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Secondary African American Students’ Perceptions of their Experiences in Special Education Programs: A Qualitative Interview Study

Craft, Eleanor N. V.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1399634582

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, Educational Administration (Education).
This study explored how nine African American students in secondary-level special education placements perceived their school experiences and the benefits, challenges, and detriments associated with their placements and accompanying disability labels. In examining the experiences of these students, the study focused on the students' interactions with others in the school environment: teachers, peers, counselors, and administrators. The study used the qualitative method of in-depth interviewing to collect data—an approach that incorporated a sequence of three interviews with each student. Participating students attended one of three high schools in an urban district in the Midwestern United States. Respectively the schools had low, medium, and high percentages of students on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Three participants came from each of the schools. They met the following criteria: (1) they were African American, (2) they were juniors or seniors, (3) they carried a diagnosis of learning disabilities or mild cognitive impairment, and (4) they had received special education services for at least three years. With transcribed interviews as the source of data, qualitative analysis involved several steps: (1) inductive coding, (2) development of case-specific profiles for participants and schools, (3) organization of codes to identify categories and patterns in the data, and (4) identification of emergent themes through a process of postulating and then testing these potential explanatory patterns. This process of data analysis substantiated two emergent themes. The first is captured in the following statement: "students' journeys from general education to special education had three predictable milestones." And the second is captured in the following statement: "special education was a dead-end." With respect to the first theme, three sub-themes described predictable milestones: (1) placement in special education, (2) initial reaction to placement, and (3) longer-term responses to placement in a special education program. The second theme explored the connections between students' academic experiences in special education programs and their experiences with the stigmas and other detrimental outcomes that are associated with disability labels and special education placement. Overall the themes suggested that, in most cases, students found the negative consequences of their placements in special education programs to outweigh the benefits they experienced. These benefits included interactions with responsive teachers and, in a few cases, instructional pacing that better met their needs. The negative consequences included the experience of being stigmatized by peers, making limited academic progress because of a slow-pace curriculum, and confronting barriers to their effort to return to general education placements even after learning and/or behavior problems had been resolved. One subtheme that has not appeared frequently in previous literature pointed to the contribution of traumatic life events to patterns of academic and behavioral difficulty that led school personnel to identify and place the African American participants into special education programs. According to participants, their schools did not investigate these life events in trying to account for the students' changed behavior and performance, but readily attributed these changes to disabilities such as emotional disturbance and specific learning disability.
Aimee Howley, EdD (Committee Chair)
William Larson, PhD (Committee Member)
Dwan Robinson, PhD (Committee Member)
Mona Robinson, PhD (Committee Member)
216 p.
Academic Guidance Counseling; African Americans; Counseling Education; Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; School Administration; School Counseling; Secondary Education; Teacher Education
Secondary African American Perceptions; Special Education Experiences; Special Education Programs; Student Perceptions; School Experiences

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Craft, E. N. V. (2014). Secondary African American Students’ Perceptions of their Experiences in Special Education Programs: A Qualitative Interview Study [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1399634582

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Craft, Eleanor. Secondary African American Students’ Perceptions of their Experiences in Special Education Programs: A Qualitative Interview Study. 2014. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1399634582.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Craft, Eleanor. "Secondary African American Students’ Perceptions of their Experiences in Special Education Programs: A Qualitative Interview Study." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1399634582

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1399634582
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.