Research Round II (10:35 - 11:35)

This is a qualitative study to review the perceptions of magnet school teachers and the influence of family expectations toward African American Males with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to review the perceptions of the teachers, family as well as African American Males who attend a JCPS Middle School Magnet program. A look at in what ways the perceptions influence the academic success of this particular population. The research genres that will be used are qualitative, interpretive, critical race theory, critical disabilities theory, and digital storytelling. A sampling of data will be collected from 10-20 different magnet school teachers, 10-20 past students in the JCPS magnet program as well as 10-20 parents and/or guardians. This study offers a view through the eyes of not only the educator but of the students who were in the magnet program. There are many studies that examine the over-identification of African American males for special education but few that focus on these students in a rigorous magnet program and how they are progressing through them or not. This will be accomplished using surveys, interviews, recordings, and other existing data. Generative Questions: 1. What are the teacher perceptions on the African American males’ ability to be successful in your rigorous magnet school program? 2. What role did the student’s perception of what the academic expectations that the teachers and the program had of them play into their overall success or the lack thereof? 3. Do you feel that the magnet program is too rigorous for students with disabilities? 4. How do you feel that the needs of the students are met in the magnet program? Specifically, the ones that have a tendency to struggle with core content, social interactions, and racial disparities.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought considerable changes to college students’ lives inside and outside the classroom, causing disruptions that have affected the psychological landscape of college learning in numerous ways (Hagerdorn et al., 2021, Tasso et al., 2021). However, not much literature published thus far has taken a qualitative approach to explore how COVID-19 affected undergraduate university students’ ability to learn during the Fall 2020 semester, a timepoint when some classes were in-person, some were a hybrid of in-person and online, and some were completely online. Thus, this study aims to examine how this disruption to the traditional college experience affected students’ perceived ability to learn. To accomplish that, we plan to analyze responses to the open-ended question, “How, if at all, has COVID-19 affected your ability to learn?” from undergraduate students (N = 1,500) at a large land-grant university in the southeastern United States. The question was included in a larger survey that was sent to undergraduates during the Fall 2020 semester. Inductive coding methods will be used to analyze the responses, and emergent themes included: (1) instructional delivery modality, (2) motivational or self-regulatory challenges, (3) social interactions/engagement, (4) physical health, (5) mental health, and (6) accessibility and accommodations. This research has real-world applications such that it could be used by instructors to better understand the heightened psychological struggles facing students in a pandemic, such as an increased lack of motivation.

Principal supervisors, defined as district-level professionals who supervise principals, rarely have opportunities to engage in role-specific professional learning with same-role peers. My proposed research is a practitioner participatory action-research study in which the participants and I will engage in a community of practice of principal supervisors. I will examine the influence of the community of practice on professional self-efficacy.

There is a renewed interest in character education and its results in positive future outcomes for students. Character education programs have been well defined in public schools as well as Christian and Jewish private schools. The purpose of this study is to describe a character development program in an Islamic School. This study hopes to address what are the Characteristics of a Graduate from an Islamic School? How can Hira Institute develop a character education program consistent with Islamic values? How do the students at Hira High reflect an Islamic personality from the Qur’an memorization program, Islamic studies class, and the culture of the school in general? The mission of Hira Institute is to explain and teach the verses of the Holy Quran. As such the institute offers a full-time memorizing Qur’an (Tahfeedh) Program, an After School Program, a Weekend Program, and a Lecture Program. For the full time program, the students memorize and recite the Qur’an in the morning. In the afternoon, the students learn Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts and other electives required for graduation. The program includes 3rd to 12th Grade. Hira Institute has 7 in-person full time staff, 8 online part time staff and 8 in person part time teachers. This study is a qualitative, participatory action research study. The Nominal Group Technique will be used to brainstorm the characteristics of a Hira Institute graduate. The Future Creating Workshop will be used to develop how the Character Education Program can be implemented and evaluated in the school. Poetry, video, pictures, art, or stories at a Festival of Faith where the students can express how they have grown as a Muslim. Video will be recorded and transcribed. Coding will be used to analyze and rank themes.