General Educators' Perspectives of Advocacy for Black Students with Special Needs: A Phenomenological Study

This research study explores the phenomena of secondary inclusion teachers' perceptions of their self-efficacy and behaviors when teaching Black students with special needs in courses with state-mandated assessments. Teacher self-efficacy has been well studied, yielding abundant research on the connection between teachers' self-efficacy and student achievement. Some research is present relating to teachers' sense of self-efficacy and the academic success of students with individualized plans under the exceptional children's umbrella. However, there is a gap in researching general education or mainstream teachers' sense of self-efficacy who teach students receiving special education services from a qualitative phenomenological lens. Interviews were conducted to discover general education teachers' academic, behavioral, and relationship strategies that they perceive to positively influence academic achievement for Black students in special education programs in courses with state-mandated assessments. The researcher also explored how educators' school administrators and central office support, home, community environment, and background experiences may shape general education inclusion teachers' perceptions and experiences as educators of Black students with special needs. Nine themes developed from the interviews of 13 participants: Recollections of Prior Winning Experiences, Relentless: The Will to Win, Relevance to Life, Relationships, Reflecting on Intentionality, Reveal: Power of Exposure, Resources, Reinforcement: Co-Teachers and Relative Reliability. Exploration of the beliefs, challenges, and requirements of general education teachers who teach Black students with special needs will benefit superintendents, principals, and teachers because they will be privy to research on potential professional development trainings and techniques that may best impact students in their building of the same demographic. This study may motivate educational stakeholders to understand practices that potentially assist with fostering high teacher self-efficacy, building the collective self-efficacy of staff, positively impacting the academic achievement of Black students with special needs, and closing the opportunity gap between Black students with special needs and white students with special needs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]