In this study, the topic of K-12 public school online learning is addressed in the context of the pandemic-related circumstances of 2020 and 2021. The study used a qualitative analysis of data sources in the form of one-on-one interviews. The study examined teachers' input regarding factors they believe impacted academic outcomes for students in the online learning environment in 2020-2021. A total of 15 K-12 public school teachers who volunteered to provide instruction in the online learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year participated in a one-on-one semi-structured interview. The questions asked during the interview were organized in sections according to themes that were reviewed in the review of literature and existing research components of this study: professional development, pedagogy, learner engagement, and equity in the K-12 online learning environment. Findings and conclusions from this study offer multiple considerations for future planning and implementation of K-12 public school instruction in the fully online learning environment. Instructors need adequate and advanced preparation and professional development that is intentionally focused on the fully online learning environment. Parents and students need to have an understanding of the expectations of active engagement in the fully online learning environment. Consistent and clear communication about expectations of learners is a predominant factor in ensuring increased student achievement in the K-12 public school fully online learning environment. / Doctor of Education / In this study, the topic of K-12 public school online learning is addressed in the context of the pandemic-related circumstances of 2020 and 2021. The study examined teachers' input regarding factors they believe impacted academic outcomes for students in the online learning environment in 2020-2021. A total of 15 K-12 public school teachers who volunteered to provide instruction in the online learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year participated in a one-on-one interviews. The topics of professional development, pedagogy, learner engagement, and equity in the K-12 online learning environment were addressed by the interview questions. The results of this study offer multiple considerations for future planning and implementation of K-12 public school instruction in the fully online learning environment. Instructors need adequate and advanced preparation and professional development that is intentionally focused on the fully online learning environment. Parents and students need to have an understanding of the expectations of active engagement in the fully online learning environment. Consistent and clear communication about expectations of learners is a predominant factor in ensuring increased student achievement in the K-12 public school fully online learning environment.

M.S.

One of the most important administrative problems in education today is how equitably to finance the school system of a state, since frequently the question of insufficient revenue and disparity between school divisions and states reflects a larger societal problem of commitment to public education. The proposal to restructure, if not refound the present educational system as a quasi~ public marketing entity using educational vouchers now challenges the time- honored common school ideal. This study provides a philosophical rationale for the American common school to aid legislators, jurists, and policymakers in interpreting key terms in the educational provisions of state constitutions. It assumes that the school financing policies of a nation reflect the value choices of a people as well as their priorities in the allocation of resources. The terms selected for analysis: "common," "system," "uniform," and "efficient," are pregnant with meaning in the context of education. Defined etymologically and philosophically, they are "terms of art" because they suggest ethical standards for a common school system. In the process of defining each term, the study examines the intellectual roots of the American common school, an institution its founders believed could unite the nation and ensure the common good. The present movement to privatize public systems, however, reflects a paradigm of laissez-faire individualism that encourages private self interest and a divisive pluralism in contrast with an older, more egalitarian tradition of classical republicanism which has shaped the common school ideal. The phrase "common good," associated with the public interest, is a rubric used to define "common" and other related root terms such as "commonality," "commonwealth," and "virtue." It defines "system" as an aspect of polity and suggests that the terms "efficient" and "uniform" have moral implications for school systems that have a public purpose of effecting a virtuous and enlightened citizenry for the preservation of a republic. This multidisciplinary investigation emphasizes the duty of the state to educate in the republican, civic humanist tradition. It thus serves as a guide to policymakers required to make complex school finance decisions that will ensure equity and equality of educational opportunity for all citizens in every state throughout the commonwealth. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study has been to examine and analyze the salient medical and legal aspects related to the educational placement of children in public schools with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The study attempts to provide information that will serve as a resource to public school personnel who are among the professionals that must make informed decisions on public school attendance policies for children with a lethal, complex, and controversial disease. New developments in medicine and in the courts have crucial implications for existing policies and for the development of new policies related to the issue. By examining precedents and patterns in the emerging area of AIDS litigation and legislation, the study serves as a resource for school officials enabling them to make informed proactive decisions. The methodology used in the study was legal research. Primary and secondary sources of law were utilized. Nonlegal research materials included medical research and data that might serve as evidence in legal disputes concerning the educational placement of children with the HIV infection. In addition to medical evidence related to educational placement issues, the information gathered for the study included an examination of the state antidiscrimination disease laws, state special education laws, state communicable disease laws, and state and selected local policy statements for sixteen states; an analysis of the relevant legal issues of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and an examination of the constitutional issues pertinent to educational placement of children with AIDS. Case law “in point” or “analogous” to the issue was presented. The concluding chapter summarizes the findings from Chapters Two, Three, Four and includes recommendations for decision-making and policy based on the medical and legal information presented. There is no medical evidence to support the exclusion of children from regular school attendance based on the suspicion of or identification of HIV infection. Awareness of sound medical evidence to support educational decision-making provides a means of projecting a solidly grounded policy to the school population and community at large. Health care precautions should be taken and routine procedures established for the removal of blood and/or body fluids in cases of accident or injury. Routine precautions should be followed by all school personnel regardless of whether an HIV-infected individual is present. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the armed-force method of instruction and the civilian method of instruction are similar or different. The five basic steps of instruction emphasized in the armed-force bulletins receive special emphasis in this study. They are as follows: 1. Preparation by the instructor; 2. Presentation; 3. Application; 4. Examination; 5. Discussion and critique. It is with these five basic steps that the writer has endeavored to show the difference or similarity between the educational programs used in the armed forces and in the public schools.

The problem of this study is to make investigation of the reading materials, both basal and supplementary provided for fourth grade pupils in the public schools of Texas for the last twenty years.

The purpose of this study is to present the history of the Alla rural public school, the only privately endowed public school in Texas, in order to show the part that adequate finances have played in its development and service to its community.

The purpose of this study is not only to show the need of a comprehensive physical education program but to submit a proposed plan to fulfill the need and correlating this plan of improvement with the traditional subject-matter type of school curriculum.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem of dropouts or withdrawals among the pupils of the secondary schools of Port Arthur, Texas. It was hoped that some significant information could be compiled as to the reasons why such students in this particular city leave school before high-school graduation, and that academic, environmental, and personal factors might be identified in their relationship to the causation of dropouts or withdrawals.

The purpose of this study is to determine pertinent contents for a bulletin for beginning teachers in the public schools of Port Arthur, Texas. An effort is made to evaluate the findings and to make specific recommendations regarding the contents of such a bulletin.