Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Yasha Becton

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of culturally relevant pedagogy and appropriate de-escalation strategies on African American male office discipline referrals. This study took place in a Title I elementary school located in South Carolina and focused on five teachers of African American male students who received one or more office discipline referrals in the previous school year between September to November. These teachers were provided with an 8-week professional development training on how to implement into the general education classroom culturally relevant pedagogy and appropriate de-escalation strategies. The professional development focused on cultural relevance in a classroom, how to create an anti-bias classroom, and appropriate de-escalation strategies such as giving students a controlled choice. The researcher conducted questionnaires, interviews, and weekly focused follow-up interviews to obtain data as well as analyzed the school-wide discipline data before and after the intervention was implemented. The findings of this study resulted in teachers feeling more knowledgeable, able, and confident in their instructional and behavioral management strategies. Teachers expressed their success in the classrooms when using the strategies discussed in training and overall saw a positive impact in their classroom environment. The amount of Office Discipline Referrals did increase after the study; however, this increase was due to outlying factors that are further explained in the findings.

Rights

© 2024, Kourtney Michael Chapman

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