African American Males Perception of High School Teacher Efficacy

Mentor 1

Gary Williams

Location

Union 240

Start Date

28-4-2017 1:00 PM

Description

The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects that teacher and student expectations have on African American male student's learning experience. Unfortunately, many African American males face the barrier of teachers with low expectations for their academic success. This limits their achievement by developing negative personal beliefs in the student themselves over time. An illustration of this is the high school graduation rate in Wisconsin: the rate for white students is 92.4%, but for black students' it is only 66% (NCES.com). The study asks the following questions: How important is the introspective view of the student? How does a teacher's personal beliefs impact the African American student's academic experience? What are the outcomes that African American males experience because of these factors? The theoretical framework is based on the Teacher Efficacy Theory. Teacher Efficacy is defined as a teacher's "capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated" (Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990). Participants of the study will be 40 high school students (20 Black male and 20 White male) selected from different school districts around the Milwaukee area. Questions based off the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) longitudinal study will be put into a survey. (E.g. "Has your teacher encouraged you to take higher level classes?") Responses will be measured using t test comparisons to determine if there is a significant difference between the participant groups. The hypothesis is African American male students will perceive less opportunities in comparison to peers in other demographics. Having teachers high in efficacy creates greater success in students translating to better opportunities in life.

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Apr 28th, 1:00 PM

African American Males Perception of High School Teacher Efficacy

Union 240

The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects that teacher and student expectations have on African American male student's learning experience. Unfortunately, many African American males face the barrier of teachers with low expectations for their academic success. This limits their achievement by developing negative personal beliefs in the student themselves over time. An illustration of this is the high school graduation rate in Wisconsin: the rate for white students is 92.4%, but for black students' it is only 66% (NCES.com). The study asks the following questions: How important is the introspective view of the student? How does a teacher's personal beliefs impact the African American student's academic experience? What are the outcomes that African American males experience because of these factors? The theoretical framework is based on the Teacher Efficacy Theory. Teacher Efficacy is defined as a teacher's "capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated" (Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990). Participants of the study will be 40 high school students (20 Black male and 20 White male) selected from different school districts around the Milwaukee area. Questions based off the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) longitudinal study will be put into a survey. (E.g. "Has your teacher encouraged you to take higher level classes?") Responses will be measured using t test comparisons to determine if there is a significant difference between the participant groups. The hypothesis is African American male students will perceive less opportunities in comparison to peers in other demographics. Having teachers high in efficacy creates greater success in students translating to better opportunities in life.