Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Dissertation Chair for Donald Ray Brown, Jr., Dissertation Proposal Defense PPT.

1. EXPLORATORY QUAILITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF
REDUCING RECIDIVISM RATES FOR AFRICAN
AMERICAN MALES ENROLLED IN
MIDDLE SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVE
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
A Dissertation Proposal
by
DONALD RAY BROWN, JR.
Dissertation Chair
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
PhD Program in Educational Leadership

2. DAEP Structure
 The structure of the DAEP’s both physically
(by location separation) and operationally is
intended to be a deterrent.
 The average length of stay is between 16-45
days(IDRA,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)

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

4. 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; Abramson, 2008)
 There is a correlation between these
disciplinary experiences for African American
males (Parham & McDavis, 1987; Blake&
Darling 1994; Texas Appleseed, 2007).

5. Institutionalization
 These issues specifically influence the African
American male, because of the culture of
institutionalization in the black community.
 Institutionalization conveys the messages of external
loci 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

6. 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 Americas Public Education System and life’s
challenges (Perkins, 1991).

7. Statement of the Problem
 Disciplinary Alternative Education Program
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.

8. Purpose of the Study
 The purpose of this study is to investigate factors
that reduce or eliminate high rates of recidivism for
African American male students enrolled in
alternative education programs.
 Ultimately identifying best practices that produce low
to no recidivism rates for African American male
students enrolled in alternative education programs.

9. Research Questions
 RQ1 How does each program structure model affect African
American male student recidivism rates in an alternative
setting?
 RQ2 Is their a relationship between Teachers’ Sense of
Efficacy score and African American male student recidivism
rates in disciplinary alternative education settings?
 RQ3 What aspect of parental involvement influences African
American male student recidivism rates?
 RQ4 To what degree of influence does the social skills
curriculum have on African American male student recidivism
rates?

10. Theories Guiding the Study
Reciprocal Determinism
Symbolization
Logic
Abstract Thought
Problem Solving
Social &
Cultural
Influence
Bandura Piaget
RQ1 How does each program structure model affect African American
male student recidivism rates in an alternative setting?
RQ2 Is their a relationship between Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy score and
African American male student recidivism rates in disciplinary alternative
education settings?
RQ3 What aspect of parental involvement influences African American
male student recidivism rates?
RQ4 To what degree of influence does the social skills curriculum have on
African American male student recidivism rates?
RQ1 How does each program structure model affect African American
male student recidivism rates in an alternative setting?
RQ4 To what degree of influence does the social skills curriculum have on
African American male student recidivism rates?

11. Theories Guiding the Study
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

12. Theories Guiding the Study
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

13. Significance of the Study
 Data gathered in this study will highlight structural
procedures and interventions that help to reduce or
eliminate the percentage of African American males
who return to the alternative education program after
a successful completion.
 This study will provide information that can help
improve alternative education for all students.

14. Assumptions
 Piaget and Bandura paradigms support the
assumption that institutionalization impacts:
 1. Interpersonal communication
 2. Worldviews
 3. Social and cultural interactions

15. 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.
 As such, identifying and improving upon structure,
program components and Teachers’ Sense of
Teacher Efficacy can only lead to improvements in
DAEP visit outcomes.

16. Limitations of the Study
 This study will be limited to investigating
African American male middle schoolers
enrolled in DAEP’s located in South East
Texas
 demographics such as social economic
status, parent marital status and the extent to
which the home schools are recognized by
TEA and were not taken into account for this
study

17. Statement of Hypothesis
 It is hypothesized that their will be no
significant difference 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.

18. Sampling Methods
 Homogeneous cases: only Alternative
Education Programs will be selected for this
study
 With in the study Criterion case sampling will
be used in each alternative setting to identify
this studies population to be researched.

19. 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)

20. Research Design
 This will be a exploratory qualitative study-
allows the researcher to first collect
qualitative data and use the findings to give
direction to quantitative data collection
(Frankel & Wallen, 2006).
 Interviews will be coded for the emerging and
contrasting themes
 Surveys will be scored using a likert scale

21. Population and Sample
 The target population for this study will be
African American male 6th
-8th
grade DAEP
Middle Schoolers
 Active Participants include Principals,
Counselors and Teachers
 Participants for the study were selected
through purposive sampling-subjects are
selected because of some characteristic
(Patton 1990)

22. Instrumentation and Pilot Study
 Permission was obtained from Dr. Anita Hoy
Woolfolk Hoy to use the Teachers’ Sense of Teacher
Efficacy Scale
 A nine question pilot study will be performed to
identify program structure characteristics, program
practices – such as the level of parental involvement
and the utilization of social skill curriculums and their
relationship to a successful one time visit to an
alternative education program for the African
American male 6th
-8th
grade DAEP middle schoolers

23. Data Collection
 Surveys
 Pilot Interview Questions
 To ensure confidentiality, each DAEP
campus was coded with alpha and number
 Existing TEA Data

24. Data Analysis
 Quantitative data will 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 is designed to
measure efficacy in student engagement,
instructional practices and classroom management
 Each item is measured on a 9-point scale anchored
with the notations: “nothing, very little, some
influence, quite a bit, a great deal”

25. Data Analysis
 Data will be collected on DAEP program structure,
teachers’ sense of efficacy scale, parental
involvement and social skills curriculum for each
school.
 A Pearson r correlation coefficient will calculated to
determine if a relationship existed between the
variables and African American male recidivism
rates.
 Sirkin (2006) describes Pearson’s r as a “coefficient
that is used when both variables are an interval or a
ratio level of measurement” (p. 446)

26. Data Analysis
 RQ1 How does each program structure model affect African
American male student recidivism rates in an alternative
setting? Administrator interview questions, TEA DAEP Data
 RQ2 Is their a relationship between Teachers’ Sense of
Efficacy score and African American male student recidivism
rates in disciplinary alternative education settings? Teacher
Self Efficacy Scale, TEA DAEP Data
 RQ3 What aspect of parental involvement influences African
American male student recidivism rates? Administrator
interview questions, TEA DAEP Data
 RQ4 To what degree of influence does the Social Skills
Curriculum have on African American male student recidivism
rates? TEA DAEP Data, Type of social skills curriculum

27. Summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that
reduce or eliminate high rates of recidivism for African
American male students enrolled in alternative education
programs. Ultimately identifying best practices that produce low
to no recidivism rates for African American male students
enrolled in alternative education programs.
Data gathered in this study will highlight structural
procedures and interventions that help to reduce or eliminate
the percentage of African American males who return to the
alternative education program after a successful completion.
This study will produce the groundwork needed to help reform
alternative education.