Education Commons^™

The Spirit-Murdering Of Black Students From White Educators, Brian C. Guilfoyle, Casetta D. Brown, Sarah J. Guilfoyle, Courtney D. Jude

Dissertations

In this collection of autoethnographies, four researchers explored our deeply personal experiences and encounters with racialized oppression in the form of spirit-murder. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies, this dissertation explores how two white educators have committed spirit-murder against Black students and how two Black educators have both experienced spirit-murder as students and have spirit-murdered their Black and Brown students as classroom teachers. We wanted to elevate our voices using counter-stories as a tenet of CRT and examples of our teaching practices. We aimed to elicit relatable suggestions to combat spirit-murdering from white educators toward Black students …

An Examination Of The Impediments To Implementing Student-Centered Teaching Methods In Public Schools, Nicole R H Adewale, Robert L. Bloch, Garry D. Gibbs

Dissertations

In education, traditional methods have long relied upon static textbooks and blackboards to impart knowledge to students. Unfortunately, the lack of dynamism with this approach has failed to foster creativity, motivation, inquiry, individualization, and other practices crucial to serving diverse learners, especially Black children. We sought to uncover barriers and potential solutions to this problem by elevating the voices of educators, from classroom teachers to building and district administrators, at a predominantly African-American suburban secondary school in the Midwest.

We designed a qualitative research study to answer a single yet layered research question: What impedes Black students from experiencing and …

Counter Narratives: A Phenomenological Study Of Inner-City Catholic School Teachers, Staci Wadlington

Dissertations

Educational experiences of children can have positive or negative impacts on their future. This study used a method, counter-narratives, identified by Critical Race theorists to document the shared experiences of inner-city Catholic school educators during one of the most important time periods of education in our country, post Brown v Board of Education (1954). Using a qualitative and phenomenological approach, the researcher interviewed educators from an inner-city Catholic school to investigate their experiences during the post-restructuring phase, which essentially segregated a select group of schools from the larger archdiocese school system. These targeted schools were renamed, provided an alternate governing …

A Middle-Class Mother's Journey On Navigating The Educational System: The Impact Of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, And Class In Schools, Amy A. Hunter

Dissertations

This is a qualitative autoethnographic study of a Black mother in the Midwest region as she navigates the educational system for her children. This is a research document that informs the reader of the impact of racism and the intersectional identity of race, gender, and motherhood. The importance of intersectionality is highlighted in this research, and so it is that the mother is middle-class to articulate that poverty, access to resources, or the educational attainment of the mother are not necessarily mitigating factors for the treatment she receives within the educational setting. Moreover, is serves as a guide for other …

Documenting The Journey Towards Becoming An Anti-Racist White Educator, Heather Mccord

Dissertations

As a White teacher in public education, I have had the great pleasure of educating students from all over the globe. My career began in a district that served predominantly White students from middle class families. The only Black students I interacted with were those bused in from the city while participating in the desegregation program. There were noticeable biases and beliefs teachers held toward those students. However, since I was early on in my career with little experience, I was unaware of damage being done to these students. Once I began working for an extremely diverse district, in a …

Confronting And Dismantling Whiteness In Higher Education: A Grassroots Approach, Winnie Needham

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate how an Educational Studies department in a small, Midwestern liberal arts college might confront and dismantle whiteness in curricular, pedagogical, and policy choices. Utilizing a critical participatory action research design, five higher education faculty engaged in a critical conversation inquiry group (Schieble et al., 2020) to develop their critical literacy (Rogers and Mosley, 2014). This study was designed to answer the following questions: How do faculty within an Educational Studies department think about their racial identities and the relevance of racial identity to the program, the institution, and higher education? …

At The Top Of The Chart: A Composite Counterstory Of Black Students’ Mathematical Success, Joslyn N. Richardson

Dissertations

Mathematics as a discipline has ignored the experiences of African American students, making it difficult for them to develop strong mathematical identities and racial identities in relation to math. Black children and their academic achievements are often framed negatively, and underachievement and failure are often emphasized over their brilliance and resilience. This qualitative study adds to the limited body of knowledge by examining student perspectives and socialization factors that contribute to positive math identity and achievement in middle school students. Using a Critical Race Theory framework, data was collected through semi-structured interviews and math autobiographies that were structured around the …

Bridging The Gap: A Closer Look At Educational Inequities And Strategies To Support African American Students, Terry Daily-Davis, Lachrisa Crenshaw, Gina M. Jenkins

Dissertations

This autoethnography shares our personal experiences, narratives, and counter-stories as we view the social justice issues of inequities in the education of African American students. Through our journey, we highlighted our personal views and real scenarios as seen through the eyes of a reading specialist, social worker, and college-level administrator. Critical Race Theory in Education (CRT) served as our primary guiding force allowing us to focus on the following tenets: counter-stories, permanence of racism, whiteness as property, interest convergence, and critique of liberalism (Dixson, Anderson & Donnor, 2017). Critical Race Theory (CRT) is the framework in Social Sciences that examines …

The Impact Of Teacher Beliefs On Classroom Technology Use: A Case Study On The Interplay Between Teachers’ Beliefs About Students And Technology And Their Classroom Technology Practices With A Primarily Minority Student Population, Tracee Miller

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess the intersection of teachers in urban public schools’ digital beliefs and with their technology practices in the classroom, especially in classrooms where most students are students of color. It examines some subtopics of the primary research question, including what beliefs tech-savvy teachers hold about how technology should be used in classrooms, whether teachers use technology to empower students and encourage creativity, whether teachers integrate students’ self-created digital identities in a classroom setting, and how school- or district-level expectations and support regarding technology integration into classroom settings impact teachers’ implementation and students’ experiences. …

Deverne Calloway: “I Am A Teacher---I Will Teach”, Holly Hick

Dissertations

In 1962, DeVerne Calloway was the first Black woman elected to the Missouri General Assembly and the first Black woman elected to any public office in the state of Missouri. A political activist and educator by nature, a legislator by trade, DeVerne has decades of historically documented critical work within the intersections of race, gender, and class. Her work, though well documented, remains undertheorized. This study seeks to explore DeVerne’s life and work through Black feminist theory and Critical Race Theory’s tenets of intersectionality and interest convergence, ultimately tracing her actions as a public intellectual. Written as an educational biography, …

A Silent Epidemic With No Voice: Alzheimer's Education In An African American Midwest Community, Sandra D. Fields

Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is a growing crisis in this country, particularly in the African American community. Despite this awareness by the health care community and educational programs offered about the disease, a deficit in research assessing the impact of these programs exists. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to analyze the key criterion relative to the educational programs about Alzheimer’s offered by local organizations and the impact they have on a Midwest African American community.

According to research regarding Alzheimer’s disease, African Americans continue to go undiagnosed and untreated. The literature review in this study explores the synergy of three …

The Colin Kaepernick Effect: Socio-Cultural Tension Over Patriotic Views Within K-12 Education, George Calhoun

Dissertations

One of the biggest and most controversial issues facing this country is the police brutality towards African – Americans. Many African – Americans have been killed by the police even while being unarmed. The opinions on this topic has further divided a nation that has already had its racial parameters stretched with the 2016 Presidential Election. However, the most unlikely professional athlete decided to endanger his career and take a stance against these heinous acts of violence. Colin Rand Kaepernick, a biracial man who was adopted at an early age by a white couple; attended the University of Nevada, and …

From Midterms To Naptime: An Autoethnography Of The Affects Of Intersectionality Of An African American Single Parent College Student, Jovon Willis

Dissertations

Abstract

According to United States Census (2016), Women in female-headed households with no spouse experienced higher rates of poverty (35.6 percent) than women in married-couple families (6.6 percent) and men in male-headed households. Having an education would significantly increase their chances of obtaining suitable employment which would also grant them income and benefits that could improve the overall quality of life for their families.

Today women are the majority on college campuses. According to The United States Census Bureau (2011), women make up 56% of college enrollment. Though the percentage of women attending college is increasing, the challenges that they …

An Analysis Of African-American Faculty Experiences During The Tenure Process, Katrina M. Hubbard

Dissertations

Abstract

How faculty allocate their time among research, teaching, and service, and the perceived quality of that work determines whether faculty obtain tenure or are released from the university (Bellas & Toutkoushian, 1999; Link, Swann, & Bozeman, 2008; Price & Cotten, 2006). Prior research indicated that African-American faculty comprised 4.5% of the faculty at high-activity research institutions and 3.5% of faculty at very-high-activity research institutions (The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac 2016-2017, 2016).

The purpose of this study was to 1) document African-American faculty experiences during their tenure probationary period at PWI research institutions; 2) compare faculty experiences during the …

What About Us? For Girls Between Worlds: How Black Girls Navigate White High Schools, Cryslynn C. Billingsley

Dissertations

This qualitative study is about the experiences and challenges Black girls have while attending predominantly White high schools and what they are doing to navigate that particular space. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand more about how Black girls navigate White space as minority members of a system that was not originally intended for them. Through semi-structured interviews, Black girls were asked directly to share their lived experiences. This study hopes to illuminate and amplify the voices of Black girls and help others see them by giving them a platform to discuss and tell their stories. …

The Story In The Standards: Creating Counter-Narratives In The Common Core State Standards, Jarret Alexander Smith

Dissertations

The research question guiding this study is: How might educators create counter-narratives, particularly related to the diversity of texts, experiences and knowledge bases represented in the CCSS? The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy on the engagement in literacy acquisition of African American students in middle and high school. The basic framework for this study is situated within and informed by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). The study focuses on creating counter-narratives for African American students in spite of the silence of the Common Core State Standards on cultural …

Trends In Mathematics Enrollment And Achievement Gap In St. Louis Area Public High Schools, 2000 - 2014., Victoria V. Shearing

Dissertations

Long before the “No Child Left Behind”, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or Brown vs. Board of Education, students of color have dreamed and struggled for equity in education. The issue of equal access to high quality of education highlighted in the NCLB focused public attention on the racial achievement gap. The present study examined mathematics enrollment and achievement trends among St. Louis area public high school students from 2000 to 2014 The study compared the results among racial groups and by gender rather than using a traditional Black-White comparison. Several frameworks contributed to the development of the …

The Digital Divide Through The Lens Of Critical Race Theory: The Digitally Denied, Stacy Gee Hollins

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine African American community college students’ availability to technological resources and how that availability affects their success. In this study, technological resources include access to the internet, software, hardware, technology training, technology support, and community resources. This study included six community college professors and six African American community college students enrolled in a Midwest community college. A major tenet of Critical Race Theory, storytelling, was used to give voice to students who lack sufficient access to technological resources referred to as the digitally denied. Data from this study can create an …

Behind Closed Doors: The Mask Of Antiracism In Presentation And Practice, Kevin Murray

Dissertations

School districts have recognized the challenges that teachers face in building relationships with the students they teach. This can be especially true when the teacher is White and the students are people of color. This study is a follow-up to an intense, year-long professional development that a group of teachers experienced in 2012. Through interviews, six such participants were asked about their experiences in the classroom, the ways in which they felt they had grown because of the professional development, and ways that they had implemented what they learned in their classrooms. While the teachers had positive things to say …

Teaching At The Top Of The Class: Black Female Educators' Perspective On Teaching High Achieving Black Children, Sheandra P. Brown

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine the action steps that Black female educators take when teaching high achieving Black students. More specifically this study investigated the way that the participants implement instruction in their classroom for high achieving students. This study included five Black female educators from four predominately Black school districts in a small town in the Midwest. Critical Race Theory and Othermothering were used as theoretical frameworks to examine the importance of the role that Black female educators play in today's urban classrooms. The terms gifted and high achiever are often used interchangeably in …

Black Teachers And St. Louis Public School Teacher Strikes Of 1973 And 1979, Sharleta L-Shae Williams

Dissertations

Within St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS), Black teachers taught on the north side of the city, while the White teachers taught on the south side. Because of the divide within teaching locations, there followed a larger rift between teacher organizations. The National Education Association (NEA) before the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling (1954) did not affiliate themselves with Black teachers whereas the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was supportive of the integration of civil rights from the beginning. In the years from the Brown ruling until 1980, St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) had two teacher organizations the St. Louis …

In Their Voices-Retaining African American Students At A Predominately White University: An Examination Of Theoretical Implications And Student Cerntered Practices, Gwendolyn Deloach-Packnett

Dissertations

This investigation is a study on the impact of a research-based holistic developmental retention plan for African American students who attend/attended a predominately White institution (PWI). The strategic praxis connected theoretical implications and student centered practices to enhance positive retention outcomes. This study examined the impact of these student centered retention offerings used in the Office of Multicultural Relations (MCR) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Founded in 1997, the expressed mission of MCR was to address the challenges of the University’s largest minority population, placing emphasis on the retention of its African American students. Two focus groups (graduate …