for clinician decision-making which should be examined in future studies.Item Investigating the Impact of Professional Development of Global STEM Education on Teacher Self-efficacy and Instructional Practice: A Multiple Case Study(2018-05) Wiggs, Beth A.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Hite, Rebecca; Fraze, StevenThis multiple case study examined three elementary school teachers from a large suburban school district in Texas that engaged in a professional development program centered on global STEM education. The focus was on understanding how learning during professional development for global STEM education impacted teacher’s change in self-efficacy, practice, and also examined factors related to teacher’s perceptions of global STEM education practices. This study explores changes in beliefs, self-efficacy, and practice with global STEM over the course of a four month period. The research was viewed through a conceptual framework adapted from Desimone’s work on professional development. The research design utilized multiple data collection techniques including surveys, interviews, observations, and document analysis. Each of the three single case studies findings were reported separately for an understanding of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and practice, and the findings from these cases were aggregated across the three case studies to answer the research questions. Findings from this study suggest that while two of the teachers changed their beliefs of self-efficacy in STEM and all three implemented STEM practices in the classroom, they did not apply global practices with STEM. This indicated a gap between professional development theory and self-efficacy and practice. An implication of the study’s findings includes a focus on teacher collaboration within grade levels or campus bands to share ideas about global STEM education.Item Mindfulness for Science and Math Special Education Teachers: Perceived Value in Coping with Stress and Burnout(2018-05) Cao, Carol A.; Gottlieb, Jessica; Childs, Kristopher; Rivas, MikeAs education shifts to focus more on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and 21st century skills, special education (SpEd) teachers are facing more challenges in the classroom to meet the needs of students with disabilities and to prepare their students for a global economy. These challenges add to the pressure and stress SpEd teachers encounter in the classroom. When the needs of teachers are not met, stress increases, leading to teacher burnout. Teacher burnout contributes to the high attrition rates and issues with teacher retention in SpEd. Without highly qualified teachers, the needs of students cannot be met. Schools and districts need to look at ways to help teachers cope with the challenges they face in the classroom. Mindfulness-based practices are one viable method to provide teachers with the tools and skills needed to alleviate feelings of burnout. This qualitative research study looked at five science and math special education (SpEd) teachers as they engaged in an eight-week long mindfulness-based practices training program. Data collected explored challenges participants face in science and math SpEd classroom that contribute to teacher burnout. In addition, data collected examined participants’ conceptual understanding of mindfulness and perceived value of a mindfulness-based practices training to address attrition and retention issues within SpEd. To better understand how participants perceived the value of mindfulness-based practices as viable tools and skills to cope with the challenges in the science and math SpEd classroom, to alleviate stress and burnout, and to build social and emotional competence (SEC), pre- and post-training interviews, reflective journals, and classroom observations. Findings suggested that participants developed a more comprehensive understanding of mindfulness and gained mindfulness skills (awareness, attention, autonomy, belonging and competency). These skills translated into the classroom and into participants’ personal lives. Perceived value in mindfulness-based practices related to the classroom included improved relationships with students, better management of student behaviors, improved classroom environment, better stress management, better ability to cope with the dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment), improved understanding of personal and students’ emotions, being less reactive, and connecting more with students. In their personal lives, participants noted that mindfulness-based practices positively affected their relationships with their children and help them stay more in the moment outside of the profession. However, participants expressed challenges with time and consistency with daily practice. Though all participants had overall positive experiences in the mindfulness-based practices training, they also noted the need for more trainings over a longer period of time and the need to start trainings at the beginning of the school year. Thus, it is important to take into consideration the needs of and recommendations from teachers in planning a future mindfulness-based practices training, as a viable means to address challenges in the classroom and teacher burnout.Item Political power and partisanship: The role and influence of political forces in state higher education funding(2022-05) Ward, Bradley; Wiseman, Alexander; Gottlieb, Jessica; Louder, JustinThe realm of higher education exists far beyond the classrooms and halls of academia; higher education operates at the intersection of state politics and government forces. States’ public higher education systems have a symbiotic relationship with politics; for their lifeblood, state appropriations, are dependent on the structure and powers of their respective state legislature. Public higher education institutions are embedded within a larger political environment, and it stands to reasons this environment will strongly influence both budgetary and policy actions in postsecondary education in measurable ways. This study seeks to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of the state political system which impacts the level of state funding support for a public system of higher education. This study specifically focuses on the political attributes and composition of the Oklahoma State Legislature and executive branch to understand what impact, if any, these political forces can explain the trends of state funding for Oklahoma’s public higher education system and what role Republican legislators have on state funding levels for higher education. This analysis provides strong evidence there is a collective significant effect from state-level political predictor variables for Oklahoma public institutions’ state appropriations levels. This study reveals the affect state political forces, from both the executive and legislative branches, have on Oklahoma’s public higher education system.Item Power and Politics: How Policy Networks Influence Climate Change Education in Texas(2023-12) Miller, Jocelyn; Childers, Gina; Hite, Rebecca; Gottlieb, JessicaThe study conducted in Manuscript 1 investigated the relationships and dynamics among key policy, informational, and financial actors regarding their influences on the characterization of climate change in the Texas K-12 science content standards. Previous studies have investigated the impact of ambiguous and exclusionary climate change content in the science curriculum, but few have considered the preponderance of policy networks and their role regarding climate change in science standards. Using the lens of policy network theory, a network ethnographic approach was used to analyze policy documents and video recordings of Texas State Board of Education meetings related to the portrayal of climate change in the Texas science standards. Relational data was collected and used to construct sociograms to visualize and analyze policy network structure and identify critical actors. To that end, the findings are a detailed account of an orchestrated effort led by critical actors in the policy networks to insert fossil fuel propaganda into the science standards by gaining appointments to key positions responsible for writing content standards, posing as climate experts during public testimony, and by providing explicit recommendations for specific student expectations. The findings of this study suggested that surrogate organizations representing the fossil fuel industry (The Texas Energy Council, Texas Natural Gas Foundation, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation) engaged in a systemic campaign with industry-funded elected officials to distort the causes of climate change, censor the effects of fossil fuels, and misrepresent renewable energy sources in Texas science standards. The surrogate organizations directly engaged propagandizing the science standards were commended by Texas regulatory agencies (The Texas Railroad Commission, The Texas Land Commission) and by the Texas Oil and Gas Associations, whose board members include high ranking officials from the nation’s largest oil producers, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, all of whom have previously been cited for promoting climate change misinformation. This study reaffirmed that policy networks are not passive entities but powerful agents, thus contributing to a broader discourse on the role of policy networks in shaping education and calling for more comprehensive and network-informed approaches to education policy research. Manuscript 2 examined how the Texas Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for middle grades supported climate literacy, as defined by the Principles of Climate Literacy (PCL) conceptual framework by the US Global Change Research Program. In 2022, the IPCC released the sixth Assessment Report and found that in the US, vested interests have generated rhetoric and misinformation undermining climate science. Further stating that rhetoric and misinformation have contributed to misperceptions that have delayed climate policy and action. However, studies have found that climate literacy may protect the public against climate change misinformation, finding it to be most effective when acquired during adolescence. Furthermore, studies have found that state-adopted, standards-aligned curricular materials like textbooks are integral to science instruction, with most teachers relying on them as an authoritative source of information. However, there is a lack of research investigating the role of standards-aligned curriculum materials in shaping students' climate literacy. This study employed a deductive content analysis (DCA) to analyze 12 pre-approved textbook samples aligned to the newly adopted science TEKS for 8th-grade science in Texas. Pre-approved samples are a useful resource for assessing curricular content and alignment in Texas. Before the curriculum is approved for adoption, publishers must submit a complete electronic copy of their instructional materials to the Texas Education Agency. All samples must appear and function exactly as the final product. Texas requires all student-facing materials to include at least 50% of the TEKS. Therefore, pre-approved samples provide insight into the student-facing climate change content resulting from the newly adopted science standards. According to the findings of the DCA, most pre-approved TEKS-aligned curricula included content related to the overarching PCL themes. However, the content coverage depth depended on the overlap between the PCL and the TEKS. Content regarding the mechanics of climate, a construct included in the PCL and TEKs, was robust and comprehensive. Conversely, content included in the PCL but not the TEKS, such as the scientific consensus of climate change, the negative impacts of fossil fuels, and the consequences for humans and ecosystems, were superficial if addressed at all, in the curriculum. Additionally, content included in the TEKS but not the PCL, like hurricane formation, also received less coverage in the curriculum. Therefore, this study suggested that science standards more aligned with PCL may be more likely to foster climate literacy. While publishers may provide some mediation for standards lacking climate literacy constructs by including content beyond that included in state standards, they may do so only superficially. Manuscript 3, a policy white paper, described efforts by the fossil fuel industry to undermine the public perception of climate change and influence policy through rhetoric and misinformation. The paper identified the parallels between well-documented climate change misinformation presented in the media through direct advertisements, journalistic 'bothsideism,' organized social media campaigns, and recent attempts to install fossil fuel propaganda into science curricula in Texas by targeting policymakers and teachers. Because climate change misinformation harms students' understanding of climate science and hinders society's progress toward climate action, this study emphasized the critical role of educators and policymakers in addressing issues of climate change misinformation in curricular materials. This manuscript provides a brief overview of the climate change countermovement and the politicization resulting in higher rates of climate change denial among elected conservatives. It also provides specific examples of propagandized climate change educational content developed for children produced through conservative organizations and media with ties to the fossil fuel industry (i.e., Heartland Institute, PragerU, CO2 Coalition). Furthermore, this policy white paper describes the risk and vulnerability of children in Texas, who, through systematic oppression, geography, and policy decisions, are more likely to suffer the effects of climate change. In addition, this paper outlines the orchestrated efforts to censor and deny Texas children access to an education aligned with the scientific consensus regarding the causes and effects of climate change and provides specific examples of fossil fuel propaganda and misinformation promoted during state board of education meetings, that resulted in Texas science standards. Finally, the white paper makes recommendations for action; most paramount is recognizing that the fossil fuel industry, through surrogate organizations, is influencing scientifically naïve policymakers, intentionally distorting science, and censoring public education to mislead children for the economic benefit of fossil fuel companies. Denying children access to information necessary to achieve climate literacy impedes their ability to meaningfully participate in decisions about their environment, increasing their vulnerability to environmental hazards that negatively impact their health, economic standing, and ability to thrive. The denial of meaningful participation in an act of environmental injustice (as defined by the US Department of Environmental Justice) would be an avenue through which policymakers could respond. Through more immediate action, educators and education leaders should carefully consider and scrutinize science curricula to ensure they are not unknowingly placing their students at greater risk and perpetuating anti-science propaganda.