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Educational Accountability and Equity: Superintendent Perspectives
Get PDFEducational equity is understood as the recognition of a school system to ensure resources to safeguard that all students have equitable access, opportunity, and outcomes (Galloway & Ishimaru, 2015). Yet inequity persists in the American educational system. School accountability remains at the forefront of education policy to ensure equitable achievement between students from all backgrounds regardless of race, ethnicity, family income, linguistic background, and ability (Krejsler, 2018; Skrla, 2001). This article reflects a qualitative approach to understanding public school superintendent voices regarding experiences, feelings, and beliefs related to our ongoing era of accountability in a changing social environment.
This study examines the results of interviews of 13 public school superintendents in a large metropolitan area and identifies emergent themes in superintendent thinking as it revolves around school accountability. These themes are couched in larger discussion of educational equity
QUANTIFYING CURRENT SOIL BRINE CONTAMINATION WITHIN THE SMACKOVER OIL FIELD IN ARKANSAS USING MULTISPECTRAL DIGITAL IMAGERY
Get PDFA remote sensing study was performed to quantify current soil brine contamination across the historic Smackover Oil Field in south-central Arkansas, United States. The oil field was established in 1922 and was not subject to the future waste regulations created by the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission. Brine is a waste product of oil manufacturing which contains water with high salt levels. The storage and transport of brine in the oil field created landscape scarring across the study area.
Landsat 9 multispectral digital imagery was utilized to create supervised classification maps based on earthen pits and creek scarring across the Smackover Oil Field. The results from these maps were compared to a previously completed brine contamination study which used Landsat 7 digital imagery to quantify brine contamination from oil production in west Texas.
Upon completion of this brine quantification study, it was determined that the scattered small areas of brine contamination identified as training sites for the supervised classifications of brine and non-brine areas of the Smackover Oil Field could not be quantified using the same classification methods as were used for the west Texas study that utilized larger, more uniform training sites representative of brine contamination. Classifications to quantify brine contamination are scene dependent and for oil fields similar to the Smackover Oil Field, a higher spatial resolution dataset than the 30m Landsat data used would be needed to more precisely quantify brine contamination
The Emerging Scholars Issue: Continuous Learning Through a Personal and Professional Lens
Get PDFThe Emerging Scholars program offers ongoing mentoring, personalized feedback, and opportunities for individual and collaborative scholarly development. Participants are encouraged to present at the Texas-NAME annual conference and publish their research in the Journal of Multicultural Affairs\u27 special issue for Emerging Scholars. The publication process is supportive, beginning with mentorship and discussions on manuscript organization. Peer review involves the mentor, a contributing author, and previous emerging scholars as reviewers, fostering a collaborative environment that promotes learning and idea development. The issue\u27s topics revolve around challenges faced by students of color, exploring issues such as out-of-school suspensions, the impact of COVID-19 on education, Indigenous knowledge, rural education policy, cultural gaps, class start times, and critical race theory in schools. Authors delved into topics of personal interest and experiences that influenced their research, all with the common goal of improving educational equality. The special issue serves as a platform for scholars to grow and collaborate, fostering efforts towards positive change in the academic landscape for every student\u27s benefit
Policy Analysis Report: Later Class Start Time for Adolescents
Get PDFThis policy analysis offers possible solutions to the problem of early school start times across the United States. The average start time in middle and high school campuses is earlier than the recommended start time outlined by medical professionals. This report offers the rationale and research-based evidence to help schools understand the need for later start times, as developmentally appropriate for adolescent students
Quantification of Influential Surface Fuel Parameters in Fire-Prone Ecosystems of the Netherlands
Get PDFChanging climate conditions in northwest Europe present an increasing wildfire risk in the Netherlands. Focus on fuels monitoring in this region is not as extensive as it is in the United States. Accurate estimation of biomass fuel loading is integral to prevention of wildfires which pose a significant risk to both human lives and property. This research project attempted to create predictive models for three major fuel categories (litter/duff, shrub, and downed woody material). Reduction of the number of parameters to measure would streamline the process of fuel load estimation by reducing the number of measurements that need to be taken in the field. The results of this study show that certain parameters contribute more to predicting fuel loads than others in the litter/duff and shrub categories. More parameters need to be collected to determine if a model can be created for the downed woody material category. The findings indicate that the models produced in this study containing these parameters can be used to more quickly and efficiently estimate fuel loading in certain fire-prone communities in the Netherlands. This research can assist land managers in this region in more accurate fuel estimation, therefore creating a more proactive approach to understanding and preventing the risks of destructive wildfire events
PERCEPTION OF ALUMNI OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY
Get PDFUniversity alumni surveys have served various purposes since they were introduced in the 1930s in the United States. The Department of Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) aimed to evaluate alumni perceptions between the Fall of 2010 and the Spring of 2022 to provide an opportunity to examine the relationship between degree fields and occupations and the agriculture curriculum, salaries, and demographic data for college graduates. This study\u27s web-based survey was designed to include closed-ended and open-ended questions to collect individual opinions using Qualtrics Survey Software. The survey materials were made available on the alumni\u27s social media accounts. The samples show the gender representation of this study to be 29.3% male, 69.8% female, and 1.0% other. Furthermore, the result indicated that 42.6% of respondents obtained their desired job before graduation and 15.3% within three months of graduation, and the educational field represented the major employer of respondents. Additionally, the study shows that 49.54% of respondents believe they are currently using their agriculture degree in their current career. The study indicates that the relationships between respondents and professors are the department\u27s greatest strength. Facilities, curriculum and programs, staffing, and advising services need improvement in SFASU\u27s Department of Agriculture. Alumni surveys are extremely valuable to colleges and universities, as alumni play essential roles in shaping and leading their institutions
Technology-Based Training with Social Work Students to Enhance Suicide Risk Assessment Skills During COVID-19
Get PDFThe global COVID-19 pandemic has touched every aspect of human life. It has exacerbated how students continue to learn during a global health crisis. Specifically, training students to address mental health challenges (i.e., suicide assessments) during and post-COVID-19 is of the utmost importance. Previous research shows higher education institutions\u27 responses to adjusting to previous world health crises, yet little is known about social work programs pivoting to technology-based training to educate BSW and MSW students to continue serving vulnerable populations in their field practicum during COVID-19. In this study, using the competencies attainment survey, the researchers at an east coast institution explored the confidence levels of social work students\u27 technology-based training on suicide risk assessments and comfort with using artificial intelligence technology. The results showed a statistically significant increase in students’ reports of increased self-confidence in their skills to conduct suicide risk assessments and self-confidence in the use of technology. The discussion includes implications for social work education
Finding Golden Threads of Commonality: An Interfaith Dialogue Sharing Experiences During Troubled Times
Get PDFThis interfaith dialogue conducted between three educator/scholars offers insights into how they navigated through the troubled times of COVID 19 and the summer of racial uprisings in 2020. The collaborative auto-ethnography presented in this paper helps us gain insights into how people of very different faiths, a Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu, found points of convergence as they openly discussed their challenges during those troubled times in our world
The Emerging Scholars Issue: Insights on Teaching and Leading through Reshaping Policy and Practice
Get PDFThe Emerging Scholars program began at the 2019 Texas-NAME conference with five graduate students, four of which were enrolled in a doctoral program. Students participated in preconference workshops on establishing a research agenda, understanding academia and higher education institutions, and creating a network as an education researcher. Since its inception, the program has continued introducing students to collaborations and publication opportunities through Texas-NAME. This special issue provides doctoral students (some of whom have since graduated) with an opportunity to be single-authors in their scholar. Organized in three distinct sections, readers will be exposed to research and policy briefs and critical reflections that center on the experiences of difference to provide educational access, equity, and opportunity to historically minoritized populations
Out of Left Field? Requiring Expertise to Teach Secondary Science: A Policy Brief
Get PDFTeachers are considered the most influential factor in student learning outcomes (Burroughs et al., 2019; Luft et al., 2015, 2020). Their influence in the modern science classroom affects academic opportunities and the overall scientific literacy of our future society. Nonetheless, high school science teacher shortages exist across the United States, and low standards are the norm for new teachers entering the field. Compounding the problem is the presumption by most states that obtaining the expertise to teach one discipline in science qualifies a teacher to teach any area of science (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2010). Although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires teachers to be highly qualified, the definition of this term includes only state certification and strong content knowledge of each subject taught. Clarifying these requirements is left to each state\u27s interpretation of the mastery of subject matter, resulting in various measurement methods for teacher preparedness (Sheppard et al., 2020) and, subsequently, certification. So, how important is discipline-specific science knowledge for teachers? What role does subject matter expertise play in science teacher certification