Date
5-2022
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)
Chair
Russell G. Yocum
Keywords
critical race theory, African American males, intervention, disproportionality, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), response to intervention (RTI)
Disciplines
Education | Educational Methods
Recommended Citation
Batts, Barbara Jean, "African American Administrators Utilizing Responses to Intervention for Identification of African American Males in Special Education: A Phenomenological Study" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3659.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3659
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of African American administrators in public schools with their use of Response to Intervention (RTI) when identifying African American males in special education. In order to arrive at the crux of the matter, the central research question was, How do African American public-school administrators describe their experiences in using RTI in the identification of African American males in special education? This study attempted to discover the perceptions of African American administrators in the sub-questions of: (1) How do African American administrators describe the connection of misidentification and disproportionality of African American males in special education?; (2) How do African American administrators describe the barriers that interfere with the misidentification of African American males in special education? Moreover, (3) How do African American administrators perceive the treatment and education of African American males in public education? The theoretical framework of critical race theory by Parker and Lynn guided the study. The study enlisted the experiences of 10 African American administrators of elementary, middle or high schools in the public school system. Interviews, as well as online focus groups and journaling (with prompts), were conducted with each identified participant. Extensive data analysis took place through the Moustakas method with a modification provided by Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen and strategies employed by Huberman, Miles and Wolcott. The analysis resulted in the identification of four prominent themes, (a) leadership, (b) resources, (c) inequity, and (d) the actual implementation of RTI. The findings of this study indicate that the education of the African American male in not equitable with other ethnic groups due to leadership and resource issues.
