Education Commons^™

The Underrepresentation Of Black Males In Advanced Courses, Jacquelyn Ortner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine the forces that impact Black male enrollment in advanced courses at an urban public high school in the southeast. In two rounds of one-on-one interviews and two focus group sessions, qualitative data was collected from students who were currently enrolled in advanced courses as well as from students who had been identified as gifted but were not currently enrolled in advanced courses. Data was coded inductively using constant comparative analysis. Emergent themes included problems with the marketing and incentivizing of advanced coursework; irregularities in the notification and advisement process; participants’ …