Assignment: Impact of Black Male Educators on Student Achievement, Behavior, and Mental Health.
1. Program of Study (DBA, DHA, DM, EDD): EDD
2. Background of the Problem and Problem Statement
Black male educators are underrepresented in K-12 classrooms. Black male educators make up approximately 2 percent of educators in the United States (Young & Young, 2023). The unique contributions of black male educators to elementary students' achievement, behavior, and mental health have not been studied extensively. Studies often focus on teacher gender and its impact on achievement gaps in education (Abbas & Smith, 2023). They fail to address the impact of specific groups such as black males in the education sector. Black male educators provide emotional, social, and instructional support to students. They enable black students to be confident about their abilities.
The problem is a lack of understanding of the impact of black male educators on student achievement, behavior, and mental health for grades 6th to 12th, resulting in poor representation of black male educators and poor educational outcomes for students from minority groups (Bass, 2023). Researchers have focused on the impact of white educators and female black educators on the achievement of students. However, they have not explored how black male educators affect student achievement. Schools across the United States have few black male educators. The number of black students in various schools is; however, very high. The few black male educators have performed crucial roles in schools. Black male educators often act as role models for black students. They implement culturally relevant perspectives and methods of teaching. Black male educators also provide support and guidance to students. They perform various roles that enable students to navigate personal and academic challenges.
3. Purpose Statement
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to analyze how black male educators affect students' mental health, behaviors, and achievement for grades 6 to 12 and to identify the correlation between black male educators' teaching practices with students' mental health, behavior, and achievement. 10 black male educators and 10 students in grades 6 to 12 from Dallas, Texas will take part in surveys and fill questionnaires. The results of the study could help school administrators understand how black male educators affect students' mental health, achievement, and behavior. Need Assignment Help?
4. Research Methodology (Proposed Method and Design)
The proposed research method is qualitative research. Qualitative research provides a deep understanding of people's views and perceptions. Moreover, it helps understand the experiences of participants. Qualitative research enables researchers to collect data from smaller study samples than quantitative research. They also enable researchers to examine issues in detail. When conducting interviews to collect qualitative data, interviews can ask different research questions due to the flexibility of qualitative research (Perry, 2023). Qualitative research is appropriate for my study's purpose. Using qualitative research would help fulfill my study's purpose which is to understand the impact of black male educators on student achievement, behavior, and mental health. Qualitative research would collect relevant information such as the experiences of students taught by black male educators.
Qualitative research aims to provide a comprehensive and detailed description of various phenomena. Qualitative research methods help uncover motivation, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, and societal trends. Additionally, they help researchers understand human behavior. Qualitative research can provide detailed information that can help to improve the education sector (Sarfo et al., 2021). For example, interviewing black male educators and black students can provide rich information about their experiences and how to make education better for minority groups.
The proposed research design is phenomenological design. This design can be used to collect data about a specific group of people such as students taught by black male educators. Aphenomenological design can help understand the shared experiences of black male educators and students (Alhazmi & Kaufmann, 2022). It can also help the researcher understand specific issues such as students' mental health and academic achievement. A phenomenological design can provide valuable insights into the employment of black male educators.
Phenomenological research involves collecting information from people who experience certain events or phenomena. Phenomenological design helps determine the shared stories or meanings from a particular group of people. According to Sarfo et al. (2021), "...a phenomenological study is an explanatory method that comprehensively explains what it means to be human by studying the lived experiences of individuals or groups to build concepts" (p.63). When conducting phenomenological research, researchers have to interview participants to obtain data and build concepts. Phenomenological research enables researchers to obtain in-depth information from the participants.
5. Research Population and Sample and Other Data Sources
The population for this study includes black male educators and students in grades 6 to 12 from Dallas, Texas. The sample size will be 10 black male educators and 10 students. This sample size is manageable and representative of the population. Interviews will be used to collect data from the participants. Archival data such as school records, previous studies on the topic, and public data on black male educators could be included.
6. Significance of the Study
The study can expand knowledge on the role of black male educators in education. It can provide a better understanding of the correlation between having black male educators and student achievement and behavior. The study could reveal unexplored relationships between the number of black male educators in elementary schools and the level of student achievement. The study could also provide new insights into the association between black male educators and students' mental health (Mullen, 2023). It could encourage scholars to conduct research on related questions. The study could provide an innovative methodology to be used by scholars.
The study could inform practices and policies in education to create a diverse workforce. It could influence the hiring of black male educators in elementary schools. The study could also improve student outcomes by identifying teaching practices that are effective. It could help improve student achievement, mental health, and behavior. The study could help in developing training programs for teachers and promoting equality in the education sector (Bensimon, 2020). It could help address the problem of few black male educators in schools.
The study could help school administrators understand how black male educators affect students' mental health and behavior. School administrators can make better decisions about hiring black male educators. If the study finds that black male educators improve student achievement and behavior, administrators could hire more black male educators. Leaders can use the study's findings to implement changes in schools. The study can guide decision-making and policies made by district leaders.
7. Research Question
How do Black male educators influence student achievement, behavior, and mental health in grades 6-12?
What challenges and successes do Black male educators experience in supporting student achievement, behavior, and mental health?
8. Topic Literature
Bass, L. R. (2020). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 353-395.
This article explains Erickson's psychosocial theory and its application in education.
McKinney de Royston, M., Madkins, T. C., Givens, J. R., & Nasir, N. I. S. (2021). "I'ma teacher, I'm gonna always protect you": Understanding Black educators' protection of Black children. American Educational Research Journal, 58(1), 68-106.
This article explains the role of black male educators in protecting black students.
Milner, H. R., Harmon, M. D., & McGee, E. (2021). Critical race theory, teacher education, and the "new" focus on racial justice. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 364-378). Routledge.
This article provides adequate information about the critical race theory.
Perry, N. E. (2023). Introduction: Using qualitative methods to enrich understandings of self-regulated learning. In Using Qualitative Methods To Enrich Understandings of Self-regulated Learning (pp. 1-3). Routledge.
This article describes qualitative methods to be used in research.
Young, J., & Young, J. (2023). The Black male teacher: A 10-year content analysis of empirical research. In Men Educators of Color in US Public Schools and Abroad (pp. 47-64). Routledge.
This article provides adequate information on the issues facing black male educators and their role in education.
9. Topic Theories
One of the theories applicable to my research is critical race theory. Critical race theory explains that race is culturally invented or socially constructed. Race is used to exploit and oppress people of color. Critical race theory holds that racism exists in various institutions. Institutions create political, economic, and social inequalities between individuals from various racial groups. Critical race theory posits that diverse educators should be included in schools to challenge the existing inequalities (Milner et al., 2021). This theory can be used to examine the role of black male educators in schools. Critical race theory can focus my research on the influence of inclusive practices such as hiring black male educators on the educational outcomes of students.
Another applicable theory is resilience theory. This theory explores how individuals thrive and navigate challenges. It explains that the most important thing is how individuals deal with adversities. Black male educators have faced various challenges such as stereotypes and lack of education opportunities. Resilience theory can be used to explain how black male educators can overcome their challenges (Milner et al., 2021). Erickson's psychosocial theory can be used to examine identity development among black male students. The psychosocial theory explains that identity development occurs during adolescence.
10. Research Data Collection Strategy
The proposed data collection strategy is interviews. Interviews will be administered to the participants through Google Meet. This online platform will help the researcher facilitate the interview. Before taking part in the interview, the participants will be sent an informed consent form. This form will state that the interview will take 30 minutes.
References:
Abbas, A., & Smith, J. (2023). Gender inequality in education: a comprehensive examination of social science studies. The Critical Review of Social Sciences Studies, 1(01), 11-22.
Alhazmi, A. A., & Kaufmann, A. (2022). Phenomenological qualitative methods applied to the analysis of cross-cultural experience in novel educational social contexts. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 785134.
Bass, L. R. (2020). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 353-395.
Bensimon, E. M. (2020). The underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge in the scholarship on student success. The Review of Higher Education, 30(4), 441-469.
Milner, H. R., Harmon, M. D., & McGee, E. (2021). Critical race theory, teacher education, and the "new" focus on racial justice. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 364-378). Routledge.
Mullen, C. A. (2023). What is a scholar-practitioner? K-12 teachers and administrators respond. Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly, 1(4), 9-26.
Perry, N. E. (2023). Introduction: Using qualitative methods to enrich understandings of self-regulated learning. In Using Qualitative Methods To Enrich Understandings of Self-regulated Learning (pp. 1-3). Routledge.
Sarfo, J. O., Debrah, T., Gbordzoe, N. I., Afful, W. T., & Obeng, P. (2021). Qualitative research designs, sample size and saturation: is enough always enough. Journal of Advocacy, Research and Education, 8(3), 60-65.
Taherdoost, H. (2022). What are different research approaches? Comprehensive Review of Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research, their applications, types, and limitations. Journal of Management Science & Engineering Research, 5(1), 53-63.
Young, J., & Young, J. (2023). The Black male teacher: A 10-year content analysis of empirical research. In Men Educators of Color in US Public Schools and Abroad (pp. 47-64). Routledge.