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Equine Whole Body Vibration Therapy: An Explanation on Whole Body Vibration on Equine Health and Performance
No full textThe objective of this study is to assess outcomes of varying protocols of whole body vibration (WBV) on equine performance based on improved blood circulation. Two American Quarter Horses (AQHA; Equus caballus; n=2; 1, eleven year-old mare; 1, five year-old gelding), will be subjected to whole body vibration therapy on an EQUIVIBE platform for 3 weeks at the ETAMU Equine Lab (33.1872132, -95.9313238). Times spent on a WBV plate will be 15 minutes, 23.5 minutes and 30 minutes at 30hz. A standard washout period of 72 hours will be in place between each week of treatment (Atalaia et al., 2021). A 48 hour period will be in place between each treatment during the 15 minute trial, 23.5 minute trial, and 30 minute trial. The pulse repetition frequency (PRF) will be measured in centimeters per second (cm/s) via Doppler ultrasonography to record velocity of blood flow of the digital artery of the right distal forelimb. Each horse will take an initial reading of the right distal forelimb to establish the constant at rest before beginning WBV therapy. Doppler ultrasound will measure the velocity of blood flow at various periods: at rest, post day three of 15 min treatment, post day three of 23.5 min treatment, post day three of 30 min treatment. Observation of body condition score (BCS) will be recorded weekly using the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) standard BCS system on a 1-9 scale (1-Emaciated, 9-Obese). Application of WBV therapy for equine athletes has potential impact as a physiological benefit for horses in many disciplines
Leadership and Student Outcomes: How Female Principals in Rural East Texas Navigate Educational Challenges
No full textThe purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how female principals leading rural East Texas schools perceived and used leadership to improve student performance outcomes both academically and nonacademically. Qualitative methodology was used, and data was collected during hour long Zoom interviews with each participant. Transcripts of the interviews were used to code and identify emerging themes. Findings of the study revealed female principals in rural schools adopted collaborative and student-centered leadership approaches, leveraging community engagement and teacher empowerment to drive student success. Gendered expectations are a factor they face requiring them to balance assertiveness with relational leadership styles. The findings in this study will contribute to the growing body of research on educational leadership, offering insights into policy and professional developmental support for female leaders in rural school education
Exploring Effective Methods for Implementing the T-TESS Evaluation System Within a Transformational Leadership Framework: A Quantitative Study
No full textThe Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) is a state-mandated teacher appraisal instrument designed to promote educator growth and instructional improvement. The leadership behaviors of campus administrators may strongly impact the success of T-TESS. In this quantitative, correlational study, the researcher examined whether transformational leadership practices associate with teacher satisfaction, perceptions of evaluator effectiveness, and self-reported performance under T-TESS. The study occurred in a large suburban school district in Texas and employed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) as well as a researcher-developed T-TESS Perception Survey. Participants included teachers who rated their campus leaders’ transformational leadership behaviors and their experiences with T-TESS. The researcher used Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses to examine the relationships between leadership behaviors and T-TESS outcomes. Findings revealed statistically significant positive correlations between transformational leadership, teacher satisfaction with T-TESS, and perceived effectiveness of the system. These results indicate that transformational leadership may enhance the implementation of teacher evaluation systems by fostering trust, collaboration, and instructional growth
Exploring Superintendents’ Perceptions Regarding Practices Used to Recruit and Retain Teachers in East Texas Rural School Districts
No full textRural school districts in East Texas face persistent challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers. This study explores superintendents\u27 perceptions of the strategies used to address these challenges, aiming to provide insight into effective recruitment and retention practices. Grounded in Transformational Leadership Theory, this descriptive qualitative research examines superintendents’ experiences in navigating teacher shortages, fostering organizational culture, and implementing district-level policies to attract and retain educators. A literature review highlights historical and contemporary challenges faced by rural schools, including financial constraints, geographic isolation, and competition with urban districts. Previous studies have focused on teacher attrition and mobility patterns, but limited research has explored the role of superintendents in mitigating these issues. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating leadership strategies unique to the needs of rural school districts. Utilizing a descriptive qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with superintendents from rural districts in East Texas. Participants provided insights into district-led initiatives, including alternative certification programs, local teacher pipelines, financial incentives, and community engagement efforts. Data analysis identified key themes related to recruitment difficulties, policy-driven solutions, and leadership approaches that promote teacher retention. Findings suggest that superintendents play a critical role in shaping district cultures that support teacher satisfaction, professional development, and long-term retention. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on rural education by offering practical strategies for district leaders seeking to stabilize their teaching workforce. By identifying effective practices and leadership approaches, this research informs policymakers, education stakeholders, and future studies on improving teacher recruitment and retention in rural school settings
Campus Actions that Make a Difference with Academic Achievement for Middle School Spanish-Speaking Emergent Bilingual Learners: A Multiple Case Study
No full textThere are now an estimated 4.9 million children in U.S. public schools learning the English language according to the U.S. Department of Education. The National Center for Education Statistics (2020) reported that of those 4.9 million English learners (ELs) in U.S. public schools, 3,749,314 of them identify Spanish as their home language. The state of Texas reports that they had 987,672 ELs whose home language was Spanish enrolled in early childhood education to twelfth grade during the 2019-2020 school year. Across the United States as well as in Texas, an emergent bilingual learner is more likely to drop out of school than any other student group. There is also an achievement gap between the emergent bilingual student group and many other student groups. The purpose of this study was to explore how the academic experience and outcomes of emergent bilingual learners in secondary education can be improved by identifying observable actions in the classroom that potentially impact achievement on STAAR. Two middle schools in a North Texas public school district were studied. This case study was conducted through teacher and administrator survey distribution and by using a
Modeling Multivariate Time Series Dynamics with Differential Equations
No full textTime series data from the domains such as weather forecasting, financial markets and healthcare often involve nonlinear dynamics that are not easily captured by the traditional modeling approaches. While recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and their variants have made their strides in sequential learning, they often fall short when faced with irregular sampling. Differential equations provide a powerful framework for modeling multivariate time series by capturing nonlinear temporal behavior in a continuous-time representation that surpasses traditional discrete-time approaches. In this research, we leverage data-driven differential equation modeling to compactly represent complex time-dependent processes with nonlinear interactions, while naturally handling irregularly sampled data. We discover symbolic partial differential equations from multivariate time series data, yielding interpretable representations of the underlying dynamics using the PDE-FIND algorithm. The coefficients of these learned equations are then extracted as structured features for downstream machine learning models. Three model architectures, an RNN, a Neural Controlled Differential Equation (NCDE) and hypernetwork, are trained on these PDE-derived features and evaluated on diverse real-world datasets (weather measurements, influenza trends, and stock market indices). The hypernetwork model, which dynamically generates its parameters from the PDE coefficients, achieves the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) on forecasts, especially when input variables are highly correlated, indicating that it effectively exploits shared patterns across variables. Meanwhile, NCDE model excels at preserving sharp temporal transitions in the data, owing to its continuous-time formulation of latent dynamics. All continuous-time, differential equation driven models outperform a conventional RNN baseline, underscoring the advantages of this approach over traditional sequence modeling. These results demonstrate that combining symbolic structure from the discovered PDEs with deep neural networks enhances predictive performance, offering a robust framework for forecasting in complex dynamic systems
Deep Learning Based Contactless Fingerprint Identification
No full textBiometric authentication systems, particularly contactless fingerprint methods, offer enhanced security and convenience across various domains like access control, law enforcement, and finance. Despite these advantages, contactless systems face significant challenges related to image quality, finger orientation, and environmental factors. To address this, our paper presents the first extensive deep learning-based study on contactless fingerprint recognition using a large dataset of 2,143 images from 175 individuals. Our proposed approach integrates state-of-the-art preprocessing techniques with deep learning models to boost identification performance. After studying various transfer learning models, we achieved a high accuracy of 93.5%. We also conducted two further studies on inference time and spoofing resistance. To mitigate the prolonged processing time from complex preprocessing, we propose a novel YOLOv8-based architecture that significantly reduces inference duration. For spoofing, the model was tested with fingerprint captures from screens and printed paper, demonstrating a very low accuracy. This proves our model’s robust capability to effectively differentiate between genuine fingers and fake replicas
Resilience Capacities of Principals in High-Needs Schools in the Rio Grande Valley: A Qualitative Descriptive Study
No full textThe challenges of principalship in high-needs schools have been extensively studied. However, less attention has been given to the situational realities within a specific geographic context (Preston & Barnes, 2017). Though leaders demonstrate remarkable resilience qualities, the school context is poorly understood, resulting in many principals quitting or leaving the profession within a short period (Glazzard & Stones, 2024). This qualitative study explores the experiences of 10 principals in high-needs schools within the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) area of deep South Texas, characterizing the context of some of the poorest cities in the nation (Vasquez, 2023). Captured through a qualitative descriptive research design, research was gathered from the in-depth examination of principals’ experiences across diverse high-need schools through one-on-one virtual interviews with principals meeting criteria. Positioned on the retention gaps of different school contexts (Brauckmann et al., 2023; Grant, 2024; Lipke & Manaseri, 2019; Pendola & Fuller, 2018; Pendola & Fuller, 2022), this study investigates resilience in leadership and explores how it can moderate negative impacts on principals’ psychological capital (PsyCap) and well-being (Albuquerque Pai et al., 2024). Major findings reveal that principals in high-need schools confront shocking socioeconomic and student challenges, navigate stressful demands and administrative pressures, and yet persist in purposely fostering a caring school culture. This study describes actionable recommendations for educational policymakers and district leaders to provide targeted support, such as mentoring, mental health resources, and reduced administrative burdens to principals in challenging schools. Leadership programs could incorporate resilience-building skills through coursework on real situations to equip future principals who may lead this type of school. The main purpose of this research is to provide insight for supporting leaders in similar contexts and raise awareness for the capacities that may improve the future retention rates of principals in schools that require continuity in leadership
A Qualitative Study of Educator Perceptions On the Implementation of Restorative Practices
No full textThis research explores how teachers and administrators perceive restorative practices as a substitute for traditional disciplinary approaches in schools. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews, this study investigates educators’ perspectives on the effectiveness, challenges, and influence of restorative practices on school climate, student behavior, and classroom management. The study reveals that although many teachers and administrators recognize the potential of restorative practices to enhance student-teacher relationships and decrease disciplinary incidents, perspectives differ significantly depending on factors such as training, administrative backing, and the overall school culture. Some educators expressed concerns over time constraints and the perceived leniency of restorative approaches, highlighting a need for additional training and resources. The study concludes that stakeholder buy-in, consistent implementation, and strong support from school leadership are essential for the successful adoption of restorative practices. These findings contribute to the growing body of research on restorative justice in schools, emphasizing critical areas for improving professional development and institutional support to foster a more inclusive and positive school environment. Practical implications include embedding restorative practices into daily routines such as advisory periods, integrating conflict-resolution circles into classroom management strategies, and allocating structured time within the school day for relationship-building activities
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No full textA black and white negative of the centennial logo.https://lair.etamu.edu/scua-univ-photos-browse-all/2700/thumbnail.jp