Assignment

Impact of Black Male Educators on Student Achievement, Behavior, and Mental Health.

1. Program of Study (DBA, DHA, DM, EDD): EDD

2. Background of the Problem and Problem Statement

Black male educators are underrepresented in K-12 classrooms. Black male educators

make up approximately 2 percent of educators in the United States (Young & Young, 2023).

The unique contributions of black male educators to elementary students’ achievement,

behavior, and mental health have not been studied extensively. Studies often focus on teacher

gender and its impact on achievement gaps in education (Abbas & Smith, 2023). They fail to

address the impact of specific groups such as black males in the education sector. Black male

educators provide emotional, social, and instructional support to students. They enable black

students to be confident about their abilities.

The problem is a lack of understanding of the impact of black male educators on student

achievement, behavior, and mental health for grades 6th to 12th, resulting in poor representation of

black male educators and poor educational outcomes for students from minority groups (Bass,

2023). Researchers have focused on the impact of white educators and female black educators on

the achievement of students. However, they have not explored how black male educators affect

student achievement. Schools across the United States have few black male educators. The number

of black students in various schools is; however, very high. The few black male educators have

performed crucial roles in schools. Black male educators often act as role models for black

students. They implement culturally relevant perspectives and methods of teaching. Black male

educators also provide support and guidance to students. They perform various roles that enable

students to navigate personal and academic challenges.

3. Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to analyze how black male educators

affect students’ mental health, behaviors, and achievement for grades 6 to 12 and to identify the

correlation between black male educators’ teaching practices with students’ mental health,

behavior, and achievement. 10 black male educators and 10 students in grades 6 to 12 from Dallas,

Texas will take part in surveys and fill questionnaires. The results of the study could help school

administrators understand how black male educators affect students’ mental health, achievement,

and behavior.

4. Research Methodology (Proposed Method and Design)

The proposed research method is qualitative research. Qualitative research provides a deep

understanding of people’s views and perceptions. Moreover, it helps understand the experiences

of participants. Qualitative research enables researchers to collect data from smaller study samples

than quantitative research. They also enable researchers to examine issues in detail. When

conducting interviews to collect qualitative data, interviews can ask different research questions

due to the flexibility of qualitative research (Perry, 2023). Qualitative research is appropriate for

my study’s purpose. Using qualitative research would help fulfill my study’s purpose which is to

understand the impact of black male educators on student achievement, behavior, and mental

health. Qualitative research would collect relevant information such as the experiences of students

taught by black male educators.

Qualitative research aims to provide a comprehensive and detailed description of various

phenomena. Qualitative research methods help uncover motivation, beliefs, attitudes, opinions,

and societal trends. Additionally, they help researchers understand human behavior. Qualitative

research can provide detailed information that can help to improve the education sector (Sarfo et

al., 2021). For example, interviewing black male educators and black students can provide rich

information about their experiences and how to make education better for minority groups.

The proposed research design is phenomenological design. This design can be used to collect

data about a specific group of people such as students taught by black male educators. A

phenomenological design can help understand the shared experiences of black male educators and

students (Alhazmi & Kaufmann, 2022). It can also help the researcher understand specific issues

such as students’ mental health and academic achievement. A phenomenological design can

provide valuable insights into the employment of black male educators.

Phenomenological research involves collecting information from people who experience

certain events or phenomena. Phenomenological design helps determine the shared stories or

meanings from a particular group of people. According to Sarfo et al. (2021), “…a

phenomenological study is an explanatory method that comprehensively explains what it means

to be human by studying the lived experiences of individuals or groups to build concepts” (p.63).

When conducting phenomenological research, researchers have to interview participants to obtain

data and build concepts. Phenomenological research enables researchers to obtain in-depth

information from the participants.

5. Research Population and Sample and Other Data Sources

The population for this study includes black male educators and students in grades 6 to 12 from

Dallas, Texas. The sample size will be 10 black male educators and 10 students. This sample size

is manageable and representative of the population. Interviews will be used to collect data from

the participants. Archival data such as school records, previous studies on the topic, and public

data on black male educators could be included.

6. Significance of the Study

The study can expand knowledge on the role of black male educators in education. It can

provide a better understanding of the correlation between having black male educators and student

achievement and behavior. The study could reveal unexplored relationships between the number

of black male educators in elementary schools and the level of student achievement. The study

could also provide new insights into the association between black male educators and students’

mental health (Mullen, 2023). It could encourage scholars to conduct research on related questions.

The study could provide an innovative methodology to be used by scholars.

The study could inform practices and policies in education to create a diverse workforce. It

could influence the hiring of black male educators in elementary schools. The study could also

improve student outcomes by identifying teaching practices that are effective. It could help

improve student achievement, mental health, and behavior. The study could help in developing

training programs for teachers and promoting equality in the education sector (Bensimon, 2020).

It could help address the problem of few black male educators in schools.

The study could help school administrators understand how black male educators affect

students’ mental health and behavior. School administrators can make better decisions about hiring

black male educators. If the study finds that black male educators improve student achievement

and behavior, administrators could hire more black male educators. Leaders can use the study’s

findings to implement changes in schools. The study can guide decision-making and policies made

by district leaders.

7. Research Question

How do Black male educators influence student achievement, behavior, and mental health in

grades 6–12?

What challenges and successes do Black male educators experience in supporting student

achievement, behavior, and mental health?

8. Topic Literature

Bass, L. R. (2020). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in

educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 353-395.

This article explains Erickson’s psychosocial theory and its application in education.

McKinney de Royston, M., Madkins, T. C., Givens, J. R., & Nasir, N. I. S. (2021). “I’ma teacher,

I’m gonna always protect you”: Understanding Black educators’ protection of Black

children. American Educational Research Journal, 58(1), 68-106.

This article explains the role of black male educators in protecting black students.

Milner, H. R., Harmon, M. D., & McGee, E. (2021). Critical race theory, teacher education, and

the “new” focus on racial justice. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 364-378).

Routledge.

This article provides adequate information about the critical race theory.

Perry, N. E. (2023). Introduction: Using qualitative methods to enrich understandings of self-

regulated learning. In Using Qualitative Methods To Enrich Understandings of Self-regulated

Learning (pp. 1-3). Routledge.

This article describes qualitative methods to be used in research.

Young, J., & Young, J. (2023). The Black male teacher: A 10-year content analysis of empirical

research. In Men Educators of Color in US Public Schools and Abroad (pp. 47-64). Routledge.

This article provides adequate information on the issues facing black male educators and their role

in education.

9. Topic Theories

One of the theories applicable to my research is critical race theory. Critical race theory

explains that race is culturally invented or socially constructed. Race is used to exploit and oppress

people of color. Critical race theory holds that racism exists in various institutions. Institutions

create political, economic, and social inequalities between individuals from various racial groups.

Critical race theory posits that diverse educators should be included in schools to challenge the

existing inequalities (Milner et al., 2021). This theory can be used to examine the role of black

male educators in schools. Critical race theory can focus my research on the influence of inclusive

practices such as hiring black male educators on the educational outcomes of students.

Another applicable theory is resilience theory. This theory explores how individuals thrive and

navigate challenges. It explains that the most important thing is how individuals deal with

adversities. Black male educators have faced various challenges such as stereotypes and lack of

education opportunities. Resilience theory can be used to explain how black male educators can

overcome their challenges (Milner et al., 2021). Erickson’s psychosocial theory can be used to

examine identity development among black male students. The psychosocial theory explains that

identity development occurs during adolescence.

10. Research Data Collection Strategy

The proposed data collection strategy is interviews. Interviews will be administered to the

participants through Google Meet. This online platform will help the researcher facilitate the

interview. Before taking part in the interview, the participants will be sent an informed consent

form. This form will state that the interview will take 30 minutes.

References

Abbas, A., & Smith, J. (2023). Gender inequality in education: a comprehensive examination of

social science studies. The Critical Review of Social Sciences Studies, 1(01), 11-22.

Alhazmi, A. A., & Kaufmann, A. (2022). Phenomenological qualitative methods applied to the

analysis of cross-cultural experience in novel educational social contexts. Frontiers in

Psychology, 13, 785134.

Bass, L. R. (2020). Black male leaders care too: An introduction to Black masculine caring in

educational leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 353-395.

Bensimon, E. M. (2020). The underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge in the

scholarship on student success. The Review of Higher Education, 30(4), 441-469.

Milner, H. R., Harmon, M. D., & McGee, E. (2021). Critical race theory, teacher education, and

the “new” focus on racial justice. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp.

364-378). Routledge.

Mullen, C. A. (2023). What is a scholar-practitioner? K-12 teachers and administrators respond.

Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly, 1(4), 9-26.

Perry, N. E. (2023). Introduction: Using qualitative methods to enrich understandings of self-

regulated learning. In Using Qualitative Methods To Enrich Understandings of Self-

regulated Learning (pp. 1-3). Routledge.

Sarfo, J. O., Debrah, T., Gbordzoe, N. I., Afful, W. T., & Obeng, P. (2021). Qualitative research

designs, sample size and saturation: is enough always enough. Journal of Advocacy,

Research and Education, 8(3), 60-65.

Taherdoost, H. (2022). What are different research approaches? Comprehensive Review of

Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research, their applications, types, and

limitations. Journal of Management Science & Engineering Research, 5(1), 53-63.

Young, J., & Young, J. (2023). The Black male teacher: A 10-year content analysis of empirical

research. In Men Educators of Color in US Public Schools and Abroad (pp. 47-64).

Routledge.