Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

6-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Organizational Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Amy Barrios

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Karen Duwe

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Karen Maxwell

Abstract

This study addressed the perceptions of assistant principals, counselors, and school district-level administrators about the overrepresentation of minority special education students in district alternative education placements. The purpose of this study was to examine the discipline practices at three middle school campuses in one 6A urban school district to understand minority special education students’ overrepresentation in discretionary district alternative education placements. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with assistant principals, counselors, one dean of students, one assistant superintendent, and one special education director. A document analysis and a data review were conducted to triangulate the results. The findings indicated that years of experience, training, parent involvement, and understanding the function of behavior all impacted discipline decisions for minority special education students. Additional findings uncovered that school documents and training offered by the school district affected how administrators and counselors responded to behavior. I concluded that the counselors, assistant principals, and district-level personnel who participated in the study understood the need to engage minority special education students and their parents in the school. Building an inclusive school environment that engages all stakeholders takes an intentional plan of action.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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