Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Gender And Racial Stereotypes And Education-Related Beliefs On The Academic And Social Identity Development Of Urban African American Girls, Wanda Marie Shealey

ETD Archive

This qualitative, ethnographic study explores various tensions and struggles around gender and racial stereotypes that three urban teenage African American girls encounter as they try to develop a sense of oneself as an individual and in relation to the world. The purpose of this study was to explore Black high school girls’ experiences in a predominately urban public school in the Midwest. This study is guided by the following research question: In what way do gender and racial bias contribute to the self-perception of African American adolescent girls? Interrogating the multiple standpoints that inform African American female identity and how …

Parent-Teacher Perceptions Of The Factors That Interfere With Productive Parent-Teacher Relationships In Urban Schools, Darryl Marc Mason

ETD Archive

The main premise of this study is that teachers and parents (that is, single head-of-household mothers) of Black males living in urban communities should engage in collaborative, mutual, and respectful dialogue. A barrier to fostering such collaboration, however, lies in differences between the worldviews of teachers and parents based on a variety of cultural, social, economic, and individual factors. If external and/or internal barriers to developing a productive parent-teacher relationship can be overcome, Black males will have a significantly greater chance of succeeding in school. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of single African American …

This Is Why I Teach! An Investigation Into The Ongoing Identity Development Of African American Educators Teaching In Urban Settings, Erica Joi Glover

ETD Archive

Concerns regarding teacher recruitment and teacher retention among African American teachers continue to illustrate the difficulty in diversifying the teacher population. At the same time, African American teachers currently working in urban schools must successfully find strategies to engage urban youth, who face inequitable educational opportunities. Such realities can be challenging to African American teachers, who have also experienced structural oppression, as they are expected to conform to the educational ideologies and strategies of dominant, white society. As such, the personal and professional experiences of African American teachers working within urban schools will not only influence their on-going identity, but …

Leveling The Playing Field: Ensuring African-American Students Access To Advanced Placement Courses, Alisa L. Lawson-Mckinnie

ETD Archive

The under-representation of African-American high school students in advanced placement classes must be understood in terms of broader school contexts and practices. This qualitative study investigated how teachers and guidance counselors contribute to the academic success of African-American students of high potential at a large suburban high school in the city of Cleveland. The purpose was to improve the participation and performance of these students in AP courses. Data indicates that (a) school employees (teachers and guidance counselors) can positively affect achievement, (b) their definitions of success shape these students’ opportunities for achievement, and (c) developing the capacities of high-potential …

An Exploration Of African American Male College Students’ Perceptions Of Factors That Contribute To Their Academic Success, Yvette N. Daugherty-Brown

ETD Archive

According to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (2012), college degree attainment among African American males is only 16%, as compared to 20% for African American females, and 32% for Caucasian males. A great deal of research and emphasis has been placed on the struggles, challenges and shortcomings relative to African American male educational attainment. However, more work needs to be done to determine the factors that contribute to their academic success.

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the factors that contributed to the academic success of African American male college students that participated in the Baldwin …

African American Urban Public High School Graduates’ Experiences Concerning Mathematics, Lorenzo A. Rashid

ETD Archive

This interpretive qualitative study explored African American urban public high school graduates’ experiences concerning mathematics, how these experiences may play a role in the choice to further their mathematics education, and how the Model of Academic Choice (MAC) may facilitate in the understanding of the experiences.

It examined the lived experiences of seven African American urban public high school graduates concerning their mathematics education. Through criterion-based sampling, the seven participants selected had graduated from a public high school located in Northeast Ohio school districts having similar characteristics.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews that explored participants’ kindergarten through post-secondary mathematics …