Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This qualitative case study sought to understand perceptions of educators’ of color on the role of race in student discipline in a Massachusetts Public School District. Research has supported the racial disproportionality in school discipline for decades. Understanding the perceptions of educators of color regarding such disproportionality are evaluated with attention to Critical Race Theory (CRT). Such perceptions were uncovered through interviews during which members shared their personal backgrounds and experiences. Data collection also included a review of discipline data reported to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). My analysis focused on the role of teacher diversity and educator subjectivity in the discipline of students of color. Findings evidenced that educators of color believe in the importance of educator-student relationships and underscored that educators of color viewed their race as a valuable asset in their work with students involved in disciplinary actions. The results of this study indicated that by virtue of their race and cultural experiences, educators of color provide strong and influential role models for students. Recommendations include recording, disaggregating, and analyzing student discipline data with a focus on race and supporting the current effort to increase the number of culturally proficient educators of color in the District. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Ph.D. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008 / The research reported in this thesis investigated factors that predict academic success of African black physiotherapy students. The first part of the literature review focused on higher education and access into higher education. It refers to the National Plan on Higher Education and the international debate around widening access. Significance within the international literature is that while there has been rapid expansion in higher education numbers there has not been a parallel increase in participation by underrepresented groups. Most of the literature found on predictors of success indicates that high school performance and aptitude tests are predictors of success. It also indicates that the predictive strength of these variables reduces when race is taken into consideration and in physiotherapy it reduces in the clinical years of study. Non-cognitive variables have also been found to predict success. Although many quantitative studies on prediction of academic success have been performed, it was noted in the literature analysis that there is minimal investigation of predictors of success that have been done in the physiotherapy profession. No recent studies were found that pertain to physiotherapy specifically, and the few studies available were found not to have taken race differences into consideration. Throughout South Africa universities that have physiotherapy programmes admit students on the basis of their high school performance. Some of them use other criteria such as involvement in sports, leadership qualities and community involvement. Moreover, most African black students do not have the opportunity to fulfill these criteria and therefore other factors that may predict academic success were investigated. One hundred and twenty eight graduates (66 black and 62 white) who graduated between 2000 – 2005 from eight universities and six Heads of Physiotherapy Departments participated in the research. For the purposes of this study, graduates who completed the degree in four years or four and a half years were defined as successful and those that completed in five years and above were defined as unsuccessful. The graduates responded to a questionnaire which had two sections: Section A had closed ended questions and Section B had open ended questions. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with Heads of Departments using semistructured interview schedule. The data were subjected first to simple descriptive statistical analysis. These analyses revealed that 59% of blacks were successful compared to 90% of whites and that there were more successful females than males. The average time taken to complete physiotherapy degree is 5 years for blacks and 4 years for white; black students were less likely to succeed in physiotherapy programmes. Frequency analysis was done using Chi square test and the results showed an association between race and success (X2 = 16.29; p < 0.01). Logistic regression was done and the results revealed that high school performance was not a predictor of success for black students and that sharing a residence room (OR = 3.09; p = 0.05), obtaining information about university support systems from classmates (OR = 6.25; p < 0.05), feeling part of the group of classmates (OR = 3.23; p < 0.05) and choosing physiotherapy as the first choice of career (OR = .33; p < 0.05) were predictors of success of black physiotherapy students. These results indicate that a supportive learning environment is conducive for black students’ academic success Responses to the open ended questions were collated for each question and then analysed using content analysis as described by Mayan (2002). Themes that emerged with regards to student success indicate that according to the respondents, a student who is determined to succeed and become a physiotherapist, who has the support they need (particularly finance and family), and favourable learning environment will be successful in their studies. Themes that emerged regarding factors that are barriers to students’ academic success were: lack of academic discipline, academic problems, psychosocial difficulties, poor learning environment. A question was raised regarding reasons of students leaving the physiotherapy programme before completion. The responses represent secondary data because it was difficult to locate students who had left physiotherapy programmes. The most cited reasons were multiple failures resulting in academic exclusion, and decision to change career. The interviews with the Heads of Department were transcribed verbatim. These transcripts were then subjected to data-reducing procedures described by Tesch (1990). Firstly the analysis confirmed that black students take an average of 5 years to complete the degree and that the failure occurred mainly in first two years of study. The analysis also revealed that there were few (2 – 10) black students admitted into physiotherapy each year particularly at the Historically White Universities although there were additional criteria that sought to widen access for black students. Secondly, themes that emerged regarding factors that are perceived to contribute to students’ academic success indicated that a successful student is a student who has adequate knowledge about the physiotherapy profession, has academic discipline, has all the relevant support needed and is integrated well with classmates. On the other hand, a student who is inadequately prepared for higher education, has poor proficiency of language of instruction, lacks financial support and has difficult social circumstances, will not be successful in his or her studies. The HODs indicated that there are support systems put in place within their departments and the university at large. The support is academic, financial and psychosocial. vi The results of this study have shown that black students are less likely to be successful than white students, and that average time taken to complete the degree is 5 years. According to Graves (2008), in America the gap between black and white graduation rates still exists and it has been found that many colleges and universities graduate black students at significantly lower rates than white students. The immediate reaction to this result in the South African context would be that the reason for this outcome is that most black students are admitted with lower high school performance. The results in this study did indeed show that the distribution of aggregate and per-subject marks was lower for black respondents than for white respondents, and that at these lower ranges there were equal chances of success and failure. In other words, in dealing with black physiotherapy students, one must look beyond the matric results to identify factors that predict success. Uncertainty about the validity of matric as a predictor of further performance has long existed for low-scoring, disadvantaged students from the previous Department of Education and Training’s, black only educational systems. The rapidly changing South African situation complicates the use and evaluation of the use of matric results for selection. A supportive learning environment has proved to be important for success of African black physiotherapy students.

This thesis is based on three different focus groups held in the summer of 2018 with a total of twelve Black students. It examines a group of Black students’ experiences of racist microaggressions on the campus of a large comprehensive Canadian university situated in an urban setting. Using Critical Race Theory it analyzes how seemingly neutral comments, slights, snubs or representations by white students and professors contributes to a culture of anti-Black racism on this campus. Key to this analysis is the shift from traditional forms of racism to more subtle forms of racism in contemporary society, and the role that institutions play in reproducing racism. Microaggressions thus characterise the subtle way in which racism is perpetuated in contemporary society. The experiences described by the twelve students in this research study demonstrate the prevalence of microaggressions in the lives of Black students in this Canadian university. Furthermore, the four broad themes emerge from the focus group discussions: the lack of diversity in the student population and faculty, the invalidation of Black experiences, stereotypical representations of Black people and cultures, and gendered racism, give further nuance to the types of messages that Black students are exposed to at this university. This analysis produces a deeper understanding of how these micro-level interactions contribute to the broader culture of racism on campuses.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1974. / Title from title page screen, viewed Oct. 28, 2004. Dissertation Committee: Charles Edwards (chair), Eugene Fitzpatrick, Clayton Thomas, Charles Sherman, Gene Watson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-133). Also available in print.

M.Ed. / The influence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic as well as the significant impact it has left on children and adolescent who are left without parental guidance and support has huge implications for communities. As the epidemic spreads, adolescent-headed families are becoming more and more frequent in society, posing great challenges to extended families that have to care for additional children, causing a collapse on parental functions. This leads to the emergence of a new family structure where great strain is placed on children who are often left to fend for themselves. The absence of parental care and support often not only affect their social emotional development, but also their scholastic performance. This inquiry attempted to understand how these adolescents cope with difficulties related to living without caregivers, and as to how some can overcome the odds and still successfully progress with expectations placed by the school context. The inquiry utilized a phenomenological research design that is exploratory in nature. The data collection methods included semi-structured interviews with four participants, two boys and two girls. Each of the four participants also wrote narratives of their life stories. Two focus group interviews were also conducted, one with the four participant's educators and the other with another group of adolescents from adolescent-headed families. Data obtained was analysed using content analysis to determine the common themes and subthemes that emerged.

Black students’ performance in mathematics on standardized examinations compared to White students is dismal; however, previous research has shown that there are highly effective high schools for Black students as defined by high levels of mathematics performance. Underachievement in upper-level high-school mathematics courses is a barrier for Black students’ access to many postsecondary education opportunities and contributes to an underrepresentation of Black students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics college majors and related careers. This dissertation examines the multilevel characteristics (student, teacher, department, and school factors) of high school mathematics programs as measured by Black students’ performance on standardized tests in 12th grade. The data for this study were taken from the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 from the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education. Results indicated that the 12th grade achievement in mathematics of Black students is positively related to prior mathematics achievement, family SES, and the interaction between the teaching practices of mathematics teachers and students’ collective sense of safety. A surprising interaction effect indicated that in schools where there is collective sense about lack of safety and where students report low-quality mathematics teaching practices, Blacks are more likely to exhibit high student-achievement in mathematics than schools where the collective sense about safety is mixed (or where it is high) or where there is student consensus of good quality teaching practices.

The aim is to empower all students to achieve academic success by overcoming the educational barriers that exist within the school system. This thesis examines what sociological factors are at play that encourages the academic success of Black students. The emphasis will be to identify how other Black students can replicate the success of their high achieving peers. Another theme in this thesis focuses around the idea of success and who it belongs to versus which groups of learners are ignored. Other related themes look at the power of educators to transform the lives of students where schooling is viewed as a family approach offering hope for all stakeholders. Furthermore, the resiliency of Black learners and their ability to rise above racial pressures and adversity is an important theme that addresses the need for policy to change and the implementation of anti-racist strategies.

The aim is to empower all students to achieve academic success by overcoming the educational barriers that exist within the school system. This thesis examines what sociological factors are at play that encourages the academic success of Black students. The emphasis will be to identify how other Black students can replicate the success of their high achieving peers. Another theme in this thesis focuses around the idea of success and who it belongs to versus which groups of learners are ignored. Other related themes look at the power of educators to transform the lives of students where schooling is viewed as a family approach offering hope for all stakeholders. Furthermore, the resiliency of Black learners and their ability to rise above racial pressures and adversity is an important theme that addresses the need for policy to change and the implementation of anti-racist strategies.

Research on the current condition of education within the black community suggests that there are significant obstacles to the academic success of black children. Disparities between black student’s performance, when compared to others show that blacks fall behind other students on standardized test scores, rate of those college attendance and completing high school educations. An exploration of contemporary issues in black education and black student academic achievement will help clarify the scope of these problems and possible underlying causes. It is hypothesized that the challenges facing today’s black student’s academic achievement have their roots in the events that occurred during the desegregation process of the mid to late 1960’s. The educational history of the Sam Schwarz School in Hempstead, Texas will serve as a case study of how the desegregation process represented a collective trauma experienced by Hempstead’s black community. / text

This dissertation examines trends in access for Black students at public institutions in Texas, specifically, the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), in the context of automatic admission laws and race-based admission policies. Thus, the current study explores how Black students matriculate through the educational pipeline from high school graduation through college enrollment. For this study, I utilize Critical Race Theory as the framework to analyze data for Texas high school students from 2000 through 2010. I employed a quantitative methodological approach, which includes both descriptive analyses and logistic regression. Black people are facing seemingly bleak educational outcomes throughout the education pipeline -- they are less likely to graduate from high school, be college ready, apply to a competitive four-year institution, be admitted, enroll, persist and graduate. Automatic admission laws and affirmative action have been implemented to address these issues, especially for selective institutions. Increased access to Texas' most selective public institution, UT-Austin, may lead to higher persistence and graduation rates for Black students compared to other state colleges and universities. However, Black students remain the most underrepresented group at UT-Austin in spite of these laws and policies. This study is unique because no other research has examined how automatic admission laws and affirmative action operate simultaneously. Moreover, this study fills in some significant gaps in the literature as it relates to Black students in higher education. Findings from this study suggest that while there is progress toward access for Black students at UT-Austin, there is still room for growth. Despite perceptions that Black students do not want to attend UT-Austin, this study found that Black students were more likely to apply to the University compared to White students when holding other factors constant. However, the research findings indicate that White students still have an admissions advantage over Black students even when accounting for SAT scores, family background and the type of high school a student attended. Furthermore, Black students are less likely to enroll at UT-Austin compared to their White counterparts. Finally, the results from this study also suggest that affirmative action has not had the same impact for Black students under the top 10% plan as it has when the policy was used by itself. / text