Luận án: Nhận thức của Giáo viên Khoa học THPT về Nữ sinh Da đen (Shanica Cherie Poole, CSU)

Columbus State University CSU ePress Theses and Dissertations Student Publications 5-2019 Examining Perceptions of High School Science Teachers Regarding the Participation and Outcomes of African American Girls in Advanced Science Courses Shanica Cherie Poole Follow this and additional works at: https://csuepress.edu/theses_dissertations Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Poole, Shanica Cherie, "Examining Perceptions of High School Science Teachers Regarding the Participation and Outcomes of African American Girls in Advanced Science Courses" (2019). Theses and Dissertations.edu/theses_dissertations/321 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Publications at CSU ePress. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CSU ePress. EXAMINING PERCEPTIONS OF HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS REGARDING THE PARTICIPATION AND OUTCOMES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRLS IN ADVANCED SCIENCE COURSES By Shanica Cherie Poole A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Leadership (CURRICULUM) Columbus State University Columbus, Georgia May 2019 ©2019 by Shanica Cherie Poole.

All Rights Reserved. iii DEDICATION I would first like to give thanks and honor to God who has guided me through this dissertation process and is continuing to mold me into an educational change agent. This dissertation is dedicated to my family who have inspired me to become Dr. Shanica Cherie Poole.

To my husband, Calvin Poole, thank you for your unyielding love and support. You believed in me when I did not believe in myself and for that I love you forever. To my daughters, Talia, Camryn, and Savannah, this doctorate is for you. I have been in school your whole lives and have not been able to play as much as I would have liked.

I hope you understand that every sacrifice made by mommy and daddy were intended to afford a better life for you. May you always know you are magical and capable of achieving anything. This dissertation is also dedicated to my daddy, Mitchel Carthon, who taught me to never quit and that children should always be better off than their parents. I will forever try to live up to the legend with two master degrees.

I love you all. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my dissertation committee members Dr. Christopher Garretson (chair), Dr. Richardson (methodologist), and Dr.

Marguerite Yates for supporting me through the dissertation process. I would also like to thank the faculty, staff, and fellow doctoral candidates that I had the opportunity to interact with along the way. Special thanks to Dr. Pamela Lemoine and Dr.

Richardson who provided me with the opportunity to earn a doctorate at Columbus State University and pushed me to figure out what I really wanted to know. I appreciate all of your guidance, support, and feedback that enabled me to make it to this point. I would like to thank the superintendent and principals for allowing me to conduct my research in the selected school district and schools, and the teachers for participating in the interview process. To the participants, the time you spent with me and the information that you provided enabled me to complete my study and I am grateful.

I would also like to thank all of my family and friends. We made it, and I love you. Jesus, your grace, mercy, and favor brought me through and I am forever thankful. v ABSTRACT African American girls were underrepresented in STEM related education and careers.

Social and historical factors caused African American girls to be double marginalized based on gender and sex. African American girls had the potential to fill STEM positions with a strong foundation in advanced science courses. The current study focused on the unknown relationship between science teachers, advanced science courses, and African American girls participating in advanced science courses. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Black Feminist Thought (BFT) theoretical frameworks were used in an integrated approach to understand the unique experiences of African American girls enrolled in advanced science courses.

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to explore advance science teacher perceptions of the participation and outcome of African American girls enrolled in advanced science courses. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument to collect thick descriptive data. Criterion sampling was used to recruit 10 advanced science teachers with experience teaching African American girls to participate. Interviews were transcribed and coded, then findings were organized into themes.

Findings were further analyzed into four big ideas that included: curriculum and instruction of advanced science courses, barriers for African American girls participating in advanced science courses, motivations for African American girls participating in advanced science courses, and expected outcomes of African American girls participating in advanced science courses. Finally, the researcher discussed implications and recommendations for future research and offered concluding thoughts on the research study. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .x List of Figures. xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .1 Background of the Problem .1 Statement of the Problem .8 Significance of the Study .13 Definition of Terms.17 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .19 Historical Perceptions of Race in Education from Past to Present .26 Historical Perceptions of Gender in Education from Past to Present .31 Legislation for the Progression of Women’s Rights .33 The Road to Rights for African American Girls and Women .34 The Impact of Curriculum Design on the Education of African American Girls .35 Pedagogy as a Learning Support for African American Girls in STEM .39 Social Justice: Culturally Responsive Teaching .39 Strategies to Support African American Girls in STEM .41 Motivations and Self-Efficacy .42 Experiences of African American Girls in STEM .45 STEM High School Experiences .50 Critical Race Theory .51 Black Feminist Thought .55 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .68 Reporting the Data .71 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS .74 Demonstration of Trustworthiness .77 Organization of the Findings .118 Organization of Data Analysis .118 Interpretation of Results .132 Summary of the Study .132 Analysis of Research Findings.135 Discussion of Research Findings .156 Recommendations for Using Data .168 Appendix A: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol .169 viii Appendix B: Informed Consent Form .177 Appendix C: Request to Superintendent Consent to Conduct Study.180 Appendix D: Superintendent Letter of Cooperation .182 Appendix E: Request to Principals for Consent to Conduct Study .183 Appendix F: Science Teacher Recruitment Letter .185 Appendix G: Institutional Review Board (IR) Approval .187 Appendix H: Additional References .188 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1.

Female Doctorate Recipients, by ethnicity, race, and citizenship status from United States Universities: 2006 and 2016. Expected Interview Response Rate. Qualitative Item Analysis. Research Confirmation Table.

Description of Advanced Science Courses. Student Demographic Information. College and Career Readiness. Move On When Ready (MOWR) and Dual Enrollment Programs.

Impact of Family Values on Readiness. Lack of Foundational Skills in Mathematics and Science. Student Work Ethic. 5E Model of Instruction.

Culturally Responsive Teaching .116 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Poole’s Conceptual Framework. Concept Analysis Chart 1. Concept Analysis Chart 2.

Concept Analysis Chart 3. Concept Analysis Chart 4. Concept Analysis Chart 5 .154 xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Problem The U. economy was fueled by the increasing number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers (Alexander & Hermann, 2016; Stipanovic & Woo, 2017; Vilorio, 2014).

Although the definition of STEM varied, STEM was generally described as the use of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in an integrated approach to solve problems (Vilorio, 2014). For the purpose of this study, STEM was defined as a category, which includes biological, physical, environmental, and medical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses and careers (Means, Wang, Young, Peters, & Lynch, 2016). STEM participation, which included the engagement of students in K-12 science education and obtaining higher education STEM degrees, was necessary to prepare students to occupy STEM related careers in the future (Stipanovic & Woo, 2017; Young, Feille, & Young, 2017). According to the U.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than one million additional STEM careers were expected to be created between 2012 and 2022 (Vilorio, 2014). The lack of highly qualified people to fill the increasing number of STEM fields was a national issue, and, therefore, efforts were made to recruit and retain African American girls participating in STEM (Young, Ero-Tolliver, Young, & Ford, 2017). Increasing the number of African American girls and women participating in STEM education and careers improved the ability of the United States to compete internationally in STEM related fields (Charleston, Adserias, Lang, & Jackson, 2014; 2 Stipanovic & Woo, 2017). According to Stipanovic and Woo (2017), advanced STEM courses and qualified teachers with expectations for achievement, along with counselor and parental support were factors that impacted the participation of African American girls in STEM education and careers.

Science served as an important foundational skill for STEM careers (Archer et al., 2015; Young, Feille, et al. According to Szelényi, Denson, and Inkelas (2013), participating in STEM related high school courses in high school influenced STEM career outcomes by predicting student interest in science careers. Young, Feille, et al. (2017) conducted a study on the achievement of African American girls in science.

Although elementary teachers in the study were traditionally qualified, the teachers admit to the lack of continued professional learning in science (Young, Feille, et al. According to a study conducted by Archer, Dewitt, and Osborne (2015), the science aspirations of African American students was less than Caucasian and Asian students were. The lack of aspirations of African American students to pursue science careers was a social injustice in itself (Archer et al. A lack of student aspirations for African American exposed the role race, gender, and social class played in discouraging African American students from developing a scientific disposition (Archer et al., 2015; Young, Feille, et al.

In an effort to diversify the STEM workforce, teachers and parents of African American girls encouraged authentic learning opportunities in science because competency in science paved the way to STEM careers (Young, Feille, et al. The disparities of African Americans’ education were traced back to the 17th century when Africans were enslaved and prohibited from receiving an education (Levine & Levine, 2014; Mazama & Lundy, 2013). The Emancipation Proclamation issued by 3 President Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863, but the lack of formalized education for the freed slaves prohibited free slaves from becoming independent. During the Reconstruction era, the Freedmen’s Bureau laid the foundation for a public school system, but individual states supported separate and unequal policies, such as Plessy versus Ferguson, which suppressed the education of African American people (Levine & Levine, 2014; Rogers, 2013).

In addition to social structures and policies that impeded on the education of freed African Americans , freed African Americans also disagreed on the appropriate type of education that African Americans should receive. While some African Americans advocated for industrial training to teach work skills, others believed in well-rounded classical studies (Mazama & Lundy, 2013). Regardless of the type of education received, African Americans were unable to reach their full potential due a social hierarchy, which African Americans beneath Caucasians (Woodson, 1933). During the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, the separate but equal clause was overturned during the Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 (Brown v.

Board of Education, 1954). Although Brown versus Board of Education eradicated legal segregation, African American students continued to experience discrimination in different forms (Bell, 1980). During the 1910s and 1920s, educational tracking was developed in the prime of the eugenics movement to scientifically justify white supremacy in education. Students were grouped based on ability and confined to certain paths for education.

The idea of tracking diminished, but resumed popularity after the Brown versus Board of Education decision in 1954. Tracking continued segregation in education by confining most African American students to low academic and vocational tracks which kept African American 4 students from participating in advanced courses (Miller, 2018).