The purpose of this study was to examine certain art education beliefs of teachers and administrators in a large school system. A review of related literature furnished information which gave support to the ideas behind the study and helped in the design of the data-gathering opinionnaire. After being tested in a pilot study, a revised opinionnaire was sent to teachers and administrators in ten elementary schools of a large North Texas district. Analysis of the data revealed areas in which respondents were united in their beliefs, as well as areas of controversy. It was concluded that the district could benefit from using the findings to stimulate increased awareness and communication among those who influence its art program.

The problem was obtaining relevant subject matter pertaining to nondestructive testing and inspection processes used in industry for program planning purposes in the junior colleges of Texas.

This study used a geographic information system (GIS) and an empirical pollutant load model to estimate average annual pollutant loads contained in storm water charges from the City of Carrollton, Texas. The Geographic Resource Analyses Support System (GRASS) was used to create a number of spatial data layers as input variables to a model that estimates loads in Kilograms/Hectare/Year, and Kilogram/Basin/Year. Average annual pollutant loads for twelve pollutants were derived from average annual rainfall/runoff volumes, coupled with Local Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex storm water Event Mean Concentrations.

Poor indoor air quality in schools is associated with diminished learning, health risks to students and staff, and economic costs. This dissertation reports findings from the Texas Elementary School Indoor Air Study (TESIAS). The objective of this investigation is to establish a baseline for indoor environmental parameters. The investigation selected 30 elementary schools from 2 school districts. One school district was located along the Texas/Mexico border in a hot-humid climate region. The other school district was located in central Texas in a mixed-humid climate region. Phase I of the study was a questionnaire completed by 1336 teachers and other school staff. Phase II of the study collected both qualitative and quantitative data in 120 classrooms including continuous monitoring of comfort parameters (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity). Phase III collected more in-depth quantitative data, including fungi and bacteria concentrations, in 12 classrooms. This dissertation investigates potential differences in the study data between school districts and between portable and traditional classrooms. The two major findings of this study concern water leakage from roofs and inadequate ventilation. Roof leaks were the highest reported source of water incursion and correlated with health symptoms. Free-standing small footprint classrooms had fewer roof and wall leaks than traditional classrooms. The simple low pitch roof design and sufficient overhangs typically found on the small footprint buildings studied likely result in less reported roof leaks. The measured carbon dioxide concentrations (both average and peak values) were well in excess of the recommended maximums and fewer than 15% of the classrooms met the recommended maximum concentrations. Relatively higher CO2 concentrations and relative humidity in the border school district were attributed to a greater frequency of blocked outdoor air intakes. Further investigation of novel HVAC systems, such as low velocity displacement ventilation, is needed. Ultimately, this study enables the development of best practices for school design for improved indoor air quality. / text

The position of the school superintendent as the primary school district leader is a position that, historically, has been a symbol of respect and authority in our nation's communities and social structure. The traditional role of the superintendent has evolved over time in response to various expectations, constraints, and a heightened level of responsibility in today's climate of accountability. The areas of governance operations, communication and public relations, and student performance accountability are three areas that have increased in importance due to the changing nature of public expectation. Research suggests that change is an inevitable factor in school district leadership, and the increased expectations that have developed have altered the state of the superintendency. Significant changes in the composition of the American communities have presented new challenges to school leaders. The skill set necessary to be a highly successful school leader has been affected by the changes shaping the modern superintendency. This treatise utilizes case study design to investigate how the role of the superintendent has changed over time. From the analysis of interviews, documents, and interactions, certain themes emerged. This study suggests that the role of the superintendent has changed over time in the areas of (1) governance operations, (2) communication and public relations, and (3) student performance accountability. Additionally, this study will examine how the evolution of the superintendency has affected the skill set necessary to be a highly successful school leader. This study will contribute to the literature in the field of leadership challenges in the modern superintendency as compared to the past. / text

While the entire weakened economy has had serious implications for higher education and the public investment in the mission of community college, the literature reveals a limited amount of research regarding the types, prevalence, and accountability of more sophisticated fundraising efforts in community colleges. Community colleges are seeking to broaden their revenue generating efforts through private fundraising, alumni development, grant writing, legislative relations, and entrepreneurial partnerships similar to traditional four year higher education institutions. This study focuses on assessing and analyzing Texas public community college fundraising, especially the community colleges with the most limited financial resources and greatest student needs. The study participants included 163 presidents and fundraising professionals from the fifty Texas public community colleges, who were invited to participate in an electronic survey with 20 questions. The research also included ten semi-structured telephone interviews, triangulated with publicly-available background information and data. The research answers four questions: 1) What functions are community colleges employing for fundraising?; 2) To what extent do community colleges coordinate all of their fundraising activities?; 3) What fundraising functions or activities are most effective for community colleges?; and 4) In particular, is there a significant relationship between institutional wealth, enrollment, and/or geographic location and amount of dollars raised by the community college? Findings revealed that while small colleges have the highest institutional wealth, large colleges raise the most dollars. While the types and coordination of fundraising functions, and centralized staffing for these efforts, are limited for most Texas public community college respondents, fundraising effectiveness is most often correlated with enrollment and geographical location, board or administrative leadership, and private and grant development. The most significant finding of the study revealed that smaller size and rural location does not directly translate into lower institutional wealth, as measured by amount of dollars raised. Furthermore higher institutional wealth does not guarantee more dollars raised. The implications translate to a greater need for research on community college fundraising and accountability, assessment on equity issues, public investment in community colleges. / text

This dissertation investigates the quality teaching practices of three third grade teachers within the context of high-stakes testing. Chapter 1 introduces my research question and important terms, such as quality teaching, standardized testing and success. Chapter 2 synthesizes relevant literature in the area of quality teaching and standards based accountability. The literature review seeks to highlight the significant attention paid to outcomes based education and, the lack of emphasis given to quality teaching in such contexts. Chapter 3 forwards the specific conceptual framework for this study while detailing the methodology that guided this investigation including data gathering and analysis. Chapters 4 and 5 present the findings from this research. Chapter 4 examines the quality teaching practices demonstrated by these teachers and found in the literature and chapter 5 presents notions of success and the unique ways that each teacher enacted quality teaching practices in his/her classroom. I highlight the specific way each teacher facilitated students' success and discuss the various ways that each teacher conceived of success, both within and outside the context of standardized testing. Chapter 6 draws comparison between the three teachers involved in the study highlighting overarching themes present in the ways they defined and created successful learning environments for students. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of implication for teachers, teacher educators and other stakeholders and, suggestions for future research. / text

The Black Shale Basin of West Texas covers an area in excess of 21,000 square miles and includes the region from Terrell and Pecos Counties eastward to Menard and Kimble Counties. It extends from Real, Edwards, and Val Verde northward beyond Glasscock and Upton Counties. This basin includes such local basins as the "Midland Basin," and "Val Verde Basin," of Frank E. Lewis, the "Sheffield Channel," and the "Kerr Basin." Reasons are given for the belief that the black shale sediments in this basin were derived from rocks south of this area. The shale ranges in age from Bend (lower Pennsylvanian) through Clear Fork (middle Permian). The shale of the Midland Basin has been divided into three distinct zones. Pre-Cretaceous erosion has removed the offlapping Permian shale in the extreme southern portion of the area leaving Pennsylvanian directly beneath the Trinity. The problem of stratigraphy is complicated by gradation and lack of diagnostic fossils. There is a great divergence of opinion as to correlative formational units derived from a study of the well cuttings. / text

Foraminiferal data analysis and lithofacies analysis of a three-well transect through the Middle Eocene Yegua Formation in southeast Texas provide insights into the depositional and paleoenvironmental history of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. Vertical and downdip changes in the lithology of the Yegua Formation in the three wells represents the depositional environments of a delta system that prograded onto the continental shelf, updip from the shelf margin. Two progradational episodes and two marine transgressions of the Yegua delta system occurred within this interval of the Yegua Formation in southeast Texas. Factor analysis of benthic foraminiferal census data reveals five major recurring assemblages of benthic foraminifera. These assemblages, or biofacies, occupied environments ranging from marginal marine to normal marine, middle-to-outer shelf environments. The stratigraphic relationships of the five biofacies show paleoenvironmental complexities that are not readily apparent from the lithofacies analysis. Integration of lithologic data and nonforaminiferal paleontologic data with the foraminiferal data produces a detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Yegua shelf in dip direction. Comparison of the foraminiferal data from the Yegua Formation with modern foraminiferal data from the Gulf of Mexico indicates that several properties of modern foraminiferal assemblages are similar to the foraminiferal assemblages of the Yegua Formation. Generic predominance, species diversity, and planktic to benthic ratios of modem foraminiferal assemblages can be used to help determine the paleoenvironmental significance of the Yegua foraminiferal assemblages. These properties of modern foraminiferal assemblages are not exact analogs for Middle Eocene assemblages and should be applied with caution. / text

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