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Key leverage points for improving educational outcomes of black male students: Response to intervention as an effective strategy to support students in general education: An evaluation study

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Key leverage points for improving educational outcomes of black male students: Response to intervention as an effective strategy to support students in general education: An evaluation study

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Content Running head: IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 1

Key Leverage Points for Improving Educational Outcomes of Black Male Students: Response to
Intervention as an Effective Strategy to Support Students in General Education
An Evaluation Study

By

Cloris M. Henry

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2018

Copyright 2018 Cloris M. Henry

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 2

Dedication

This Dissertation is dedicated to my nephews and niece. My hope is in them. They are our
future.
Acknowledgements
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your
ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Above all, thank you to
the Great Almighty. For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
The completion of this undertaking could not have been possible without the participation
and assistance of my dissertation chair, Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores. I would not have completed
this journey without her. I am forever grateful for her guidance, patience, support,
encouragement, and many contributions. I also sincerely appreciate the support and
encouragement of my dissertation committee: Dr. Angela Hasan, and Dr. Sandra Kaplan. Dr.
Ilda Jiménez, thank you for your feedback. The Operation Dissertation Acceleration Writing
Retreat got me on track and saved my educational journey. Finally, Dr. Elizabeth Blanco, thank
you. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to be led and mentored by you. You truly embody
the “Fight On!” spirit and I aspire to be you when I grow up. You are all inspiring women. I
hope I can help someone the way you all have helped me.
I would like to express deep love and appreciation for my family. My mother who is a
bottomless well of encouragement. My father who calls me his snow baby. My brother who has
taken me in his home and family too many times to count. My sister, my best friend. My sister-
in-law: my sister. My Aunts who encouraged my love of learning, mothered, and always gave
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 3

love and shelter. My cousin Pam, thank you. Rosanne, my second mom. LaShaun Leslie, thanks
for keeping me woke. Dr. John Michael Lee, thank you for loving me. Gary Mobley who taught
me you can find true friendship in the most unexpected places. Christina Rios-Ashley, thanks
for making me part of your family and keeping me on your radar for the last twenty-five years.
Thank you all for your love, support, and kindness. To my entire family, all my friends and
others who in one way or another have supported me whether it be emotionally, financially, or
physically, thank you.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 4

Abstract
This dissertation is an evaluation of the Response to Intervention implementation for Saint
Mary’s Unified School District (pseudonym) as a strategic intervention meant to support Black
males in the General Education setting. Response to Instruction and Intervention strategies
implemented with fidelity should provide a solid foundation for providing a systematic, data-
driven approach to instruction and behavioral support believed to benefit every student. The
District introduced the intervention to address root causes of over-representation Black males in
the subjective Special Education category of Emotional Disturbance. Black males enrolled with
Saint Mary’s face enormous disparities in their educational outcomes. A major contributor to
this problem is that these students are disproportionately placed in Special Education programs
for Emotional Disturbance. The qualitative modality of this evaluation is designed to explore
demographic characteristics, cultural acuity, and instructional practices for General Education
teachers of Black male students in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District. These teachers,
have received professional development in preparation for serving students who may
demonstrate trauma-based behaviors, are unfortunately being disproportionately labeled with
Emotional Disturbance due to a lack of cultural competence. A clear understanding of the
contributing factors that negatively influence these traditionally underserved students should
support General Education teachers’ understanding of the utility of programs such as Response
to Intervention and provide strategies to fully engage students.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 5

Table of Contents
Dedication ………….…………………………………………………….….……………..……… 2
Acknowledgements ………….……………………………………..…….………………..…….… 2
Abstract ………….………………………………………………..…….….………………...……. 4
Table of Contents ……….…………………………..……………...………….…………...….…… 5
Introduction of the Problem of Practice ………….……………….…….………………………… 10
Organizational Context and Mission ……………….………………….………………………….. 11
Importance of Addressing the Problem …..………………….………..…………….…………12
Purpose of the Project and Questions …….……………………………….……………...……… 13
Organizational Performance Goal ……………...………………………………………………… 14
Stakeholder Group of Focus …………………………………………………………...………. 16
Related Literature ………………………………………………………………………………… 16
Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences ……………………..……….…………… 20
i. Knowledge Influences …………………………….…………………….…………...…… 20
a. Knowledge Influence – Metacognitive …………….…………….……….….…… 21
b. Knowledge Influence – Factual …………………………………………...……… 22
ii. Motivational Influences ……………….………………….……………………….……… 23
a. Utility Value – Teachers ……………………...……………………….…..……… 24
b. Attribution Theory – Teachers …………….…………………………………...… 25
iii. Organizational Influences ………………………………………………..……………….. 26
a. General Theory………….……………………………….……………..….……… 26
b. Stakeholder Specific Influences .…...…...………………………………………… 28

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 6

Interactive Conceptual Framework ………………..………...…………………………………… 32
Data Collection and Instrumentation……………….…………………………………………...… 35
i. Interview …………………………………………………………..……………………… 37
ii. Observations ………………………………………………………..…………………….. 39
iii. Documents and Artifacts …………………………………………………….…………… 41
Findings ………………………………………………….……………..………………………… 42
i. Knowledge …………………………….……………….………………………………… 45
ii. Motivation ……………………….………………………..……………………………… 50
iii. Organizational ………………………………………………….………………………… 56
Discussion ………………………………………………….…………………………………….. 63
Solutions and Recommendations ……………….………………………………………………… 66
i. Knowledge Recommendations ……...………………………………………….………… 67
a. Knowledge Influence – Metacognitive …………………..…………………..…… 71
b. Knowledge Influence – Declarative (Conceptual) .…..…………………………… 72
ii. Motivation Recommendations ………………………….…………….………..…………. 73
a. Motivation Influence – Self-Efficacy ………………………...…………………… 74
b. Motivation Influence – Utility Value ……………………………………………... 76
iii. Organizational Recommendations ………………………………………………………... 77
a. Cultural Models ……………………...……………….…………………………... 78
b. Cultural Settings ………………………..…………….…………………………... 81
Conclusion …………………………………………..…………………………………….……… 82
Appendices ………………………………………..………………………………………….…... 84
i. Appendix A: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria for Interview .………… 84
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 7

ii. Appendix A: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria for Observation ….…. 86
iii. Appendix B: Protocols …………………………………………………………………. 88
a. Interview Protocol ……………………………………………………………… 88
b. Response-to-Intervention Efficacy Survey …………………………………….. 89
c. Observation Protocol ……………………………….………….……………….. 91
iv. Appendix C: Credibility and Trustworthiness …………………………………………. 93
v. Appendix D: Validity and Reliability …………………………………………………. 94
vi. Appendix E: Ethics …………………………………………………….………………. 95
a. Responsibility to Human Subjects ………………..……………………………. 95
b. Organizational Context …………………………………………….…………... 96
c. Assumptions and Biases ………………………………………………..……… 96
vii. Appendix F: Implementation and Evaluation Plan ……….………….………………… 98
a. Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations ….…………………………... 98
b. Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators …..…………………………………… 100
c. Level 3: Behavior ………………………………………………………………. 101
i. Critical Behaviors ………………………………………………………. 101
ii. Required Drivers …………………………….………………………….. 102
iii. Organizational Supports ……..………..……….………………………... 104
d. Level 2: Learning ……………………………………………………………….. 104
i. Learning Goals ...…………….………………………………………….. 104
ii. Program …………………………………...…………………………….. 105
iii. Components of Learning ...……………..……………………………….. 105
e. Level 1: Reaction ……………………….…………………………………….… 106
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 8

I. Evaluation Tools ………………………………………...…………………………..…. 107
II. Data Analysis and Reporting …………………………………………………………... 108
III. Summary …………………………………..…………………………………………… 108
IV. References ……………………………...………………………………………………. 110
List of Figures, Tables, and Charts
Figures
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences of
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……………. 33
Figure 2. Multi-leveled (tiered) prevention strategies demonstrated in effective Response to
Intervention implementation. Courtesy of Diana Browning-Wright …………………………... 40
Tables
Table 1: Summary of Assumed Influences on Black Male Achievement …………….………… 31

Table 2: Knowledge Expectations and Observations for General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention …………………………..……………… 49

Table 3: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations on General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……………..………..………… 68

Table 4: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations on General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……………..….….…………… 75

Table 5: Summary of Organizational Influences and Recommendations on General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……...…………………………. 78

Table 6: Summary of Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes for
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ………...… 100

Table 7: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation for General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ………...…………………….. 102

Table 8: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors for General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……………………..………………….. 103

Table 9: Components of Learning for the Program for General Education Teacher Instructional
Practices for Response to Intervention ……………………………………………………..... 105

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 9

Table 10: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program for General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention ……………..……….………………… 106

Table 11: Key result Indicators for Implementation of Response to Intervention Strategies in
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices ………….…………..……..….……….. 108

Charts

Chart 1: 2016 Districtwide percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards for Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language Arts by ethnicity and
socioeconomics for Saint Mary’s Unified School District …………………………………….. 45

Chart 2: 2016 Districtwide percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards for Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Mathematics by ethnicity and socioeconomics for
Saint Mary’s Unified School District ..…………….…………………………………………… 45

Chart 3: Percentage of discipline referrals for the past four academic years. Supporting that
Response to Intervention strategies reduce out of class time ……………..…………………… 53

Chart 4: Discipline referrals by offense for Black students, academic year 2017 …………….. 54

Chart 5: Percentage of suspensions for the past five academic years is still significantly
disproportionate to enrollment for Black students when compared to their Districtwide
enrollment. ……………………….…………………………………………………….............. 57

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 10

Introduction of the Problem of Practice
This Executive Dissertation explored the efficacy of Response to Intervention (RTI) in
the Saint Mary’s Unified School District (pseudonym) as a strategic intervention meant to
support Black males in the General Education setting. The District introduced the intervention to
address root causes of over-representation Black males in the subjective Special Education
category of Emotional Disturbance (ED). I defined Emotional Disturbance as exhibited
emotional behaviors and social difficulties that result in substantial challenges to teachers in the
classroom setting. These difficulties cut across disciplinary, instructional, and interpersonal
domains and often create a chaotic classroom environment (Gresham, 2005). Over-
representation in a Special Education category occurs when a specific demographic in the
designated program is larger than the percentage of that group in the given educational system,
or within a disability category (e.g., Specific Learning Disability, Autism Spectrum, Emotional
Disturbance, etc.).
This is a problem because most of the Black males labeled as Emotionally Disturbed in
the District, who are displaying disruptive behaviors may need other supports and interventions,
but they do not have disabilities warranting Special Education placement (SMUSD, 2012). It
should be noted that when these exact students enter kindergarten, they have the same
achievement levels of their otherwise demographically similar White peers, but by the time they
enter third grade, there is at least one grade level achievement gap (SMUSD, 2010). Their over-
representation in subjective Special Education categories tends to lead to lower educational
outcomes, and diminishes their life chances, rather than if they had access to rigorous academics.
The lack of access to education ultimately has detrimental consequences to the socioeconomic
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 11

mobility in a specific demographic, stifling the evolution of the economy and overall social
structure (Harry & Klingner, 2014).
Castro-Villarreal, Villarreal, and Sullivan (2016) detailed that Response to Intervention is
a multi-tiered system of supports that focuses on students at risk for disproportionate
identification for Special Education services or inappropriate educational placement. For this
reason, the District has identified Response to Intervention as a promising practice to mitigate
social and cultural biases teachers may have internalized about Black males (Skiba, Ormiston,
Martinez, & Cummings, 2016). Professional development in Response to Intervention’s multi-
tiered strategies is essential to increasing capacity and ensuring all students have access to high
quality academics (Sayeski & Brown, 2011). It also ensures that teachers who support Black
males are equipped with culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum, which meets the full
range of students’ needs (Hoover & deBettencourt, 2017). Furthermore, Response to
Intervention strategies provide teachers with tools that help eliminate implicit bias (Skiba,
Mediratta, & Rausch, 2016).
Organizational Context and Mission
The Saint Mary’s Unified School District (SMUSD) is one of the largest school districts
in California. It serves more than 50,000 students speaking more than 10 languages, and it
employs more than 2,000 teachers and 1,200 paraprofessionals in its 150 school sites. Its
mission is to ensure every one of these students will graduate from high school, ready for college
and careers, equipped with skills and capacities required to thrive in the 21
ST
century. Black
students make up about 11% of the Saint Mary’s Unified School District population, yet they
account for close to 30% of its Special Education population. Additionally, at this time, Black
students comprise nearly half (49.3%) of the students identified as Emotional Disturbed. Of the
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 12

number of students designated in this subjective category, 85% have average, or above
intelligence, but only 39% are on track to graduate. The majority of these students are Black
males.
The District strives to provide all students with quality, culturally relevant instruction and
equitable supports to ensure equal opportunities to succeed by promoting intellectual growth,
creativity, self-discipline, cultural and linguistic sensitivity, democratic responsibility, economic
competence, and physical and mental health. This way each student can achieve his or her
maximum potential. For the purposes of this dissertation, ideas of systemic knowledge,
motivations, and organizational structures that prohibit advancement of the District’s mission
and goals for Black males specifically, have been examined. As such, I examined the District’s
use of Response to Intervention, as a strategy to mitigate low expectations and perceived lack of
cultural capital constructs that lead to Black male disproportionality in the subjective category of
Emotional Disproportion. I contextualized low expectations and perceived lack of cultural capital
in Black males as the key leverage points that consistently produce lower educational outcomes
for this group, and ultimately leads to their over identification as Emotionally Disturbed (Jack,
2016). In the framework of this study, cultural capital is defined as non-financial, social assets
which promote socio-economic mobility.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
It is important to address the problem of lower educational outcomes for Blacks males
enrolled with Saint Mary’s. Doing so allows District stakeholders and policymakers to correctly
identify and address contributing factors that lead to pervasive, incorrect academic labels that
negatively influence student outcomes. Properly identifying root causes assists in closing the
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 13

achievement gap as well as assists in appropriately designing and implementing strategies, such
as Response to Intervention, that support those with differing needs (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Additionally, if the District is invested in ending disproportionality in the Special
Education subjective category of Emotional Disturbance and closing the achievement gap for
Black males, it must adopt deeper, richer, more culturally relevant standards for measuring
achievement than standardized test performance as indicators of academic ability. Decades of
research has demonstrated that Blacks experience significant problems with high-stakes testing
from as early as pre-school all the way through college entrance (Vallas, 2009). Roach (2014)
demonstrated that high-stakes assessments have the potential to worsen the inequalities
associated with school tracking practices. According to Wiliam (2010), the use of standardized
achievement tests as accountability structures for teachers, schools, and districts is poorly aligned
with the mission and goals of many schools, because standardized tests measure cultural
preferences and represent the constructs of dominant-group-preferred interests. Furthermore;
Buffum, Mattos, and Weber (2010) explain that Response to Intervention strategies support at-
risk students in high stakes environments by providing additional time and support they may
need to learn at expected levels before they fall far enough behind to qualify for Special
Education. Therefore, it is important to address the problem of inappropriate referrals to Special
Education Services by evaluating the District’s progress in implementing Response to
Intervention, because inappropriately labeling Blacks males propagates inequitable educational
outcomes and limits their life chances.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of success in the District’s
implementation of Response to Intervention as a key strategy for General Education teachers to
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 14

effectively support Black males in the General Education setting. While a complete performance
evaluation would attend to all stakeholders, for practical purposes Saint Mary’s General
Education teachers who have received the full course of Response to Intervention training and
provide instruction to Black males in the General Education setting at least 50% of the day, are
the stakeholders of focus in this analysis.
The following questions guide this evaluation study:
1. To what extent is the Saint Mary’s Unified School District meeting its goal to ensure all
students, particularly Black males, have equal access to rigorous educational
opportunities by implementing Response to Interventions strategies with fidelity?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements related to ensuring all
Saint Mary’s teachers feel equipped to address the diverse academic and cultural needs of
Black males in the General Education setting?
3. What are the recommendations for maintaining and improving implementation practices
for Response to Intervention in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational
resources as it relates to ensuring Black males receive access to rigorous and appropriate
academic opportunities?
Organizational Performance Goal
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which General Education teachers
have successfully implemented Response to Intervention, a key strategy effectively disrupting
the systemic socio-constructs of low expectations and perceived lack of cultural capital directed
toward Black males. The District aims to provide all teachers with real time troubleshooting
techniques that acknowledge these jointly constructed understandings and assumptions about
Black male ability that in turn foster disproportionality and exacerbate the achievement gap.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 15

The District is leveraging Response to Intervention strategies with the goal of ensuring 100% of
its students graduate and are college and career ready. Response to Intervention strategies are
aimed at developing cultural competence in teachers and District staff. It provides strategic
tiered levels of academic and behavioral support intended to ensure that all students identified as
having “average or above” cognitive ability are enrolled in Common Core State Standards
courses that meet the requirements for admissions in California’s public postsecondary
institutions.
The evidence of progress toward this multi-faceted goal is twofold: positive movement
toward proportional referrals of Black males for Special Education Services in the subjective
category of Emotional Disturbance (approximately 11%), and a positive increase in the number
and percentage of Black males that graduate from the District academically prepared for college.
Furthermore, the District must ensure that any adopted course of professional learning and
coaching of teachers, leaders, and school staff has an equity-centered framework, and includes
relative, deep, and applicable cultural competency learning with real world application for every
educator either working with, or affecting the learning of, Black male students. Adoption of
these measurable goals demonstrates annual progress toward the District’s overall goal of
developing a culture that provides productive conditions for college and career readiness at all
levels. Implementation with fidelity should result in correcting the disruptions of identified
barriers: of low expectations and unrecognized cultural capital which, again, lead to
disproportionality and exacerbate the achievement gap. The analysis of this evaluation focused
on knowledge, motivation and organizational influences related to achieving the organizational
goals (Clark & Estes, 2008).

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 16

Stakeholder Group of Focus
Saint Mary’s Unified School District is dedicated to ensuring a coordinated, system of
strategic supports and resources that foster safe and caring learning environments, in partnership
with all its stakeholders. The stakeholders for this research study are active, K-12, General
Education teachers in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District. This study evaluated the extent
to which faithful implementation of Response to Intervention can be associated with an increase
in the number and percentage of Black males and can be successfully supported in the General
Education environment. Doing so should demonstrate a reduction of inappropriate referrals of
Black males to Special Education Services for the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance,
year over year, for a period of three years. Current General Education teachers are defined as
active District employees, who are trained in Response to Intervention strategies, are
implementing the learned intervention techniques with fidelity, and who provide academic
instructional services for Black males for at least 50% of their work day.
Related Literature
This literature review examined the root causes of lower educational outcomes for Black
males. First, it focused on evaluating how the perceived lack of cultural capital and low
expectations work as key leverage points for restricting educational opportunities and outcomes
of Black males. This is followed by a review of how significant disproportionality in the
identification of Emotional Disturbance for Black males receiving Special Education Services
serves as a structural system that may create barriers for receiving a quality public education.
Finally, the review ended with an analysis of Response to Intervention training and
implementation through the lenses of knowledge, motivation, and organization as a viable
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 17

framework to mitigate the identified leverage points and eliminate the significant
disproportionality in the identification of Black males as Emotionally Disturbed.
Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta (2008) believe that educators and other service providers
may have the greatest influence in the context of academic delivery, and therefore, in the
academic outcomes Black males experience. Information regarding educator expectations then
becomes important in understanding differential access to resources and contributes directly to
inequalities in Black male academic outcomes. While the existence of an educational
achievement gap between ethnic and socioeconomic groups is generally accepted, the source and
stability of such gaps

remain areas of active research and debate. By driving significant
proportions of Black males into Special Education, the educational system may ultimately
stagnate social mobility and the overall evolution of the American economy (Sullivan & Artiles,
2011). The micro to macro cultural capital transitions involved in this cycle, without further
elaborations on the structure and underlying purposes of education, justifies lower expectations
and leads to diminished academic opportunities, which are important measures in accounting for
student outcomes (Coleman, 1988).
Black male students continue to face low expectations in the classroom despite efforts to
increase equity to support universal educational outcomes (Harry & Klingner, 2014). Although
Districts employ strategies “designed to improve academic achievement for all students, there
may be intervening factors, such as teacher expectations” on students’ abilities, that mitigate
success of such efforts (Liou & Rotheram-Fuller 2016). This makes sense when contextualized
in American history. The fact that Black males with average and above intelligence are
overrepresented in Special Education subjective categories could certainly be viewed through the
lens of lower expectations and a perceived lack of cultural capital, and therefore, as fundamental
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 18

causes of the achievement gap (Togut, 2011). For example, Shifrer (2013) stated that cultural
capital may be one source contributing to limited academic success of traditionally marginalized
groups. Shifrer’s findings support the idea that teachers who place value on particular social
assets, may judge students they feel do not possess the capital they value more harshly. These
teachers may also serve as gatekeepers that limit educational opportunities, and therefore stymie
academic and social achievement.
If we accept that academic and social achievement are directly dependent on cultural
capital, then we need to evaluate and reassess what behaviors or tendencies are targeted as
learning disabled. This is because diagnoses based in “disruptive social behavior” may be
associated with a lack of perceived cultural capital rather than real social deficiency. According
to Artiles (2011), the social structure of education fosters and reinforces forms of consciousness,
interpersonal behaviors, and personality traits considered to have valued cultural capital. Schools
reward certain types of knowledge, resources, and behaviors more than other styles. Students
whose family backgrounds provide them with these skills do well in school, while the rest often
do not (Huddleston, 2014). Therefore, the fact that Black males are overrepresented in Special
Education subjective programs, rates of suspension, and dropouts, could indeed be viewed
through the lenses of lower expectations due to perceived lack of cultural capital (Togut, 2011).
Furthermore, these particular leverage points create a cycle, and act as a central mechanism of
social and industrial reproduction driven through the educational system (Sullivan & Artiles,
2011).
In the past, the source of lower achievement in certain groups was connected individual
deficiencies, rather than the result of lower expectations. As an example, Bowles and Gintis
(1976, p. 6) stated that “the poor are poor precisely because they are intellectually incompetent;
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 19

their incompetence is intractable because it is inherited from their poor and also intellectually
deficient parents”. Sullivan and Artiles (2011) suggested that such low expectations around the
issues of poverty, joblessness, and accessibility can then be considered a result of a particular
group’s characteristics rather than societal repression. Shifrer (2013) further demonstrated that
lower social position can then be more readily accepted by the general public because social
position based on ascribed characteristics that are considered deficient relieves personal
responsibility for negative social reproduction. Aud, Fox, and Ramani (2010) contended that
such beliefs preserve a lower social status for minority groups by perpetuating negative
subcultures. While the utilization of group character flaws as justification for social placement is
not a uniquely American phenomenon, research clearly reveals the existence of a color line that
effectively blocks Black occupational, residential, and social mobility (Toldson, 2008).
In American society, social and economic status go hand-in-hand as determinants of
placement in the hierarchical strata. The parameters of ethnic and economic achievement gaps’
relationships to the true purposes and constructs of education need to be fully acknowledged and
addressed if policymakers and elected officials truly want to realize an equitable and reliable
education accountability system (Thompson & Allen, 2012). As schools are a primary
developing agent of the socioeconomic system, the extent to which students can reach and
surpass minimum requirements will significantly affect his or her social economic destination.
Simply put, people acquire education as a prerequisite to economic expectancy. Once this
premise is accepted, relationship between cultural capital and access to social advancement
through formal education is evident.
Buffum, Mattos, and Weber (2010) found that the required shifts in cultural beliefs and
practices essential to Response to Intervention efficacious implementation are such a radical
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 20

departure from how public schools have functioned for the past century, that they struggle to
commit to the level of change necessary to succeed. But reducing Response to Intervention to
single, isolated actions, instead of ongoing processes to improve teaching practices and student
learning, fails to understand overall goal of interrupting latent biases that negatively affect
student opportunities (Steward, 2016). If a student struggles in the General Education setting, a
teacher’s systematic response may be to refer the student for Special Education testing.
Response to Intervention requires the teacher to assume that we are not teaching him or her
correctly; as a result, we turn our attention to finding more effective methods to meet the
student's specific learning needs (Adkison-Bradley, Johnson, Rawls, & Plunkett, 2006). Buffum,
Mattos, and Weber (2010) conclude that unless teachers actively shift preconceived notions of
lack of ability on the student’s part, it is unlikely that they will ever see Response to Intervention
as an effective strategy for supporting at-risk students in the General Education setting.
In this review of literature, it has become evident that it is not unusual for school systems
and educators, when seeking to improve student performance, to consider service structure, staff
design, and professional development. Nevertheless, differential access to resources continue to
contribute to inequality in student outcomes; this makes it clear that Clark and Estes (2008) are
correct in asserting that knowledge, motivation, and organizational are key variable in
determination of performance gaps. Ultimately, programs designed without thought to these
variables will be less likely to improve student achievement outcomes (Becker & Luthar, 2002).
Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
Knowledge Influences
This section reviews literature that explores the knowledge influences and motivations
behind instructional practices which ultimately contribute to the over-representation of Black
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 21

students in the Special Education subjective category of Emotional Disturbance, why it is
detrimental, and how we can utilize educational theory to improve educational practices. It is
important to examine these practices because they may be the impetus driving significant
proportions of Black males into Special Education, and thusly effecting their life chances. As
such, the educational system may ultimately stagnate social mobility for this group, in particular,
and ultimately stagnate the overall development of the economy (Sullivan & Artiles 2011).
Furthermore, the micro to macro cultural capital transitions involved in this cycle, without
further explorations on the structure and underlying purposes of education, allows for the
justification of lower expectations for Black males and leads to diminished academic
opportunities, which are important measures in accounting for outcomes (Coleman, 1988). This
study uses the metacognitive and factual knowledge frameworks to explore stakeholder
information gaps that may enhance or prohibit fidelity in implementation of Response to
Intervention strategies.
Knowledge Influence – Metacognitive
Black males face enormous disparities in educational outcomes. A major contributor to
this problem is that these students are disproportionately placed in Special Education programs
for Emotional Disturbance (Donovan & Cross, 2002). According to Rueda (2011),
metacognitive knowledge would allow teachers to know when and why they perform a certain
way. On top of this, Baker (2008) states that one cannot simply assert that an individual has or
does not have metacognition because it is not a monolithic construct. Reif (2008) states that
metacognition helps ensure better practices over time, improves creativity, and can contribute to
the knowledge of other people (e.g. students).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 22

Current interventions for fostering achievement are typically targeted to specific concerns
identified in students, yet improved metacognition in improving instructional procedures for
teachers should be the goal (Callender, Franco-Watkins & Roberts, 2016). Providing teachers
with a metacognitive developmental work, such as Response to Intervention, would allow them
to focus on their individual differences in approaches to serving Black males. Additionally,
teacher-led interventions using metacognitively oriented interventions have resulted in
improvements of students' metacognition, as well as deep learning (Baker, 2008).
Policies regarding recommendations for Special Education services are intended to
provide equal access to opportunities to learn. Nonetheless, it is possible that the Special
Education label itself and the instructional practices, which direct what accommodations are
required for that access, may have a negative effect on students’ course-taking (Shifrer, Callahan,
& Muller, 2013). Black males in Saint Mary’s Emotionally Disturbed population typically
display average or above average intelligence, but also exhibit behaviors that may hinder their
learning and achievement in school (SMUSD, 2010). As such, if teacher-led interventions, such
as Response to Intervention, can be implemented with fidelity, perhaps teachers will more ably
support Black males in maneuvering educational settings and opportunities (Thorius & Maxcy,
2015).
Knowledge Influence – Factual
Any fidelity and effectiveness of implemented strategies would be mitigated without
proper and continued training. Rueda (2011) states that factual knowledge is the foundation of
any discipline. Factual knowledge is anything which creates context and allows for the framing
and familiarity of a subject (Rueda, 2011). Factual knowledge is also the foundation of mastery;
as teachers must acquire factual component skills in teacher preparation programs, they may
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 23

assume they understand the goals of Response to Intervention, but they must have opportunities
to integrate the strategies in and know when to apply what they have learned (Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
Response to Intervention can provide teachers with a set of rules and procedures, which
can act as guides on what to do in various situations. These rules and procedures are based in
factual knowledge because they initially call for the teacher to act in binary (if/then reactions to
student behaviors). The interventions also provide models, which can help teachers predict or
explain behaviors in an active manner and therefore react in a deliberate manner (Reif, 2008).
These deliberate reactions are based in factual process, rather than procedural knowledge about
how to act in a given situation. In short, factual knowledge will allow teachers to fake it until
they have developed the skills and knowledge to interact on the metacognitive level.
Motivational Influences
This section reviews literature that explores the utility and self-efficacy motivations
which may influence performance gaps that ultimately contribute to the over-representation of
Black males in Special Education. Motivation is important because mislabeling students creates
a false impression of the child’s intelligence and academic potential (Shifrer, 2013). Because of
this, an inappropriate Special Education designation may have long-lasting harmful effects.
Labeling students as disabled when they really are not leads to unwarranted services and
supports (Bal, Kozleski, Schrader, Rodriguez, & Pelton, 2014). Misidentified students are likely
to encounter limited access to a rigorous curriculum and diminished expectations. As these
motivations can create the conditions for teacher effectiveness and students’ educational success,
it is essential they are understood in efforts to end disproportionality and close the achievement
gap. Additionally, motivational influences are essential to any change effort. The kind of data
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 24

that will best illuminate the need/direction/purpose for change and how these strategies and data
might have an impact on student achievement outcomes must be carefully considered. To
accurately evaluate these motivations, the District needs to perform gap analyses to understand
what strategies will serve the most kids with the most need (Clark & Estes, 2008).
The District creates a range of opportunities that bring teachers together. These include
job alike in-services, professional learning communities, and trainings to increase teacher
capacity for improving students’ academic progress. Teachers are expected to continuously
engage in professional development on inclusive and culturally sensitive practices. According to
Eccles (2007), motivation is intrinsically linked achievement-related beliefs and outcomes. She
goes on to say motivation can frame causal attributions; culturally based beliefs on self-
perceptions and self-concepts. This study applies utility value and attribution theory to explore
stakeholder motivations for implementation of Response to Intervention strategies with fidelity.
Utility Value – Teachers
Utility values provide the conditions under which a particular practice or endeavor is
deemed useful (Reif, 2008). Rueda (2011) more succinctly posits, “Why should I do this task?”
for teachers. Thus, ensuring teachers are deeply knowledgeable as educators and policy
implementers of empirical evidence on the educational attainment gap for Black males is critical
to create reform that positively impacts student outcomes. With a clear understanding of the
contributing factors that negatively influence traditionally underserved students and at best, lead
to mediocrity, teachers understand the utility of programs such as Response to Intervention,
meant to support those with actual special needs and close the achievement gap for all students.
Educators must take a vested interest in the success of all students and never use cultural
identity as an excuse for inaction. Response to Intervention is designed as a well-integrated
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 25

system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data (RTI Action Network, n.d.).
Teachers may be motivated by Response to Intervention because it may allow them to evolve
from a reactive model, in which students must seriously deteriorate before being referred to
Special Education programs, to one that emphasizes early and high-quality research-based
interventions in general programs that generate useful data with which to make key decisions for
each struggling student (Thorius & Maxcy, 2015).
Teachers need to see the utility value of implementing Response to Intervention with
fidelity. Research finds that when programs are implemented with fidelity, people are more
accepting of consequences, do not argue about unfairness, and behavioral change happens faster
than when programs are implemented haphazardly (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006).
Attribution Theory - Teachers
The social structure of education fosters and reinforces the forms of consciousness,
interpersonal behavior, and personality in students (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This
structuralizing has led to varying interpretations of intellectual ability in the construct of
systemic inequality (Albrecht, Skiba, Losen, Chung, & Middelberg, 2012). If teachers do not
believe Black males are capable, the existence of educational achievement gaps between ethnic
and socioeconomic groups is generally accepted. Providing struggling learners with interventions
may even feel futile. Such beliefs may further perpetuate the “minority” condition, which can
manifest itself in a variety of ways, exacerbate unwanted behaviors, and further isolate – leading
to the inability to acquire [norm] social transmission (Aud, 2010). These beliefs are transmitted
latently and overtly to students through a variety of interactions. Understanding this attribution
will allow teachers to make educational decisions about the intensity and duration of
interventions based on individual student response to instruction.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 26

It is not unusual for school systems and educators, when seeking to improve student
performance, to consider service structure, staff design, and professional development, but
teacher motivation may not be part of such an inquiry. Ultimately, programs designed without
thought to motivation and performance will be less likely to improve student achievement
outcomes (Becker & Luthar, 2002). However, in ignoring this essential element of quality
service delivery, they often fail in their stated goals, and the cycle of student failure therefore
continues.
Organizational Influences
General theory
Increasingly, public education is under fire for not serving the needs of all students
(Zimmerman, 2011). This is because quite often the dynamics that play out in the classroom
uphold the status quo by reproducing conditions of dominant culture, and do not address the
socio-political nature of schooling (Moore 2008). Black males, in particular, are more likely to
experience systemic racial microaggressions in educational environments. According to
Cartledge and Dukes (2008) minority students, particularly Blacks, typically have higher rates of
special education identification compared with their White counterparts. This disproportionality
illuminates the need for change in strategy or interventions that may impact student achievement.
Black male achievement, or lack thereof, can be framed in the organization’s influences
of social practices and representations that affirm the cultural capital of American society; this
being the central values and concerns of the social group in control of resources, and symbols of
wealth in our society. This cultural model, Moore (2008) notes, creates the standard to measure,
assess, and guide what is valued in our world view.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 27

Teachers who identify with dominant ideology accept this norm, expecting students to
listen, learn, and regurgitate dominant information (Pane, Rocco, Miller, & Salmon 2014). As
such, an implicit ideology about Black males may disproportionately distort teachers’ view of
Black students as academic problems because the of latent, or overt conflicts with school social
norms. This is because students from non-dominant ethnic backgrounds may resist lessons
scripted in dominant culture that are not culturally relevant to them by disengaging and
disrupting class (Pane, Rocco, Miller, & Salmon 2014).
In their work on the disparate access to rigor and the disproportionate representation of
minorities in Special Education, Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons, and Feggins-Azziz
(2006) concluded that racial and ethnic disparities appear to be determined by many interacting
factors, but are not limited to classroom management, cultural mismatch, and unequal
opportunities in General Education. Albrecht, et al. (2012) notes that the possibility of bias
contributing to disproportionate representation requires vigilance in oversight to prevent such
practices. Furthermore; as Hotchkins (2016) details, such deficit perceptions about Black male
students leads to higher rates of discipline, academic tracking, and hegemonic practices that
promote greater disparity and disproportionality in academic access and achievement.
Response to Intervention training attempts to interrupt such preconceptions by allowing
teachers to name and understand their positioning in society. It also requires them to understand
White identity and privilege (Pennington, Brock, & Ndura, 2012). Moore (2006) states that
teachers must confront their assumptions and biases to be effective educators for all students.
Such comprehension of their position helps them in understanding the complexity of teacher–
student relationships in conjunction with race. The development of cultural awareness gives way
to cultural competence and provides teachers with tools to help students develop their own
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 28

positive ethnic and cultural identities. Additionally, this cultural competence will allow the
teacher to modify prescribed curriculum, building on student prior knowledge and experiences
(Johnson, 2011).
If we accept that schools are gateway institutions, which could provide access to upward
social mobility and are structured according to the dominant middle-class ways of being, we
understand how the institution influences and perpetuates inequality (Noguera, 2003). The
experience of Black males in public education is an ominous array of hardships, besot with
indicators of low academic performance. We can then turn our attentions to the discussion of
interventions, which can create opportunities to reduce inequality.
Stakeholder Specific Influences
Noguera (2003) states that there is a pattern of low achievement among Black males, and
that all the most important quality-of-life indicators suggest that Black males are in deep trouble.
The prevalent pattern of limited life chances is exacerbated by the fact that teachers are trained in
pedagogical techniques that tend to marginalize minority communities while espousing equal
access for all (Johnson, 2011). Meanwhile, Black males are more likely to be labeled as less
intelligent without recognition of, or opportunities to demonstrate, the ways they may learn, or
how their talents may manifest differently (Darling-Hammond, 2007).
Scholars and researchers commonly understand that environmental and cultural factors
have a profound influence on human behaviors, including academic performance (Noguera,
2003). Teachers provide support for academic success by having high expectations for their
students’ learning, but this should not come at the expense of losing cultural identity (Pane,
Rocco, Miller, & Salmon, 2014). Teachers are less likely to employ differentiating instruction
strategies such as: scaffolding, clarification of challenging curriculum, and harnessing student
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 29

strengths as instructional starting points. They then tend to shift responsibility for academic
success to the student, making explicit the power dynamics of mainstream society (Noguera,
2003).
Therefore, it is possible for schools to take actions that can improve academic access and
achievement as teachers begin to understand the importance of culture and theories of social
capital (Goldenberg, 2014; 2013). Black males may resist the dominant norms of society, so
teachers must first participate in an admittedly tough, but necessary self-reflection of their
“positionality” in the classroom (Goldenberg, 2014; 2013). It is pivotal that teachers do not see
themselves as culture-less, or race-less, as it is impossible to divorce themselves from their race
or past cultural experiences; they must realize that they are part of the dominant group in society
that continues to oppress people of color (Goldenberg 2014; 2013). It can be extremely difficult
to bring teachers up to speed with the latest strategies to meet the needs of all their students,
given the intensive time and resources needed to make teachers more culturally relevant
(Zimmerman 2011).
Unacknowledged implicit bias reduces the chances that schools will be able to focus on
helping students acquire critical thinking, research, writing and production abilities; it also
reduces the chances that students who learn will be able to demonstrate their achievements
(Darling-Hammond, 2007). For this reason, applying knowledge of diverse social capital, and
getting to know students’ individually rather than monolithic categories, emerges as potential
areas of focus for restructuring pedagogical practice (Moore, 2008).
Modifying pedagogical practices can be frustrating and discouraging, because we cannot
assume that people who identify as the same race possess the same cultural capital (Goldenberg,
2014; 2013) (Burns, Appleton, & Stehouwer, 2005). However; training in system-wide positive
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 30

behavior interventions have been shown to lead to sustained changes in schools’ internal
practices and systems (Bradshaw, Mitchell, & Leaf, 2010). When Response to Intervention is
implemented, with fidelity, by all teachers who are applying different skills, with different
children at different levels of the prevention framework, considerable gains in achievement have
been demonstrated (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2012).
According to Bradley, Doolittle, and Bartolotta (2008) educational intervention and
instruction is the area where educators have the greatest opportunity to influence a student’s
outcome. In schools across the nation, the situation in special education mirrors a larger trend in
education for Black students generally, and Black males in particular. That is, rather than serving
as a source of hope and opportunity, some schools are sites where Black males are marginalized
and stigmatized (Noguera, 2003).
Unfortunately, there is a serious shortage of “highly qualified” teachers whom can
exacerbate this issue. If Response to Intervention training limits the undesirable consequences of
cultural hegemony, we must abandon antiquated teacher preparation techniques and adopt more
of the progressive approaches that allow for differences in the way in which people learn
(Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta, 2008).
If academic success is tied to teachers having high expectations for their students, to the
degree that we accept the idea, we must create the capacity in teachers to resist subjugation of
differing cultural patterns and constrained views of social capital. We must also work to bring
greater clarity to actions and interventions that can be adopted by schools to support academic
access and outcomes of Black males (Noguera, 2003).
Table 1: Summary of the knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences that may
impact the efficacious implementation of Response to Intervention with fidelity.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 31

Motivational Influences, and Assessments for Motivation Gap Analysis
Summary of Assumed Influences on Black Male Achievement
Assumed Assets of Teacher Practices General Literature
Knowledge
Teachers are aware of systemic barriers to
educational attainment for Black Males
(Performance Monitoring, Accountability)
(Crowley, 2016; Darling-Hammond,
2007; Hotchkins, 2016; Noguera, 2003;
Stephens, et al., 2014)

Teachers are aware of evidence-based,
systems of the RTI approach meant to
establish the social culture needed for
schools to be effective learning
environments (Performance Monitoring,
Shared Mental Models)
(Artiles, 2015; Brown-Jeffy et al., 2011;
Gooden, et al., 2015;2014)

Teachers are aware of White privilege and
White social capital hegemony as systemic
barriers, and utilize RTI to actively monitor
and adjust interactions/pedagogical style to
student needs (Adaptability, Shared Mental
Models, Communication)
(Artiles, 1998; Blanchett, 2006; Gold, et
al., 2012; Terry, et al., 2014)

Teachers are able to articulate RTI strategies
and use them to inform pedagogical style in
context to create equitable access to
educational resources (Declarative,
Performance Monitoring, Behavior,
Accountability)
(Bradley, et al., 2008; Goldenberg,
2014;2013; Johnson, 2011)

Motivation
Teacher see the utility value of
implementing RTI with fidelity to address
systemic barriers to academic achievement
for Black males. (Utility Value)
(Reif, 2008; Thorius & Maxcy,
2015;Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006).

Teachers believe Black males are capable
and their RTI training prepares them to meet
the academic needs of all students.
(Attribution Theory)
(Shifrer, 2013; Jennings & Greenberg,
2009; Albrecht, et al., 2012)

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 32

Organizational Culture

Teachers understand the goals of the District
and purposes of RTI (Accountability)
(Bradley, et al., 2008; Goldenberg,
2014;2013; Johnson, 2011; Noguera,
2003)

Teachers receive training on RTI
interventions from the District (Leadership)
(Albrecht, et al., 2012; Fuchs, et al.,2012;
Pane, et al., 2014)

Teachers experience RTI strategies as
positive “tools” they personally manifest
meant to improve all student outcomes
(Accountability, Autonomy)
(Bradshaw, et al., 2010; Burns, et al.,
2005; Pennington, et al., 2012;
Zimmerman, 2011)

Interactive Conceptual Framework

If academic and social achievement are dependent on cultural capital, there may be a
need to evaluate and reassess what behaviors or tendencies are targeted as learning
disabled/delayed, because diagnosis may be associated with a lack of perceived cultural capital
rather than a real cognitive deficiency. According to Artiles (2011), the social structure of
education fosters and reinforces forms of consciousness, interpersonal behaviors, and personality
traits considered to have valued cultural capital. Schools reward certain types of knowledge,
resources, and ways of speaking more than other styles. Students whose family backgrounds
provide them with these skills do well in school, while the rest often do not (Huddleston, 2014).
Furthermore, these particular leverage points perpetuate socioeconomic reproduction through the
educational system (Sullivan & Artiles, 2011).
Figure 1 illustrates how the of knowledge, motivation, and organizational factors act as
interactive influences for teachers providing academic opportunities for Black males. The visual
depiction of the framework demonstrates how organizational factors influence stakeholder goals.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 33

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework for Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences of
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.

While influences are independent, their relationship between organization, knowledge, and
motivation is dynamic and should be examined as a whole (Rueda, 2011). The aim of the
conceptual framework is to provide context to the efforts of Saint Mary’s Unified School
District’s General Education teachers’ implementation of Response to Intervention, a key
strategy effectively disrupting the systemic socio-constructs of low expectations and perceived
SMUSD
Culture: Values, Attitudes, Expectations
Setting: Technical Assistance/Support, Feedback,
Opportunities for Training
GE Teachers
Knowledge: Cultural Awareness/Competency,
Behavior/Academic Interventions, Student
Engagement, RTI Goals Comprehension
Motivation: Utility, Self-Efficacy
The Saint Mary’s Unified School District (SMUSD) will
ensure 100% of all Black male students will receive
access to rigorous, culturally competent educational
opportunities in academically appropriate settings.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 34

lack of cultural capital directed toward Black males. The analysis of this evaluation focused on
knowledge, motivation and organizational influences as related to achieving the organizational
goals. While a complete performance evaluation would focus on all Saint Mary’s stakeholders,
for practical purposes the stakeholder to be focused on in this analysis is Saint Mary’s General
Education teachers’ efforts. In this conceptual model, I build on Deardorff’s (2006)
conceptualization of cultural competence, which is defined by the ability to shift one’s frame of
reference appropriately to “communicate effectively and behave appropriately in intercultural
situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes.” Using Deardorff’s
definition as a foundation, Saint Mary’s conceptual model examines how cultural competence
influences Black male academic access and outcomes.
The Saint Mary’s framework proposes that culture competence can be measured by
assessing teacher attitudes and behaviors, as well as perceptions of the environment. Moreover,
this framework attempts to advance the notion cultural competence in teachers must be linked to
Black male academic outcomes to determine the effectiveness of adopted interventions in
providing the opportunities for success of all students. Given the persistent academic
achievement gap between Black males and their counterparts, educators and key stakeholders
may need more relevant and comprehensive understanding of influences and motivations that
may impact academic achievement. It is essential to understand these influences as they are
essential components of policy development. Clark and Estes (2008) also point out the necessity
of understanding influences and motivations, because stakeholders are often unaware or
unwilling to acknowledge knowledge gaps. They may also be unaware of how such gaps may
impact student performance and outcomes. Furthermore, attempts at solving such systemic issues
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 35

without analysis of knowledge gaps, are often thwarted by fragmented approaches that are
ultimately misaligned from organizational goals (Sullivan & Artiles, 2011).
Data Collection and Instrumentation
The stakeholders for this research study were current General Education teachers in the
Saint Mary’s Unified School District. Current General Education teachers are defined as current
District employees who have received Response to Intervention training, implement the learned
intervention techniques, and provide educational services for Black males (Appendix A). For
purposes of this evaluation study, qualitative sampling strategies were adopted to ascertain the
effectiveness of the adoption of Response to Intervention in the pursuit of the District’s goal to
ensure its Black male students are served in appropriate academic settings.
Creswell states (2013) that a correlational qualitative approach involves the collection
and interpretation of data to respond to research questions. This approach to research is useful to
this study as it seeks to link the impact General Education teachers’ attitudes and behaviors have
on Black male referral to Special Education in the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance.
Taking ethical considerations into account (Appendix E), data sources included: an
interview, observations, and documents and artifacts collected from the District (Appendix A,
B). The selection criteria for this study was single staged, purposeful, and focused on
understanding if implementation of Response to Intervention is an effective strategy for reducing
Black male referrals in the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance (Creswell, 2013;
Maxwell, 2012; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Selection criteria for the stakeholder is randomly
based on current General Education teachers who participated in a course of Response to
Intervention professional learning opportunities provided by the District (Appendix A).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 36

The professional learning sessions were aimed toward increasing the capacity of
identified stakeholders’ efforts to understand Black students’ academic and cultural needs. They
are also presented with strategies on how to recognize socio-cultural triggers, understand
environmental triggers, and support academic growth in Black males. Once teachers receive
training, they are expected to immediately integrate their learnings to their pedagogical strategies
in a consistent, inclusive, and culturally sensitive manner.
I was able to secure an interview with one District leader. The sampling method for
selecting the interviewee was purposeful and designed to gain access to information that would
support the evaluation of the District’s implementation of Response to Intervention. The
qualitative inquiry modality of the interview is designed to explore demographic characteristics,
cultural acuity, and instructional practices for General Education teachers of Black male students
in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District (Appendix B). These teachers, having received
professional development in preparation for serving students who may be demonstrating trauma-
based behaviors, are unfortunately being disproportionately labeled with Emotional Disturbance
due to a lack of cultural competence.
Prior to the experiment, approval was obtained from the University of Southern
California institutional review board (IRB). There were three parts to data collection: an
interview, observations, and review documents and artifacts provided by the District. The
purpose of this study was to evaluate the Saint Mary’s Unified School District’s implementation
of Response to Intervention as a key strategy for teachers to effectively support Black males in
the General Education setting. While a complete performance evaluation would attend to all
stakeholders, for practical purposes Saint Mary’s General Education teachers who have received
the full course of Response to Intervention training and provide instruction to Black males in the
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 37

General Education setting at least 50% of the day, are the stakeholders of focus in this
evaluation.
Interview
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Response to Intervention implementation, I
conducted a semi-structured interview with the Executive Director for Student Services. I chose
to interview an administrator of high ranking in the District in order to triangulate my data, after
I was denied access to survey teachers because of agreements with the union indicating asks not
established at the beginning of an academic year implied additional work. I intended to
interview five, high ranking District administrators, or “elites” per Marshall and Rossman, with
direct involvement in the implementation of Response to Intervention, but my requests were
rejected (2014). While I did not receive explanations for their refusals; I was granted an
interview with one District leader.
Having access to only one interviewee was a significant limitation for my evaluation.
Nevertheless, high ranking individuals in an organization can be very insightful as they are
influential, and well-informed on the topic (Harvey, 2011). The opportunity to interview the
Executive Director was especially helpful as she has expertise not only in Response to
Intervention but lead the District’s implementation attempts. She also provided insights on the
District’s social and political cultures that influenced these efforts. According to Marshall and
Rossman (2014) define an “elite” I as an individual who is influential, prominent and well-
informed about a particular area. They elaborate that elites can provide an overall view of an
organization, albeit from their own limited and bounded perspectives, as they may be quite
familiar with various structures of the organization (2014).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 38

My interview with the Executive Director was semi-structured to allow her opportunities
to digress from the primary questions (Appendix B). This also allowed me to probe her
responses to understand her remarks more clearly (James, Milenkiewicz, & Bucknam, 2008).
Additionally, interview responses helped determine relevance in document and artifact
collection. The interview was held in the Executive Director’s office, and was approximately
two hours in length. It was designed to measure the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences on District elites that may impact implementation with fidelity. While the one
interview could not support any generalizations of this evaluation’s findings; it should ensure
that the proposed research questions are addressed appropriately.
The interview protocol was designed to measure knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences that may impact implementation of the prescribed strategies with
fidelity. I coded responses in an attempt to assess mental models in several cultural competence
fluencies including: internalizing ability by ethnicity; perceiving inattention and distractibility
items; items assessing poor school attitude; and items assessing social and interpersonal skills. I
then used this data to determine and contextualize the findings in relation to the conceptual
framework and research questions. For example, I framed the number of instances the Executive
Director presented observations of teachers who had the training yet were not utilizing Response
to Intervention strategies to demonstrate the findings’ mental models.
Initially, I planned to distribute surveys directly to the District’s General Education
teachers as they are the stakeholder group of focus for this study. However, the District was
going through significant changes in leadership as well as facing overall cuts of approximately
eight percent to support negotiated salary increases. In fact, the Executive Director shared that
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 39

her position was consolidated in the next fiscal budget. These transitions have manifested an
atmosphere of tenuousness toward inquiries to processes and procedures previously unobserved.
Observation
A total of three observations, at three different elementary schools took place for this
study. I was provided access to third and fifth grade classrooms at Saint Anthony’s, Sisters of
Mercy, and Sacred Heart Elementary (Appendix A). Each observation was approximately ninety
minutes and verbatim field notes were attempted until site leaders requested that I stop as the
action made teachers feel they were being evaluated (Appendix B). Therefore, from this point
forward detailed reflective notes were taken immediately after each observation. Identified
teachers were observed for an hour before transition to lunch, or the end of the school day to
ascertain if Response to Intervention strategies were used with fidelity throughout the day.
Observations did not include video recordings as were asked not to make requests of teachers
beyond observing in their class and to not engage students’ or families in any manner.
Observations focused on looking for teachers displaying or acting out efficacious multi-tiered
prevention strategies.
If a teacher created their own multi-level prevention strategy, at least three levels of
intensity or preventative strategies would have been observed. These tiered strategies are shown
in Figure 2. The primary prevention level will include high quality, culturally relevant, core
instruction. The secondary level will include evidence-based intervention(s), such as redirection
of moderate intensity. The tertiary prevention level will include individualized intervention(s) of
increased intensity, such as one-on-one instruction differentiation for students who show
minimal response to secondary prevention strategies (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2012).

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 40

Figure 2. Multi-leveled (tiered) prevention strategies demonstrated in effective Response to
Intervention implementation. Courtesy of Diana Browning-Wright.

My evaluation employed direct observations of General Education teacher behavior in
the classroom to obtain data for implementation with fidelity. The observation protocol was
developed to observe teacher response to student behaviors. First, I attempted to gauge a
baseline level of teachers’ responses to student behaviors. Behaviors such as talking out of turn,
leaving desks without cause or permission, and activities that were off task were deemed
“inappropriate”. I observed these behaviors in high frequency and noted when, and if teachers
utilized tiered intervention strategies to mitigate undesired behaviors equally among all students.
I hoped to observe teachers actively applying the strategies to support their Black male students
in the General Education environment when they displayed undesired behaviors, however during
all three observations, I saw teachers actively ignoring these students and working around them.
Attitudes and behaviors, as well as perceptions of classroom environment were observed and

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 41

noted, moreover; I sought out displays of intentional cultural models that depend on targeted
behaviors and specific tiered interventions.
Observations were conducted as I systematically cycled through the classroom observing
the teacher with different students to determine if they were demonstrating noted responses
toward target behaviors. Data analysis began during observations. Descriptive analyses for each
observation were conducted. As I was asked not to take notes during the observation, I
subsequently wrote analytic memos for each observation.
Documents and Artifacts
This study collected documents and artifacts that were provided as a courtesy from the
Saint Mary’s Unified School District. These items summarize the Districts efforts to support its
implementation of Response to Intervention strategies on a systemic level. Collected documents
and artifacts were intended to provide contextual information, and facilitative evidence of events
and strategies I may not have observed or collected directly through interview or observation
(Creswell, Hanson, Plano-Clark, & Morales, 2007).
These unobtrusive data items also informed and/or confirmed data collected during my
research (Creswell, 2013). I coded collected documents and artifacts and journaled any
connections within them to data collected through the interview and observations (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2015). I collected several items including: annual performance data, reports, and
proposals.
Along with interview and observation results, artifacts relating to the District’s Response
to Intervention implementation were collected. The annual reports, student discipline and
referral data already existed and were identified during the one-to-one interview with the
Executive Director. The artifacts assisted me in data triangulation. The annual reports confirmed
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 42

that professional development took place consistently in the first two years of implementation. It
also triangulated coded data points from the interview with observed behaviors of teachers not
utilizing academic or behavioral strategies to support Black male students in the General
Education classroom setting.
I used the analytic memos from classroom observations, anecdotes from the interview
and Special Education referral data in a systematic approach to attempt to support the conceptual
framework. These categories support the conceptual framework as a theoretical explanation of
the observed actions that continually surrounded the data supporting challenges in the District’s
implementation of Response to Intervention.
Findings
The analysis of this evaluation sought to understand the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences on General Education teachers in the fruition of the overall goal of
ensuring all students who graduate from Saint Mary’s are college and career ready. The
evaluation follows the conceptual framework, which allowed for inductive coding of the
interview with the Executive Director, observations, and gathered artifacts. The evaluation also
utilized the concepts of knowledge, motivation and organizational supports as required principles
for faithful implementation of the Response to Intervention strategies.
The focus on the conceptual framework and principals allowed for concentration on the
stakeholder group of focus: General Education teacher behaviors. As such, the research
questions that guided this study were:
• To what extent is the Saint Mary’s Unified School District meeting its goal to ensure all
students, particularly Black males, have equal access to rigorous educational opportunities by
implementing Response to Interventions strategies with fidelity?
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 43

• What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements related to ensuring all Saint
Mary’s teachers feel equipped to address the diverse academic and cultural needs of Black
males in the General Education setting? and,
• What are the recommendations for maintaining and improving implementation practices for
Response to Intervention in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources
as it relates to ensuring Black males receive access to rigorous and appropriate academic
opportunities?
The findings to the first two questions will be discussed in the following sections. The
final question will be explored in the solutions and recommendations section. It should be noted
that the political climate in the District was the central cause of limited access for data collection.
The District cut 5% for expenditures in its 2019 budget. These reductions caused significant lay-
offs in central office positions as school site budgets were prioritized. Most administrators
involved in the Response to Intervention implementation were impacted by these lay-offs. Those
not impacted, were not inclined to provide access. As such, data gathering for Saint Mary’s
implementation of Response to Intervention was limited, but it demonstrated consistent findings.
Nevertheless; future studies are required to provide broader context to identified implementation
gaps for the District, as a whole, in meeting its organizational goal. Overall there was little
evidence of implementation with fidelity regarding the contributing factors of knowledge of
Response to Intervention strategies, motivation to support Black males in the General Education
environment, or organizational supports from the District to produce these stated desired
outcomes.
The findings of this evaluation are supported by Bandura’s social cognitive theory
(Pajares, 2006). Self-efficacy is an essential motivational factor in the District’s failed Response
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 44

to Intervention implementation. Teachers and District leaders demonstrated limited to non-
existent belief in the ability of the District, or in their ability to support Black males’ utilizing the
behavioral or instructional interventions prescribed by Response to Intervention. Importantly,
District leadership verbalized that students with challenging behaviors due to life circumstance,
backgrounds, and levels of intelligence, likely could not have positive school experiences in the
District because teachers were socially and culturally “obtuse”. The Executive Director noted
that there is a large discrepancy in achievement and in how the staff treat struggling Black males.
That is, teachers’ comfort levels with students from differing backgrounds seems to inhibit them
from forming productive relationships with these students. She expanded that, “Black students
often experience a bifurcated situation in their school experience because teachers often view
students through a discrepancy model.” She elaborated that because, “Response to Intervention
is a behaviorist model, it can force teachers to separate their predispositions and engage students
meaningfully because its strategies help teachers select and monitor the effectiveness of their
interactions.”
While the District, verbalizes its commitment to delivering a better schooling experience
to its Black male students on several platforms, teachers and District leaders consistently failed
to implement strategies, address instructional practices, or attitudes and beliefs towards Black
children and families. Collected data, as measured by the provided Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium (SBAC) artifact paint a story of continued under-achievement for Black
students and demonstrate stagnancy or decline in the key areas of English Language Arts and
Mathematics. As Charts 1 and 2 demonstrate, the District has not moved the needle for
standardized test scores for Black students. Black students continue to significantly
underperform. This holds true, even when controlling for socioeconomic status.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 45

Chart 1 and Chart 2: 2016 Districtwide percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards
for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language Arts and Mathematics
by ethnicity and socioeconomics for Saint Mary’s Unified School District.

The data presented in Charts 1 and 2 are a call to action that will fundamentally shift the
outcomes for Black male students by changing the context in which teachers and schools operate
(SMUSD, 2017). The District needs to hold schools accountable for encouraging all students
academically. It also needs to hold schools accountable for utilizing systems and services that
reduce disproportionality in discipline and improve school climates impacted by implicit bias.
The following sections present the data collection’s findings through the lenses of the Clark and
Estes (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational influences schema. The findings
demonstrate the importance of data systems, accountability, and professional development as key
levers in seeking out and implementing appropriate systemic changes.
Knowledge
Although Response to Intervention implementation involves entire school systems,
General Education teachers hold primary responsibility for providing the instruction for at risk
students (Castro-Villarreal, Rodriguez, & Moore, 2014). As such, their beliefs, attitudes, and
perceptions are essential components for successful implementation. I hoped to see evidence of
Chart 1 Chart 2
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 46

procedural, declarative (also known as conceptual) and metacognitive knowledge influences in
teacher practices during data collection (Clark & Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011; & Reif, 2008). As
outlined in my conceptual framework, Deardorff’s (2006) conceptualization of cultural
competence, which is defined by the ability to shift one’s frame of reference appropriately to
“communicate effectively and behave appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s
intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes”, is inextricably linked to cultural competence
because teachers’ attitudes and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of student behavior frame
their beliefs about Black male academic ability.
Therefore, the effectiveness of adopted interventions is dependent on the teacher’s ability
to self-reflect, declare, and determine the appropriateness of a given strategy’s likelihood to
engage students in the academic process. The Executive Director reported that while academic
interventions were not being employed, behavioral strategies were being employed “at least in the
elementary schools.” A professional development plan provided as an artifact confirms that the
District did provide comprehensive training that included: instructional practices, culturally and
linguistically responsive interventions, as well as problem solving to identify interventions, and
addressing behavior problems that prevent students from demonstrating their academic ability. In
my limited observations, I saw little evidence of General Education teachers effectively
employing Response to Intervention strategies. For instance, I observed a fifth-grade class at the
Sisters of Mercy Elementary School. I observed students writing math equations from the board
in their own notebooks. The teacher reviewed the algebraic concepts and encouraged students to
talk with a partner to their left on the best way to solve the problems. There was a class
discussion for about five minutes, then students were directed to work independently for about
fifteen minutes before they exchanged with their partner for correcting. After a few minutes of
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 47

silence, a young man began tapping his foot and making musical sounds. The teacher asked the
student to be quiet, and work, but did not approach the student, or ask if he was having problems
with the work. When it was time to correct, the young man had not completed any of the
problems. This was reported to the entire class by his partner. The teacher let the student know
he would not get any credit because he didn’t “try”. I observed similar behavior from teachers
consistently ignoring “inappropriate” behaviors and allowing students to disrupt the class and
other students but punishing students without redirections. Were teachers at least employing
behavioral interventions as reported by the Executive Director, I would have expected to observe
behaviors from teachers that demonstrated knowledge of key interventions, such as positive
redirection in attempts of creating an optimistic learning environment.
Reward systems for positive behaviors were spotted in two of the three observed
classrooms; however, teachers failed to encourage wanted behaviors during the observation that
may have reminded students to pay attention and follow directions. In the observation at Sacred
Heart, the teacher had students seated in pods of four. Students were directed to compare their
answers for their homework assignment. The students wrote paragraphs responding to questions
that were about a history reading and were asked to justify their answers based on evidence in the
reading. While observing one group discussion, I noticed a Black male student defending his
answer vigorously using the text. When the teacher brought the class back together and asked
each group to report out, he chose this student’s group last and said he needed to let someone else
speak even though he raised his hand with excitement. The teacher gave each group points toward
a reward when they effectively used text to support their answers. The stronger their evidence,
the more points they were awarded. The last group’s representative had a thick accent and the
teacher said they had earned the minimum number of points after she gave her evidence. The
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 48

teacher gave each group feedback but did not necessarily provide each group with the opportunity
to gain optimal rewards, by having others in the group support their team’s responses. Utilizing
rewards systems inequitably can signal “institutionalized racism in perceptions of, and responses
to, children’s (mis)behaviors” (Silva, Langhout, Kohfeldt, & Gurrola, 2015).
Evidence of knowledge of interventions were observed intermittently. Students were
verbally reinforced for appropriate, on-task behavior during reading in one classroom. During
this time, there was one student, visually belonging to the target group of Black males, running
around the classroom in circles. The teacher and other students ignored this behavior, and as it
became apparent that he would not get attention, the young man returned to his seat. At this time,
the teacher made eye contact, asked if he needed any help, and thanked him for reading and
sitting quietly. This represented strong evidence of metacognitive and procedural knowledge of
Tier I and Tier II (Figure 2) Response to Intervention behavioral strategies on the part of the
teacher. Nevertheless, I did not observe any attempts to differentiate academics, or periodic
check-ins for progress or understanding with any Black male students.
During our interview, the Executive Director revealed that elementary General Education
teachers utilize Response to Intervention strategies for behavior reinforcement, but that academic
strategies were not being used at most sites. If academic and behavioral interventions are not
integrated, implementation with fidelity cannot exist (Avant & Lindsey, 2015). While I did see
instances of teachers integrating academic intervention into their behavior supports for students, it
was not consistent. There was also evidence of persistent disproportionately in Black male
disciplinary practices because of the way teachers separate academics from behavior. In my last
observation a teacher was observed telling a student he failed before attempting work because he
was talking while the teacher was passing out a test. Conversely, another student was out of their
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 49

seat without permission but was simply instructed to sit down until the test was distributed.
While the students’ behaviors were not exactly the same, the difference in the teacher’s approach
to redirection demonstrate possible latent biases and propensities to discipline certain students
more harshly for equivalent actions. Table 2 provides a summary of findings from our
observations.
Table 2: Knowledge Expectations and Observations for General Education Teacher Instructional
Practices for Response to Intervention.
Expected RTI Strategies Observed Behaviors Implementation Gaps
• Clear expectations for
behavior
• Ignoring “inappropriate”
behaviors
• Penalty without
warning/reinforcement
• Reinforce agreed upon
class rules
• Redirect unwanted
behaviors
• Highlight model behavior
• Differentiated academics
• Limited directions
• No check-ins for
understanding
• No cultural or social tie-ins
to encourage engagement
• Scaffold to ensure students
understand each step
• Provide exemplars
• Create relevance to student
real life experiences
• Use of data for student
behaviors/engagement
• Ignoring student’s
enthusiasm
• Refusing to engage student
• Penalty without
warning/reinforcement
• Use of systems to track for
when he does not call out.
• Visual ques to show when
it is appropriate to speak
out.
• Rewards for desired
behaviors

Given the implication that teachers may have to revert to hierarchical directives -
especially with Black males - it is essential that the teacher’s motivations around supporting this
target group are fully understood. This means I would expect to observe teachers implementing
interventions that build upon a student’s cultural knowledge, background, and life experiences.
These considerations would help teachers avoid some of the pitfalls observed in this section by
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 50

understanding what conditions students need to thrive and attain high standards, because some
students may simply need a different approach to fully engage in the educational process.
Effective implementation requires concepts and categories related to motivation and increasing
knowledge of implicit biases, subordination-driven by the theoretical explanation of self-efficacy
and utility for the specific actions required for the implementation process and its challenges.
Motivation
Engaging students in academic work regardless of their behavior is a critical component to
implementation of Response to Intervention with fidelity. As mentioned in the findings overview
section, Bandura’s social cognitive theory related to teacher self-efficacy, is an essential
motivational construct (Pajares, 2006) for effective implementation. Teacher
self-efficacy, construct used for this proposed study, manifested views that must possess the
confidence that they are able to teach Black males effectively and that Black males can function
successfully in the classroom environment. A key factor for self-efficacy is strong training. It is
vital for teachers to have high self-efficacy and confidence in their teaching and classroom
management abilities. It important for teachers to understand how Response to Intervention
training supplements this knowledge base in their provision of intervention services.
Furthermore, teachers must understand how the academic and behavioral components of
Response to Intervention work together to mitigate structural barriers that contributed to inequity
in student outcomes.
While working with impressionable youth, it is imperative that teachers feel they are able
to create positive experiences for student, because their own beliefs may impact student behavior
and learning (Mary, Calhoun, Tejada, & Jenson, 2018). Mary, et.al. (2018); further concluded
that culturally relevant curriculum increases school engagement among Black students.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 51

Cvencek, Fryberg, Covarrubias, and Meltzoff (2017) remind us to keep in mind that teachers are
likely to have internalized representations of what makes appropriate behavior; these self-beliefs
can directly affect engagement with students if not procedurally checked. For instance, during
my second observation, I noticed a teacher make a distinction between students displaying similar
behaviors. The chastised student remarked it wasn’t fair to lose his “star”, but the teacher told
him, he had been bothering other students. The other student was only redirected to return to their
seat until the test was distributed. The student noticed the difference in consequences and began
exhibiting escalating behaviors through the remainder of the observation. He repeated that it
wasn’t fair that he lost his star. For the remainder of the observation, the student fidgeted, spoke
to himself and others, and did not engage in the classroom activities. The teacher continued to
warn him of losing more stars but did not apparently follow through with the threat. This
demonstrates and example where utilizing Response to Intervention strategies would reduce the
variances in the teacher’s response to unwanted behaviors. This is a core concept intervention
because once students know everyone faces the same consequences for agreed upon behaviors,
community expectations reinforce interventions and increase teacher self-efficacy. Conversely, as
demonstrated during the observation, varying response to behaviors adversely affect student
behaviors, interventions such as “stars” cease to motivate students, and teachers’ self-efficacy
diminishes (Troop-Gordon, & Ladd, 2015).
I observed few instances of teachers rewarding students immediately following desired
behaviors. The lack of continuity in response to student behaviors could be a symptom of lacking
self-efficacy, but it may also represent teachers lack in belief of the utility of Response to
Intervention strategies. The basis of behavioral Response to Intervention is that consistent
response to positive behaviors propagate more desired actions in students. Teachers’ utilization
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 52

of the strategies should encourage favored mind-sets and attitudes. In turn, this would motivate
the teachers to continue engaging strategies in their daily work.
The Executive Director reported that all teachers had multiple sessions of professional
development in the theoretical and functional applications of Response to Intervention strategies.
She also stated that there are no accountability structures to ensure teacher implement trainings.
According to her,
…the District’s culture resists any attempts at accountability. We’re going
through these budget cuts, and what do you see? All the accountability people, like me,
are the ones being targeted. What are they going to do? They’re going to go back to the
way they were. It was just another wave to many people. When the last Superintendent
left, when the previous Chief of Special Education left, there was absolutely no political
will to continue this work; so of course, they see it as something that can take a back
burner in order to ‘focus on academic achievement’. They don’t see any contradiction.
Utility values explain how such structures can provide, “Why should I do this task?” for teachers
until they recognize the impact of strategies and develop their own utility motivations (Reif,
2008). Thus, ensuring teachers are deeply knowledgeable as educators and policy implementers
of empirical evidence on the educational attainment gap for Black males is critical to create
reform that positively impacts student outcomes.
Chart 3 demonstrates that Response to Intervention strategies have impacted referrals for
discipline. According to the transitional briefing report provided as an artifact, District-wide
efforts to address disproportionality in discipline are starting to bear fruit. However, this graph
also indicates that, despite their relatively small proportion of the student population in Saint
Mary’s, Black students are still receiving more discipline referrals than any other ethnic group
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 53

(SMUSD, 2017). My review of provided documents and artifacts outlined that Black students
are more likely to experience out of class time for behaviors that deviate from traditional norms,
such as staying in their seats or talking out of turn. With a clear understanding of the contributing
factors that negatively influence traditionally underserved students, teachers understand the utility
of programs such as Response to Intervention, meant to support those with actual special needs
and close the achievement gap for all students.
Chart 3: Demonstrates the percentage of discipline referrals for the past four academic years.
Supporting that Response to Intervention strategies reduce out of class time.

Further analysis of provided documents showed how Response to Intervention gives teachers
tools that neutralize biased responsive behaviors by specifically and objectively defining
“inappropriate” behaviors. According to the Executive Director, it is important to note that
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 54

“disruption” and “noncompliance” make up more than half of all referrals for Black students.
Furthermore, although it is now illegal to suspend students from school for disruption and
noncompliance, she stated that those categories still exist as reasons to send students out of class.
The Executive Director further pointed out that, “disruption and noncompliance categories are the
most susceptible to implicit bias, as these descriptors are open to interpretation by teachers, and
can lead to an inconsistent application of the classroom expectations.”
Chart 4: All discipline referrals by offense for Black students, academic year 2017.

Educators must take a vested interest in the success of all students and never use cultural
identity as an excuse for inaction. Response to Intervention is designed as a well-integrated
Bullying, 685, 8%
Damage, 403, 5%
Disruption, 3858, 44%
Noncompliance, 1140,
13%
Sexual Harassment,
94, 1%
Substances, 46, 0%
Threats, 183, 2%
Verbal Aggression,
503, 6%
Violence, 969, 11%
Walkout, 886, 10%
Weapons, 18, 0%
AY: 2017 Office Discipline Referrals for Black Students
Breakdown by Offense
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 55

system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data (RTI Action Network, n.d.).
Teachers may be motivated by Response to Intervention because it may allow them to evolve
from a reactive model - in which students must seriously deteriorate before being referred to
Special Education programs - to one that emphasizes early and high-quality research-based
interventions in general programs that generate useful data with which to make key decisions for
each struggling student (Thorius & Maxcy, 2015).
Understanding the aspects of social cognitive theory is fundamental to understanding
Response to Intervention implementation. Furthermore, effective training is essential to
implementation with fidelity. I found that my observations support that intervention efforts are
impeded when teachers are not motivated to engage learning from training to use strategies,
especially when dealing with challenging behaviors. If the District is relying on that training to
support the development of self-efficacy and utilization value, they must articulate an
accountability structure that will provide teachers with guidelines while reinforcing an essential
appreciation of how the intervention supports at risk students such as Black males.
If teachers do not believe Black males are capable, providing struggling learners with
interventions may even feel futile. Such beliefs may further perpetuate the “minority” condition,
which can manifest itself in a variety of ways, exacerbate unwanted behaviors, and further isolate
– leading to the inability to acquire [norm] social transmission (Aud, 2010). Understanding this
attribution allows teachers to make decisions about interventions based on protocol rather than
instinctive reaction. It appears the District has designed its programs without thought to such
motivations and this can possibly explain why they have had such limited success in improving
the achievement outcomes of their Black students (SMUSD, 2017; Becker & Luthar, 2002).

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 56

Organizational
Organizational influences are one of the greatest indicators of Response to Intervention
implementation success. When organizations have cultural models and cultural settings that hold
stakeholders (teachers) accountable for implementing strategies, Response to Intervention can be
effective in creating supportive environments for at-risk populations (Danielson, Doolittle, &
Bradley, 2007). During my observations, I did not see any indications that cultural models exist
for supporting implementation with fidelity. Chart 5 demonstrates that the percentage of
suspensions for the past five academic years is still significantly disproportionate to enrollment
for Black students when compared to their District wide enrollment. This was further supported
during my interview with the Executive Director when she noted that secondary schools refused
to implement any Response to Intervention strategies and attend professional development
opportunities required by the District. In fact, according to her, “while some staff receive
multiple trainings, others are receiving almost no training. There is no standardization across the
District about which people receive what trainings, even for Districtwide strategies.” Indeed, I
saw no evidence that teachers saw themselves as stakeholders in the District’s implementation.
Instead, their observed behaviors and practices indicate cultural models that do not encourage
such accountabilities. A collected briefing artifact reported supported this observation stating,
Academic and behavioral interventions are currently not formally integrated. Some
schools are integrating academic intervention into their behavior supports for students, but
this is not universal. Because of the way we have separated academics from behavior and
discipline as a District, teachers do not receive a clear message that the integration of these
two areas is required in their daily practice. There are some positive examples across the
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 57

system of schools doing this integration on their own, but we need to create a Districtwide
mechanism for this to be universalized.
In addition to the interview, documents provided by the District validated data gathered
from observations that teachers did not perceive District “initiatives” as imperatives. The briefing
document (SMUSD, 2017) reported that the District had trained more than 80% of its school sites,
that the fidelity of schools’ using the “Tiered Fidelity Inventories” was limited in elementary and
non-existent in secondary schools.
Chart 5: Demonstrates the percentage of suspensions for the past five academic years is still
significantly disproportionate to enrollment for Black students when compared to their
Districtwide enrollment.

It goes on to say that, “while many schools see the value of reinforcing the culture and behaviors
we want from our staff and students, there are many who do more do not” (SMUSD, 2017). The
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 58

Executive Director expanded that while the District has almost all elements of the policy
implementation in place at the central level, and “some progress is being made”, the dramatic
disproportionality school site leaders prioritization of the elements of positive school climate that
are outlined in Response to Intervention strategies, “are not in the hearts and minds of the adults
in our community”, particularly around “issues of implicit bias”.
Last year Saint Mary’s staff had trainings for all staff on implicit bias interventions and
restorative circles (SMUSD, 2017). These trainings were intended to help staff process their
responses in real time when working with traditionally underserved groups. According to the
briefing, feedback from the trainings made it evident that not all staff were clear on, or supportive
of the goals and mechanisms of Response to Intervention. The Executive Director said she had
consistently experienced an “us versus them” approach in how staff deal with students, and how
site leadership dealt with staff around issues of implicit bias. According to Gamm, et.al., (2012),
in order to successfully implement a multi-tiered support system, an organization requires ten
components including:
1. A well-defined district - and school - based leadership and organizational structure;
2. District policies and practices that align with and support a multi-tiered system;
3. Professional development to ensure fidelity of implementation; and
4. An evaluation process that monitors both implementation and outcomes;
These elements are critical to nurturing models and setting that knowledge and motivation
influences. If they are not solidly in place, articulated expectations cannot drive practices. Mary,
et.al., (2018) found that positive school cultures and non-discriminatory educational policies were
identified by Black students as key in their academic successes. They elaborate that context
matters and often manifests in stakeholders perceived “opportunities” differently. The results of
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 59

this evaluation promote this premise as observed behaviors indicated that stakeholders required
additional opportunities to develop their knowledge and motivational influences and that the
District had not provided sufficient supports to encourage implementation with fidelity.
The data is sending a clear message about the District’s implementation of Response to
Intervention. I now turn my efforts to exploring solutions and recommendations to support their
endeavors. In order improve outcomes for Black male students, the District needs to ensure all
General Education teachers are fully implementing Response to Intervention strategies in their
classrooms. Disciplinary practices need to become more equitable, predictable, positive, and
consistent. General Education teachers need to differentiate and scaffold their lessons to
maximize learning for all students, but especially those traumatized by the social context outside
of the school door (SMUSD, 2017). Implicit bias training needs to be universalized and all Saint
Mary’s staff need to be held accountable for interrupting the implicit biases inherent in the
District’s academic and social systems that fuel the ethnic inequities seen in Black male
outcomes.
Summary of Findings
Recognizing the prevailing low achievement and graduation rate of its Black male
students; the District introduced the intervention as a strategy for its teachers to support Black
males in the General Education setting. Black students make up approximately 11% of the Saint
Mary’s population, yet they account for close to 30% of its Special Education population.
Additionally, Black students comprise nearly half (49.3%) of the students identified as
Emotionally Disturbed. Of the number of students designated in this subjective category, 85%
have average, or above intelligence, but only 39% are on track to graduate. The majority of these
students are Black males. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of the District’s
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 60

implementation of Response to Intervention as a key strategy for General Education teachers to
effectively support Black males in the General Education setting.
I examined knowledge and motivations of current teachers in the District to understand if
Response to Intervention strategies provide them with tools they feel equip them to meet the
academic needs and appropriately respond to cultural differences they may experience while
working with Black males. I also examined the organizational structures that either support or
limit fidelity of implementation for Response to Intervention strategies. Overall, Teachers and
District leaders demonstrated limited to non-existent belief in the ability of the District, or in their
ability to support Black males’ utilizing Response to Intervention strategies.
Importantly, District leadership verbalized that students with challenging behaviors due to
life circumstance, backgrounds, and levels of intelligence, likely could not have positive school
experiences in the District because teachers were socially and culturally “obtuse”.
While the District, verbalizes its commitment to delivering a better schooling experience to its
Black male students on several platforms, teachers and District leaders consistently failed to
implement strategies, address instructional practices, or attitudes and beliefs towards Black
children and families. Finally, the data presented in Charts 1 and 2 demonstrate a significant
shortfall in the District’s efforts to shift the outcomes for Black male students by changing the
context in which teachers and schools operate (SMUSD, 2017).
The District needs to hold schools accountable for encouraging all students academically.
It also needs to hold schools accountable for utilizing systems and services that reduce
disproportionality in discipline and improve school climates impacted by implicit bias. I hoped to
see evidence of procedural, declarative (also known as conceptual) and metacognitive knowledge
influences in teacher practices during data collection (Clark & Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011; & Reif,
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 61

2008). Unfortunately, I saw little evidence of General Education teachers effectively employing
Response to Intervention strategies. I observed teachers consistently ignoring “inappropriate”
behaviors and allowing students to disrupt the class and other students but punishing students
without redirections. I did not observe evidence of teacher’s ability to declare, or self-reflect on
structures that may influence and perpetuate inequality, or act as barriers to educational
attainment Documents and artifacts, as well as my interview with the Executive Director show
that the District did develop and execute a professional development that would allow them to
have knowledge of the Response to Intervention strategies meant to establish a positive culture
and learning environments for Black Males. I did not see teachers use adopted interventions
equitably. I also did not see teachers connect with their students to determine the appropriateness
used strategies, or engage students culturally responsive approaches. Documents and artifacts, as
well as my interview with the Executive Director show that the District did develop and execute a
professional development that would allow them to have knowledge of the Response to
Intervention strategies meant to establish a positive culture and learning environments for Black
Males. I did not see teachers use adopted interventions equitably. I also did not see teachers
connect with their students to determine the appropriateness used strategies, or engage students
culturally responsive approaches.
Teachers must possess self-efficacy and have confidence that they are able to teach Black
males effectively and that Black males can function successfully in the classroom environment.
I did not observe teachers integrating Response to Intervention behavior modification
interventions, or display cultural competence when engaging students. The Executive Director
also noted that there is a large discrepancy in achievement and in how the staff treat struggling
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 62

Black males. That is, teachers’ comfort levels with students from differing backgrounds seems to
inhibit them from forming productive relationships with these students.
During my second observation, I noticed a teacher make a distinction between students
displaying similar behaviors. The chastised student remarked it wasn’t fair to lose his “star”, but
the teacher told him, he had been bothering other students. While another student was only
redirected to return to their seat until the test was distributed. The first child fidgeted for the
remainder of the observation. As demonstrated during the observation, varying response to
behaviors adversely affect student behaviors, interventions such as “stars” cease to motivate
students, and teachers’ self-efficacy diminishes (Troop-Gordon, & Ladd, 2015). The lack of
continuity in response to student behaviors could be a symptom of lacking self-efficacy, but it
may also represent teachers lack in belief of the utility of Response to Intervention strategies.
Organizational influences are one of the greatest indicators of Response to Intervention
implementation success. During my observations, I did not see any indications that cultural
models exist for supporting implementation with fidelity. Artifacts demonstrate that the
percentage of suspensions for the past five academic years is still significantly disproportionate to
enrollment for Black students when compared to their District wide enrollment. This indicates
that all teachers do not understand the District’s goals to support Black male achievement, or the
utility value of Response to Intervention. In fact, I saw no evidence that teachers saw themselves
as stakeholders in the District’s implementation. Instead, their observed behaviors and practices
indicate cultural models that do not encourage such accountabilities.
Organizational influence elements are critical to nurturing models and setting that
knowledge and motivation influences. If they are not solidly in place, articulated expectations
cannot drive practices. I saw no evidence that teachers saw themselves as stakeholders in the
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 63

District’s implementation. Instead, their observed behaviors and practices indicate cultural
models that do not encourage such accountabilities. The briefing document (SMUSD, 2017)
reported that the District had trained more than 80% of its school sites, that the fidelity of schools’
using the “Tiered Fidelity Inventories” was limited in elementary and non-existent in secondary
schools. It goes on to say that, “while many schools see the value of reinforcing the culture and
behaviors we want from our staff and students, there are many who do more do not”.
Organizational influence elements are critical to nurturing models and setting that knowledge and
motivation influences. If they are not solidly in place, articulated expectations cannot drive
practices.
Discussion
Saint Mary’s Black male students have high rates of Special Education identification in
the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance. The District is highly aware that they are
failing to serve their Black male student population and that restrictive settings and out of class
time correlate with poor educational outcomes and increased risk of involvement in the juvenile
justice system. Their data also demonstrates that Black male students are disproportionately likely
to experience restrictive placements and out of class time due to suspensions for the same
behaviors of their non-Black peers. Furthermore, the District brought in a highly regarded
consultant assist in developing a plan to alleviate its issues serving Black males in 2012.
Considered an expert on educational policy for children of color, improving graduation rate
accountability, IDEA, and ethnic inequity in Special Education, school discipline and the
“School-to- Prison Pipeline”; the consultant advised the District on implementing Response to
Intervention to promote diversity, reduce implicit bias and increase efficacy in its teachers have a
yearlong evaluation.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 64

The District’s consultant outlined that Black students in Saint Mary’s were over 17 times
as likely as Whites and Asians to be both identified and suspended out of school (SMUSD, 2012).
Simultaneously, Blacks were much more likely to suffer misdiagnosis, meaning that students with
actual disabilities were simply in the wrong category: such as Black students with autism
misdiagnosed as Emotionally Disturbed. As mentioned previously, some disabilities have more
negative connotations, and many would agree that the label of emotional disturbance has a more
negative stigma than autism (SMUSD, 2012).
We have anecdotal support that people on the autism spectrum can be brilliant and highly
productive adults, while the opposite holds true for those who are Emotionally Disturbed.
Research shows that students with emotional disturbance are considered to display anti-social
behavior and are far more likely to be removed from General Education than students in most
other categories (Ciullo, Ortiz, Al Otaiba, & Lane, 2016; Harry & Klingner, 2014). Harry and
Klingner also show there is a relationship between ethnicity, identification for Special Education
and removal from the General Education environment (2014). Saint Mary’s reality is that more
than 10% of its Black students are identified as eligible for Special Education and placed in an
educational setting other than a General Education classroom for 50% or more of their school
day. The Consultant flatly found that the risk of restrictive setting for Black students was more
than twice as large as the risk for Whites, and four times as large as the risk for Asian American
students (SMUSD, 2012).
With statistics like this, it is not surprising that my initial request to conduct research in
the District was ignored. I persisted in my outreach with the District’s Research, Policy and
Accountability team. Eventually, I decided to just show up to discuss my work with members of
team who happened to be in the office. This conversation led to being assigned a point person and
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 65

eventually to limited access to school sites and staff closely connected to the issue of supporting
students through Response to Intervention strategies. I was asked to create an information sheet
that provided the general purpose of my study, specific form of participation, insurance of
confidentiality, and contact information for the sponsoring University. Initially, I asked conduct
questionnaires General Education teachers. This request was quickly denied because, “the union
would object”. I tried to work around this by promising anonymity and destruction of all data
once the research was complete, but I was resolutely informed that I was not to ask teachers to
participate in the study in any way other than direct observation. It was clear to me there were
overarching concerns about how any research would be used, who would have access and the
anonymity of the District.
I believe direct access to my key stakeholder, General Education teachers, would have
better allowed me to determine whether implicit bias acted as a factor, or consistently influenced
Black male student referrals for Special Education evaluation. It is my opinion that the high
degrees of ethnic disproportionality in Special Education are linked to implicit bias in the General
Education setting. Engaging General Education teachers may have allowed me to collect
quantitative data and indicated if the results of my study could illuminate other implications for
why Black student are disproportionately diagnosed as Emotionally Disturbed and placed in more
restrictive settings. While it was abundantly clear during my attempts to commence data
collection that the District was going through a significant shift in leadership; it was also clear
that there was little interests in digging up issues related to their Response to Intervention
implementation that may contradict their public stance that they were improving outcomes for
their Black students. Additionally, it became clear that budget cuts, combined with the change in
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 66

leadership’s lack of understanding of the culture of Saint Mary’s and the District’s lack of
accountability systems, will create exponential unintended consequences for Black students.
The fact that Saint Mary’s initially did not want any data collection to the request to not
take notes for observations supports this conclusion. It also demonstrates that District only wants
very specific, if any light shone on this subject. In the face of the profound ethnic disparities
observed in Saint Mary’s schools; I anticipate that the depth and breadth of disparities Black
students currently experience will continue to grow.
This evaluation focused on elementary schools, but it should be noted that the Executive
Director, as well as provided documents indicated that Black males are much more likely to be
reffered for evaluation in high school in Saint Mary’s. The District’s profile report (2016) showed
that 50% of Black students were first identified for Special Education Services in secondary
school. Moreover, historically the majority of students are identified as Emotionally Disturbed by
grade four. The reality is that special education referral and placement is not a strictly scientific
process but prone to the influence of teachers, administrators and parents (SMUSD, 2012). This
may mean that the District should deeply invest in restorative justice practices, and Districtwide
interventions to foster and support an authentic implementation of interventions that
systematically disrupts implicit biases and provides training to develop cultural competence. The
next section will provide recommendations for Saint Mary’s to better address concerns around
implicit bias through implementing Response to Intervention strategies with fidelity.
Solutions and Recommendations
This section provides recommendations for Saint Mary’s implementation of Response to
Interventions. Although I am confident that data collection yielded results that accurately reflect
Saint Mary’s implementation, limited access does not allow me to generalize my findings. As
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 67

such, I recommend that additional information should be gathered from the District to support
further recommendations of observed structural challenges to further validate my findings.
Nevertheless, the following recommendations should be considered to correct the definitive gaps
observed during data collection to assist the District in meeting their goal. The recommendations
leverage the Clark and Estes (2008) knowledge, motivation, organization root cause gap analysis
framework to explore which influences will support implementation with fidelity.
Knowledge Recommendations
This research study used a qualitative research design to evaluate if Response to
Intervention implementation exist with fidelity in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District. The
knowledge influences in Table 3 include all assumed knowledge influences and their probability
of being validated. The knowledge influences used to achieve the District’s goal will be validated
based on the most frequently mentioned conceptual, procedural and motivational knowledge
influences during semi-structured interviews, observations, documents and artifacts and supported
by the literature review. The conceptual framework for this study is Clark and Estes (2008) gap
analysis and I build on Deardorff’s (2006) conceptualization of cultural competence. The
knowledge influences include the conceptual dimension that addresses the what, the procedural
dimensions that address the how, and the metacognitive dimensions that address the self
(Karthwohl, 2002). As indicated in Table 2, it is anticipated that these influences have a high
probability of being validated and a high priority for achieving the District’s goal. Table 3 also
shows the recommendations for these highly probable influences based on theoretical principles.
Table 3: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations on General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 68

Assumed
Knowledge
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*
Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
or No (V,
HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Teachers need to
understand how
structures in the
institution
influence and
perpetuate
inequality and act
as barriers to
educational
attainment for
Black
males. Need (M)

No Yes
Self-regulatory
strategies,
including goal
setting, enhance
learning and
performance
(APA, 2015:
Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler,
et al., 2009).
Feedback that is
private, specific,
and timely
enhances
performance
(Shute, 2008).

Teach learners
strategies to
manage their
motivation, time,
learning strategies,
control their
physical and social
environment, and
monitor their
performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000).
Provide teachers Response
to Intervention Facilitators
as “coaches” as job aids to
observe, support
implementation of multi-
tiered interventions and
provide feedback that
promotes metacognition
and self-regulation.
Teachers need to
have knowledge
of evidence-based
strategies in the
RTI approach
meant to establish
the culture
needed for
schools to be
effective learning
Yes Yes
Information
learned
meaningfully and
connected
with prior
knowledge is
stored
more quickly and
remembered
Provide teachers with
training of RTI strategies
that develops
differentiated/scaffolded
lesson planning and the
active modification of
pedagogical practices to
create culturally relevant
and inclusive lessons.
(IPT)
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 69

environments for
Black
Males. They
need to be able to
articulate RTI
strategies that
inform their
pedagogical style
in context to this
knowledge to
create access to
equitable
educational
resources.
(D - also known
as Conceptual)
more accurately
because it is
elaborated with
prior learning
(Schraw &
McCrudden,
2006). (IPT)
Providing
scaffolding and
assisted
performance
in a person’s ZPD
promotes
developmentally
appropriate
instruction (Scott
& Palincsar,
2006).
Teachers need to
know how and
when to
implement RTI
strategies to
support Black
male engagement
in the General
Education
setting.(P)
No Yes
To develop
mastery,
individuals
must acquire
component skills,
practice
integrating them,
and
know when to
apply what they
have learned
(Schraw &
McCrudden,
2006).
Provide job aids such as
target behavior cues,
response de-escalation,
and self-performance
feedback that assist
teachers in integrating RTI

Teachers need to know how their instructional practices contribute to the over-
representation of Black students in special education, why it’s detrimental, and how we can utilize
educational theory to improve educational practices. It is important to examine these practices
because they may be the impetus driving significant proportions of Blacks into special education.
Given the persistent academic achievement gap between Black males and their counterparts,
educators and key stakeholders may need more relevant and comprehensive understanding of
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 70

influences and motivations which may impact academic achievement. It is essential to
understand these influences as they are essential components of policy development. Clark and
Estes (2008) also point out this necessity because stakeholders are often unaware, or unwilling to
acknowledge knowledge gaps, or how these gaps may impact performance and outcomes.
Furthermore, attempts at solving such systemic issues without analysis of knowledge gaps, are
often thwarted by fragmented approached that are ultimately misaligned from organizational
goals (2011).
Although teachers are often required to attend mandatory staff development
activities, often there is little support for learning in the workplace. This may occur because
schools are usually loosely coupled systems where teachers are relatively autonomous (Lynch,
Smith, Provost & Maddenof, 2015). This “loose-coupling” may affect organizational coherence
and lead to fragmentation in the understanding of teacher purpose. This is especially important to
address because organizational coherence affects effectiveness, is critical to organizational
improvement, and is vital in stakeholders’ understanding, involvement and commitment to the
organizations vision and strategic plan (Trujillo, 2013). As such, a cohesive professional
development plan and execution can lead to sustainable changes in knowledge, skills, or attitudes
and result in learning beyond the theoretical to application in appropriate circumstances (Kyndt,
Gijbels, Grosemans, & Donche, 2016).
A clear understanding is also essential in maintaining course as preoccupation with
improving school system performance continue to heighten, especially teacher quality (Fullan &
Quinn, 2015). Shatzer, Caldarella, Hallam, and Brown (2014) explain that teachers do not
routinely engage in thinking critically about the relationship between their instructional practices
and student outcomes. This is discouraging because Kyndt, Gijbels, Grosemans, and Donche
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 71

(2016) demonstrate that professional development is highly effective in increasing commitment,
ambition, and self-confidence when confronting realities of teaching. As such, continuous
education is indispensable for teachers to adapt their and daily practices and to improve their
instructional performance (Lynch, Smith, Provost & Maddenof, 2015).
Knowledge Influence – Metacognitive
Coaching as an intervention will foster metacognition by targeting specific concerns
identified in teacher practices. Providing teachers with a metacognitive developmental work, such
as Response to Intervention (RTI) coaching, will allow them to address their latent biases
regarding differences in their approaches to serving Black males and implement strategies deemed
as improving their learning. Additionally, interventions using metacognitively oriented
interventions have resulted in gains in students' metacognition as well as comprehension (Baker,
2006).
Black males in Saint Mary’s Emotionally Disturbed population typically display average
or above average intelligence, but also face conditions that may hinder their learning and
achievement in school, yet face enormous disparities in educational outcomes (SMUSD,
2010). A major contributor to this problem is that these students are disproportionately placed in
special education programs for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) (Donovan & Cross, 2002).
As such, if teacher-led interventions, such as Response to Intervention, can be implemented with
fidelity, perhaps teachers will more ably support Black males in maneuvering educational settings
and opportunities (Thorius & Maxcy, 2015).
According to Rueda (2011), metacognitive knowledge would allow teachers to know
when and why they perform a certain way. On top of this, Baker (2006) states that one cannot
simply assert that an individual has or does not have metacognition because it is not a monolithic
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 72

construct. Reif (2008) states that metacognition helps ensure better practices over time, improves
creativity, and can contribute to the knowledge of other people (e.g. students).
Knowledge Influence – Declarative (Conceptual)
Rueda (2011) states that conceptual knowledge is the foundation of any discipline. As
such, the continuance of training teachers’ strategies to implement Response to Intervention will
increase fidelity and effectiveness in execution. Conceptual knowledge is anything which creates
context and allows for the framing and familiarity of a subject (Rueda, 2011). Declarative
knowledge is also the foundation of mastery, as teachers must acquire factual component skills in
teacher preparation programs, they may assume they understand the goals of Response to
Intervention, but they must have opportunities to integrate the strategies and know when to apply
what they have learned (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006).
Response to Intervention can provide teachers with a set of rules and procedures which
can act as guides on what to do in various situations. These rules and procedures are based in
conceptual knowledge because they initially call for the teacher to act in binary (if/then reactions
to student behaviors). The interventions also provide models which can help teachers predict or
explain behaviors in an active manner and therefore react in a deliberate manner (Reif,
2008). These deliberate reactions are based in declarative processing, rather than procedural
knowledge about how to act in a given situation. In short, declarative knowledge, will allow
teachers to fake it until they have developed the cultural competence, skills and knowledge
needed to interact with Black males on the metacognitive level.
Black males in Saint Mary’s Emotionally Disturbed population typically display average
or above average intelligence, but teachers’ inability to recognize and reward the social capital
these students bring to the classroom, may hinder their learning and achievement in school
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 73

(SMUSD, 2010). It is possible that instructional practices that lead to disproportionate
recommendations for Special Education services of Black males are intended to provide equal
access to opportunities to learn for this traditionally underserved group. Nevertheless, practices
may have a negative effect on students’ educational engagement and participation (Shifrer,
Callahan, & Muller, 2013). As such if, teacher-led interventions that can increase knowledge
capacities, such as Response to Intervention, can be implemented with fidelity, perhaps teachers
will more ably support Black males maneuver educational settings and opportunities (Thorius &
Maxcy, 2015).
Motivation Recommendations
Helping teachers explore their motivations for implementing Response to Intervention
strategies will help them understand the utility of the interventions and improve their sense of
self-efficacy in serving Black males in the General Education setting. Lack of understanding
internal motivations may explain teacher performance gaps in serving these students - which
ultimately contribute to the over-representation of Black males in Special Education. Teacher
motivation is important because consistent mislabeling of specific student groups creates a culture
of false impressions the group’s intelligence and academic potential (Shifrer, 2013). Labeling
students as disabled when they really are not leads to unwarranted services and supports (Bal,
Kozleski, Schrader, Rodriguez, & Pelton, 2014). Because of this, an inappropriate Special
Education designation may actually have long-lasting harmful effects. Misidentified students are
likely to encounter limited access to a rigorous curriculum and diminished expectations.
According to Eccles (2006) motivation is intrinsically linked achievement-related beliefs
and outcomes as motivation can frame “causal attributions”, and other “culturally based beliefs”
on self-perception and self-concept. As the development of utility and self-efficacy motivations
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 74

can create the conditions for teacher effectiveness and students’ educational success, it is essential
that teachers understand what motivates their efforts in serving Black males and to end
disproportionality and close the achievement gap.
Motivation Influence – Self-Efficacy
The social structure of education fosters and reinforces the forms of consciousness,
interpersonal behavior and personality in students (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This has led to
varying interpretations of intellectual ability in the structure of systemic inequality (Skiba, et.al.
2008). If teachers do not believe Blacks males are capable, the existence of educational
achievement gaps between ethnic and socioeconomic groups is generally accepted. Providing
struggling learners interventions may even feel futile. Such beliefs may further perpetuate the
“minority” condition, which can manifest itself in a variety of ways, exacerbate unwanted
behaviors and further isolate – leading to the inability to acquire [norm] social transmission (Aud,
2010). These beliefs are transmitted latently and overtly to students through a variety of
interactions.
Understanding self-efficacy will allow teachers to make educational decisions about the
intensity and duration of interventions based on individual student response to instruction.
It is not unusual for school systems and educators, when seeking to improve student performance,
consider service structure, staff design, and professional development, but teacher motivation may
not be part of such an inquiry. Ultimately, programs designed without thought to motivation and
performance will be less likely to improve student achievement outcomes (Becker & Luthar,
2002). However, in ignoring this essential element of quality service delivery, they often fail in
their stated goals, and the cycle of student failure therefore continues.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 75

Table 4: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations on General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Assumed
Motivation
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*

Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Teachers
understand the role
and value of RTI
behavior
modification
interventions on
the development
of cultural
competence,
student
engagement, and
student
achievement. Need
(Utility Value)
No Yes

Rationales that
include a discussion
of the importance
and utility value of
the work or learning
can help learners
develop positive
values (Eccles, 2006;
Pintrich, 2003).
Higher expectations
for success and
perceptions of
confidence can
positively influence
learning and
motivation (Eccles,
2006)
Provide teachers with
training of RTI
strategies that develops
differentiated/scaffolded
lesson planning and the
active modification of
pedagogical practices to
create culturally
relevant and inclusive
lessons. Include
rationales about the
importance and utility
value of
the task (Pintrich,
2003).
Teachers believe
they have the
knowledge, skills,
and ability to
implement RTI
behavior
modification
interventions with
fidelity and that
faithful
implementation
will positively
effect student
engagement and
achievement. Need
(Self Efficacy)
No Yes
Higher expectations
for success and
perceptions of
confidence can
positively influence
learning and
motivation (Eccles,
2006)

High self-efficacy
can positively
influence motivation
(Pajares, 2006).
Provide job incentives
that reward student
progress.

Provide instructional
support (scaffolding)
early on, build in
multiple opportunities
for practice and
gradually remove
supports (Pajares,
2006).

Motivation Influence – Utility Value
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 76

Training in utility value will assist teachers in constructing particular practices and
interventions, because they will intrinsically understand how their endeavors are useful for
supporting Black male achievement in the General Education setting (Reif, 2008). Rueda (2011)
more succinctly explains that utility value provides the framework of, “Why should I perform this
task?” for teachers. Thus, ensuring teachers are deeply knowledgeable as educators and policy
implementers of empirical evidence on Response to Intervention effectiveness is critical to reform
practices that impact student outcomes. With a clear understanding of the contributing factors
that negatively influence traditionally underserved students and at best, lead to mediocrity;
teachers understand the utility of programs such as Response to Intervention meant to support
those with actual special needs and close the achievement gap for all students.
Teachers must take a vested interest in the success of all students and never use cultural
identity as an excuse for inaction. Response to Intervention is designed as a well-integrated
system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data (RTI Action Network,
n.d.). Teachers may be motivated by Response to Intervention because it can enable public
education in the United States to evolve from a reactive model in which students must seriously
deteriorate before being moved on to Special Education programs. According to Thorius and
Maxcy (2015) Response to Intervention instead emphasizes early and high-quality research-based
interventions in General Education programs that generate useful data with which to make key
decisions for each struggling student such as:
• Instructional Guidance - Use of relevant materials and digital tools to differentiate instruction
and make learning accessible for Black students and families
• Targeted Instructional Practices - Utilizing human capital in innovative ways to support Black
students throughout the year
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 77

• Professional Capacity Building - School staff utilizing common planning time to review
student work samples and engage in lesson studies, teaching strategies, and unit planning,
reinforced through technical assistance coaches for English Language Arts and Mathematics
• Progress Monitoring - Regular review of data (e.g. grades, assessments) to identify trends and
adjust the instructional strategies
Organizational Recommendations
The organization influences in Table 5 represent the complete list of organization
influences and their probability of being validated based on the most frequently mentioned
organization influences to achieving the stakeholders’ goal during observation, semi-structured
interviews, documents and artifacts, and supported by the literature review and the review of
organization and culture theory. Clark and Estes (2008) suggest that organization and stakeholder
goals are often not achieved due to a lack of resources, most often time and money, and
stakeholder goals that are not aligned with the organization’s mission and goals. Gallimore and
Goldenberg (2001) propose two constructs about culture – cultural models or the observable
beliefs and values shared by individuals in groups, and cultural models, or the settings and
activities in which performance occurs. Thus, both resources and processes and cultural models
and settings must align throughout the organization’s structure to achieve the mission and goals.
Furthermore, as indicated in Table 5, some organizational influences have a high probability of
being validated and have a high priority for achieving the stakeholders’ goal. Table 5 also shows
the recommendations for these influences based on theoretical principles.

Table 5: Summary of Organizational Influences and Recommendations on General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 78

Assumed
Organization
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*

Validated
Yes, High
Probability,
No
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, No
(Y, N)
Principle and Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation
District ensures all
teachers understand
its goals to support
Black male
achievement and
the utility value of
RTI. Need (CM)
No Yes
Effective organizations
insure that
organizational
messages, rewards,
policies
and procedures that
govern the work of the
organization are
aligned with or are
supportive of
organizational goals
and values
(Clark and Estes,
2008).

Create professional
learning
communities (PLC)
that commune
regularly to
reinforce
organizational
messages through
collaboration and
communal
propagation.

Teachers receive
training on RTI
intervention
execution and
culturally inclusive
classrooms from
the District to
improve all student
outcomes. Need
(CS)
Yes Yes
Effective change
begins by addressing
motivation influencers;
it ensures the group
knows why it needs to
change. It then
addresses
organizational barriers
and then
knowledge and skills
needs (Clark and Estes,
2008).
Provide teachers
with case studies
and other of
effective
implementations of
RTI during District
summit meetings
and PLCs to
support the “look
and feel” of an RTI
classroom.
Cultural Models
Increasingly, public education is under fire for not serving the needs of all students
(Zimmerman 2011). This is because quite often the dynamics that play out in the classroom
uphold the status quo by reproducing conditions of dominant culture and, do not address the
socio-political nature of schooling (Moore 2008). Black males, in particular, are more likely to
experience systemic racial microaggressions in educational environments. According to
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 79

Cartledge and Dukes (2008) minority students, particularly Blacks, typically have higher rates of
Special Education identification compared with their White counterparts. This likely illuminates
the need for change in strategy or interventions that may impact non-dominant student
achievement.
Black male achievement, or lack thereof, can be framed in the organization influences of
the cultural models of social practices and representations that affirm the cultural capital of
dominant American society. In the context of this study, cultural capital is defined as non-
financial, social assets which promote socio-economic mobility. This cultural model, Moore
(2008) notes, creates the standard to measure, assess, and guide what is valued in our world view.
Teachers who identify with dominant ideology accept norms that align with their
dominant place in the socio-hierarchy: expecting students to listen, learn, and regurgitate
dominant information (Pane, Rocco, Miller, & Salmon 2014). As such, an implicit ideology
about Black males may disproportionately distort teachers’ view of Black males as academic
problems because the of latent, or overt conflicts with school social norms. This is because
students from non-dominant ethnic backgrounds may resist lessons scripted in dominant culture
that are not culturally relevant to them by disengaging and disrupting class (Pane, Rocco, Miller,
& Salmon 2014).
In review of disproportionate representation in special education, Skiba et al. (2008)
concluded that racial and ethnic disparities appear to be determined by many interacting factors,
including but not limited to classroom management, cultural mismatch, and unequal opportunities
in general education. Albrecht et al. (2012) note that the possibility of bias contributing to
disproportionate representation requires vigilance in oversight to prevent
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 80

such practices. Furthermore, as Hotchkins (2016) details, such deficit perceptions about Black
male students lead to higher rates of discipline, academic tracking and hegemonic practices that
promote greater disparity and disproportionality in academic access and achievement.
Response to Intervention training and professional learning communities (PLCs) can
attempt to mitigate these biases by allowing teachers to name and understand their positioning in
society. It also requires them to understand White identity and privilege (Pennington, Brock, &
Ndura 2012). Moreover, teachers need not be White to display dominant biases in the educational
setting. Moore (2006) states that teachers must confront their assumptions and biases to be
effective educators for all students. Such comprehension of their position helps in understanding
the complexity of teacher–student relationships in conjunction with ethnicity. The development of
cultural awareness gives way to cultural competence and provides teachers with tools to help
students develop their own positive ethnic and cultural identities. Additionally, this cultural
competence will allow the teacher to modify prescribed curriculum, building on student prior
knowledge and experiences (Johnson 2011).
If we accept that schools are gateway institutions, which could provide access to positive
or negative social mobility and are structured according to the dominant middle-class ways of
being, we understand how the institution influences and perpetuates inequality (Noguera 2003).
The experience of Black males in public education is an ominous array of hardships, beset with
indicators of low academic performance. We can then turn our attentions to the discussion of
interventions which can create opportunities to reduce inequality. How can we understand what
causes Black males to be more likely classified as suffering from a learning disability, to be more
likely to be placed in Special Education?
Cultural Settings
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 81

Scholars and researchers commonly understand that environmental and cultural factors
have a profound influence on human behaviors, including academic performance (Noguera
2003). Teachers provide support for academic success by having high expectations for their
students’ learning, but this should not come at the expense of losing cultural identity (Pane,
Rocco, Miller, & Salmon 2014). Teachers are less likely to employ differentiating instruction
strategies such as: scaffolding, clarification of challenging curriculum, and harnessing student
strengths as instructional starting points. They then tend to shift responsibility for academic
success to the student, making explicit the power dynamics of mainstream society (Noguera
2003).
Therefore, it is possible for the District (organization) to take actions that can improve
academic access and achievement as teachers begin to understand the importance of culture and
theories of social capital (Goldenberg 2014;2013). Black males may resist the dominant norms of
society, so teachers must first participate in an admittedly tough but necessary self-reflection of
their “positionality” in the classroom (Goldenberg 2014;2013). It is pivotal that teachers do not
see themselves as culture-less, or race-less, as it is impossible to divorce themselves from their
race or past cultural experiences, they must realize that they are part of the dominant group in
society that continues to oppress people of color (Goldenberg 2014;2013). It can be extremely
difficult to bring teachers up to speed with the latest strategies to meet the needs of all their
students given the intensive time and resources needed to make teachers more culturally relevant
(Zimmerman 2011).
Unacknowledged cultural bias reduces the chances that schools will be able to focus on
helping students acquire critical thinking, research, writing and production abilities; it also
reduces the chances that students who learn will be able to demonstrate their achievements
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 82

(Darling-Hammond 2007). For this reason, applying knowledge of diverse social capital, and
getting to know students’ individually rather than monolithic categories, emerges as potential
areas of focus for restructuring pedagogical practice (Moore 2008).
Modifying instructional practices can be frustrating and discouraging because we cannot
assume that people who identity as the same race possess, the same cultural capital (Goldenberg
2014;2013) (Burns 2015). However, training in system-wide positive behavior interventions have
been shown to lead to sustained changes in schools’ internal practices and systems (Bradshaw,
Mitchell, & Leaf 2010). When Response to Intervention is implemented, with fidelity, by all
teachers who are applying different skills, with different children at different levels of the
prevention framework, considerable gains in achievement have been demonstrated (Fuchs, Fuchs,
& Compton 2012).
Conclusion
This evaluation found that Saint Mary’s implementation of Response to Intervention is not
being implemented with fidelity, and therefore unlikely to support the District’s overall goal of
ensuring all students graduate college and career ready. The District has a way to go in
addressing its issues in the equitable provision of academic opportunities for Black males. It must
make a clear commitment to addressing this issue in a transparent, systematic, and accountable
manner. Furthermore, without the cultural models that build teachers’ capacity to promote an
inclusive culture for Black male students. The District’s desired outcomes will continue to be
limited because in-authentically implemented strategies will not cultivate culturally responsive
practices systemically (Gamm, et.al., 2012). While I draw these conclusions from collected data,
more data needs to be collected to demonstrate how expansive these gaps may be within the
District.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 83

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 84

Appendix A: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria for Interview

Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale
Criterion 1.
Participants must be current Saint Mary’s Unified School District employees in senior
management roles.
Criterion 2.
Participants must be must have direct responsibility for the Response to Intervention
implementation. They must currently implement the training General Education teachers are
provided to learn intervention techniques of Response to Intervention in their pedagogical
practices.
Criterion 3.
Participants must have intimate knowledge of the Response to Intervention implementation, its
purpose in the District’s stated goals and the outcomes and implications of the implementation in
supporting educational service delivery for Black males.
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
I chose to interview elites in the District in order to triangulate my data, after I was denied
access to survey teachers. Having access to only one interviewee was a huge limitation for my
evaluation. Nevertheless, elite individuals in an organization can be very insightful as they are
influential, and well-informed on the topic (Harvey, 2011). The opportunity to interview the
Executive Director was especially helpful as she has expertise not only in Response to
Intervention but lead the District’s implementation attempts. She also provided insights on the
District’s social and political cultures that influenced these efforts. According to Marshall and
Rossman (2014) elites can provide an overall view of an organization, albeit from their own
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 85

limited and bounded perspectives, as they may be quite familiar with various structures of the
organization.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 86

Appendix A: Participating Stakeholders with Sampling Criteria for Observation

Observation Sampling Criteria and Rationale
Criterion 1.
Participants must be current General Education teachers of Saint Mary’s Unified School
District assigned to sites with the largest number of Black males and/or the highest number of
referrals of Black males to Special Education Services.
Criterion 2.
Current General Education teachers must have received Response to Intervention training.
They must currently implement the learned intervention techniques of Response to Intervention in
their pedagogical practices.
Criterion 3.
Current General Education teachers must currently use Response to Intervention strategies
to support educational service delivery for Black males for at least 50% of their work day.
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
For my 3 elementary classroom observations I used a purposeful sampling method derived
from the simple random sampling of the General Education teachers who completed the Response
to Intervention Training, through a data request coordinated with the District’s Office of
Research, Planning, and Accountability, for purposes of identifying sites with the largest number
of Black males and/or the highest number of referrals of Black males to Special Education
Services. I then informed site administrators of the general purposes of my study and requested
permission to observe the randomly selected teachers for one work day.
I chose the selection criteria for this study to be single staged, purposeful, and focused on
understanding if implementation of Response to Intervention is an effective strategy for reducing
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 87

Black male referrals in the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance in the most natural
environment possible (Creswell, 2013; Maxwell, 2012; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 88

Appendix B: Protocols

Key Leverage Points for Improving Educational Outcomes of Black Male Students: Response to
Intervention as an Effective Strategy to Support Students in General Education
An Evaluation Study

Interview Protocol

Interviewee: Title: Date:

1. Tell me a bit about how you came to manage the District’s RTI2 adoption and
implementation?
2. What does the District hope to achieve through the RTI2 implementation? Who does
the implementation target?
3. How does RTI2 align with the District’s overall mission and goals?

4. What resources has the District provided to support RTI2 implementation?
5. How can RTI2 help support achievement in target populations such as Black male
students?
6. How is Response to intervention (RTI2) being leveraged in the District? (e.g. universal
screener, Multi-tier system of supports (MTSS), etc)?
7. What can you tell me about the training teachers received on RTI2?
8. Tell me about the BAT team. What role do they play in supporting RTI2
implementation?
9. What do you consider as indicators of implementation with fidelity?
10. What are the primary indicators of success/failure in implementation?
11. What role does cultural competence play in an effective implementation?
12. How is RTI2 data used to help determine the need for special education referral in
Emotional Disturbance?
13. How is RTI2 explained to families, or other stakeholders?
14. Do you have any written information you can give me about the District’s approach?
15. Would you happen to have an exemplar intervention plan for a student?

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 89

Appendix B: Protocols

Response-to-Intervention Efficacy Survey*
1

Introduction. To implement RTI effectively, teachers must become familiar with a specialized set of
tools and competencies, including a structured format for problem-solving, knowledge of a range of
scientifically based interventions that address common reasons for school failure, and the ability to
use various methods of assessment to monitor student progress in academic and behavioral areas.

This RTI Efficacy Survey is designed to help teachers identify elements of RTI that they are already
skilled in and those elements that may need additional attention.

Below are twelve statements which may or may not be true. Using the 1-5 scale below, please
indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number box following that item.

Please use this 5-point scale: 1 Completely Disagree 2 Disagree 3 Somewhat Agree 4 Agree 5
Completely Agree

All responses will remain anonymous. Please be honest in your response.

Statement
Completely
Disagree
1
Disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
3
Agree
4
Completely
Agree
5
1. I teach:
Middle School
High School

2. I am: Male
Female
3. I have cultural competence around the
issues my students may face.

4. If a student disrupts class, I have
strategies to bring back and keep focus.

5. It is easy for me to modify and
differentiate lessons to ensure all
students achieve.

6. The school-based team has generated
hypotheses to identify potential reasons
for students not meeting benchmarks.

7. I am confident that I could deal
efficiently with unexpected behaviors.

8. Thanks to my RTI training, I know how
to handle unforeseen situations.

1
Adapted from the 2016 Research Collaborative Self-Efficacy Questionnaire
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 90

9. Students who are behavior challenges
are better served in highly structured
environments.

10. I trust there are strategies that help
maintain calm and progress when facing
difficulties because I can rely on my
RTI training.

11. Documentation of implemented
supplemental instruction supports is
essential to ensure fidelity of
intervention implementation.

12. When confronted with a problem, I can
usually find several solutions.

13. If a student is not achieving, they
require assessment for additional
supports.

14. I can handle whatever comes my way
when working with my students.

15. The school and/or District provides
resources so that teachers can make
modifications were made to core
instruction as needed to meet student
needs/ability.

16. The school and/or District support data
driven modifications to core instruction
and/or the development of supplemental
interventions to ensure all students
receive educational benefit.

17. In-class activities help keep students
engaged in class.

18. There are key actions and knowledge
points I would go through before
referring a student to Special Education.

19. Regular progress monitoring and/or
collection of universal screening data is
essential to ensure fidelity of
intervention implementation.

20. A plan for continuing, modifying, or
terminating the intervention plan is
essential to ensure fidelity of RTI
implementation.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 91

Appendix B: Protocols

Observation Protocol

Assessing Fidelity of Multi-Tiered Implementation at the Classroom Level

This rubric is intended to provide a summary of observed implementation procedures for
Response to Intervention Tiers I, II & III.

INDICATOR
PRESENT
/ABSENT
FIDELITY STRATEGIES FREQUENCY FEEDBACK/FOLLOW-UP
Number of at
Risk Students
• • • •
Teacher
introduced
Curriculum/New
Idea in a
culturally
appropriate/engag
ing manner
•
e.g.
• Coaching
• Direct observation of at risk
students with indicator
checklist
• Teacher specifically names
objective at beginning of
lesson/class.
• Every 20 min
• Coaching
• Peer support
Teacher used data
to determine the
effectiveness of
core instruction
• • • •
Teacher used data
to differentiate
core instruction
• • • •
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 92

Teacher
stablished
Instruction /
Interventions
• • • •
Teacher
documented, or
has
documentation to
support
implementation
of modifications
to core
instruction
• • • •
Teacher
reinforces when
learning
objective/s are
met
• • • •
Teacher’s
interactions with
students reflect
encouragement
and enthusiasm
• • • •
Teacher provides
clear, explicit
instruction for all
students
• • • •
Teacher
provides
positive,
constructive
feedback to all
students
• • • •
Teacher paces
instruction and
ensures
transitions are
effective/
engaging
• • • •

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 93

Appendix C: Credibility and Trustworthiness
A key element of credibility involves transparency, trustworthiness, and moral
predictability. The use of multiple data sources also contributes to a credible and holistic
understanding of my research outcomes. The use of interviews, observations, documents, and
artifacts will also assist in understanding the physical and socio-political context within which the
phenomena in question occurs. Finally, use of multiple data sources contributes to credibility, by
counterbalancing the purposeful and convenience-based sampling (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 94

Appendix D: Validity and Reliability
This research study is utilizing the correlational qualitative approach (Maxwell, 2012). It
is seeking to understand the extent to which implementation of Response to Intervention
strategies increases teacher capacities to Black males academically appropriate General Education
settings and therefore reduce disproportionate, inappropriate referrals of this demographic group
to the Special Education subjective category of Emotional Disturbance in the Saint Mary’s
Unified School District. The study will do this through mixed method sampling approach,
utilizing interviews (convenience), observations (purposeful), documents and artifacts (secondary
data) analysis because of the practicality of utilizing the existing data for evaluation (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2015). Secondary analysis is “any further analysis of an existing dataset which presents
interpretations, conclusions or knowledge additional to, or different from, those presented in the
first report on the inquiry as a whole and its main results” (Johnston, 2014, p. 620).
Surveys were supposed to be distributed to approximately 40 teachers currently employed
by the District who received Response to Intervention training; however, the District asked that I
not survey teachers. In lieu of surveys, I was afforded the opportunity to interview the Executive
Director for the District’s Response to Intervention implementation. Observations were
conducted on three General Education teachers who are implementing the learned intervention
techniques and provide educational services for Black male students in the General Education
setting for at least 50% of their work day. This sampling approach was chosen because there is
no study control over who participated in the Response to Intervention training treatment, who
remains a teacher with the District over the prescribed timespan, or who is assigned to teach
Black males (McEwan & McEwan, 2003).
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 95

Appendix E: Ethics
Responsibility to Human Subjects
This study will have interaction with human subjects, so consideration of ethnical
parameters must be given (Creswell, 2013). According to Dubnick (2003) the relationship
between “accountability” and “ethics” has long been a concern as accountability has traditionally
been regarded as the means used to control and direct behavior by requiring “answerability” to
some external authority rather than an internal compass. This is a clear case of accountability for
the sake of accountability that leads to misuse of data. It may even lead to poor ethical behavior
where the poor outcomes of a specific group are hidden/removed because accountability directors
and providers are under extreme pressure to assess, collect, and report positive student
achievement data.
In an effort to mitigate some of these beliefs, I ensured participants of the following:
1. All participants will receive a scope and sequence of the research’s purpose and intended
use prior to participating in the study.
2. All participants will be ensured of their ability to withdraw, without repercussions, from the
study at any time.
3. Participation will be anonymous and will not negatively impact their work in any way.
4. The Experiment will be monitored and approved by University Internal Review Board as
well as the University of California appointed Dissertation Committee to further ensure all
ethical standards are considered and utilized for the benefit of participants.
Further, per Glesne (2011) it is understood that an informed consent process is dynamic
and continuous; the process should be initiated in the project design and continue through
implementation by way of dialogue and negotiation with those studied.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 96

Organizational Context
As Director of Operations and Special Projects, with SMUSD, I devote considerable time
and effort to strategizing the staffing allocation process for students receiving Special Education
Services. I work closely with District’s Chief of Schools, the Chief of Special Education,
Assistant Superintendents, and Special Education Supervisors to negotiate and finalize staffing
allocation responsibilities, process and timeline. As such, my position could be viewed as an
impediment in carrying out the research since I could be viewed as having a subjective interest in
its results. Furthermore, per O’neill (2005) whenever we employ research strategies that have the
potential to personalize the political, we risk being complicit with political agendas that avoid
social change by focusing on individual dysfunction. I will attempt to mitigate these bias
concerns by ensuring there is complete separation between my work for the District and research
for my work in this research as an “autonomous, ethical agent”. I will also inform that all
processes and procedures have been reviewed and approved by both the District and the
University of Southern California Internal Review Board (Dubnick, 2003).
Assumptions and Biases
The largest amount of resistance on the Special Education staffing allocations process
over the last three years is lead from principals and teachers because they feel the primary aim of
the exercise is to significantly decrease staffing levels. Based on sampling criteria, roughly 400
teachers will be contacted to complete the survey and a dozen principals for observations in the
study – a number of whom have been directly and adversely affected by the staffing allocations
process. As such, I assume the research could be construed as another attempt to flashlight efforts
in deference of budget rather than “actual student need”. That is, identified Black males may
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 97

actually be correctly placed in Special Education Services and the disproportionality is not due to
lack of cultural competence.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 98

Appendix F: Implementation and Evaluation Plan
This evaluation will utilize the four levels of training and evaluation of the New World
Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This new model focuses on developing
goals through the use of leading indicators that involve critical behaviors of stakeholders to
ensure the desired training results (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The evaluation framework
provides four levels that are designed to ensure alignment of organizational goals and guide
stakeholders in change efforts. For this evaluation I will use Level 4 to determine the desired
results of implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) strategies to support Black males in the
General Education setting. I will then utilize Level 3 to assess how knowledge, motivation, and
organizational factors influence stakeholder behaviors. These behaviors should correspond
directly to knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired in the learning of Level 2. Finally, I
evaluated stakeholder reaction to RTI implementation in Level 1 (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). This reverse method is useful for planning, however, once implementation takes place the
model proceeds sequentially to ensure organizational goals are achieved.
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations
The Saint Mary’s Unified School District has an organizational goal to ensure 100% of its
students graduate college and career ready. However; the District has determined that there is a
significant gap in achievement toward this goal for its Black male population. The purpose of this
study is to evaluate the extent to which the Saint Mary’s Unified School District meeting its goal
to ensure all students, particularly Black males, have equal access to rigorous educational
opportunities by implementing Response to Interventions strategies with fidelity that help them
progress toward this goal.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 99

As such, the District is leveraging Response to Intervention strategies with the goal of
ensuring 100% of its students graduate and are college and career ready. Focusing on General
Education teachers the District implemented Response to Intervention as a key strategy for
disrupting the possible systemic socio-constructs of low expectations and perceived lack of
cultural capital directed toward Black males. Response to Intervention strategies are aimed at
developing cultural competence in teachers and District staff. The District aims to provide 100%
of all General Education teachers with real time troubleshooting techniques that acknowledge
these jointly constructed understandings and assumptions about Black male ability that in turn
foster disproportionality and exacerbate the achievement gap.
Saint Mary’s Unified School District is dedicated to ensuring a coordinated,
system of strategic supports and resources that foster safe and caring learning environments, in
partnership with all its stakeholders. The stakeholders for this research study are active, K-12,
General Education teachers in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District with the goal that 100%
of teachers are implementing the Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI) model, strategic
tiered levels of academic and behavior support, to 100% of their students with fidelity.
Furthermore, the District must ensure that any adopted course of professional learning
and coaching of teachers, leaders, and school staff has an equity-centered framework, and
includes relative, deep, and applicable cultural competency learning with real world application
for every educator either working with or affecting the learning of Black male students.
Adoption of these measurable goals will demonstrate annual progress toward the District’s overall
goal of developing a culture that provides productive conditions for college and career readiness
at all levels. Implementation with fidelity should result in correcting the disruptions of identified
barriers: of low expectations and uncultivated cultural capital which, again, lead to
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 100

disproportionality and exacerbate the achievement gap. The analysis of this evaluation will focus
on knowledge, motivation and organizational influences related to achieving the organizational
goals (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Doing so should demonstrate a reduction of inappropriate referrals of Black males to
Special Education Services for the subjective category of Emotional Disturbance, year over year,
for a period of three years. Current General Education teachers are defined as active District
employees, who are trained in Response to Intervention strategies, are implementing the learned
intervention techniques with fidelity, and provide academic instructional services for Black males
for at least 50% of their work day.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
The leading indicators outlined in Table 6 will act as a guide posts for desired and critical
behaviors. These metrics will also assist in determining observed undesired behaviors which
contribute or effect the expected external and internal outcomes for Saint Mary’s Response to
Intervention implementation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Table 6: Summary of Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes for
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External Outcomes
1. Reduced number and
percentage in referrals
of Black males for
Special Education in
the subjective category
of Emotional
Disturbance.
1. Number and percentage of
Black males being
effectively supported in
the General Education
environment.
1. Gather data for referrals of
Black males for in the
subjective category of
Emotional Disturbance from
the Special Education
Department.

2. Decrease in the number
and percentage of Black
males graduating from
1. Number of Black males
entering postsecondary
education without the
need for remediation.
2. Collect first year college data
from District’s Research,
Planning and Accountability
division.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 101

Saint Mary’s who are not
college and career ready.
Internal Outcomes
1. Increased culturally
relevant and engaging
lessons.
1. The number of teachers
modifying and
differentiating lessons to
ensure all students
achieve.
1. Create system for Content
Specialist observations and
feedback on communication,
relations, and classroom
environment in relation to
student engagement.
2. Increased use of data to
support behavioral
interventions to ensure all
students receive
educational benefit.
2. The number of
teachers demonstrating
cultural competence to ensure
their interactions reflect
encouragement and
enthusiasm with all students
achieve.
2. Create system for Content
Specialist observations and
feedback on communication,
relations, and classroom
environment in relation to
student engagement.

Level 3: Behavior
Critical Behaviors - This evaluation study will focus on Saint Mary’s teachers who have
received Response to Intervention training as an intervention to support Black male students in
the General Education classroom setting. The District has worked with over 80% of its teachers to
measure the implementation and fidelity of school’s Response to Intervention support. While
many teachers see the value of defining, teaching and reinforcing the culture and behaviors we
want modeled through Response to Intervention, many do not (SMUSD, 2017). Critical behaviors
of the intervention, such as developing more open mindsets in teachers around the issue of
implicit bias, culturally inclusive curriculum, and the development and execution of scaffolded
and differentiated curriculum have yet to be observed with consistency. It is evident that not all
teachers are clear on or supportive of the goals and mechanisms of Response to Intervention.
Sometimes an “us versus them” approach is manifest in how teachers deal with Black male
students and how (site) leadership deals with teachers around this topic (SMUSD, 2018). These
issues will need to be addressed by the District as it continues its implementation of Response to
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 102

Intervention and in its equity quest for Black male students. Table 7 outlines the Level 3 Critical
Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing of the New World Kirkpatrick Model for Evaluation
for General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Table 7: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation for General Education
Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.

Critical Behavior Metric(s)
Method(s)
Timing
Teachers self-monitor
for implicit cultural
bias and self-correct
without coaching
The number of teachers
who relate to their Black
male students by sending
them out of
class/referring them for
Special Education
evaluation decreases
Out of class time data
collected from the
District’s Research,
Planning and
Accountability division.
Special Education
Services data on
evaluation referrals
Data will be
collected
monthly and
reported
quarterly
Teachers develop
curriculum that is
relevant and
culturally inclusive
Number of teachers
modifying and expanding
curriculum to ensure
lessons are culturally
relevant for Black males
increase
Teachers will submit
exemplar lessons intended
to demonstrate
proficiency in culturally
relevant lesson planning
Data will be
collected
quarterly and
reported on a
semester
basis
Teachers execute
scaffolded and
differentiated lesson
activities intended to
support and engage
different learning
styles.
Number of teachers
scaffolding and
differentiating activities
to ensure lessons support
learning and engage
Black males increase
Teachers will submit
exemplar lessons intended
to demonstrate
proficiency in scaffolding
and differentiating lesson
plans
Data will be
collected
quarterly and
reported on a
semester
basis

Required Drivers - Teachers require support from Response to Intervention Facilitators,
Board Certified Behavior Specialists, and their site leadership in developing critical
behaviors. Developing cultural competence begins with an understanding of one's own culture,
continuing through interactions with individuals from various cultures, and extending through
one's own expansion of knowledge. It is a dynamic and complex process requiring ongoing self-
assessment and continuous expansion of one's cultural knowledge. In order for teachers to
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 103

improve behavioral relations and academic instruction so that all students are fully included in all
activities of school life, classrooms routines need to become more predictable, positive,
productive and consistent to maximize learning for all students, but especially those traumatized
by the social context driven by implicit bias. Table 8 outlines the Required Drivers to support
Level 3 Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing of the New World Kirkpatrick Model
for Evaluation for General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to
Intervention.
Table 8: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors for General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Method(s) Timing
Critical
Behaviors
Supported
1, 2, 3 Etc.
Reinforcing

Response to Intervention Facilitators observe teaching to
support implementation of multi-tiered interventions and
provide feedback that promotes metacognition and self-
regulation
Quarterly 1, 2, 3
Teachers are trained in RTI strategies that develops
differentiated/scaffolded lesson planning and the active
modification of pedagogical practices to create culturally
relevant and inclusive lessons
One Week
Intensive,
Annual
Refresher
1, 2, 3
Encouraging

Provide teachers with instructional supports that encourage
critical behaviors and provide multiple opportunities for
practice
Daily 1, 2, 3
Rewarding

Provide teachers alternative pay scales as job incentives that
reward student progress.
Annually 1, 2, 3
Monitoring

Teachers review case studies and other of effective
implementations of RTI during District summit meetings
and PLCs and explore via dyads/think, pair, share, etc. to
encourage the “look and feel” of an RTI classroom.
Monthly 1, 2, 3
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 104

Teachers engage their professional learning communities
(PLC) to regularly reinforce organizational messages
through collaboration and communal propagation
Monthly 1, 2, 3
Organizational Supports
Saint Mary’s will execute the following supports to ensure drivers outlined in Table 8 are
implemented with fidelity. First all supports will be tracked by the Response to Intervention
(RTI) facilitator team using the RTI-TRACKER system. This system will allow facilitators
review lessons and strategic interventions prescribed or utilized for specific teachers and to give
immediate feedback on services and support from the Response to Intervention team. Site
leadership will also use data from the RTI-TRACKER to evaluate the use of District resources in
supporting Black males, the frequency of specific requests for support, and to plan future
Professional Development opportunities.
Level 2: Learning
Learning Goals - Once Response to Intervention is being implemented with fidelity by all
General Education teachers; they will be able to:
1. Self-monitor and correct their own actions when implicit cultural bias is affecting their
interactions and relations with Black male students. (M)
2. Articulate the implicit cultural bias that is inherent in Saint Marys’ systems and that
continues to fuel the inequitable outcomes demonstrated in Black male achievement.
(D/C)
3. Apply pedagogical strategies that promote inclusion, are culturally relevant and
differentiate to support and engage students with differing learning styles. (P)
4. Recognize and execute behavioral interventions that de-escalate behaviors construed as
disruptive. (V)
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 105

Program - In order to disrupt the systemic barriers that are producing inequitable
outcomes for Black male students, Saint Mary’s will focus on data driven professional
development programs derived from multiple systems of data on pedagogical practices, teacher-
student interaction/relations, and monitoring or outcomes that suggest implicit cultural bias is at
play (such as disproportionate referrals for Special Education evaluation).
The District will also implement appropriate systemic changes that will fundamentally
shift the outcomes for Black male students by changing the context in which the teachers and
schools operate. For example, Response to Intervention (RTI) Academic and behavioral
interventions strategies will be formally integrated in all employment evaluations. Restorative
Practice and Safety Care de-escalation training will be universalized for all Saint Mary’s staff.
Components of Learning - It is essential that all General Education teachers have
conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge of Response to Intervention strategies for
implementation to be carried out with all fidelity. Table 9 outlines essential components of
learning for General Education Teacher Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Table 9: Components of Learning for the Program for General Education Teacher Instructional
Practices for Response to Intervention.
Methods or Activities Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”

Teacher used data to determine the effectiveness of
core instruction
Daily
Teacher introduces curriculum/new idea in a culturally appropriate/engaging
manner
Daily
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”

Teacher establishes scaffolded instruction practices Weekly
Teacher establishes tiered behavioral interventions to de-escalate disruptive
behaviors
Weekly
Teacher provides clear, explicit instruction for all students Daily
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 106

Teacher provides positive, constructive feedback to all students As
needed
Teacher’s interactions with students reflect encouragement and enthusiasm Daily
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”

Teacher paces instruction and ensures transitions are effective/ engaging Daily
Teacher used data to determine the effectiveness of
core instruction
Weekly
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”

Teacher reinforces student learning when learning objective/s are met As
Needed
Teacher documents, or has documentation to support implementation of
modifications to core instruction
Weekly

Level 1: Reaction
Level 1 of Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick’s New World model measures the reaction General
Education teachers have to concepts and procedures by measuring the components of
engagement, relevance, satisfaction with the Response to Intervention implementation at Saint
Mary’s (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Table 10 below lists the methods the District will use
to determine how stakeholders react to the learning event(s).
Table 10: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program for General Education Teacher
Instructional Practices for Response to Intervention.
Methods or Tools Timing
Engagement

Teachers trust there are strategies that help maintain calm and
progress when facing difficulties with Black male students
because of RTI training
Daily and reviewed Quarterly
through the RTI-TRACKER
system
Teachers actively use training to develop hypotheses to
identify potential reasons for Black male students not
meeting behavioral or academic benchmarks
Daily and reviewed Quarterly
through the RTI-TRACKER
system

Teachers track achievement and behavior and take key
actions before referring a Black male student to be evaluated
for Special Education services
Daily reviewed Quarterly, and
annually through the RTI-
TRACKER system

Relevance

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 107

Teachers use strategies to handle unexpected behaviors, or
whatever comes their way when working with Black male
students.
Daily and reviewed Quarterly
through the RTI-TRACKER
system
Teachers modify and differentiate lessons to ensure Black
male students achieve
Daily reviewed Quarterly, and
annually through the RTI-
TRACKER system
Customer Satisfaction

The District provides appropriate resources so teachers can
make modifications to core instruction as needed to meet
student needs/ability.
Daily reviewed Quarterly, and
annually through the RTI-
TRACKER system
The District supports data driven modifications to core
instruction and/or the development of supplemental
interventions to ensure all students receive educational
benefit
Daily reviewed Quarterly, and
annually through the RTI-
TRACKER system

Evaluation Tools
Immediately Following the Program Implementation - After all Response to Intervention
trainings, General Education teachers will complete a survey that will evaluate stakeholder
confidence in learning, strategy utilization, and organizational support. A sample of these surveys
can be found in Appendix A. The survey is meant to evaluate stakeholder confidence intervals
for Response to Intervention training methods and activities, stakeholder satisfaction and with the
learning opportunity. The surveys will also measure stakeholder commitment, attitude, and
confidence in their ability to implement Response to Intervention strategies after each opportunity
for professional development opportunity. The survey will address the four levels of Kirkpatrick
& Kirkpatrick’s New World model as a measurement of implementation fidelity.
Delayed for a Period After the Program Implementation - During the academic school
year, the team of 20 RTI facilitators will be assigned to observe 20 General Education teachers
each quarter, in the classroom setting. The assignment system will ensure the teacher is observed
by 4 different facilitators to limit observer bias. An example of the progressive observation
protocol facilitators will use to evaluate implementation proficiency is available in Appendix B.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 108

These observation protocols will act as confirmation of learning and implementation fidelity
through their alignment to surveys administered at the conclusion of each professional
development opportunity and by addressing the four levels of the Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick’s
New World model.
Data Analysis and Reporting
This evaluation uses Level 4 of Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick’s New World model to evaluate
the effectiveness of Saint Mary’s implementation of Response to Intervention for General
Education Teacher Instructional Practices with Black male students. Table 11 demonstrates
incidences of key indicators that demonstrate if Response to Intervention strategies are being
implemented with fidelity. The tracker will be utilized as an accountability tool to monitor and
evaluate quarterly and annual growth, stagnation, or reduction in areas of structural barriers known
to impact Black male achievement.
Table 11: Key result Indicators for Implementation of Response to Intervention Strategies in
General Education Teacher Instructional Practices.

# of Black Male
Students
# of Black Male SpEd
Referrals for Evaluation
# of Incident Leading to
Suspension/Out of Class time
for Black Males
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
School 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
School 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
School 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 1 2 1 3
School 4 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
Summary
The training and implementation plan for this evaluation study utilizes the four levels of
training and evaluation of the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). This model requires the determination desired results (Level 4) of implementing Response
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 109

to Intervention (RTI) strategies to support Black males in the General Education setting as the
first step in effective planning. Back mapping from desired results will ensure organizational
goals are achieved through program implementation. Level 3 of the model allows us to
understand the critical behaviors related to General Educations teachers’ knowledge, motivation,
and organizational factors influence their engagement, perceived relevance, and satisfaction with
the implementation of the Response to Intervention training opportunities. These behaviors
should correspond directly to knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired in the learning of Level
2. Finally, I evaluated stakeholder reaction to Response to Intervention implementation in Level
1 (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Through this tiered model of planning and implementation,
Saint Mary’s will create a continuous cycle of instructional practices improvement --creating data
driven reports that will allow the District to identify and respond to systemic barriers
appropriately and support its organizational goal of ensuring all its students graduate college and
career ready.
IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF BLACK MALES 110

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract This dissertation is an evaluation of the Response to Intervention implementation for Saint Mary’s Unified School District (pseudonym) as a strategic intervention meant to support Black males in the General Education setting. Response to Instruction and Intervention strategies implemented with fidelity should provide a solid foundation for providing a systematic, data-driven approach to instruction and behavioral support believed to benefit every student. The District introduced the intervention to address root causes of over-representation Black males in the subjective Special Education category of Emotional Disturbance. Black males enrolled with Saint Mary’s face enormous disparities in their educational outcomes. A major contributor to this problem is that these students are disproportionately placed in Special Education programs for Emotional Disturbance. The qualitative modality of this evaluation is designed to explore demographic characteristics, cultural acuity, and instructional practices for General Education teachers of Black male students in the Saint Mary’s Unified School District. These teachers, have received professional development in preparation for serving students who may demonstrate trauma-based behaviors, are unfortunately being disproportionately labeled with Emotional Disturbance due to a lack of cultural competence. A clear understanding of the contributing factors that negatively influence these traditionally underserved students should support General Education teachers’ understanding of the utility of programs such as Response to Intervention and provide strategies to fully engage students.

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In-school violent behavior impacts future goals of low socioeconomic status Black male students who were exposed to community violence

Asset Metadata

Creator Henry, Cloris M. (author)

Core Title Key leverage points for improving educational outcomes of black male students: Response to intervention as an effective strategy to support students in general education: An evaluation study

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 08/01/2018

Defense Date 08/01/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag black male students,improving educational outcomes,OAI-PMH Harvest,response to Intervention

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Mora-Flores, Eugenia (committee chair)

Creator Email clorishe@usc.edu,cmh255@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-46870

Unique identifier UC11672619

Identifier etd-HenryClori-6597.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-46870 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HenryClori-6597.pdf

Dmrecord 46870

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Henry, Cloris M.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA