The Massachusetts METCO program is a state-funded, voluntary educational desegregation program designed to eliminate racial imbalance by busing children from Boston, MA, and Springfield, MA to 38 suburban public-school districts across Massachusetts. This Dissertation is a Qualitative-Method Research study that honors the voices and perspectives of Black participants who went through the METCO program, using Critical Race Theory (CRT), Critical Race Feminist Theory (CRFT), and the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) as guiding frameworks to understand better the impacts of the program on the life outcomes of its students. These theories guided the conceptualization of the following research questions which the study aims to address. How do Black participants describe their experiences in the METCO program? What are the participants’ views and perspectives on how their experiences in the METCO program have influenced their life outcomes? How have the racial experiences while in the METCO program affected the mental health outcomes of the participants? What are the participants’ views on the implications of these experiences on current and future METCO policies? Using the narrative inquiry method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants and 1 participant opted to share their views via a letter instead. The data were coded and analyzed using inductive and deductive coding consistent with narrative inquiry with the analysis software MAXQDA to provide a clearer picture of the experiences of Black former METCO and their perceptions of the impact of the METCO program on their lives. Results showed that although participants were very grateful for the post-secondary opportunities afforded to them by the METCO program, the racial experiences and the lasting mental health effects are significant enough in their lives that they would not send their children through the METCO program, given the chance. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of implications on future research, school and state policies, and teacher and parent education. Keywords: METCO, racial experiences, life outcomes, narrative inquiry research, critical race theory, critical feminist theory, phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory.

This study explored teachers' perceptions of intelligence of 11th-grade Black male students and how students themselves perceived their own intelligence in light of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Qualitative research methods were used to gain novel understanding of the students' and teachers' feelings, and perceptions as outlined in the research questions. Two versions of ecological systems theory provided the underpinnings for the framework of this study: 1) Brönfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, and 2) Spencer's PVEST (Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory) model, which is an adaptation of the ecology model to Black students in the United States. In a large urban school district in the Southeast section of the United States, twenty-six students completed an online survey of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. Seven Black male students were selected and interviewed along with ten of their teachers. The study found that despite the negative stereotypes toward Black males by society, the Black male students in this study interpreted intelligence to be multifaceted and perceived themselves as intelligent Black males. The teachers of the Black male students perceived them as intelligent and also interpreted intelligence to be multifaceted. The Black male students were resilient in debunking the idea that Black males were not considered intelligent in a society where negative Black male stereotypes abound.