dr. donald ray brown, jr., phd dissertation defense, dr. william allan kritsonis, dissertation...

REDUCING RECIDIVISM RATES FOR AFRICANAMERICAN MALES ENROLLED IN

MIDDLE SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

A Dissertation Defense by

DONALD RAY BROWN, JR.

Dissertation ChairWilliam Allan Kritsonis, PhD

PhD Program in Educational Leadership

Dissertation Committee Members

Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Dissertation Chair

Dr. David E. Herrington, Committee Member

Dr. Patricia A. Smith, Committee Member

Dr. Lisa Hobson Horton, Committee Member

Dr. Solomon G. Osho, Committee Member

DAEP Structure

The structure of the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) both physically (by location separation) and operationally is intended to be a deterrent.

The average length of stay is between 16-45 days (Inter-Cultural Development Research Association, 1999).

Most DAEP’s Operate on a Point System that serves as an indicator of when the child might be ready to exit the program (TEA,2007).

Student Cultural Dynamics

When looking at structure on a variety of cultural levels, there may be an underlying indication to the African American student that this setting is more culturally conducive to his learning experience.

For the African American male, this environment may be an educational environment where they receive individualized education assistance in a smaller group setting.

The rigid structure of a DAEP can be difficult to transition out of when students return to their home campus/school of origin.

Student Cultural Dynamics

Multiple researchers have indicated that there is an overrepresentation of African American males in DAEP settings and in our prison systems (Tobin & Sprague, 2000; TEA, 2007;).

There is a correlation between these disciplinary experiences for African American males (Parham & McDavis, 1987; Texas Appleseed, 2007).

Institutionalization

These issues specifically influence the African American male because of the culture of institutionalization in the black community.

Institutionalization conveys the message of external locus of control, hopelessness and cyclical degradation of the individual experiencing it.

The structure and practices an African American male experiences in the DAEP can in some instances, be the expected cultural norm.

Statement of the Problem

There are DAEP structural factors such as programming, operational styles and intervention components that could contribute to the over representation of recidivism for African American Males in DAEP’s.

The recidivism rate of 6th-8th grade African American males returning to alternative school settings is a growing problem in education (IDRA, 1999).

Students who experience multiple transitions between DAEP’s and Regular Education Settings (RES’s) tend to have difficulty adjusting in America’s Public Education System and life’s challenges (Perkins, 1991).

Statement of the Problem

Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) literature related to overrepresentation of African American male 6th-8th grade Middle School students does not adequately reflect structural factors that could reduce recidivism rates.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that reduce or eliminate high rates of recidivism for African American male students enrolled in middle school alternative education programs.

Identifying best practices that produce low to no recidivism rates for African American male students enrolled in alternative education programs can be implemented to improve DAEP success outcomes.

Theories Guiding the Study

Reciprocal Determinism Symbolization

Logic Abstract Thought Problem Solving

Social & Cultural

Influence

Bandura Piaget


Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism Theory Behavior influences and is influenced by

personal factors and social environment. Most external influences affect behavior

through cognitive processing. Behavior is conditioned through the use of

consequences.


Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory: Formal Operational Stage

Begins at age 12 and lasts through adulthood

Thinking hypothetically, conceptualization, outcomes and consequences

Organized approach to problem solving

Significance of the Study

Data gathered in this study highlighted structural procedures and interventions that helped to reduce or eliminate the percentage of African American males who return to the alternative education program after a successful completion.

This study provided information that can help improve alternative education for all students.

Assumptions

Piaget and Bandura paradigms support the assumption that institutionalization impacts:

1. Interpersonal communication

2. Worldviews

3. Social and cultural interactions

Assumptions

DAEP’s maintain institutional structure and programming by utilizing discipline measures that stagnate development processes related to logic, abstract thought and problem solving skills that occur during adolescence.

Identifying and improving upon structure, program components and Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy can only lead to improvements in DAEP visit outcomes.

Limitations of the Study

This study was limited to investigating African American male middle school students enrolled in DAEP’s located in South East Texas.

Several large school districts did not have data available through TEA regarding their districts DAEP.

Demographics such as social economic status, parent marital status and TEA recognized schools were not taken into account for this study.

Sampling Methods

Homogeneous cases: Specifically, only Alternative Education Programs were selected for this study.

Within the study, criterion case sampling was used in each alternative setting to identify the targeted population.

Themes from Literature

How DAEP’s were formed (Zweig 2003;TEA 2007)

DAEP Structure and Program (Aron, 2003) Best Practice Guidelines (McCreight, 1999;

TEA, 2007) Overrepresentation of students in DAEP

setting (IDRA,1999; Skiba, Michael & Abra 2000; Zweig, 2003)

Research Design

This was a exploratory qualitative study that allowed the researcher to first collect qualitative data and use the findings to give direction to quantitative data collection (Frankel & Wallen, 2006).

Interviews were coded for the emerging and contrasting themes.

Surveys were scored using a Likert scale.

Population and Sample

The target population for this study were African American male 6th-8th grade DAEP Middle School students.

Active participants included six building principals, three counselors and forty teachers.

Participants for the study were selected through purposive sampling-subjects because of some common characteristic (Patton 1990).

Instrumentation and Pilot Study

Permission was obtained from Dr. Anita Woolfolk Hoy to use the Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy Scale.

A nine question pilot study was used to identify program structure characteristics and program practices.

Data Collection

SurveysPilot Interview QuestionsTo ensure confidentiality, each DAEP

campus was coded with alpha and number

Existing TEA Data

Data Analysis

Quantitative data was collected on Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy retracted from their responses to the instrument, Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy Scale.

Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale was designed to measure efficacy in student engagement, instructional practices and classroom management.

Each item was measured on a 9-point scale anchored with the notations: “nothing, very little, some influence, quite a bit, a great deal”.

Research Question #1

Is there a relationship between Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy score, best practices, and African American male student recidivism rates in disciplinary alternative education settings? – Teacher Self Efficacy Scale (TSES)– Best Practices being Utilized– TEA DAEP Data


How does each program structure model affect African American male student recidivism rates in an alternative setting?– Administrator interview questions – TEA DAEP Data


What aspect of parental involvement influences African American male student recidivism rates? – Administrator interview questions– TEA DAEP Data


What influence does the Social Skills Curriculum have on African American male student recidivism rates?– Administrator interview responses– Best practices being utilized by DAEP

Findings of the Study

•Summary•Conclusions•Recommendations

Summary of Data Analysis

Data was collected on DAEP program structure, best practices, teacher’s sense of efficacy scale scores, parental involvement and social skills curriculum for each school.


A Pearson r correlation coefficient was calculated to determine if a relationship existed between the variables and African American male recidivism rates.


Data analyses were based on responses to TSES, interview questions, identified best practices and recidivism data collected from TEA.


It was hypothesized that there will be no significant relationship in the structure of the DAEP’s, the interventions used in the DAEP’s and the Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy of the teachers working in the DAEP’s and their impact on reducing the rate of recidivism for African American males in grades 6-8 enrolled in alternative education programs.

Failed to reject the Null hypothesis.


Forty 6th through 8th grade teachers, six building principals and three counselors participated in the study that involved six DAEP campuses.


Data collected from the TSES were scored. Best practices were identified through the six administrators and three counselor interviews. Recidivism data was determined by data collected from TEA.


All data received from the forty-nine participants of the DAEPs who agreed to participate were analyzed and coded based on emerging themes of those involved.

Data Conclusions

RQ1 Is there a relationship between Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy

score, best practices, and African American male student recidivism rates in disciplinary alternative education settings?

Correlations

1 .384 -.227

.453 .666

6 6 6

.384 1 -.745

.453 .090

6 6 6

-.227 -.745 1

.666 .090

6 6 6

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

EfficacyInInstructionalStrategies

BestPracticeTotal

RecidivismData

EfficacyInInstructionalStrategies

BestPracticeTotal

RecidivismData

Data Conclusions

The correlation between African American male recidivism data and Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale score was not significant at the .05 level (significance of .666>.05).

Data Conclusions

Although there were no statistically significant differences between these constructs, there was a strong negative correlation between DAEP best practices and recidivism.

Data Conclusions

Data Conclusions

The more consistently best practices used at the participating DAEP the lower the DAEP recidivism rates were for African American Males in grades 6-8th.

Data Conclusions

Higher TSES scores were also found at schools with lower recidivism rates for African American Males in grades 6-8th.

Data Conclusions

The school that had the least best practices had the lowest TSES scores and had the highest recidivism rates for the population studied.

Data Conclusions

The correlation between Parental Education Training and African American male recidivism rates was significant at the .05 level (significance of .019>-.885).

Data Conclusions

RQ2: How does each program structure model affect African American male student recidivism rates in an alternative setting?

Data Conclusions

Program structure models that were implemented consistently included point systems, restrictive environments, and a focus on improving social skills.

Data Conclusions

As stated by DAEP 5 representative “we make this school as uncomfortable as possible, we provide an environment of care but also an environment that’s uncomfortable. To not be able to go to basketball games and football games and participate in all the activities. Hopefully, all these goodies that have been taken way from the kids will encourage them to get out of here and stay out of here.”

Data Conclusions

RQ3 What aspect of parental involvement influences African American male student recidivism rates?

Data Conclusions

Regarding parental involvement and African American male student’s recidivism rates, most respondents indicated that it was important to educate parents regarding the expectations of DAEP placement during the initial placement period.

Data Conclusions

DAEP 20 representative stated “parenting programs we have are done outside school hours, parents are invited, and we have some brochures. We really don’t have too much parent involvement. We try to call parents when they are doing good, and we try to call parents when we need some help from the parents.”

Data Conclusions

RQ4 What influence does the Social Skills Curriculum have on African American male student recidivism rates?

Data Conclusions

None of the respondents identified a specific social skills curriculum. However, the respondents preferred the use of various techniques and philosophies that focus on improving social interactions, decision making and communication.

Data Conclusions

Mentoring programs and individual counseling – both of which focus on building, maintaining and practicing appropriate relationships were cited as being effective techniques to improve social skills for African American males.

Data Conclusions

According to DAEP 5 assistance with transition is an important part of the socializing process “We implemented a transition plan...I implemented a transition class for the first five days that they set foot on this campus and the transition class allow them to kind of get in the front door, get a little comfortable with their surroundings they’re all in one classroom but they know they’ve crossed over from being where they were into a new place. We do some conflict resolution with them, we have them set goals.”

Implications

The major implications of this study were as follows: To some extent recidivism of African

American Males was affected by the program structure, teacher sense of efficacy and DAEP best practices implemented at individual DAEP campuses.

Implications

Program structure, which includes the extent to which DAEP best practices are incorporated and implemented at each campus seems to impact the DAEP experience for African American Male students.

Implications

A holistic approach to programming, which incorporates improved socialization processes along with teachers who feel effective in their abilities to teach students in the DAEP setting allow for some rehabilitation and reflection on the part of the student.

Implications

Extensive DAEP setting specific training along with preparation should be provided for educators who work in the DAEP environments.

Implications

DAEP setting specific training – should include verbal management of aggressive behaviors, mediation, reflective listening, empathetic responses and modeling appropriate assertive communication.

Implications

TSES should be considered when selecting educators for the DAEP setting.

Implications

Due to the special needs of DAEP students, it is important that an educator feel competent and confident in teaching.

Implications

Teachers should be selected who score well on the TSES prior to placement.

Implications

DAEPs should incorporate individual counseling, mandatory parent education training and mentoring programs as interventions to deter recidivism for African American Male 6-8th grade students.

Implications

Respondents in this study indicated that the African American male population tended to respond well to individual counseling and mentoring – with speculation leaning towards the individualized interactions of these types of interventions.

Implications

DAEPs should encourage home campuses to partake in more active roles during the DAEP and home campus transition processes.

Implications

TEA should require improved reporting of DAEP data from school districts.

Implications

TEA should offer improved accessibility of DAEP data for purposes of research, trend identification and policy recommendations.

Implications

Individual DAEPs should record and track recidivism data

Recommendations for Further Study

A study could be conducted to further explore the extent of the relationship between African American Male DAEP participants and African American Males who become involved with the Criminal Justice System.

A study could be conducted which focuses on the DAEP experience and African American male DAEP student characteristics.

A study could be conducted to determine more trends and outcomes regarding DAEP recidivism.


A study could be conducted using internet survey tool participation versus in person interviews.

A study could be conducted to explore DAEP African American Males grades 6-8th personal characteristics (for example: self esteem, social class, resiliency) and the impact on recidivism.

A study could be conducted to include more district DAEPs.


A study could be conducted to explore TSES scores related to teaching DAEP African American males, grades 6-8th.

A study could be conducted to explore the impact of DAEP specific trainings on TSES scores of teachers in DAEP settings.

Summary

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that reduce or eliminate high rates of recidivism for African American male students enrolled in alternative education programs.

Data gathered in this study indicates that structural procedures and interventions such as parent training, mentoring and individual counseling help to reduce or eliminate the percentage of African American males who return to the disciplinary alternative education program after a successful completion.

References

Aron, L. Y. (2003). Towards a Typology of Alternative Education Programs: A Completion of Elements from the Literature. The Urban Institute, 3, 1-30.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social-cognitive theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Cortez, A. (1999). Intercultural Development Research Association Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – What is

Known; What is Needed. Forest Ecology and Management. Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2006). How to Design and Evaluate

Research in Education Sixth Edition. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

References

McCreight, C. (1999). Best practices for Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas. Laredo, TX: Texas A&M International University.

Parham, T.A., & Mc Davis, R.J. (1987). Black men, an endangered species: Who’s really pulling the trigger? Journal of

Counseling and Development, 66, 24-27. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods

(2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Perkins, K. R. (1991). The Influence of Television Images on Black

Females' Self-Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness. Journal of Black Psychology, 22(4), 453-469.

References

Skiba, R. J., Michael, R. S., & Abra , N. C. (2000). Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality in School Punishment. The

Color of Discipline, , 1-21. Tobin, T. & Sprague, J. (2000). Alternative Education Strategies:

Reducing Violence in School and the Community. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(3), 1-22.

Texas Education Agency, . (2007). Commissioner's Rules Concerning the Standards for the Operation of School District Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs. DAEP Standards

Proposed, , 1- 6.

References

Texas Appleseed. (2007). Projects : School-to-Prison Pipeline, Impact of "Zero Tolerance" and Discretionary School Discipline

Policies in Texas. Retrieved Mar. 23, 2008, from http://www.texasappleseed.net/projects_school-to-prison.shtml.

Wadsworth B. J. (2003). Piaget's Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development: Foundations of Constructivism. : Pearson .

Zweig, J.M. (2003). Vulnerable youth: Identifying their need for alternative educational settings. Washing-ton, DC: The Urban Institute.

Thank You!

Donald R. Brown, Jr.