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The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of Belizean junior college students who are on or have experienced academic probation at junior colleges in Belize. A qualitative narrative inquiry research design was implemented to carry out this study. To understand the experiences of students who are or have overcome academic probation, the study was guided by Alexander Astin's theory or student involvement as well as Nancy Schlossberg's Transition Theory. The nine participants who were interviewed, were eighteen or older, registered student at one of the eleven junior colleges in Belize, and were either on or had been on academic probation. No research on academic probation in junior colleges in Belize is found in the literature, therefore this study will help fill the gap in the literature by providing a description of the essences of lived experiences related to academic probation in Belize. The study aimed to educate scholars and practitioners about the underlying challenges faced by students on academic probation and detailed the effective use of internal and external resources and strategies by these students to overcome academic probation and successfully complete their studies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Research on the use of culturally relevant texts has shown the great benefits on students who are exposed to these types of texts (Feger, 2006; Ebe, 2010; Ebe, 2012; Delgado, 2021). Focus needs to be placed on the cultural backgrounds and experiences of the students so that they can become successful, and develop cultural competence and student critical consciousness (Ladson-Billings, 1992). To respond to this critical need in education, this qualitative study examined the cultural relevance of government-issued textbooks in Belizean primary schools. Specifically, the researcher analyzed the government-issued textbooks using a modified cultural relevance rubric to determine to what extent the textbooks reflect the cultural backgrounds of young Belizean learners. Additionally, the semiotic relationships between images and texts were examined to determine their impact on the cultural relevance of the three government-issued textbooks. This qualitative research entailed extensive content analysis of textbooks, transcription of a focus group with the Belizean learners and their cumulative academic records that were obtained from their government school in the Orange Walk District. For this study, the researcher conceptualizes the use of culturally relevant texts as an instructional practice that coincides with culturally relevant pedagogy. In this study, culturally relevant textbooks (CRT) refer to textbooks that connect to the student's life experiences (Alanis, 2007). The findings of this research revealed various degrees of cultural relevance when the textbooks were analyzed using the different cultural elements in the modified cultural relevance rubric. The textbooks also revealed the predominant use of the target culture through the use of the English language. Finally, the Language Arts and Science textbooks had predominantly iconic/symbolic illustrations, and the Mathematics textbook had more indexical illustrations. It is critical for all stakeholders to select textbooks that cater to the source culture and to plan and organize the curriculum around the learners' cultural world (Capper, 2022). Future research should focus on how teachers ascertain the cultures of their students and how teachers can ensure that the textbooks and materials they use are culturally relevant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate junior college faculty's attitudes toward student with disabilities and their attitudes regarding accommodations for students with disabilities in Belize. Faculty members from the ten junior colleges of the Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of Belize (ATLIB) were recruited to participate in the study. As a result of the recruitment process, eight faculty members from seven junior colleges volunteered to participate in the study. This study endorsed the theory of planned behavior framework that attitudes influence intention which in turn influence behavior. Using two research questions 1. What are the attitudes of Belizean junior college faculty toward junior college students with disabilities? 2. What are the attitudes of Belizean junior college faculty toward providing accommodations for junior college students with disabilities? Four themes emerged from the data collected using six open ended question used in the focus group interviews 1) Willingness and Commitment 2) Access for Success 3) Lack of Knowledge and 4) Compassion over Comprehension. The findings showed that faculty members in the study had positive attitudes towards junior college students with disabilities and providing accommodations for students with disabilities. The faculty expressed willingness and great compassion towards students with disabilities and providing accommodation. They were prepared to go over and beyond to help these students. Based on the findings the practical implication of this study that stands out the most is the need for more training of faculty in methodologies to facilitate learning of students to teach students effectively and efficiently with disabilities and provide accommodations. This research study was exploratory in the Belizean educational landscape thus, there are many opportunities for future research on the topic of students with disabilities in Belize. Similarly research on specifically attitudes of faculty and administrators toward students with disabilities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Reading Comprehension is one of the key skills that supports the child's overall learning progress. Belize is a developing country striving towards the development of its educational system. The primary purpose of this research study was to determine the effects of reciprocal teaching with multilingual students in Belizean elementary schools. A quasi-experimental pre-post study design was implemented to hypothesize the effect of Reciprocal Teaching in reading comprehension in reading test scores of Standard 3 and Standard 4 Multilingual students after a 10-week intervention. The data was collected using IBM SPSS Statistical Software version 2023. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. Results from the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to answer research 1 and 2 to observe if there was a significant mean difference in multilingual students reading posttest scores between those who received reading instruction through Reciprocal Teaching versus those who did not, controlling for the pretest scores and if there was a significant mean difference in students reading achievement posttest scores between boys' and girls' who engaged in Reciprocal Teaching strategies after controlling for the pretest scores. The research study concluded that Reciprocal Teaching reading intervention had a significant positive effect on students' reading achievement. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are suggested. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative study examined four Belizean primary teachers' multilingual pedagogies in language arts instruction. The research question, what multilingual pedagogies did Belizean primary teachers use in the Language Arts classrooms guides this multiple case study. Using a thematic analysis in the data analysis process results in the development of four themes across the cases. The findings revealed that the teachers used multimodal and translanguaging pedagogies to facilitate multilingual students' meaning-making processes. Through language teaching partnerships, the teachers positioned students as agents of their own learning and others' learning. The teacher enacted these multilingual pedagogies with an ethic of care that includes responsibility for their students' emotional well-being. The study makes recommendations for teachers and educators who chose to use multilingual strategies including incorporating multimodal representations of content in various modes, teachers using their multilingual skills to convey meaning, and fostering peer-teaching among students across multiple languages. The study highlights the importance of using students' full cultural and linguistic resources in language arts teachings for students to experience meaningful growth in their literacy lives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The concept of place is more than where people reside. Places are important in shaping the identity and experiences of people. Exploring the idea of relationships with place creates a context that ignites transformative thoughts and actions. "Place' is formed out of the particular set of social relations which interact at a particular location" (Massey, 2005, p. 168). The purpose of this qualitative case study design was to investigate selected secondary ELA teachers' experiences, pedagogical shift, and envision in implementing place-based writing pedagogy during and after a place-based writing professional development in Toledo District, Belize, Central America. The study's design offered the researcher a detailed description of the data collected from the four cases. The artifacts used to collect the data were pre-survey, an open ended post-survey, observations, poem, short story, three written reflections, and a focus group interview. The data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The study was framed in the critical pedagogy of place theoretical framework and added significantly to the responsive writing practices of cultural education research in Belize. The findings revealed the participants' successfully experienced place-based writing workshop. The data revealed to the extent to which the participants attributed their writing pedagogy shift to the place-based writing workshop. The participants' uptake of place-based writing practices included critical place-based lens, peer-review, and writer's notebook. Finally, the data identified how participants envision implementing place-based writing in their lessons. The participants acknowledged how the place-based writing workshop provided them with knowledge and skills needed to make writing more relevant for their students. Additionally, the participants were immersed in a variety of learning strategies that supported their writing knowledge. These findings confirmed the importance of a place-based writing workshop and the need to provide a professional development that is content specific for ELA teachers in Belize. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative phenomenological inquiry aimed to explore the experiential dimensions of first-year, first-semester college students' perceptions of their college readiness from high school to a junior college in Belize. Employing Leedy and Ormrod's (2016) methodology for data analysis, the researcher engaged a purposeful sample of 30 first-year, first-semester college students through in-person interviews using semi-structured interview protocols. The study was guided by the sociocultural theory. The analysis revealed six prominent themes: (a) Academic Rigor, (b) Belonging, (c) Preparedness, (d) Social Support Networks, (e) Educational Infrastructure and Assistance, and (f) Academic Guidance and Empathy. The identified themes contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the sociocultural and environmental challenges faced by first-year, first-semester students. The study found first-year students were not fully college-ready and required more academic, social, and emotional support for a successful transition. Adapting to collegiate-level coursework, developing effective time management and study skills, navigating social environments and networks, and coping with emotional transitions were common challenges for the students. The main conclusions were transitioning from high school to college poses significant challenges for first-year, first-semester students, including academic, social, emotional, and cultural adjustments. Sociocultural factors, particularly familial background, peer influence, and institutional support, significantly impact students' readiness for college and their overall academic outcomes. Several key recommendations were proposed, including networking of high school and junior college, implementation of a comprehensive orientation programs covering academic expectations, study skills, and social integration; creating inclusive spaces; offering culturally sensitive counseling services; and establishing mentorship programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study aimed to investigate Belizean high school principals' leadership practices through the lens of the Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) framework. This study's results inform of the CRSL practices Belizean high school principals use in their diverse school settings across the country of Belize. The results also compared principals' practices by location, gender, and types of schools (funding sources). A survey research design was used in this quantitative study and conducted on the Belizean high school principals' population. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What practices of the culturally responsive school leadership framework do Belizean high school principals currently employ? (2) Is there a significant difference between urban and rural Belizean high school principals' leadership practices regarding CRSL components? (3) Is there a significant difference between Belizean high school male and female principals' leadership practices regarding CRSL framework components? (4) Is there a significant difference between government, government-aided community, government-aided denominational, and private Belizean high school principals' leadership practices regarding CRSL framework components? Results indicated that Belizean high school principals employ leadership practices according to the CRSL framework. The principals' leadership practices were similar despite their location, gender, and funding sources. Recommendations for future studies and implications for practice were provided. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This sequential explanatory mixed method study addressed the effect of technology-facilitated Language Experience Approach on students' language arts scores and reading attitudes of standard I students in Belize City. There were three intervention and three control schools that participated in the study. The study's first phase was a 10-week quasi-experiment in which pretest and post-test data were collected using the Belize Diagnostic Achievement Test and the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey. The second phase was informal interviews with eight participants on their experience of learning the language with the instructional approach. The quantitative data were analyzed by conducting Mixed ANOVA and Factorial ANOVA, while the qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Both results were integrated on a joint display to obtain an explanation for the quantitative data. The results revealed no statistically significant differences, but students perceived that they were learning the language. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This sequential mixed-methods study aimed to understand Belizean primary school principals' level of self-efficacy as a crucial component in their abilities to lead schools toward education recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In phase one, the researcher used the total population sampling method and emailed surveys to Belizean primary school principals. The research purposefully selected and conducted semi-structured interviews with eight Belizean primary school principals in phase two. The results from the qualitative data supported the results from the quantitative data. The findings indicate that with more support, Belizean primary school principals will be better equipped to lead their schools toward education recovery. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

For the last three decades, the remarkable practice of inclusive education has been supported and carried out in many countries across the world. Belize however, continues to face many challenges in implementing inclusive education, making the process very slow in its development. The aim of this qualitative systematic review was to determine the attitudes held by Belizean primary school teachers towards inclusive education in general education classrooms. The study utilised the PRISMA guidelines for conducting systematic reviews, document and thematic analysis as the research methods for collecting and analysing empirical data relating to Belizean primary school teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education. A total of four documents were included in this review. According to the study's findings, primary school teachers in Belize have varying attitudes towards the inclusive education of children with special needs. Such results provide many implications for further development in inclusive practices in the country. However, a few teachers indicated negative or neutral attitudes towards the process. The latter attitudes were influenced by various factors related to the student, teacher and educational environment. The findings also indicate chief challenges that hinder the implementation of quality inclusive education such as the lack of knowledge by the teachers, the lack of educational resources and the lack of parental involvement in the children's education. The author concludes that primary school teachers in Belize have varying attitudes towards including students with special needs into their classrooms. There is still much more work to be done in improving the attitudes of some teachers and creating more effective inclusive educational environments.

Teachers in rural areas need equitable access to professional development to develop their instructional capacities and efficacy. Moreover, the teachers in this district work in rural schools with little access to professional development and resources. Teachers for a Better Belize (TFABB) is a non-profit organization that provides free face-to-face professional development for the teachers in this region. Even with volunteers visiting throughout the year, teachers in this region need more support with content and pedagogy. This study aims to discover if an intervention of follow-up online professional development added to face-to-face professional development will help to develop teachers' capacities and efficacy. This study will utilize qualitative methods through the use of surveys, interviews, discussions and observations. TFABB volunteers will gain insight into whether this follow-up online professional development lives its mission as an organization and decide if it should be added to future work. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Presently, the highest degree a person interested in teaching at the early childhood level in Belize is the Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education. The purpose of this project was to design a program of undergraduate coursework in the area of teacher preparation that will meet university qualifications for a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Program. Since the ultimate goal of this project was to develop an instructional product, the author used the instructional design research method as a form of qualitative research. The researcher began by finding the related literature through an extensive database research followed by a needs assessment. Twelve subjects participated in the needs assessment process done through interviews and focus groups. The participants included members from the Belizean Ministry of Education, Youths, Sports and Culture; and the administration team, and second year early childhood education students from a local junior college. The purpose of the needs assessment was to examine the expectations these stakeholders have for a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. The participants provided information that was later included in the design of the program of study. The result of this project is a program of study that offers a coursework sequence not only for the Bachelor's Program, but also for the Associate's Program. It also provides the course descriptions, rationales, course goals and course objectives of all the coursework. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study examined the effects of a dynamic geometry software (DGS) program, GeoGebra, on student engagement and student achievement on students in four geometry classes at a secondary school in Belize. Two teachers and 139 students in ninth grade were part of this study for three weeks during a geometry unit. There was a control group that was not exposed to any technology during their mathematics lessons, while the experimental group used technology as part of the instructional design. A mixed methods approach was used, where student engagement was measured using a Student Engagement Scale, while student achievement was evaluated using a pre-test and post-test, along with the students' semester mathematics grades. A between-groups analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used in this study. The two teachers were interviewed and each of the four classes was observed four times during the three-week lesson, which formed part of the qualitative data. Results indicated that students who used the mathematics software program were highly engaged. When comparing the pre-test and post-test scores, the results were not statistically significant to draw any conclusions on the impact on student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

A cross-age peer tutoring program was implemented in a small rural school in west central Belize, Central America. All students at the school were native Spanish speakers, and all general instruction was conducted in English. The program was devised to supplement existing reading and language arts instruction at all grade levels. Progress of both tutors and tutees was monitored on a weekly basis using DIBELS Next measures. Twenty-nine students started the program, with complete data available for twenty-one students: seven tutee-tutor pairs, and seven matched students who participated as controls. Three main hypotheses were tested with the present study. These hypotheses investigated the following criteria for effectiveness of this program: (a) statistically significant (reliable) results for students within tutoring pairs, (b) socially relevant changes (e.g., perceptions of improvement), and (c) maintenance of skills or transfer of skills. Progress monitoring results were mixed, but socially relevant outcomes were found for tutee progress on benchmark assessments. A survey of teachers at the school highlighted increased interest and motivation for reading and class participation attributed to the program. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As the world becomes globalized by the influence of science and technology, academic institutions in Central America must provide international academic and research opportunities that are conductive to multicultural learning for students, faculty, and staff. Public and private universities in Central America are attempting to increase awareness about their international leadership, study abroad programs, and cooperative agreements to compete in the global market of higher education. As a result, undergraduate students in the region are currently participating in global experiential learning programs under the guidance of faculty mentors. Students experience unique teaching methods, conduct scientific research projects, practice a different language, and enhance their understanding about other cultures. The purpose of this research study was to develop a profile of university administrators in Central America based on professional and personal characteristics, perceptions, and experiences working with international programs. A second purpose was to describe the diversity of international leadership, study abroad programs, and cooperative agreements available for undergraduate students in Central American. Specifically, this research explores the academic background of university administrators and their leadership role establishing study abroad programs and cooperative agreements with academic institutions worldwide. A descriptive electronic survey method was used in this research study to collect data from a group of executive university administrators working with international programs in Central America during 2011. The administrators could choose the English or Spanish language versions of the survey. From a total of 885 administrators contacted, 32% of the executive administrators completed and submitted the electronic survey. The study comprised a group of university administrators working in the countries of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Results of this study indicate that executive administrators have graduate degrees, academic experience, and language abilities to establish exceptional study abroad programs and cooperative agreements with institutions worldwide. Based on the results of this study, the most common forms of study abroad programs established by administrators were designed to provide students with academic experiences, internship opportunities, research experiences, and foreign language skills. Furthermore, executive administrators helped in establishing international cooperative agreements to improve the quality of education in science and technology programs. They also signed unique agreements to provide undergraduate students with academic scholarships. Overall, the executive administrators emphasized their interest in establishing modern study abroad programs with universities in the United States and in expanding the number of cooperative agreements with European countries. This research study serves as a resource for universities worldwide because it provides information about the diversity of international academic initiatives and professional leadership available at Latin American universities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative research study used a collective case study design to explore quality assurance practices and perceptions within Belize's higher education institutions. Despite the passage of the National Accreditation Council of Belize Act (NACB Act) in 2004, the Council was never established and there remains, to date, no formal external quality assurance system in Belize. This study provides useful information for those policymakers and institutional leaders contemplating a way forward. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 academic leaders, including 2 presidents, 1 provost, 13 deans, and 1 quality assurance officer, drawn from 10 of the 12 existing local higher education institutions in the country. On-site visits were made to each institution and relevant documents were collected and analyzed. Data collection and analysis focused on concepts of quality, internal quality assurance strategies, perceptions on external quality assurance, and implications for the NACB Act. The findings revealed that institutions and academic leaders conceptualize quality in both traditional (excellence) and contemporary terms (fitness-for-purpose and transformation). Structures and systems for internal quality assurance were found to be lacking; however, some promising practices were also noted. Participants agreed that there is a need for an external quality assurance system, particularly to set minimum standards and control entry into the sector. They described their preference for a locally-based system that is funded primarily by the government, but fully autonomous in its operations. This vision, however, is not in perfect alignment with either the system called for in the NACB Act or the sector's political, social, and economic contexts. The study concludes by recommending a full review of the NACB Act, development of a conceptual framework and comprehensive strategy for quality assurance, and improvements to the internal quality assurance structures and processes within institutions. Recommendations for future research include qualitative and quantitative studies with other groups of stakeholders and with other categories of institutions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and Method of Study: This quantitative study investigated the impact of professional development on Belizean teachers' knowledge of literacy content needed to effectively develop early literacy skills of primary school children between the ages of five to eight. The specific focus of the research was to survey teachers' knowledge level before and after their experience with two different approaches to professional development. Teachers' pretest and posttest scores were compared to determine if there were significant differences in teachers' performance after their exposure to the two different approaches to professional development employed in this study. Findings and Conclusions: The study revealed that there was an overall significant difference in teachers' knowledge of literacy content after the intervention. Both phases of training indicated significant differences in teachers' performance scores. Socio-cultural and situated learning theories provided the framework that guided the design and supported the explanation of factors that contributed to teachers' learning during their experience with the professional development activities. The mean score for writing was the lowest for the three areas of knowledge surveyed--decoding/fluency, vocabulary/comprehension and writing. Teachers' years of experience and qualification did not influence the results. Recommendations: Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that professional development programs in Belize be extended over a period of time to incorporate school context and to ensure continuity and sustainability of new programs and ideas. It is also recommended that professional development programs be designed to focus on specific areas of the curriculum. The evaluation of these sessions should be linked to teachers' learning in the specific content area as a first step. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and Method of Study: This quantitative, non-experimental study sought to determine if a statistically significant difference existed in student achievement on the PSE exam in Belizean primary schools for students who have teachers with varying levels of self-efficacy (high, medium and low). The Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES), which captures the multiple teaching tasks expected as students prepare for the Primary School Exam (PSE): engagement, instruction and management, was used to survey 51 Belizean primary teachers. The design was causal comparative and ANOVA was used to compare the means of the variables and determine the cause for existing differences. Findings and Conclusions: Findings revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in student achievement on the PSE exam in Belizean primary schools for students who have teachers with varying levels of self-efficacy. This study implies that all Belizean educators should have high self-efficacy as these are the teachers who generally persevere longer in their efforts to motivate students to achieve academic success despite the numerous obstacles that threaten such as little parental involvement and poverty. Recommendations: Policy makers should design and implement strong programs that foster and or maintain a high sense of self-efficacy focusing on engagement, instruction and management. All stakeholders in education should assist in monitoring and supporting educators. Educators must make a conscious effort to regulate their actions as self-efficacy cannot be imitated. This study shows that there is evidence to support the theory that students with teachers who have a high level of self-efficacy are more likely to achieve academic success. Belizean educators need to appreciate their roles in our schools and recommit themselves to taking the educational level up another notch. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Inclusive education continues to be a reoccurring challenge as various factors affect to what extent teachers or educators are willing to educate children with disabilities in the regular education setting alongside their non-disabled peers. This quantitative study examined factors influencing Belize District Primary School teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education. The study also sought to determine the effect of specific variables on the attitudes of teachers in the Belize District. The study measured 661 registered Belize District primary school teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education using a 38 item attitudinal survey. The study found that Belize District primary school teachers have varying attitudes toward inclusion. The more serious the disability, particularly those such as Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Bifida, Musculoskeletal Conditions, Serious Emotional among other disabilities, the more negative the attitudes toward inclusive education. The findings suggest there are no differences in Belize District teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education as related to experience of contact, gender, ethnicity, age and educational qualification. The study also found no differences between teachers' attitudes and school demographics, namely school location, school management and school size. However, there were differences in teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and student with disabilities population (SWD population). Belize District primary school teachers are ardent toward students with disabilities; however, the challenges persist as students with disabilities continue to face marginalization in general education and until there is a mandated attitude change, students with disabilities will continue to be absent from 21st Century education and beyond in Belize. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this qualitative study was to use grid and group theory to investigate and explain the contextual meaning and manifestation of Emotional Intelligence (EI) among faculty members in two Belizean Primary Schools. Purposive Sampling was used to select five faculty members from each of the two schools to participate in the study. Multiple methods, interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts were used to collect data from within the school context. Data were analyzed, coded, and examined carefully for emerging themes. The grid and group theoretical framework provided the lens needed for examination of the emotional intelligence domains and competencies and how it was manifested and explained within the two school environments. Findings and Conclusions: Analysis of the grid and group questionnaire indicated that the two schools had different cultures. One school had a high-grid/high-group corporate culture while the other had a low-grid/high-group collectivist culture. Further analysis and triangulation of data from the multiple sources revealed that participants from both schools were not acquainted with the term EI nor were they trained to use the concept at work. However, the data indicated that participants were aware of the importance and utility of harnessing unproductive emotions at work. They were able to explain the pivotal role emotions play in understanding their own and others' emotions during work and social interactions. When placed within the grid and group cultural prototypes of corporate and collectivist culture, the manifestation of EI was more marked within the corporate school culture than in the collectivist culture. Manifestation of EI domains and competencies within the corporate school culture was evident in teamwork and collaboration, commitment to work, positive communication, good working relationship and partnership with one another and the community. In the collectivist culture, there were similar evidence and manifestation of key EI domains and competencies as in the corporate school culture but to a lesser extent. Evidently, a corporate school culture provided a more conducive environment for the integration and promotion of EI than in a collectivist culture. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The Ministry of Education has the largest portion of the national budget of 21% in Belize. Related studies in the region and around the world reveals that rural schools are not provided with highly qualified teachers. Likewise, multi-grade schools in the region and in Belize repeatedly perform lower on the Primary School Examination than their counterparts in mono-grade schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether or not there is a significant difference in school location, school type, teacher certification, and teacher experience. In addition, seek to examine if there exist a relationship among content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge and PSE scores. The results indicated that there are significant differences between students' achievement and school location and school type. There is no statistical difference with students' achievement and teacher certification and teacher experience. In addition, there is no relationship with student achievement and teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and method of study. This quantitative survey study examined teachers' understanding of assessment, their practices in assessing student learning and their use of assessment data to guide their teaching. Specifically, this study sought to determine if level of training had an impact on teachers' understanding of assessment, teachers' practices in assessing student learning, or teachers' use of assessment data to guide their teaching. The overarching research focus was to find out whether teachers with more training had a greater and more positive understanding of assessment, whether they assessed their students more frequently and appropriately and whether they reported more frequent use of assessment data in guiding their teaching than those teachers with less training. Findings and conclusions. The results of this study showed a significant difference in understanding between teachers who had an associate's degree in primary education and teachers who had no training. Data driven decision making provided the framework to explain the teachers' assessment practices and use of student assessment data. Among the key finding of this study was that differences were not found in teachers' practices for assessing students' learning nor use of assessment data to guide teaching regardless of the teachers' level of training, gender, age or teaching experience. The mean understanding score for the entire group fell in the range of good understanding of assessment. The group with an associate's degree reported the highest mean score for all three areas (understanding, practice and use) compared with all the other groups. The highest qualified groups who had master's degrees in education or bachelor's degrees in primary education, had the highest mean scores for all three areas (understanding, practice and use) indicating that they had the least understanding of assessment, had the least positive assessment practices, and the least effective use of assessment data. Recommendations. It is recommended that an associate's degree in primary education be the minimum requirement for entry in the teaching profession. Professional development sessions should be conducted for teaching staff to enhance their assessment skills and their knowledge of assessment, and for enhancing their assessment practices and use of data to guide their teaching. Students should be involved in the formative assessment process as their input is critical for increasing academic achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Students encounter many issues that influence their persistence in college; some they come with, others they encounter while enrolled. Factors influencing students' success in college have taken on much interest in recent years. Students' persistence studies have been increasing; however, there is much to be learned about factors influencing college persistence in Belizean junior colleges. No research has been done in the area of student persistence in Belize. Since information in this area is limited, the focus of this research is to investigate whether pre-matriculation and college experience affect student persistence. The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto research is to find out which factors; student characteristics, precollege factors, financial aid, and college experience, affect student persistence at Stann Creek Ecumenical Junior College. This design was employed to answer the four research questions. The target population consisted of first time, full-time, degree seeking freshmen at Ecumenical Junior College for the school year 2010 to 2011. After obtaining IRB approval, pre-existing data were collected for a total of 148 first year students. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19. Descriptive (frequencies, means, standard deviations, cross-tabulations) and inferential statistics (linear regression analyses) were utilized to answer the research questions. The three factors found to be predictor of persistence were age, high school GPA, and first semester college GPA; first semester college GPA being the best predictor. Implications derived from study include the need for institutional practitioners and policy makers to focus on strategies to improve educational opportunities to the diverse groups of students who attend community colleges in Belize. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Scope and Method of Study. The purpose of the evaluation study was to determine the effectiveness of the Belize Primary School Teacher Induction Program through the perceptions of three participant groups; newly qualified teachers, their mentors, and their principals. Evaluation methods were used, including a researcher developed survey. Findings and Conclusions. The findings indicated the induction training program was widely accepted as an effective program by its stakeholders. Teachers reported the program assisted in preparing teachers for classroom teaching. The evaluation identified the mentorship component as one of the weaknesses of the program. By developing a mentorship workshop, mentors will gain the skills and knowledge needed to better support the newly qualified teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The dissertation explores the relationship between international education to transformational learning and environmental sustainability. Part one of the dissertation addresses a need for wisdom in higher education, while exploring the relationship of globalization. A theoretical foundation is established by reviewing current theorists in sustainability education and transformational learning to present and analyze general themes associated with student learning. In doing so, the dissertation addresses a term I call "environmental nihilism," which is an alienation associated with those living in an urbanized consumer-driven society. A central concept of educational sustainability is to overcome environmental nihilism by providing students with an existential awareness of nature. This can be achieved by introducing active learning into course curriculum. One particular way of achieving this is by providing international study abroad programs, which directly immerse students into nature and less environmentally nihilistic cultures by means of experiential learning. Part two of the dissertation introduces "A Bridge to Belize", which is an educational design intended to transform student learning in sustainability. The dissertation references a case study titled "Small is Beautiful in Belize" involving sixteen students who participated in a study abroad learning process that included self-reflective writing, article analysis and world cafe discussions. While in Belize, students directly engaged nature, exploring caves, reefs, rivers and rainforests. As a result, Belize became an outdoor classroom for the students. The pedagogy suggests that students who explore nature develop a deeper awareness of sustainability, providing a connection to academic concepts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The specific objective of this project was to train coordinators to open new extension classes and effectively facilitate existing extension classes offered by the Assemblies of God Bible Institute (AGBI) in Belize. Extensive biblical and literary research and a thorough evaluation of current extension classes led to the development of a coordinator training session which incorporated various forms that addressed specific areas of concern. Attendance at the Main Campus of AGBI has been in decline since 1990. Surveys and interviews indicated that the decline in enrollment was directly correlated to the financial cost of attending the Main Campus, which included cost-prohibitive travel, loss of steady employment, and neglect of current ministerial and family responsibilities. As a means of addressing these realities, this project developed a coordinator training program whereby coordinators could serve as a liaison between local extension sites and AGBI. By training coordinators how to deal with issues related to the main campus such as advertising, registration, accounting, evaluation, and communication, the trained coordinators were equipped to establish new extension sites where the people live. In so doing, people desiring theological education can acquire it in their local context at a significantly reduced cost. This project achieved its purpose of creating an effective coordinator training to facilitate the establishment of theological extension education in Belize. The project could be implemented in other contexts with great success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The past and present provide an important reference to understanding the circumstances and cultural differences that assist in the development of our methods of interaction. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to provide a process of personal self-reflection of experiences by which administrators, school officials, staff, and faculty can ultimately tolerate and understand the diversity of their students and families. Gathering stories and understanding the past and present provided for the overall framework (Kern, 1983; Lowenthal, 1985; Leichter, 1997). The use of the conflict process of prevention, resolution, and transformation guided the process of reflection, interpretation, and application of narratives (Reardon & Cabezudo, 2002). In addition, theories of culture (Benedict, 1932; Duranti, 1999), communication and expectations (Meade, 1934; Saussure, 1966), and an ethnographic portrait of families (Valdez, 1996) were used to assist in giving background to cultural diversities of people. This research is based upon a case study of my father who grew up in Belize during the 1940s and a semi-autobiography of my (his daughter's) development. As a means to comprehend the effects of my father's childhood experiences on my development as a parent and an educator, I engaged in a self-reflection process. Exploring my father's stories and relating them to his methods of interaction with his children provided a basis for understanding his decisions in life as well as my methods of interaction. The experiences in the study created standards of interactions and decisions that can be intricately tied to the culture within a family. The stories gave me insight into what my father endured as a child and his parenthood yearnings that were woven into his interactions with his family. Attaching my father's past to my present forms of interaction and utilizing the reflection process allowed me to transform my behaviors as educator and parent and to respect the qualities that have been passed down. The reflection process can lead educators to empathize with students and families. Once educators come to understand the link between their present methods of participation to past experiences, they may be able to empathize, tolerate, and accept diverse narratives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Language shift is the process by which a speech community in a contact situation (i.e. consisting of bilingual speakers) gradually stops using one of its two languages in favor of the other. The causal factors of language shift are generally considered to be social, and researchers have focused on speakers' attitudes (both explicit and unstated) toward a language and domains of language use in the community, as well as other macro social factors. Additional research has focused on the effects of language shift, generally on the (changing) structure of the language itself. The goal of this thesis is to examine the relationship between social and linguistic factors in considering the causes and effects of language shift, focusing on age-based variation in the speech community. Hopkins is a multilingual speech community in Belize where complete language shift from the heritage language, Garifuna, to the dominant national languages, English and Belizean Creole (BC), has not yet occurred, despite the fact that Garifuna is no longer spoken in similar nearby communities. This dissertation examines the linguistic and social correlates of early language shift in Hopkins using an apparent-time perspective. The thesis employs interview data from fifty-two (52) speakers aged five to eighty-one, surveys collected from teachers in the rural Garifuna communities in Belize, and participant observation of caregiver-child and peer interactions in Hopkins to examine two phonological changes in progress in the language, as well as generational differences in language attitudes toward Garifuna and BC. An apparent time analysis shows an externally-motivated change in the status of the sociolinguistic variable (ch) that is evidence for a shift in the dominant language in the community. A second change in progress, variable deletion of intervocalic r , is described for the first time as an internally-motivated change, albeit progressing alongside contact-induced changes. Evidence is also presented to propose that the behavior of the transitional generation (speakers aged 30-49) shows interesting characteristics with regard to these two variables as a result of shifting language ideologies in the village. These ideological shifts are examined along with changing attitudes in the community toward English, BC, and Garifuna. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Using a qualitative research design, the contextual factors and processes associated with criminal offending and wider social exclusion were examined for six Black young men from the Southside of Belize City. The young men had been permanently excluded from secondary school between the ages of 14 and 17 years and had been criminally charged. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the young men and their mothers after cross-referencing school exclusion data from secondary schools and youth-based organisations with criminal offending data from the Belize Police Department. The study examined the extent of the influence of permanent school exclusion on the offending behaviour and the multidimensional disadvantages experienced in the post-school exclusion lives of the young men. The findings suggest that multiple disadvantages associated with the social environments of the home, neighbourhood, and peer group served as risk factors that contributed to early offending behaviour. Most of the young men grew up alongside demographically similar peers in lone-parent households in neighbourhoods that had a shared historical experience of social and economic marginality, including poverty, high rates of violence, and a proliferation of gangs. However, permanent school exclusion served as a critical life event that deprived the young men of access to education and the opportunity to acquire formal educational qualifications, which set into motion a dynamic process of social exclusion through multiple forms of exclusion, particularly in relation to their participation in education and training, the labour market, social networks, and their experience of criminalisation. In the end, they experienced a cyclical pattern of precarious engagement in low-quality or unsecured work, unemployment, and short-term training programmes, none of which ameliorated their economic marginality. A concurrent process of criminalisation occurred as the young men's offending behaviour evolved into serious criminal offending and gang involvement, leading to criminal charges, criminal records, and incarceration, which further diminished their social and economic participation.

This thesis examines the past century of wildfire management of the coastal pine savanna in Belize. Combining political ecology with historical geography, it draws on archival evidence, interviews, and ethnographic enquiry into an international development project in Belize. It considers contemporary approaches that seek to use prescribed fire with the participation of local communities in relation to past practices. The Belizean savanna has long been shaped by human fire use. Its flora is ecologically adapted to fire. Yet fire has been repeatedly cast as a problem, from c. 1920, by British colonial and, later, USA foresters, and, most recently, by international and local non-governmental nature conservation organisations. Informed by different schools of thought, each of these organisations has designed programmes of fire management as a form of conservation and/or development. Yet little has changed; Belize's diverse and growing rural population has continued to use fire, and the savannas burn, year upon year. While the planned aims and methods differed, each programme of fire management has, in practice, been similarly structured and constrained by its genesis within colonial or international development. Funding for fire management has been inconsistent and has favoured 'expert'-led technocratic approaches that could not address the specific context of wildfire in Belize. Each programme has been shaped by a specifically Belizean ecology and politics, in excess of its definition of the fire 'problem' and 'solutions' to it. Powerful political elites and fire users in Belize have not granted the same authority to technical experts, nor have they seen clear incentives for the fire management that these experts envisaged. Belize's political elite has sought to retain control over land and resources, even at the expense of policies (including those of fire management) they officially endorse to satisfy international funders. This analysis highlights that, when examining environmental management, it is important not to isolate study of ideology and discourse in plans and policies, but to also attend to the conditions of their materialisation in practice.

This thesis ethnographically explores the connections between labour and social life among workers informally employed in the small-scale construction industry of Belize City, the major urban centre of Belize on the Caribbean coast of Central America. It is grounded in participant observation among workers native to Belize as well as those born in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala who moved to Belize City because of civil wars starting in the 1970s, economic crises and a recent rise in gang-related crime. The thesis first addresses how work is organized according to builders' skills, and how skill acquisition is tied to the forms of sociality afforded by workers' relationship to waged work. Labourers who need to generate income by moving around the city and hustling are excluded from forms of sociality which permit skilled workers to stabilize their employment. Moreover, labour is implicated in personal and social worth, as becomes clear through an examination of male workers' status, reputations and multiple positionalities as kin. Through ethnography both on and off the worksite, the research shows the entanglement of work, friendship and kinship ties, providing an analysis of the social, personal and economic differences these entail. The study foregrounds relationships in the lives of those born in the city as well as recently arrived migrants, while privileging subjective accounts which reveal multiple ways of experiencing the urban environment. This experience of working and living in Belize City is revealed through the future aspirations and ambitions that are conveyed through personal narratives. The thesis captures this plurality of perspectives through the idea of autonomy, a condition valued by workers which serves as a tool for understanding their circumstances at large and the relations between their work and daily life.

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the capability of radio detection and ranging (radar) data collected by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture radar (PALSAR), supported by field measurements obtained through ground survey, to predict and map Above Ground Woody Biomass (AGWB) in the tropical savannas of the developing country of Belize, and to understand how the forest structure may influence the backscatter observed. Firstly, an extensive inventory of the woody vegetation of the tropical savannas of Belize was created by measuring the diameter at breast height (dbh), the total height (ht) and the location of 6547 trees in plots covering a total woodland area of 30.8 hectares, located within four protected areas (the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (11×1ha), Deep River (108×0.1ha) and Manatee Forest Reserve (1ha) and the Bladen Nature Reserve (1ha) and also from plots located in unprotected areas (7×1ha). These measurements of forest structure, when combined with information about forest management practices obtained from local organisations revealed that different forms of protection and management may lead to the development of pine woodlands with different structural characteristics in these savannas. Secondly, a case-study was conducted to establish the sensitivity of the ALOS PALSAR backscatter data to AGWB and determine the effect of sample plot size to their relationship. The findings of this case-study show that the L-band backscatter in these low density pine woodlands is a possible predictor of AGWB and confirm that the appropriate sample plot size for predicting AGWB is one hectare; while the sensitivity degrades significantly with decreasing sample plot size. Taken together, the findings described above were combined to assess the capability of ALOS PALSAR backscatter to predict AGWB in these woodlands. A semi-empirical Water Cloud Model (WCM) describing the interaction between the backscatter and vegetation was re-arranged to enable the prediction of AGWB. Non-linear regression analysis revealed that the ALOS PALSAR backscatter predicted AGWB with an R2=0.92; an external validation conducted with additional ground reference data estimated this AGWB prediction to have an RMSE ~13 t/ha. The form of the regression model linking backscatter to AGWB appears to be particularly influenced by sample plots with higher tree numbers and by plots in which the trees were more homogeneous. The presence of many similar sized individuals within some plots is postulated as one explanation for the elevated saturation level for predictions in this study (> 100 t/ha) compared to other models. The model developed here predicts complete saturation in the backscatter - AGWB relationship to occur primarily as a result of increases in the tree number density and often concurrently in basal area, two parameters which are usually strongly correlated with AGWB in these woodlands. Thirdly, the locally validated relationship between ALOS PALSAR backscatter and AGWB is used to map AGWB for the lowland pine savannas of Belize at a spatial resolution of 100m. The mapping estimates that over 90% of these pine woodlands have an AGWB below 60 t/ha, with the average woody biomass estimated at 23.5 t/ha. When these new predictions are mapped and aggregated over the extents of two protected areas (Rio Bravo and Deep River), the totals obtained agree closely (error ≤20%) with previous estimates of AGWB obtained from ground data and previous research. The combined evidence suggests that woodland protection may produce a small, positive effect upon AGWB, with the mean of the AGWB/ha predictions higher in areas that are protected and managed for biodiversity (29.55 ± 0.84 t/ha) than in other areas that are not protected (23.29 ± 0.19 t/ha). When the fine scale local AGWB mapping produced using ALOS PALSAR is compared cell-by-cell with global biomass products at coarser spatial resolutions (500m and 1000m), the AGWB differences observed range from 115-120%. When the coarser AGWB estimates are aggregated over the extents of Deep River and Rio Bravo, the AGWB totals obtained differ significantly (~280 – 300%) from AGWB estimates from ground data and previous research. Overall, these findings suggest that where sufficient ground data exists to build a reliable local relationship to radar backscatter, more detailed biomass mapping can be produced from ALOS and similar satellite sensor data at resolutions of ~100m. This more accurate and spatially detailed information about the distribution of woody biomass within tropical lowland savannas is more appropriate for monitoring local changes in forest cover and for supporting management decisions for forested areas of around ~10,000ha than estimates based upon previously available, but coarser scale, global biomass products.

Water quality monitoring is essential for the wellbeing of humans, animals, and the environment. Monitoring coastal water quality is critical for the sustainable management and development of coastal resources as over one-third of the human population live in coastal areas. The health of our coasts, oceans, and cities highly depends on our changing climate and anthropogenic activities. Creating robust solutions to climate change and achieving coastal resilience requires interdisciplinary research by leveraging various datasets and techniques. The water quality monitoring techniques encompassed by this body of work aim to leverage satellite remote sensing to monitor water clarity and sea surface temperature for coral health and the second are a suite of microbiological techniques to monitor antibiotic resistance. The first two studies utilize remote sensing imagery to monitor water clarity and sea surface temperature (SST) in coastal Belize. The third and fourth studies use culture, amplification, and sequencing techniques to elucidate levels of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in two major cities—Los Angeles, CA, USA and Belize City, Belize. The final chapter captures the impact remote sensing modules and a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) can have on the confidence and self-efficacy of STEM and non-STEM students. The first chapter investigates water clarity changes using Aqua MODIS imagery during the COVID-19 anthropause. Here satellite derived Kd(490) (proxy for water clarity), marine traffic data, and climate model data were used to uncover significant improvements in water clarity during 2020 compared to the baseline period from 2002-2019 in areas with typically heavy marine traffic. In the second chapter, a Google Earth Engine and RStudio based toolkit is devised to combine Aqua MODIS-derived Kd(490) and SST into a coral vulnerability index for marine protected areas (MPAs) in Belize. Using the coral vulnerability index, Belizean MPAs were ranked based on the number of heat stress days and index scores to draw attention to MPAs that may need more intervention. Chapter three elucidates the impacts of land use and water reclamation plants on ARGs and ARB in the Los Angeles River watershed. The developed sampling sites were 2-3 orders of magnitude higher ARG concentrations compared to beaches and undeveloped areas. The fourth chapter uses multiple microbiology techniques to measure ARG and ARB levels in the Belize River, coastal lagoon, and Belize Barrier Reef. Belize City, in particular the sewage treatment lagoons and fish market, were found to contribute most to the resitome. The final chapter allowed students the opportunity to learn remote sensing to investigate environmental change and was found to increase their understanding of remote sensing and coding.

Standard Development Goal (SDG) 14, which targets monitoring water quality and reducing marine pollution, is especially relevant to vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems like Belize. To quantitatively assess progress toward SDG 14, measurement of chlorophyll-a concentrations via satellite data could be used as an effective way of monitoring coastal water. The remote sensing of chlorophyll-a has been successfully used in other regions of the world but has yet to be applied to Belize. This paper assesses chlorophyll-a algorithms for 145 studies determined in a relevant criteria literature search. These papers are narrowed down to 12 studies based on the factors such as coefficient of determination, algorithm accessibility, and relevance. Seven different algorithms are suggested for potential use on coastal waters in Belize, and one of these algorithms is tested to demonstrate seasonal trends in algae blooms in Belize. The results of this study suggest that there is potential in monitoring water quality in Belize through remote sensing of chlorophyll, and that further research validating chlorophyll-a algorithms with in-situ data is necessary.

In January 2020, the Government of Belize enacted an Implementation Strategy and Action Plan to phase-out single-use plastics and to transition to products like bioplastics. This work investigated the environmental effects of using alternative waste management techniques to manage polylactic acid biopolymer (PLA) waste by using life cycle assessment (LCA). The following treatment options were compared: landfill, landfill expansion, cogeneration, and anaerobic digestion. The landfill and landfill expansion processes both had a global warming potential of 0.01 kg of CO2 eq. per kg of PLA waste managed compared to the cogeneration and anaerobic digestion processes -0.03 and -0.06 kg of CO2 eq. per kg of PLA respectively. This difference was due to offsets produced by the cogeneration and anaerobic digestion systems. Additionally, it was shown that construction material requirements of the waste management systems often attribute less than 15% of total burdens to environmental impacts. Through uncertainty and sensitivity analysis it was shown that higher gas capture efficiencies in landfills and higher electrical efficiencies in cogeneration and anaerobic digestion, should be targeted to minimize GWP. Effective use of developed LCA models can assist Belize with strategies for eliminating petroleum single-use plastic and provide waste management strategies to help inform decision makers.

In the summer of 2019, preliminary archaeological investigations were performed at the North Courtyard group of Las Abejas. The site represents a middle-level settlement unit within the cultural landscape of the Three Rivers Region. The North Courtyard group comprises five residential structures situated at the northernmost margin of the site. While previous work was performed on the site, there is very little information regarding the formation and occupation of this group. Excavations were undertaken within the center of the courtyard and each of the surrounding structures with the intention of providing a meaningful understanding of the role of the group’s occupants relative to the rest of the site. The purpose of this report is to present the data collected and to begin to define the social organization of the site at a local scale.

This dissertation consists of five chapters: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion with final thoughts. The research design of this dissertation study attended to structures, cultures, and characteristics associated with, and specific to, the Belize education system. The processes for data collection and types of analyses were appropriate, yielded meaningful results, and served as a segue for national application. The Belize Educator Survey was developed to capture the educators’ voices and illuminate their relationship to educational achievement in Belize. The Belize Educator Survey was piloted and revised with direct input from educators and experts who work in the Belize education system. In this dissertation study, the Belize Educator Survey was the primary data collection instrument for a district-wide, full-coverage survey approach in one of the six districts in Belize. All primary school educators in the district were invited to participate (N = 524), and the response rate was 60.11% (n = 315). One of the end goals of this study was to create a pragmatic way of estimating School-Level Achievement that incorporated data about all grade levels and include the voice of all educators associated with the school. Two methods, the Weighted-Indicator Estimation Protocol (WISP) and a Multilevel Achievement Estimation Protocol (MAEP), were compared. The Weighted-Indicator Scores Protocol estimation uses a combination of classic statistical analyses, while the Multilevel Achievement Estimation Protocol version relies on a multilevel approach that estimates the within- and between-school statistics simultaneously. The 2018 Primary School Examinations school-level performance served as the primary criterion-referenced variable. Analyses of variances, comparisons of standard errors of the mean, and rank-order matchings show that the school-level estimates derived from the Weighted-Indicator Scores Protocol and Multilevel Achievement Estimation Protocol methods are statistically different. Possible extensions of this study could identify or develop additional measures of academic performance that align to grade-level expectations in the Belize education system. The statistically significant negative associations between educators’ perceptions, School Size, and Location are also worthy of investigation for strategic planning purposes. Advisor: Kurt F. Geisinger

If you are only at church services on Sunday and do not actively practice your religious faith every day, are you “born again” every day? Reverend Rebecca Lewis of Wesley Methodist Church in a small town in Belize preaches active participation in the church and encourages her congregation to attend all religious events, pray rigorously, and read the Bible actively, but how does the congregation listen to her and react to her sermons? “Born-Again on Sundays” is an ethnographic account that draws on anthropological theories of belief and vernacular religion, performance and narrative, and poverty and reflexivity to explore the faith practices in one Belizean Church community. I examine how the pastors of Wesley Methodist Church instruct their congregants to behave via weekly sermon performances. These sermons provide a rich performative, intertextual genre to study, as pastors very practically delineate exactly what congregants should be doing in order to practice their faith effectively. I juxtapose the ministers’ teachings with the behavior of members of the congregation, exploring how pastors often feel the members fall short in practicing their religion and how the members themselves see their behavior and their beliefs. In addition, I situate the dissertation in Belize, investigating how congregants place themselves and their country in the world; as Belizeans and as Methodists, they struggle with the country’s poverty and their desires to help the greater Aüdüan community. From the pastors’ perspectives, their church members might not always live up to their standards or their perspective of God’s standards, only taking their faith seriously once a week on Sunday morning, but from the parishioners’ perspective, they are doing the best they can, dealing with forces outside religion and developing strong, and deeply private, personal relationships with their God.

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide and is often transported from application areas to surface water when solubilized in runoff or sorbed to eroded sediment. There is evidence that suggests both glyphosate and its main metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) may pose a risk to human health, as well as cause adverse effects in the environment. However, consistent monitoring data is still limited, especially in developing countries. Belize is a developing nation with agriculture being a major sector of its economy and is heavily reliant on glyphosate. The widespread use of glyphosate in Belize may be resulting in glyphosate transport to drinking water resources. Samples were collected from two rural communities that rely on the Belize River for their drinking water systems, Bullet Tree and Spanish Lookout, at points upstream of the abstraction site, at the abstraction site, and at the site of drinking water distribution. Samples were analyzed using HPLC, ELISA kits, and LC-MS/MS. From these analyses, it was concluded that glyphosate was not present in any water samples at a detectable concentration. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to develop a model of the Belize River Watershed. The model was calibrated and validated for observed flow rates using the SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP), which revealed acceptable model performance for simulating flow. Model results indicate that glyphosate transport to the Belize River is occurring, with contributions from glyphosate sorbed to eroded sediment being significantly greater than soluble glyphosate in surface runoff (p-values ). Average simulated concentrations of soluble glyphosate in both wet and dry seasons are below the European Union (EU) standard of 0.1 ppb across the watershed. However, subbasins 2, 3, and 28 were identified as higher risk areas, due to having the highest percentages of days exceeding the EU standard. Subbasin 28, located just downstream of the Spanish Lookout drinking water system, was the most significant contributor of soluble glyphosate to the river, as compared to soluble glyphosate concentrations in subbasins 2 (p-values ) and 3 (p-values ). Soluble glyphosate concentrations in subbasin 28 inflow and outflow exceeded the EU standard 12.53% and 11.65% of the time, respectively. This work demonstrates a framework for applying SWAT for pesticide transport modeling in developing countries, and has the potential to be a powerful and accessible tool for watershed management when monitoring data is unavailable.

Pan Africanism is strategy that emerges through a history of surviving oppression, methodology to understand thought and action, and theory that tests findings against sociopolitical context. History, methodology and theory are used to develop the historical trajectory that responds to invasion, slavery, colonization and neocolonialism in Belize. As such, three manuscripts are offered to outline the historical narrative of Belizean Pan Africanism, autoethnographic insights for the study of Pan Africanism, and the sociopolitical context that contemporary Pan Africanism in Belize rises out of. Kurt Young defines Pan-Africanism as: "a fusing of affirmations of African identity with libratory efforts at the level of the masses (2009:7). The study and practice of Pan Africanism should therefore aligned in objectives and strategy to interrupt oppressive conditions that impact communities within the African Diaspora. This project, therefore, operationalizes scholar-activism in history, method and theory to outline strategic action and collective subversion as Pan Africanist Praxis in Belize.

Discoveries of rectangular canal patterns in the margins of wetlands in the ancient Maya lowlands of Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico shed light on a previously unknown agricultural practice: raised wetland fields. One example of wetland fields is found at the site Birds of Paradise (BOP) in the Rio Bravo region of northwestern Belize. For my research project, I have analyzed macrobotanical remains from BOP to: 1) identify the plants that were growing in the canals, 2) identify the plants that were growing in the features identified as raised fields, 3) assess their ecological preferences, 4) assess changing frequencies of different types of plants over time, and 5) provide some insight on how the canals and fields were used. Because this is the first time any systematic macrobotanical analysis has been done at BOP, it makes an important contribution to understanding how the Maya were interacting with their landscape with the use of these features. Additionally, innovative recovery methods such as use of a sonicator and sorting through all geological sieve fractions allowed for more robust quantitative analysis of data. These methods have wide application for use at other sites conducting archaeobotanical research.

Humans have utilized the Mesoamerican Reef for millennia but the effects of prehistorical and historical fishing on this ecosystem remain understudied. To assess long-term trends in reef fish abundance in the central Belizean portion, we used three reef matrix cores from this region to construct a record of parrotfish (Labridae) tooth abundance relative to the total number of all fish tooth subfossils. Parrotfish positively affect reef accretion rates and play a pivotal role in maintaining reefs in a coral-dominated state. Our study examined a 1200-year record across three coral cays: Elbow and Lagoon Cays and Bakers Rendezvous. Despite initial increases of fish tooth abundance at all three cays, declines were observed well before modern reef degradation. At Elbow Cay, an initial decline, likely due to Pre-Columbian Maya fishing, appears to be halted near the time of Spanish arrival. A subsequent decline begins at Elbow and Lagoon Cays likely due to Spanish colonization. The religious practices of the Catholic Spanish and the arrival of English privateers and logwooders likely increased fishing pressure. Bakers Rendezvous shows rapid accretion and parrotfish tooth accumulation as well as high tooth abundances, even as the other two cays show declines. Its sharper, more recent decline is likely the result of either the use of new, more southern fishing territories for Catholic Maya converts, the 1832 founding of Stann Creek Town by the Catholic Garifuna, or an interaction of the two. Our data suggest that the origins of reef degradation began hundreds of years before modern declines.

Large carnivores play many vital biological, economic, and conservation roles, however, their biological traits (low population densities, cryptic behavior) make them difficult to monitor. Pumas have been particularly difficult to study because the lack of distinctive markings on their coats prevents individual identification, precluding mark-recapture and other similar analyses. Further, compared to temperate areas, research on the interspecific interactions of Central American felids is particularly lacking. I used single- and multi-season, single-species occupancy models and two-species co-occurrence models to analyze camera trapping and habitat data collected at eight study sites across Belize. Puma occupancy was positively influenced by jaguar trap success, understory density, canopy cover, and human trap success, and negatively influenced by stream density. Jaguar trap success was the best predictor of where pumas occurred, while prey species were not found to influence puma occupancy. Mean occupancy was 0.740 (0.013) and ranged from 0.587 (0.042) to 0.924 (0.030). Over time, puma occupancy rates were generally high (> 0.90) and stable. Puma occupancy was higher in logged areas, suggesting that current levels of natural resource extraction at those sites were not detrimental to the species. Co-occurrence modeling showed little evidence for interactions between the carnivores, suggesting that jaguars may be acting as an umbrella species and that conservation efforts directed at jaguars are likely to benefit the other carnivores, including pumas. Overall, these findings are positive for puma conservation, but human-induced land use change is expanding and further monitoring will give us insight into how pumas respond to human encroachment.

This dissertation examines La Milpa North, an ancient Maya hilltop palatial compound built and occupied in the Late to Terminal Classic periods (ca. A.D. 600-950). Previously, several scholars proposed that this site is the northern node of a network of secondary centers arranged in a quadripartite pattern around the civic center of La Milpa intended to reflect the shape and function of a four-sided and three-tiered Maya cosmos. Through archaeological investigation, this project evaluates assertions of cosmological significance at La Milpa North. In so doing, this project aims to contribute to ongoing anthropological dialogues regarding our ability to detect and interpret meanings encoded in archaeological landscapes inscribed by the ideological and practical needs of ancient peoples. To address questions of intentionality and meaning in the built environment, this project adopts a biography of place approach. Though by nature incomplete and subject to revision, a biography of place endeavors to reconstruct a diachronic narrative of the construction, use, and modification of space while simultaneously exploring the experiences, meanings, and senses of place of ancient social actors. Through this lens, La Milpa North is conceptualized as a multivalent place with which a diverse array of ancient individuals formed complex relationships and, in processes contingent on historical material circumstances, imbued landscapes with meanings.In building a biography of place, this dissertation employs various analytical and theoretical frameworks to partially reconstruct aspects of the relationships that individuals formed with La Milpa North. Recognizing that numerous social, political, and economic contingencies structure relationships individuals build and maintain with places, this project situates the built environment and artefactual assemblages within broader local, regional, and interregional processes of social transformation. A long history of research in the Maya Lowlands, as well as the Three Rivers Region in which La Milpa North is located, provides excellent context and numerous analogous examples to further this effort. In addition, practice theory, political and ritual economy perspectives, and social landscape approaches are used to construct an interpretive framework for the archaeological data generated by this project so as to enable an understanding of the recursive processes involved in the production and reproduction of individuals, communities, ideologies, and social landscapes. Finally, to access elements of the embodied experiences of ancient peoples, this project utilizes digital reconstructions of the built environment to recreate experiences of moving through and interacting with the site prior to its abandonment. Together, these methods and theoretical perspectives contribute to a reconstruction of the dynamic form, function, and possible meanings encoded into the built environment of La Milpa North. In testing the hypothesis that La Milpa North is a node within a representation of the cosmos, I find additional lines of evidence to support previous interpretations, though several refinements are proposed. In addition, this research unearths deep articulations between cosmological beliefs, social relations, political power, and economic practices. As a ceremonial complex, administrative center, and the residence of a high-ranking non-royal elite household situated in a cosmologically significant location on the social landscape of a major polity, the architecture and assemblages of La Milpa North reflected and embodied the practical needs and ideological concerns of its builders, occupants, and surrounding community. It therefore provides a lens into the spatial, economic, and political practices of ancient Maya, and serves as a means to engage with broader anthropological dialogues regarding the role of systems of belief and ideology in shaping archaeological landscapes and our ability to perceive intentionality within ancient contexts.

The elusive and nocturnal nature of the ocelot Leopardus pardalis poses difficulty in gaining basic information on demographic parameters needed to better inform conservation. My study used camera trapping data from long-term monitoring of ocelot populations on six different protected areas in Belize over a time span ranging from 1 to 12 years, with 1,700 ocelot detections in 65,157 total trap nights. I used classical and spatially explicit methods, including multi-session robust design, to estimate and compare ocelot density and survival across sites and time. Full likelihood single session models estimated densities ranging from 6.4 - 22.5 individuals/100km2 in the broadleaf forested sites. Robust design models estimated densities from 8.8 - 22.8 individuals/100 km2 and ocelots had high annual survival (71-79%) in 2 broadleaf sites. Contrary to predictions, robust design models had higher precision than full likelihood models less than half the time. Spatially explicit models estimated density ranging between 7.2 – 22.0 individuals/100 km2 in broadleaf sites, and much lower estimates at 0.9 individuals/100 km2 in the pine forest site. Accounting for sex in spatially explicit methods, which directly incorporate locations of captures into the model, increased precision in density estimates by reducing individual heterogeneity in capture probability. The spatial models also demonstrated that males moved larger distances than females and had slightly higher detection rates. Ocelot populations remained relatively stable over time at the long term sites. My study produced methodologically rigorous abundance/density estimates for ocelots in Belize and the first ever ocelot survival estimates.

The ancient Maya site of Las Cuevas, in Western Belize features a cave system that runs beneath the main plaza. Investigations by the Las Cuevas Archaeological Reconnaissance project suggest that the site functioned as a Late Classic ritual pilgrimage venue and that the cave was used for large public centrally-organized performances. The cathedral-like cave entrance contains monumental architecture consisting of at least 76 plastered platforms. I hypothesize that the level of managerial oversight should be correlated with the consistency of building materials employed in their construction.Plasters from both cave and surface contexts were analyzed using geochemical methods including XRF (pXRF), XRD, SEM, EDS and FTIR to examine their chemical make-up. Results demonstrate considerable variation in plaster recipes in the cave and on the surface. In this thesis, I discuss these findings and their implications.

The second largest reef in the world is experiencing a dramatic change in its environment with continued development and an influx in tourism having a direct impact on the physical and ecological balance of the reef. The introduction of hazardous materials and practices have contributed to reef degradation through excess sedimentation, overfishing, and increased shipping and have the ability to influence some of the reef’s most endangered inhabitants. A spatial examination using multiple variables impacting changes in certain populations of endangered and invasive fish species are studied, incorporating integrated species abundance and sighting data as well as potential environmental threats to aim to understand the trends and correlations between Belize’s recent spike in development, and the implications on its barrier reef.

World conservation issues have been addressed in many ways around the world. The use of community-based conservation (CBC) as a method to reduce harmful practices has gained in popularity in the past few decades. This dissertation reports results from a pre-analysis of a proposed CBC program in western Belize. Through qualitative interviews with 47 stakeholders, and a quantitative survey with 486 Belizean women, we determined that a CBC program designed especially for women should be successful. Some of the aspects of a program that women expressed a desire for was more conservation and forest education. However, contrary to our assumption that women would require an income to participate, we found that it was a matter of needing free time and gaining some education that would influence their increased participation. Additionally, the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) is a scale that is widely used around the world to determine a person’s feelings of being in connection to nature. It has been positively correlated with well-being, environmentally-friendly behaviors, and a person’s contact with nature. We used this scale to determine if the greater contact with nature that people in Belize experience every day, compared to developed countries, would have an effect on their CNS scores. Therefore, we administered the CNS to women in Belize to determine if there was a difference between people’s feelings of connectedness to nature in developing countries, where residents have extensive daily contact with nature, and in developed countries where the majority of residents have limited contact with nature. It was found that feelings of connectedness to nature are greater in Belizean women compared to 58 other study populations living in developed areas around the world. Our results have many implications for conservation group developers in that they point to the need for pre-assessments of programs to help uncover key aspects that need to be included and to identify program aspects that are not necessary for its success.

This dissertation documents geoarchaeological investigations into human-environment interactions in the ancient Maya Lowlands. Further, this research emphasizes the growing importance and subsequent uses of complex systems and resilience theories in the creation of more robust models of ancient environments and behavior. This type of approach encourages researchers to take advantage of the growing array of instrumental techniques available to researchers (e.g., multi-proxy studies of paleoenvironments) which enables researchers to more accurately model the complexities of ancient human-environment interactions. Article 1 is a detailed review article that focuses on published geoarchaeological work in Mesoamerica since the year 2000. Five themes are identified as being central to these most recent geoarchaeological studies: 1) the correlation of environmental change and culture history; 2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; 3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; 4) archaeological prospection; and 5) provenance studies. Article 2 is a research article that focuses on the Phase II research that was conducted at the Late Classic site of Minanha which is located on the northern portion of the Vaca Plateau in west-central Belize. This article discusses the results of preliminary research into ancient Maya settlement patterns and terrace construction, both temporally and spatially, in a peripheral agricultural community located in the Contreras Valley. Through the use of excavations, spatial statistics, and GIS these investigations were designed to both supplement and expand upon earlier investigations in Minanha’s epicenter by examining the collapse sequence from the viewpoint of a peripheral support population that is believed to have been home to a population that helped to sustain Minanha’s royal court. The Contreras inhabitants had a long occupation history in their valley, but eventually, they too abandoned their homes just like those who had lived in the epicentral royal court complex (and in the Site Core too). It is this abandonment of the Contreras Valley that is examined in greater detail in Article 3. At the time of abandonment, several artifact assemblages, in the form of termination rituals, were deposited at three domestic groups in the Contreras Valley and these assemblages were used to recreate the abandonment context and chronology of these aforementioned domestic groups. The third article also discusses how these termination rituals/ceremonies may have helped to reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their homes. Article 3 also speculates on how the last inhabitants (of a what is believed to have been a mostly abandoned landscape) lived through a process of gradual depopulation. This dissertation demonstrates that geoarchaeological research directly examines human-environment interactions which can help us to learn about the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change. More specifically, understanding the success and failure of past societies can help us to predict the sustainability and resilience of these systems. Therefore, learning about the capacity of humans to adapt to both societal and environmental change is the most important enduring product of geoarchaeological investigations of the ancient world.