Teachers’ and Administrators’ Perceptions of the Under-Representation of African American Males in Gifted and Talented Education Programs

Author(s)

Roy SermonsFollow

Date

5-2016

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Tamika Hibbert

Keywords

Administrator Perceptions, Gifted Education, Gifted Pedagogy, Underrepresentation

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Psychology | Gifted Education | Other Education

Recommended Citation

Sermons, Roy, "Teachers’ and Administrators’ Perceptions of the Under-Representation of African American Males in Gifted and Talented Education Programs" (2016). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1188.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1188

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological case study is to explore the reasons for specific perceptions by urban middle and high school teachers and administrators about the underrepresentation of gifted African American male students in educational programs for the gifted and talented. Perceptions about gifted African American male students are generally defined as the views, thoughts, and patterns of educators pertaining to the characteristics of gifted students, recommendations for admission into gifted and talented education programs, and social and psychological factors that impede the enrollment of urban African American males into such programs. The phenomenological case examines social, cultural, and psychological factors through a series of interviews, participant observations, and physical artifacts as a system of data collection. The major theories guiding this study are: Piaget’s learning theory of “constructivism” (1936), which supports this mode of research by allowing the researcher to examine and understand the reasons for specific perceptions about the underrepresentation of gifted male African American students. Bandura’s theory on self-efficacy (1986) also guided the study by encouraging the examination of social and psychological factors. Lastly, Critical Race Theory (CRT) allowed the researcher to decipher meanings tied to race, social implications, or cultural experiences of people of color (Parker, 2004). The data were coded and analyzed for themes and patterns, while triangulation of data, coding, and member checking were utilized for accuracy.