Texas Digital Library
University of Houston-Clear Lake: UHCL Institutional RepositoryNot a member yet
4292 research outputs found
Sort by
The perceptions of the influence of a 90:10 two way dual language program on the reading achievement of native English-speaking dual language learners in grades K-5
Get PDFThe purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine the perceptions of administrators, dual language teachers, and parents of native English speakers on the reading achievement of native English-speaking students in grades K-5 who are receiving initial reading instruction in Spanish in a 90:10 dual language program. The second language acquisition and cultural capital theories were used to frame the perspectives of the three groups of participants. A purposive sample of the three groups of participants (administrators, dual language teachers, and parents) were interviewed and field notes were collected. A constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Conceptual categories emerged from the analysis of the data and these categories were then sorted into four emergent themes. The four emergent themes were being bilingual provides a rich array of future opportunities both socially and academically, prime importance to remain true to essential components of dual language programs, critical need for data checkpoints both in language and literacy development, and significant importance of ongoing professional learning (PL) for all stakeholders involved. The findings indicated there were similarities among the three groups of participants in regard to their perceptions on the need for native English speakers to be provided with more opportunities for instruction in vocabulary and comprehension
The Relationship Between Teacher Self-Efficacy and Principal Leadership Behaviors
Get PDFMore than 30 years ago, the concept of teacher efficacy, teachers’ confidence and belief in their ability to promote students’ learning (Protheroe, 2008), was first discussed as an imperative in educational outcomes. The impact of school leadership on teacher efficacy was soon discovered as a component to overall teacher effectiveness (Gallante, 2015). While many studies of each factor have been conducted in isolation, few studies have directly examined the relationship between teacher efficacy and principal leadership behaviors (Blase & Blase, 1999). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between principals’ leadership practices and teachers’ efficacy. In this mixed-methods study, 144 teacher participants from schools located in an urban school district responded to a 36-item survey instrument and participated in an interview to measure and assess teacher effectiveness and efficacy, as well as the leadership behaviors of their principals. The survey instrument administered to teachers included the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale—Short Form (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001) combined with the Principal Leadership Questionnaire (Jantzi & Leithwood, 1996). Teacher participants completed this questionnaire to measure their respective principals’ leadership behaviors.
Results revealed a statistically significant relationship between the teachers’ efficacy and principals’ leadership behaviors. These findings offer new insights to teachers, principals and other school leaders. Additionally, those who support principals will also gain new leadership practices to positively impact teacher efficacy.
Quantum Magnetic Collapse In Neutron Star Binary Systems
No full textQuantum magnetic collapse is a phenomenon that corresponds to the collapsing of stars due to the generation of high magnetic field. Such stars are highly magnetized objects (such as neutron stars) where the particle processes take place in the presence of very high external magnetic field B. When the magnetic energy inside the star exceeds the internal energy of electrons and/or positrons fluids it will lead to breaking of hydrostatic equilibrium. In the astrophysical context, this will occur when B corresponding to electron mass (10^13 Gauss). At this energy, there is a collapse of the neutral matter with a magnetic moment since the pressure transverse to the magnetic field vanishes. Typically, we would calculate the magnetization and particle number N of this system using derivatives of the thermodynamic potential Ω with respect to magnetic field and chemical potential, but this can be difficult since Ω diverges. Additionally, for neutron stars, we would like to consider how these quantities may change as electrons are accreted onto the neutron star. We develop a method for calculating the particle number N in the static case, then extend this to the accreting system to calculate the dynamical particle number density with the orientation of using this result for calculating the magnetization as it changes in time