Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2006

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department (Legacy)

Department of Teaching and Learning

Committee Chair

Simmons, Thomas J.

Author's Keywords

African-American; National Board Certified; Effective teaching; Special education; Teachers; Highly qualified

Subject

Children with disabilities--Education; African American children--Education

Abstract

This dissertation is an examination of effective teaching of African American students who receive special education services by teachers who are either National Board Certified Teachers or Highly Qualified Master's Level teachers. It begins with an overview of the history of special education in the United States and the current conditions of special education. It then covers the matter of overrepresentation of African American students in special education and the various contributors to that problem. The conceptual framework is to examine the self-efficacy and best practices of National Board Certified Teachers or Highly Qualified Master's Level teachers from middle and high schools. It examines learning and cultural styles of African American students, and how the learning styles may affect the achievement levels of African American students. The latter part of the dissertation provides examples of positive school practices for African American students. The dissertation is divided into five chapters, covering special education policies and laws, overrepresentation of African American students in special education, cultural and learning styles of African American students, effective teaching, and teaching standards. Chapter One looks at the history of African American education in the United States and how the Civil Rights Law affected their education and affected the education of students with disabilities. It also provides definitions of legal terminology for the special education laws and disability categories. In addition, it covers teacher self-efficacy and teacher standards. The differences between National Board Certified Teachers and Highly Qualified Master's Level teachers are also addressed in Chapter One. Chapter Two is divided into three different sections that address literature and research about the history of African American education in the United States, the causes of overrepresentation, curriculum in the schools and multicultural curriculum, effective teaching, standards, critical race theory, African American cultural styles, and effective teaching of African American students. The first section is about the history of African American education in the United States and the history of civil rights for students with disabilities, and factors that contribute to overrepresentation. The second section pertains to curriculum models developed by researchers for multicultural education, what researchers consider as effective teaching, and teaching standards. The third section discusses critical race theory, cultural styles of African American students, and effective teaching of African American students. Chapters One and Two are theoretical in nature, and Chapters Three and Four focus on the methodology of the study and the results of the study. Chapter Three focuses on the type of study, the survey instrument and the groups chosen for participation. Chapter Four examines the results of the survey questionnaire returned, and the demographics of the participants in the study. Chapter Five is a summary of the entire study and a detailed explanation of the specific questions indicating statistical differences in scores. The dissertation ends with recommendations for future research and educational implications for the findings.

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