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“‘With God For Us, We Must Be Successful’: Nationalism, Slavery, and Death in the Civil War Letters of Robert Franklin Bunting”
Get PDFRobert Franklin Bunting (b. 1828, d. 1891) was a preeminent Presbyterian minister, church planter, and Confederate chaplain. Before serving as a chaplain, he planted multiple churches in Central Texas. As a chaplain, he wrote numerous letters to various Texas newspapers. This thesis utilizes Bunting’s letters to understand how white southerners understood and interacted with the primary social issues in the Civil War. Specifically, it examines how Bunting understood nationalism, slavery, and death. His perception of these issues flowed from his religious worldview. As such, it highlights his religious interplay with these issues and contributes to furthering our understanding of religion\u27s role in developing the cultural contours of the war
Educator Perceptions of Self-Efficacy and Preparedness to Work in High Poverty Schools
Get PDFThis study examined the perceptions of educators to determine if they felt that they were adequately prepared to teach in a high poverty school setting. The participants, educators from four school districts, completed a survey based on their perceptions of their own level of self-efficacy and preparedness to work in high poverty schools. The analyses indicated that, overall, educators felt well-prepared with limited supporting evidence to work in high poverty schools in the areas of student learning and engagement, which included curriculum and pedagogy, differentiation, and assessment. Findings further indicated a need for professional learning so educators can best support students in the high poverty setting in terms of problem solving when issues arise in the classroom. The implications for practice suggest that educators need support to ensure a high level of preparedness to work in high-poverty schools, as educators need to have a high level of self-efficacy to positively impact student success. Future research could help pinpoint specific areas of need within student learning and engagement to determine how to best develop professional learning opportunities that are purposeful, collaborative, and sustainable. Additional research should be conducted to determine if teachers\u27 levels of self-efficacy and perceptions of preparedness are correlated to leadership style
PETROLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE TO MAFIC MAGNETITE-BEARING VOLCANIC FLOWS AND ASSOCIATED DIKES IN THE KNIGHT RANGE, GRANT COUNTY, NEW MEXICO
No full textThe Knight Range of southwestern Grant County, New Mexico, is made up of a northeast-dipping package of Cretaceous-Tertiary volcanic, volcaniclastic, and sedimentary units. It is located in the Burro Uplift, south of the Tyrone mining district, at the intersection of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field and the southern Basin and Range province. This package of supracrustal rocks unconformably overlies the Mesoproterozoic Burro Mountain Granite, which is intruded by Proterozoic diabase dikes that contain ~12% magnetite. Important to this study are the Tertiary intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks and dikes in this package that are magnetite-bearing. Field work was initiated to investigate significant volumes of previously unreported magnetite in these Tertiary units and to investigate spatial and genetic relationships between the units. New field observations include 1) a previously unmapped dike that cross-cuts the Cretaceous-Tertiary Conglomeratic Sandstone of Knight Canyon and 2) previously unreported magnetite in two mapped units (the JPM Mountain Andesite; the Malpais Latite and Andesite). In these units, magnetite is disseminated and found in a foliated texture in areas of presumed fluid alteration near joints.
Samples of the Proterozoic diabase dikes, the JPB Mountain Andesite, the Malpais Latite, and Andesite, and the Juniper dike were made into polished thin sections for detailed petrographic analysis and powdered and analyzed using a handheld XRF(hXRF) to determine bulk composition. The Proterozoic dikes are mafic to ultramafic basalts that vary from picrobasalt to foidite; they are alkaline and tholeiitic. The JPB Mountain Andesite, the Malpais Latite and Andesite, and the Juniper dike all have intermediate compositions ranging from basaltic trachyandesite to andesite; they are subalkaline and calc-alkaline. Their bulk geochemistry does not imply a genetic relationship between the Proterozoic diabase dikes with the Tertiary units. The andesitic units and the Juniper dike have similar mineralogy, textures, and geochemistry. However, the TAS diagram shows more similarity between the JPB Mountain Andesite and the Juniper whereas the AFM diagram shows more similarity between the Latite and Andesite of Malpais Hill to the Juniper dike. Therefore, a study of the genetic relationship between the JPB Mountain Andesite and/or the Malpais Latite and Andesite to the Juniper dike is inconclusive. While both andesitic units are classified as andesite, the Malpais Latite and Andesite are dominantly basaltic andesite. Due to petrologic and geochemical similarities, these units may share a magma source but tell different stories about the evolution of the magmatic system that produced these Tertiary units and dikes
Virginia Principal Support Program (VAPSP): Cultivating and Supporting School Leaders Case Study
Get PDFPrincipal support programs focused on advising and professional development can have positive impacts for early career principals and the teachers they lead. The mixed-methods case study aims to report on the impacts of a customized support program on early career principals. The case study gives insights on how a university-designed professional development and advising can have favorable impacts on participating individuals and teacher retention within their schools. The case study specifically reports on the participating early career principal retention rates, teacher retention rates within the early career principals’ respective schools, and the benefits of both professional growth and development and one-on-one advising. Early career principals and principal advisors report on their own self-efficacy and leadership mastery of the professional standards for educational leaders
Hit-and-Runs: A Memoir
Get PDFThe vignettes in this collection are memoir essays connected by the theme of hit-and-runs – i.e., random life encounters in which people share bits of themselves and leave subsequent lasting impressions. Resonating with themes of identity and belonging, overcoming obstacles and taking risks, the chronological throughline visits unique locations around the world, and frequently “hits” historical events, while tracing the narrator’s coming-of-age and spiritual journey from the mountains of Appalachia to the streets of Prague and home to Houston, as she “runs” with carnies and psychics, hurricane refugees, lovers, and predators from whom she must escape. Interspersed in these memoirs are lyrics from songs – a soundtrack for life – sharing with the audience an auditory impact of the recollection. Each of these hit-and-runs are true to experience, with changes to names only if needed to respect the privacy of those involved.
Key words: narrative, coming of age, spirituality, creative nonfiction
What Could School Accountability Look Like in a Post-COVID World?
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional school accountability systems, particularly those reliant on standardized testing. This study investigates how three Texas school districts responded to pandemic-related needs and adapted their locally developed Community-Based Accountability Systems (CBAS) to maintain accountability in the absence of standardized test data. Drawing on seven semi-structured interviews with district leaders, the study explores how educational leaders identified and addressed the emerging needs of their communities, such as mental health, technology access, and social-emotional support. The findings demonstrate that districts leveraging CBAS before the pandemic were better positioned to meet these challenges, providing more comprehensive accountability that extended beyond academic outcomes. Further, these districts were able to identify and address the emerging needs of their students and communities through existing accountability frameworks that were not reliant on standardized testing. The study highlights the limitations of test-based accountability systems during the pandemic and underscores the potential for CBAS to serve as a more adaptable and equitable model for school accountability in a post-COVID world. The implications suggest a need for a more balanced approach to accountability, incorporating both academic outcomes and broader measures of student well-being and community engagement
Faculty Perceptions of Academic Coaches in Higher Education
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions and benefits when using academic coaches in their online classrooms. A quantitative descriptive survey research design was used to examine faculty perceptions and benefits experienced when utilizing Instructional Connection’s academic coach model. Data analysis from this research identified that faculty perceive the academic coach model to be a benefit to themselves and to the students supported by academic coaches in the online classroom. Faculty perceived many benefits when using academic coaches in their online course and the following themes emerged from this research: enhanced communication, better support for faculty and students, increased student retention, increased student participation and satisfaction, and time-saving benefits to faculty. The findings from this study imply and substantiate the positive impact of the academic coach model on both faculty and students. Overall, this study provided essential data for improving faculty and student experiences in online classrooms and further research should be conducted to examine academic coach benefits to students
Training Counselors in Clinical Case Formulation: A Proof of Concept of the Thematic Mapping Method
Get PDFCase formulation, or the way in which clinicians synthesize client information and formulate appropriate treatment directions, is a crucial part of counseling and clinical training. Thematic mapping is a transtheoretical, transdiagnostic strategy of case conceptualization that provides a holistic, complex, multicultural formulation of clients. This proof of concept study evaluated the relationship of a training in the thematic mapping method and case conceptualization quality. Supervisors trained six second-year counselors in the method, along with application to clinical cases, during weekly group supervision. Case formulation complexity, evidence of a systematic approach, level of detail, and goodness-of-fit from client data to synthesized conceptualizations were evaluated over the period using the Case Formulation Content Coding Method. Descriptive results suggest all participants exhibited significant improvement in these areas, providing preliminary support for the practical potential of thematic mapping in counselor training
The Importance of Endrew: Analyzing the Influence of A New Legal Precedent in Pennsylvania Due Process Hearing Officer Decisions Before and After COVID-19 Closures
Get PDFIn 2017, a new standard for determining substantive violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established with the ruling for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Recently, the United States Department of Education and State Education Agencies have cited the Endrew decision as being important in defining what constitutes a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, in light of mandated school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite its noted importance, there has been limited analysis into how this new legal precedent has influenced special education due process hearing officer decisions. To address this research gap, the author of this study analyzed special education hearing officer decisions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to establish if relationships of significance could be established between Endrew, hearing officer ruling outcomes, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Findings indicate relationships between the citing of Endrew and these two variables in Pennsylvania based hearing decisions
Empowering Youth through Social Justice: A Mixed Methods Case Study of the Deaf Community Travel Trunk Project
Get PDFAs part of my honors requirement in my d/Deaf Education program, I crafted a Travel Trunk for humane education focusing on the area of social justice. Within that, due to my own personal connections, I elected for my Travel Trunk to center the Deaf Community. Using the book Listen, which details Evelyn Glennie\u27s achievements, the project aimed to instill empathy. Students engaged with Glennie\u27s story through a YouTube video and hands-on percussion activities, including wearing noise-canceling headphones. The research included pre- and post-surveys in an elementary classroom, assessing perceptions of deaf individuals as well as a field observation protocol. Utilizing a QUAL-quant structure, the project underscores education\u27s role in promoting inclusivity, empathy, and social justice, advocating for initiatives like the Travel Trunk for a more just society