ABSTRACT THE EASY WAY VERSUS THE HARD WAY: MIDDLE- CLASS BLACK MALE STUDENTS‟ PERCEPTIONS OF EDUCATION AS IT RELATES TO SUCCESS AND CAREER ASPIRATIONS by Rita D. Williams “Education is the key to success” is a common mantra on which schools base their goals and daily operations as well as the reason why most teachers enjoy job security. The majority of school personnel project two beliefs: (a) College is the appropriate next step after graduating from high school, and (b) white-collar occupations, such as professional, management, and supervisory positions, are desired career choices. However, after interacting with and observing the behavior of students in my classroom, I wonder how many young people agree with educators‟ thoughts on college and careers. Many Black males, in particular, do not enroll in college upon graduating from high school and often work in jobs that require less education (Joint Center Data Bank, 2003; Mincy, Lewis, & Han, 2006). Herr (1996) believed people operate within an ecological context that included “the combination of physical, social, political, and economic environments that persons occupy and combine to create the circumstances in which each person negotiates his or her identity, belief systems, and life course” (p. 6 – 7). Within this context, individuals developed values that are personal and important. These values may or may not be aligned to values that are prevalent in society. As such, it was worth conducting a qualitative study of how middle-class Black males perceived the role of education in success as well as their career plans. Any misalignment of thoughts between some middle-class Black males and school personnel could inform our understanding of why middle-class Black males, as a subgroup, academically perform lower than other similar subgroups. Research questions included (1) How do middle-class Black males in a predominantly Black high school perceive the role of education in success as well the career aspirations of Black males? (2) What self-identified factors influenced their perceptions of education, success, and careers? Through interviews and focus groups, I gained insight on the academic and career perspectives of 13 middle-class Black males. Constant comparison methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and organizational displays (Miles & Huberman, 1994) guided data analysis. The findings reveal that, although all participants plan to attend college, most respondents believe additional routes, besides a higher education, lead to career and life achievement.

ABSTRACT RESTORATIVE DISCIPLINE AS AN ALTERNATE TO RETRIBUTIVE DISCIPLINE WITHIN THE JUVENILE COURT SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE METRO COUNTY JUVENILE COURT COMMUNITY RESTORATIVE BOARD by Ajamu A. Banjoko Giroux (2003) indicated that the prison industry has become a major economic industry with many states spending more money on prison reforms than on educational reforms. Juvenile delinquent behavior should be punished but fair treatment and equal rights for all human beings under the rule of law is paramount to punishment. Casella (2001) indicated that the prison population has sky-rocketed, and by 1995 forty-eight states passed laws to facilitate the prosecution of juveniles as adults and therefore children are placed in adult prisons where they are at a higher risk of not only attack and rape, but of suicide. The research established a rationale for restorative justice discipline as an alternate to punitive retributive discipline in order to potentially decrease the number of youth offenders facing incarceration. Crime control is the responsibility of all citizens not just the government and this responsibility reflects the foundational tenets of restorative justice. Bazemore and Umbreit (1995) suggested that restorative justice is not an alternative to punishment it is an alternate punishment to bad or unwanted behavior. A qualitative case study was used to analyze and explore the disciplinary functions and procedures of the Metro County Juvenile Court Community Restorative Boards. The perceptions of two board members and three juvenile court officials was analyzed in an effort to better understand how and why Community Restorative Boards implement restorative justice discipline toward youth offenders. Data were gathered through narrative interviews and participatory observations in order to better understand the emerging phenomenon of restorative discipline within the juvenile justice system as an alternate to punitive retributive discipline. The study analyzed the dynamics of the school to prison pipeline through zero tolerance school policies, examined the juvenile justice system and the sentencing of youth offenders in criminal court. The study also examined the usage of traditional retributive discipline and restorative discipline within the juvenile court system. The study provided empirical data that support the infusion of a complimentary or supplementary restorative justice disciplinary approach toward adjudicating youth offenders within the juvenile court system. Bazemore and Umbreit (1995) suggested that utilizing a restorative justice disciplinary model increases the opportunity for young people to be held accountable for their misbehavior by actively participating in the process of establishing consequences to help repair the harm that they have caused to an individual, the community, and themselves.

In the rapidly changing school environment effective principals are needed to make necessary changes while also developing a culture of shared responsibility and community (Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999). The correlation between transformational leadership and emotional intelligence was investigated in this quantitative study of school principals. Also included in the research was the investigation of the relationship between each construct and effectiveness as perceived by their teachers. The research sample was composed of 30 elementary, middle, and high school principals and five to seven teachers who worked with each principal from schools within the United States. An emotional intelligence score for the principals was obtained by administering the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Teachers who worked with each principal completed the rater form of the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). This yielded a mean transformational score, a leader effectiveness score, and scores for other non-transformational leadership styles. Correlations were analyzed to conclude that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .37, p < .05. A positive correlational relationship between effectiveness and both emotional intelligence, Pearson’s r(30) = .38, p < .05, and transformational leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .90, p < .01, was also evident. Analyzing the relationship between emotional intelligence and different non-transformational leadership styles yielded mixed results. Findings indicate a relationship exists between emotional intelligence and contingent reward leadership, Pearson’s r(30) = .38 , p < .05, while no significant relationship was evident between emotional intelligence and other leadership styles. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that principals and future principals could better develop effective leadership skills by becoming more aware of their strengths and weakness in the area of emotional intelligence, along with improving their transformational leadership behaviors.

ABSTRACT TEACHERS’ AND TEACHER LEADERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FORMAL ROLE OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP by Jerry Kelley The accountability and responsibilities of schools have intensified greatly over the past two decades and school improvement has become a strong focus of many schools, thus requiring a greater understanding and use of formal teacher leadership if schools are to meet high standards. This research studied teachers’ and teacher leaders’ beliefs concerning the formal role of teacher leadership in three elementary schools. A qualitative study was conducted, utilizing surveys and interviews to collect data concerning teachers’ and teacher leaders’ perceptions of the formal role of teacher leadership. All teachers at three elementary schools were invited to complete an electronic survey and nominate teachers they believed were formal teacher leaders. Nominated teachers meeting the study’s criteria as a formal teacher leader were invited to complete a self-administered teacher leader self-assessment survey. Based on the results from the surveys, nine teachers, three from each school, were invited to participate in an interview process with the researcher. Analysis of all data collected throughout the study suggests that even though formal teacher leadership is valued by most teachers, there exists a disconnect between teachers’ and teacher leaders’ beliefs of what formal teacher leadership should look like ideally in their schools versus their perceived reality of formal teacher leadership. Areas such as collaboration, recognition, and understanding of the formal role of teacher leadership, as well as policies that affects these areas were all found to hold discrepancies in these schools.

The assumptions underlying the relationships between microfinance and women’s empowerment are typically rooted in a financial paradigm, wherein the prevailing belief is that increases in economic resources necessarily lead to increases in women’s empowerment. This results in a conceptual erasure of the multi-dimensionality of empowerment and disregards the influences that microfinance has on women that extend beyond the economic sphere. This study explored how 6 women in Mali perceive and experience empowerment in relation to their participation in a microfinance program using photovoice. Photovoice is a qualitative methodology wherein participants document, reflect on, and represent their community and experiences using a specific photographic technique. The photographic collection that the women generated, along with their narratives and oral testimonies, suggest that empowerment is a complex construct that includes, yet extends beyond the financial paradigm. The findings of this indicate that microfinance has positively and negatively impacted various dimensions of the women’s perceived empowerment. At the conclusion of the project, the women participated in a forum and initiated policy changes at the microfinance institution with which they are affiliated.

ABSTRACT SWIMMING UPSTREAM: A STUDY OF BLACK MALES AND THE ACADEMIC PIPELINE Rhonda D. Wilkins Post secondary participation and graduation rates of Black males are declining rapidly. Black women, however, are realizing substantial growth in both of these areas and account for the majority of the increase in Black student college enrollment. This qualitative case study addresses the decline in Black male participation in higher education by focusing on six Black men who completed college programs and the academic pipeline that brought them to their degree. The purpose of the research inquiry was to determine various factors that either helped or hindered the academic progression of the six Black male participants. For the study participants the two-year college was a component of their academic pipeline and was assessed based on its function as a conduit aiding degree attainment. The common factors that emerged from the findings as influential to the academic progression of the six Black males were categorized as: (a) personal attributes and perceptions, (b) relationships and external influences, and (c) institutional factors. The personal attributes of the participants included self-efficacy, endurance and resilience, and self-regulation. These attributes were framed within the central context of personal agency. Factors external to the participants consisted of family messages about higher education, role models, mentors and advocates, early exposure to college and participation in athletic sports. The institutional factors that surfaced were insufficient college preparation in high school, contrasts between the climate and culture of the two-year college and four-year institution, the lack of promotion of the transfer function at the two-year college. Race and gender were also considered relative to the men and their experiences with the academic pipeline. The salient factors included: (a) the general social and economic conditions faced by young Black males, (b) the perpetuation of negative or one-dimensional stereotypes in the media, (c) pre-college educational inequities, (d) the lack of assistance with college transition, and (e) the unwelcoming climates and lack of Black faculty at predominately white institutions. The study concluded that Black males may face many hurdles to postsecondary attainment and will therefore require personal, family, community, and institutional forces to push them through the academic pipeline.

ABSTRACT CULTURAL IDENTITY, VOICE, AND AGENCY IN POST-SECONDARY GRAPHIC DESIGN EDUCATION: A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY by Larry M. Stultz This study investigates areas of conflict between students’ cultural identities and the educational environment established and maintained by their faculty and school. It analyzes the usefulness and value of personal creative expression in the classroom and how treatment of cultural identity and performance influences student persistence and success. Four theoretical frameworks ground this study and comprise the majority of the relevant literature. The inquiry is framed by theories in curriculum, performance, cultural difference, and symbolic interaction. Three purposely selected students participated in individual case studies, and the data from interviews, classroom observation, and examples of student work were subjected to both unique and collective case analysis. Three identifiable areas inform the collective interpretation: socialization, self-view, and agency, with the latter seeming most dynamic. Very significant are the students’ disparate socialization goals: assimilation, acculturation, and syncretism or compromised coexistence. The problem of self-view, or naming, is also useful. The identity and voice exhibited by these three students create ways in which they are viewed and treated by their peers and their faculty. Most importantly, the students’ experiences and cultural capital are shown to have agency, and agency is a signifier in looking into student success. This study reveals that while it is up to the students to utilize experiential agency, it is up to educators and institutions to consider the role of identity, voice, and agency in developing and maintaining an educative environment.

The purpose of this study was to research the experiences of female academicians in traditional liberal arts academic disciplines at one institution. The challenges of being a female academician are revealed in statistical data about faculty rank, tenure, and salaries as well as in descriptive accounts of the environment that women encounter in the higher education institutions. However, the intersection of women and the academic disciplines rooted in the liberal arts tradition is a neglected arena of investigation. This research involved a series of qualitative in-depth interviews with three women representing biology, psychology, and English at a small public college and began as an examination of their experiences in these academic disciplines. Consistent with qualitative research, the themes that emerged from the interviews did not highlight the original research focus. Rather, the women discussed their lives as teachers as a priority over their lives in the disciplines. Through the interviews, the women revealed that their paths into their disciplines began when they were children, a finding not addressed in current literature. Their stories also reveal commonalities in their professional socializations, their quests to have satisfying personal and professional lives, and the impact of relationships on the formation of their academic and professional identities. As each woman fell in love with her discipline during graduate school, she also discovered teaching as her greater affection. In the context of agency and strength, rather than educational tracking or cultural pressure, they found conditions of possibility in academic careers primarily focused on teaching. The results of this research suggest alternatives to some assumptions prevalent in current literature, including assumptions about when the direction of a career path begins and assumptions that women accept teaching-focused careers through systemic influences. The experiences of these women highlight the vital role of personal agency and meaningful interpersonal connections in the careers of women in academia.

February 2003 was the inauguration of the Foundations of Excellence project with an open invitation to chief academic officers at approximately 900 of both the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) member institutions. The Policy Center on the First Year of College, under the direction of the Executive Director, John N. Gardner, invited the various campuses to develop standards and guidelines for the first year, which were termed as Foundational Dimensions or simply Dimensions. As a result, over 200 member institutions agreed to participate in the project by establishing campus-wide task forces to look at the initial list of six Dimensions developed by the Policy Center and Penn State research partners. These Dimensions were designed to be essential characteristics of institutional effectiveness in promoting the learning and success of every first-year student. This is a case study of one of the founding institutions of the Foundations of Excellence endeavor, Public State University (PSU). In particular, this study utilizes the Foundations of Excellence Dimensions Statements as a basis to assess Public State University’s first-year experience collaboration efforts. Furthermore, this research is specifically grounded in the 2nd Dimensions Statement of the Foundations of Excellence, looking at what the Public State University first-year experience program looks like through academic affairs and student affairs collaborative partnerships. This study specifically examines PSU’s established partnerships within the First Year Orientation and Advising Committee (FYOAC) and the University College Advisory Council (UCAC) and determines what participants mean by collaboration. Through the use of a rubric, the analysis of the data resulted in a significant finding in reference to collaboration literature. The findings indicated that the literature on academic and student affairs collaboration should include information on institutional culture and investigate whether the underpinnings of institutional culture are actually social systems that are inextricably tied to their external environments, which in turn have a direct impact on foundational benchmarks on collaboration for First-Year Experience programs. Implications of this study’s results are addressed, limitations of this study are discussed, and recommendations for future research are given.

In response to public concern over fairness in testing, conducting a differential item functioning (DIF) analysis is now standard practice for many large-scale testing programs (e.g., Scholastic Aptitude Test, intelligence tests, licensing exams). As highlighted by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing manual, the legal and ethical need to avoid bias when measuring examinee abilities is essential to fair testing practices (AERA-APA-NCME, 1999). Likewise, the development of statistical and substantive methods of investigating DIF is crucial to the goal of designing fair and valid educational and psychological tests. Douglas, Roussos and Stout (1996) introduced the concept of item bundle DIF and the implications of differential bundle functioning (DBF) for identifying the underlying causes of DIF. Since then, several studies have demonstrated DIF/DBF analyses within the framework of “unintended” multidimensionality (Oshima & Miller, 1992; Russell, 2005). Russell (2005), in particular, examined the effect of secondary traits on DBF/DTF detection. Like Russell, this study created item bundles by including multidimensional items on a simulated test designed in theory to be unidimensional. Simulating reference group members to have a higher mean ability than the focal group on the nuisance secondary dimension, resulted in DIF for each of the multidimensional items, that when examined together produced differential bundle functioning. The purpose of this Monte Carlo simulation study was to assess the Type I error and power performance of SIBTEST (Simultaneous Item Bias Test; Shealy & Stout, 1993a) for DBF analysis under various conditions with simulated data. The variables of interest included sample size and ratios of reference to focal group sample sizes, correlation between primary and secondary dimensions, magnitude of DIF/DBF, and angular item direction. Results showed SIBTEST to be quite powerful in detecting DBF and controlling Type I error for almost all of the simulated conditions. Specifically, power rates were .80 or above for 84% of all conditions and the average Type I error rate was approximately .05. Furthermore, the combined effect of the studied variables on SIBTEST power and Type I error rates provided much needed information to guide further use of SIBTEST for identifying potential sources of differential item/bundle functioning.