Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

12-2022

School/College

College of Education (COE)

Degree Name

Ed.D., Educational Administration

Committee Chairperson

Ingrid Haynes-Traylor

Committee Member 1

Delilah Gonzles

Committee Member 2

Holim Song, Lacey Reynolds, Viveca Grant

Committee Member 3

Lacey Reynolds

Committee Member 4

Viveca Grant

Keywords

Disproportional Discipline Restorative Practices Social-Emotional Learning Special Education

Abstract

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if discipline strategies, gender, and disabilities impact the successful cohort graduation of African American students with special needs. While much research has been conducted to investigate the achievement gap and discipline gap, there is a paucity of research on how discipline affects the graduation rate of this population. Furthermore, this research is also to expose the inequities within the special education system. A quantitative research design was selected to study the graduation rates of African American students over the past years from 2017 to 2020. For this study, data regarding Five-Year Extended Longitudinal Graduation Rates, by Region, District, and Requested Groups were collected from Texas Education Agency, Division of Research and Analysis as calculated with statutory exclusions applied for state accountability. A total of four urban Educational Service Center (ESC) regions and 43 urban districts with complete information on graduation rates were used in this study. Four hypotheses were formulated for the study. The One-way Analysis of Variance and Two-way Analysis of Variance Procedures were utilized in this study to analyze the data. All four hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance or better. A linear relationship was found to exist between years of restorative discipline practices training and the district-wide graduation rate of African American students with special needs during 2017 to 2020 school years. A statistically significant difference did not exist between graduation rates by gender of African American students with special needs during 2017 to 2020 school years. A statistically significant difference was found to exist between the ESC region-wise overall graduation rates of African American students with special needs during 2017 to 2020 school years. Finally, there were statistically significant differences between the interaction of district-wide graduation rates by gender and primary exceptionality of African American students with special needs during 2017 to 2020 school years; while gender has a statistically significant effect on the graduation rate of African American students with disabilities 08 (Learning Disability) and 09 (Speech Impairment). Keywords: exceptionality, exclusionary discipline, disciplinary alternative education program, restorative discipline practices, zero tolerance, social-emotional learning

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