(2022). Black, Qualified, and Capable: An Exploration of the Journey to Becoming a Chief Business Officer in Post-Secondary Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Illinois State University. Regardless of type or student body size, every college or university relies on a chief business officer (CBO) to manage resources and lead most day-to-day operations. Unfortunately, demographic employment reports show that a high percentage of college and university CBOs are White, and a low percentage are Black (College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, CUPA-HR, 2019; National Association of College and University Business Officers, NACUBO, 2016). This qualitative narrative study applied critical race theory, social cognitive career theory: interest development and self-development models, and the social capital theory along with the implicit bias conceptual model to analyze the narrative content about the processes that Black, qualified, and capable men and women experienced, along with the barriers they had to navigate, to become a CBO. The study found that while there were apparent differences in how the participants discovered the CBO profession, the… [Direct]
(2022). Principals' Perceptions of How to Reduce Discipline Disparities for Black Students. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Walden University. Disparity exists in disciplinary actions taken toward Black students compared to White students in the public schools of a county school district in a Southwest U.S. state. Successful school leadership practices are needed to minimize the disproportionality of Black students being expelled, suspended, and routed to the school-to-prison pipeline. The purpose of this basic qualitative case study was to explore school leaders' perceptions of how to reduce the disciplinary actions taken with Black students in the public schools of a county school district in a Southwest U.S. state. The conceptual framework was critical race theory. The research questions addressed: (a) what strategies school leaders used (if any) to reduce discipline referral rates, including suspensions, among Black students and (b) obstacles school leaders perceived to reducing discipline referral and suspension rates among Black students. Data were collected from semistructured, in-depth, one-on-one interviews with… [Direct]
(2022). Perceptions of Their Experiences with the Digital Divide: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology of First-Year College Students. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Oral Roberts University. Purpose and Method of Study: The digital divide is a result and manifestation of inequality in American society and the educational system. While there is an abundance of quantitative research that confirms the existence of the digital divide, there is very little qualitative research that addresses students' lived experiences. As such, this study seeks to gather, understand, and interpret the experiences of students whom the digital divide has impacted. This hermeneutic phenomenology, built upon a theoretical framework of equity theory, critical theory, and critical race theory, is uniquely equipped to interpret and convey the experiences of its participants. By providing a means for the voices of marginalized individuals to be presented as crafted stories, this study compels the reader to rethink their understanding of the digital divide and view it through a lens fashioned by those who experienced it. Findings and Conclusions: Four common ideas surfaced from the interviews:… [Direct]
(2022). Urban Administrators Perspectives of Exclusionary Discipline Techniques and the School-to-Prison Pipeline. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Walden University. There is an overrepresentation of elementary-age, Black boys being suspended across the United States. Researchers have found that if these boys are disconnected from school at an early age, they are at risk of becoming part of the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). Educators, particularly those in urban settings, need to understand more about the use of exclusionary discipline policies and practices. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to understand how urban educators consider the consequences of exclusionary discipline practices and the overrepresentation of elementary-age, Black boys who receive them compared to others. Critical race theory informed this study. Ten administrators who had 2-20 years' experience as administrators working with an urban school demographic were interviewed; all were from one school district in the western United States. Open and in vivo coding were used to support thematic analyses. The urban administrators described struggling to… [Direct]
(2022). Substantially Silent: Exploring the Variability of "Voice" at the Intersection of Race and Dis/Ability in a Restrictive Special Education Placement. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston. The overrepresentation of Black students in special education, particularly in the most restrictive educational placements, is well documented in the literature. In addition, Black students are disproportionately placed into far more segregated educational spaces than their same-aged White peers with similar dis/ability labels. With limited qualitative studies that center the voices of students of color labelled as severely disabled in restrictive educational settings, informed by the tenets of Disability Studies in Education (DSE), this study adds to the growing body of research foregrounding the voices of individuals with dis/abilities in telling their own story from their perspective through narrative portraiture. This inquiry uses a Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory in Education (DisCrit) framework to analyze the lived educational experiences of a Black high school student labeled as severely disabled, his mother, and his former teacher to explore how race, dis/ability,… [Direct]
(2022). The Role Academic Strategies Play in the First Year College Experience of African American Males with ADHD. ProQuest LLC, D.Ed. Dissertation, Bradley University. First-year African American males with ADHD do not persist beyond the first year of college due to barriers experienced in PWI environments. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological action research study with a disability critical race theory framework was to investigate the role educational strategies played in the college experience of first-year African American males with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study examined five research questions. How do African American males with ADHD describe their first-year college experience? During the first year of a college experience, what factors do African American males with ADHD see as contributing or not contributing to academic success, and how often do African American male college students with ADHD request assistance for academic strategy support such as time management, tutoring support service, and test-taking strategies. For African-American male college students with ADHD, what is the process for… [Direct]
(2022). Black Premedical Student Retention: Exploring Campus Support Programming through the Eyes of the Student. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California. In the United States, there is a disproportionately low number of Black physicians in comparison to the demographic composition of Black people in the nation. This underrepresentation gap is result of historic systemic racism that led to Black people being abused and left out of healthcare and medical education. Despite improvement in healthcare and educational since the Civil Rights era, the underrepresentation gap amongst physicians persists. While the causes and solutions for the underrepresentation gap are multifactorial, one avenue of exploration is in how universities support Black student persistence in premedical education. Under the framework of Critical Race Theory, this study addresses the research question "what are Black premed students' experiences and perceptions of support programming at public universities in the state of California". The purpose of this study was to identify opportunities to enhance support for Black premedical students by utilizing their… [Direct]
(2022). Cross-Disciplinary, Collaborative and Student-Led: Developing a Change Process for Diversifying Reading Lists. London Review of Education, v20 n1. Increasingly across many UK higher education institutions staff and students are questioning and challenging systemic inequalities that affect racially minoritised groups in their learning and sense of belonging within the curriculum. Students are calling for inclusion of diverse sources of knowledge and perspectives, especially from scholars of colour and from the Global South, to enrich what is currently perceived to be a Eurocentric canon. One way to promote more culturally aligned pedagogy is through diversifying reading lists. This article presents findings from two pilot studies that explored the reading lists in one department in social sciences and one in the humanities at the University of Kent, UK. Applying critical race theory as a guiding framework, the first part of the article examines the ways in which a diverse curriculum must include the voices of the marginalised. It then describes the methods: a desk-based review of the reading lists, interviews with academics to… [PDF]
(2022). Culture of Care and Prosocial Leadership: Autoethnography of an Elementary School Principal Navigating COVID-19. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Portland State University. Since 2016, I have been serving as principal at Davis Elementary School, a Title 1 school in Portland, Oregon. This autoethnography is a reflective account of my role as a principal during COVID-19 school closures and reopening. School systems and school leaders had to become more adaptive to change and had to find ways to creatively deal with COVID-19 challenges. Utilizing the conceptual frameworks of (a) culture of care informed by the constructs of ethic of care, cultural wealth in critical race theory, and culturally responsive leadership; and (b) prosocial leadership, this autoethnography used self-reflection and thematic analysis to elucidate the shared experiences and challenges of many education professionals. Through writing this autoethnography, I explored my own entanglements in the day-to-day nuances of addressing a crisis never before experienced by our modern educational system. Thematic analysis revealed an overarching theme of an ethic of care that undergirded all… [Direct]
(2022). Inequitable Access to an Equitable Education: One District's Journey toward Overcoming the Disproportionate Representation of Latinx Students in Special Education. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Latinx students are being over-identified as students with disabilities in our current K-12 educational system by as much as eight times that of their White peers. Students served in a more restrictive environment, such as special education, see poorer outcomes than those in a general education setting; therefore, expanding equitable access and opportunities through the use of a tiered system is the best approach to support Latinx students. Race (Cole et al., 2021; Kramarczuk Voulgarides et al., 2017). As the student population continues to diversify, Latinx students face challenges in our education system that have not been addressed (Kramarczuk Voulgarides et al., 2017). Using Critical Race Theory and Latinx Critical Theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to follow one district's journey as they begin to implement a tiered system of support to address their current status of significant disproportionality for overidentifying Latinx students in special education. The… [Direct]
(2022). Inconspicuous: A Qualitative Study Examining Black Women's Experiences in the United States Androcentric STEM Domain. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Grand Canyon University. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand better the experiences of Black women, their unique encounters caused by the intersectionality of their race and gender, and the support strategies they rely on to navigate the environment of the United States STEM field. The study's theoretical foundations were the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality Theory. The lack of research concerning Black women's experiences in the STEM domain precipitated its exploration to expand the literature. The study included three research questions. First, how do Black women describe their experiences in the STEM domain? Second, how do Black women describe their unique encounters caused by the intersectionality of their race and gender in the STEM domain? Thirdly, how do Black women describe the support systems they use to navigate the androcentric STEM domain? Purposive and limited snowball sampling was used to select 16 Black women to participate in the study because… [Direct]
(2023). Critical Race Counterstories: Testimonios and Platicas with Latina Teachers in Rural Central California. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis. The California educational system is facing a major problem of diversity and representation in the teacher workforce. Latina/o children make up more than half of the population of students in California's public school system, yet their teachers do not mirror this population (CDE, 2022). According to the California Department of Education, (CDE, n.d.), this teacher-student demographic mismatch is especially pronounced in rural Central California, specifically Merced County. When discussing the diversification of the teacher workforce, the literature and research has often focused on the disparities, barriers, or lack of opportunities faced by Latinas/os and other people of color. While this is important to understand, it is also important to understand what went right for Latinas/os who entered the workforce as credentialed teachers. To know what went right, a different kind of story, one of success despite so many barriers or limitations, must be told. This type of story is the… [Direct]
(2023). First-Generation Low-Income (FGLI) US Black College Women's Social Capital. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno. Black college students' social engagement navigation in higher education is met with challenges at many colleges and universities. Students from racial minority backgrounds and low-income families face a disparity in social capital gain during their enrollment at higher education institutions. This reality has led to constant reproduction of social difficulty for first-generation low-income Black students that are enrolled in higher education. The first-generation low-income (FGLI) US Black college women in this study overcame many obstacles to obtain their self-developed social networks and individual connections to the four-year public predominately White institution (PWI) they attended. This study explored ten FGLI US Black college women perspectives on bridging and bonding social capital while participating in collegiate fitness programs at a predominately White Institution (PWI). The participants identified social networks within collegiate fitness programs and on campus as… [Direct]
(2023). Teaching Middle School Students about Racism and Slavery in Colonial America. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Boston University. Social studies teachers in the United States are often unprepared or hesitant to teach about race and racism. This is especially true among White teachers. If teachers are to teach American history, they must be prepared to teach about race and racism, starting with the construction of race in Colonial America and continuing to emphasize the prevalence of racism throughout American history and today. This dissertation was a critical participatory action research study of two White teachers who tried to improve their teaching about race, racism, and slavery in Colonial America in the context of a White Jewish private middle school. The study asked how the teachers collaborated, how their unit changed over two years, and how student responses changed. Data were collected through interviews with teachers and students, during recorded teacher planning meetings, through classroom observations, and by collecting classroom artifacts. Qualitative analysis through the lens of Critical Race… [Direct]
(2023). The Role of Trust & Collaboration in Culturally Responsive School Leadership. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Boston University. In the past three years, educational leaders in the United States were called to fight for equity and dismantle the oppressive systemic racism that afflict our schools. Yet, as so many of our school leaders and educators are White, they feel unprepared to confront the historic and evolving problem of racial inequality that has frequently been viewed as a "Black problem" (Singleton, 2015, p. 37). With a renewed commitment to educational equity, school leaders are seeking ways to build less divisive and more inclusive schools. This qualitative study describes the role of trust and collaboration in developing culturally responsive school leadership through the perceptions, beliefs, dispositions, and strategies of five school leaders. This study is a narrative inquiry into the experiences of five current school leaders in Massachusetts collected from interviews from June-October 2022. Their staff were also surveyed electronically. Participants were selected based on the… [Direct]