The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Archandria Colette Owens

for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

May 13, 2014 at 01:00 pm

207 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Texas Tech University

Master of Arts, University of Detroit-Mercy

Advisor Committee

Sara K. Bridges, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Research, Committee Chair

Nancy Nishimura, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Counseling, Educational Psychology, and     Research

Elin Ovrebo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Research

Ronnie Priest, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Counseling Educational Psychology, and Research

Major Field of Study

Counseling Psychology

Period of Preparation:  2010-2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: August, 2012

Life Role Salience in African American Men:  The Impact of Race-Related Stress, Hypermasculinity, and Sexual Self-Concept

Abstract

This study explores life role salience in African American men and the contextual factors that affect how African American men feel towards being in committed relationships and towards parenting.  African American men in the United States of America have unique encounters with racism and discrimination, a distinctive navigation of masculinity ideology, and a sociopolitical lens from which views on sexual self-concept hinge due to the complex intersection of their race and gender.  With research demonstrating the components of healthy families include consistency within the relationship of the parents, overall stability of the household, and parents who are present to their children, especially fathers, it is important to explore not only how African American men value the role of husband and father, but also what positively or negatively impacts their decisions to commit to these roles.  227 African American men completed self-report surveys addressing their socioeconomic status, experiences of racism, racial identity development, experience of their masculinity, and their definition of their sexual self-concept.  These contextual and personal factors were then assessed to understand how they affected role salience for African American men in being in committed relationships as well as being a parent.  Results from this study found that African American men demonstrated a heavy reliance on income in order to define both their valuing and commitment to these roles.  In addition to this, racial identity development, or one’s meaning-making system around their minority status, consistently affected all aspects of role salience over and above actual experiences of racism and discrimination.  Findings from this study could be utilized by mental health professionals to start facilitating dialogues with the African American men they work with concerning broadening their definition about what it means to be a good partner and parent.  These dialogues and interventions should also be aimed at helping African American men integrate healthier views of themselves as racial beings.

The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Vonda K. Scipio

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

May 15, 2014 at 1:00 pm

405 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Science, Human Resources Management, Upsala College

Master of Arts, Reading Specialization Adult Literacy, Kean University

Advisory Committee

Vivian Gunn Morris, Ph.D., Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, Committee chair

Satomi I. Taylor, Ph.D., Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

J. Helen Perkins, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Jerrie Scott, Ph.D., Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Louis Franceschini, Ph.D., Research Associate II, Center for Research in Educational Policy

Mitsunori Misawa, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership

Major Field of Study

Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Period of Preparation:  2007 – 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: August 2013

Improving Teacher Effectiveness in an Urban School District through a

High Quality Induction and Mentoring Program

Abstract

Induction and mentoring programs are being implemented throughout the nation by school districts as intensive professional development for new teachers. These programs are designed to accelerate the development of novice teachers as a strategy for improving the academic achievement of students enrolled in P-12 classrooms. In an effort to assess the relative importance of school-level factors that might further such teachers’ growth, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of three cohorts of mentored teachers with respect to five working conditions at their assigned schools—namely, (a) colleagues contribution to professional growth; (b) principal support of professional growth; (c) adequate classroom space; (d) sufficient materials and supplies and (e) collaboration with veteran teachers—and to determine if there were differences in their perceptions by such respondent characteristics as years teaching, time working with their mentors, and level of education.

Participants in this study were 169 mentored teachers who taught from one to three academic years, from 34 schools, in a predominately African American district in the southeastern United States. While enrolled in a school district-university sponsored induction and mentoring program over a three-year period, the mentored teachers completed an anonymous online Induction Survey that was developed and administered by the New Teacher Center, Santa Cruz. Derived from successive administrations of the Induction Survey, the data were brought together in a single file were subjected to secondary analysis. Obtained through the application of a variety of non-parametric statistical procedures, the findings indicated that the mentored teachers rated those items highest that pertained to the “social context” of the school: namely, colleagues’ contribution to their professional growth, collaboration with veteran teachers, and support of principals. Conversely, the more “material” conditions of the school—specifically, the adequacy of the room in which they taught and sufficiency of materials and supplies for instruction—were consistently rated lowest by these teacher respondents.