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This research study was focused on teacher dispositions and practices that create positive teacher-student relationships with African-American elementary male students. Robert Pianta's work on relationships between teachers and students, over the past decade, provided a conceptual framework for this specific study. A review of the literature on this topic evidenced practices that positively and negatively impact teacher-student relationships. Through classroom observations and interviews, the perceptions of elementary teachers were examined on how they actually create teacher-student relationships with their African-American male students. These perceptions were insightful and often supported in the research literature. Effective teachers understand the need for praise, having high expectations, and provision of additional care and understanding for African-American male students. Although there is still a need for additional research to further explore teacher practices and the creation of positive teacher-student relationships in schools, there is assurance in the existence of teachers that implement practices that create a positive difference in the lives of African-American male students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether African-American adolescent high school students who have (or have had) at least one parent incarcerated differed on several variables as compared to African-American adolescent high school students who lived with both parents and those who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with only one parent.;John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia was the institution studied for this project. John Marshall was chosen for several reasons: the student researcher had access to this population and it was believed that a majority of the students at this institution came from homes where at least one parent was (or had been) incarcerated.;Each student was administered the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS), and the Family Environment Scale (FES). In addition, data from students' cumulative folders were analyzed: grade point averages, attendance data, standardized test scores, and disciplinary referrals (if any). Students also answered questions on a 14-item researcher-generated questionnaire. The questions, Likert in nature, assessed students' feelings and perceptions about their family and school environments, as well as their parent relationships.;It was hypothesized that (1) there would be a difference between academic performance, daily absenteeism rate to school, classroom behavior, and attitudes towards school of African-American high school students who have (or have had) at least one incarcerated parent as measured by students' transcripts, standardized test data, school attendance records, and teacher-generated disciplinary referrals and (2) there would be a difference on the variables of depression, self concept, and family environment among African-American adolescent high school students who have (or have had) at least one incarcerated parent and (a) African-American adolescent high school students who lived with both parents and (b) African-American adolescent high school students who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with one parent as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory, the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale, and the Family Environment Scale.;The results of the study indicate that there were no differences in students who lived with both parents, in students who did not have an incarcerated parent but who lived with only one parent, and those who have (or have had) at least one parent incarcerated on the measures of depression, self concept, and family environment.;Further study is needed to determine the effects of parent incarceration on African-American school children.

This dissertation examines the development of blues criticism in its myriad forms from the 1920s to 1990s, its role in the emergence of a blues discourse and history, and the codification of a blues canon. I analyze blues discourse principally as the creation of critics, historians, and musicologists, but also as the result of series of complex, imbricated relationships among writers, musicians, fans, record collectors, and independent entrepreneurs.;Beginning in the 1920s, I outline a pre-history of blues discourse by examining the metamorphosis of the blues as a cultural text shaped by the folklore scholarship, criticism and reportage in the popular press, and the commercial ascendancy of the blues on record. of special interest is the blues writing in the African American press and how these writers debated the cultural politics of music and interpretations of racial uplift ideology.;In the post-World War II era, I focus on the works of Samuel Charters and Paul Oliver, specifically the former's The Country Blues and the latter's Blues Fell This Morning. I examine how their writing influenced the blues revivalists of the 1960s, and the impact of their work on later blues scholars, journalists, and record collectors. It is the last group, record collectors, that I examine in detail and their work as the musical archaeologists, culture brokers, and keepers (and creators) of multiple blues canons. Lastly, I analyze the work of women blues writers, their rhetorical approach to the genre, and the impact they have had on decentering the male-authored blues canon and recreating contemporary blues discourse.

The purpose of this study was to provide a profile of gifted education identification procedures for culturally diverse ethnic populations (African-American, Native-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic) in the southeastern region of the United States. In this research, data from educators was analyzed by means of surveys and in-depth inquiries to provide a profile of gifted education identification procedures. The objectives for this study were to determine with respect to the identification of culturally diverse students for gifted education: their proportional representation in gifted education programs, the utilization of multiple identification measures with these populations, the consideration given to their gifted and cultural characteristics, and the availability of gifted programs designed to meet their needs. With respect to ethnically diverse students, it was concluded that they are proportionally underrepresented in gifted education, that identification procedures are not consistently differentiated for them, that some consideration is given to their characteristics during the identification process, and that there is limited availability of gifted education programs designed to meet their needs. Further study is required to examine the applicability of this research to other regions of the nation.

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