AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES’ SCHOOL COUNSELING EXPERIENCE

by

Ola J. Milton

CATHERINE STOWER, PhD., Faculty Mentor and Chair

LILLIAN CHENOWETH, PhD., Committee Member

ANGELA BANKS JOHNSON, PhD., Committee Member

David Chapman, PsyD., Dean, Harold Abel School of Social andBehavioral Sciences

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Capella University

July 2011

© Ola Milton, 2011

Abstract

This phenomenological research project describes the lived

counseling experiences of African American male high school

graduates from Texas public schools. Phenomenological research is

qualitative methods that enable the researcher to describe and

gain a better understanding of a phenomenon-in this case, African

American male students’ perception of social realities. The

research question, “What is the lived experience of African American male high

school graduates who participated in academic, personal, and/or career school

counseling?”- was satisfactorily answered in the results of this

study. Ten African American male graduates who received academic,

personal/social, and career development shared their lived

counseling experience. The participants credited their counseling

experiences with their successful graduation from high school and

other life lessons, such as coping skills for anger management.

The participants in this study engaged in responsive interviews

describing their perception of how the professional school

counselor helped them graduate from high school. Overall, key

findings in this study indicated major themes consisting of

advocacy, caring relationships, and mutual respect. Texas

Education Agency supports advocacy and counseling as effective

dropout prevention strategies. The counselors’ challenge is to

empower at-risk students in academic achievement.

Dedication

I dedicate this manuscript to my children in the hope that

it will serve as a testament of the importance of education.

Randy (Tiger/Leslie), Timeka (Meka), and E. Tim, thank you for

allowing me to concentrate on my studies. I am very proud of

your accomplishments especially, college graduations. This

milestone in my life was completed as a legacy for you and your

families. Always remember that you are loved and being your

mother has always included academic guidance in preparing you for

the real world. To my grandchildren, Reagan Alexis, Shelby

Christina, and Zackary Norris with hope for your future endeavors

and prayer that you will excel farther than my eyes or mind can

envision. Always remember that you are loved and cherished. Put

God first in your life and everything will follow as planned.

“Failure to plan is a plan for failure.” I dedicate this

challenging work to my mother, Ola Milton Joseph who always

believed that I would be successful. Your hard work and

independent nature is the cornerstone of my strength. This

manuscript is dedicated to the loving memory of my grandmother,

Pearlie Levette. Her kind spirit guides me daily. Thank you

“Grandmother” for teaching your grandchildren the art of loving.

This research study is dedicated to my Uncle Albert Lee Levette

who always believed in me. Sincere dedication to my Aunt Ollie

Bell, Aunt Nancy, and Aunt Rosa Lane for always being there for

me and the Levette Family.

iii

Acknowledgments

Completion of my doctoral training and this dissertation

would not have been possible without the love and support of

numerous people. The support each of you provided was priceless

during these last 4-years. I truly would not have survived this

journey without your help. First and foremost, I thank the Lord

and Savior of my life, Jesus Christ-holding tightly to Psalms

138:8, “The LORD will work out his plans for my life--for your faithful love, O LORD,

endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me.” Thanks to the Levette

family for providing the inspiration to go all the way with my

educational goals. Thanks to my mom, Ola Milton Joseph for your

support. Thank you James Markham, Jr., for taking the time to

help with the required field lessons in the cemetery. Thank you

Linda and Daikea, for taking me on the required public

transportation field lessons. Thanks to Dr. Jones, Dr. Sheridan

Doyle, Dr. Gustie Houston, Dr. Nelson, Dr. Rowland Osuagwu,

Charlotte McClaney, Adrian Nash, Shelia Markham, Timeka Williams,

Mr. Chet D. Smith, Marcie Thompson, Craig Zeno, Barbara Fields,

and LaGreta Lane-Arrington for assisting me in fulfilling the

requirements of this challenging experience. Thanks to my friends

and family for understanding my desire to meet this challenge at

the expense of missed family reunions, birthdays, and other

important gatherings. Thanks for giving my dream LIFE!

I am sincerely thankful for my Capella advisor, Dr.

Constance Davis and my very knowledgeable committee members, Drs.

Stower, Chenoweth and Banks-Johnson. You all are the reason I

refer students to Capella. Special thanks to my mentor, Dr.

Stower, your guidance and honesty served me well and you are the

professional I will always strive to emulate.

iv

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………...… iv

List of Tables……………………………………………..……………………………... ix

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………… 1

Introduction to the Problem ……………………………………………………………... 2

Background of the Study………………………………………………………………….3

Statement of the Problem …………..……………………………………………………..6

Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………………………………...7

Research Question ………………………………………………………………………..8

Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Study

…………………………………….8

Nature of the Study …………………………………………………………………….....9

Definition of Terms ……………………………………………………………………...11

Assumptions and Limitations …………………………………………………………...13

Organization of the Remainder of the Study ……………………………………...

…….14

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………...……………....16

Academic Success for African American Male Students

…………………………….…18

Achievement Gap ………………………………………………………………………..19

Testing Standards ………………………………………………………………………..20

Comprehensive School Counseling Programs ……………………………………..……

24

Counseling African American Students …………………………………………………26

Counseling Barriers …………………………………………………………………..…28

School Counselor Role ………………………………………………………………….29

Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………………….…30

Crucial Theoretical/Conceptual Debates ……………………………………………..…

31

Resolving the Controversies …………………………………………………………….32

Review of the Critical Literature ………………………………………………………..33

Themes …………………………………………………………………….…………….37

Evaluation of the Viable Research Designs

……………………………………………..47

Chapter 2 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………....47

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………………….48

Researcher’s Philosophy ………………………………………………………………...48

Research Design Guide ………………………………………………………………….49

Research and Strategy Design …………………………………………………………..50

Sampling and Setting Design …………………………………………………………....51

Measures ………………………………………………………………………………...53

Data Collection Procedures ………………………………………………………...……56

Field Testing …………………………………………………………………………….57

Data Analysis and Qualitative Software

………………………………………………...58

Limitations of the Methodology ……………………………………………………...…61

Internal Validity ………………………………………………………………………....62

External Validity ………………………………………………………………………...64

Ethical Issues …………………………………………………………………………....65

Chapter 3 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………66

CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS …………………………….………..67

Setting ………………………………………………………………………………..….70

Participants ………………………………………………………………………………70

Theme 1: Counselors Are Advocates …………………………………………………...75

Theme 2: Counselor Was Caring ……………………………………………………..…82

Theme 3: Counselor Showed Respect …………………………………………………..85

Theme 4: Counselor Offered Praise ……………………………………………….……88

Theme 5: Counselor Provided Safety …………………………………………………...88

Textual Description ………………………………………………………………...……89

Imaginative Variation ………………………………………………………………..….90

Structural Description ………………………………………………………………...…91

Academic Counseling ………………………………………………………………...…92

Creative Textual Structural Synthesis

…………………………………………………...93

Chapter 4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………...….97

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………..98

Background of the Study …………..……………………………………………………98

Summary of Findings ……………………………………………………………………95

Significance of Research Compared to Literature Review

……………….……………106

Implications …………………………………………………………………………….109

Recommendations for Future Research …………………………………………..……110

Limitations …………..…………………………………………………………………112

Conclusion ……………….…………………………………………………………….113

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………….…………………..116

APPENDIX A: CRITERION SAMPLING QUESTIONS ……………………………………137

APPENDIX B: QUALITATIVE DISSERTATIONS STUDY QUESTIONS ……………….139

APPENDIX C: FIELD TEST RESUTS ……………………………………………………....141

List of Tables

Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Participants …………………………..

…….. .74

Table 2: Themes Presented by Participants ……………………………………………. 75

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

Texas Education Agency (2008) mandated the implementation

of Comprehensive Developmental Guidance Programs to increase the

graduation rate of African American male students enrolled in

public schools in Texas. African American students are forced to

negotiate the hardships that are products of a legacy of

discrimination on a daily basis (Lee, 2007). The African

American male is identified as experiencing the greatest level of

poverty among other children living in poverty (Tucker, 2009).

Potts (2003) described these students’ plight in the classroom as

a confrontation with a curriculum that is often irrelevant to

their realities and an evaluative system that excludes them from

the required courses necessary to pursue higher education.

Research suggests that African America male students’ high school

years are marked by a decline in motivation and engagement

(Roderick, 2005). For nearly three decades, school reform has not

addressed the unrelenting academic achievement gap that

1

pessimistically influences the future of African American

students (Green, Conley, Barnett, & Benjamin, 2004). Governor

Rick Perry (Texas Education Agency, 2011) boasts of the increase

in the graduation rate and credits the increase to the

implementation of programs including counseling.

Currently, more student-focused interventions, including

school counseling, have been implemented to provide African

American inner-city students with better opportunities to improve

their school performance (American School Counselor Association,

2005). Professional school counselors are confronted with

diversity in the public schools, which forces interaction with

various cultures and require multicultural skills (Tucker, 2009).

Training is provided by the Council for the Accreditation of

Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) to empower

professional school counselors to address diversity of racial,

ethnic, and cultural identity, including issues of SES, family

unit, age, gender, sexual characteristics, religious ideology,

2

career choices, and physical and mental health (CACREP, 2001).

Professional school counselors are undergoing a paradigm shift

with data driven evidence-based programs requiring measurable

outcomes for all students (Luck & Webb, 2009). Researchers have

implied that the failure of public schools to educate African

American males is partly due to the lack of cultural congruence

between the school and the low-income students (Day-Vines & Day-

Hairston, 2005). Tucker (2009) posited that professional school

counselors must comprehend the daily struggles of the low-income

students in order to impact the achievement gap. This study

listened to male graduates describe their lived experiences and

interactions with their professional school counselors that

contributed to their successful completion of high school.

Introduction to the Problem

African American males are in a crisis due to their

overrepresentation in the prison system, which is equal to their

overrepresentation in the high school dropout rate (Hammond,

3

2007; Corbett, 2011). The poverty level for African American

males living in low socioeconomic (SES) conditions rose from 24%

in 2008 to 25.7% in 2009 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Empirical

studies have documented the strong correlation between low SES

and low academic achievement with failed attempts for correction

through educational reforms (Hammond, 2007; Payne, 2003). In

addition, students from low SES score nine-points lower than

middle class students on tests measuring acquired knowledge

(Payne, 2003).

African American and Hispanic students had a dropout rate

of 14.8% and 12.4% respectively in a longitudinal study on the

9th grade cohort of 2009 (Texas Education Agency, 2010).

Reportedly 73.8% African American students graduated from high

school with the males being disproportionally represented (Texas

Education Agency, 2010). Educators and policymakers have

implemented programs in an effort to address the systematic,

ongoing inequalities, and the substandard educational realities

4

of African American male students (Bailey & Paisley, 2009;

Darling-Hammond, 2000; Hammond, 2007, Texas Education Agency,

2010).

Approximately 50% of African American male students have

excelled academically throughout the 20th century. President

Obama and Rev. Jesse Jackson are examples of graduates who

overcame adversities to become educated professionals. What made

these African American males successful? Understanding why youth

disenfranchised by the educational system excelled academically

could further increase African American males’ graduation rate.

This study described the impact of counseling on the graduation

of African American male students.

Background of the Study

African American male students in America dominate the

alternative educational systems, the legal system, and are overly

represented in the special education and remedial settings

(Bailey & Paisley, 2004). There are 308,000 African American

5

males in prison which accounts for 36% of the prison population

and the majority is high school dropouts from low socioeconomic

backgrounds (Corbett, 2011; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Cole

(2009) suggested

that disparity in educational level, as well as the lack of

employment and counseling for adaptation into society after

imprisonment, increases the possibility of them returning to

criminal behavior. Corbett (2011) states that Texas should be

renamed “Lock Up Blacks” due to the large number of incarcerated

African Americans in the prison system. The incarceration rate

for African Americans is five-times more than that of their white

counterparts (Corbett, 2011). African American males have

children in single-family households who are seven times more

likely to have legal issues and eventual imprisonment (Cole,

2009).

The academic achievement gap, and adolescent African

American males’ antisocial behavior, have been attributed to the

6

absence of positive role models, lack of self-worth, despair,

inability to prosper, as well as low expectations by the school,

communities and society (Gardner, 1985; Kunjufu, 1984; Lee, 1996;

Lee, 2007; Lee & Bailey, 2006; Lee & Lindsey, 1985; Majors &

Billson, 1992; Morgan, 1980).  National Assessment of Educational

Progress (NAEP, 2003) and Education Trust (2004) reported the

academic achievement of African American male students is

significantly lower than other ethnic groups. Education Trust

(2004) reported the following: African Americans (61%), Latinos

(57%), and Native Americans (53%) compared to Asians (31%) and

Whites (26%) scored below basic levels on fourth grade

standardized reading tests. The state of Texas graduation rate

is increasing minimally annually but the graduation rate of

African American male students continues to be less than or equal

to 50% (Texas Education Agency, 2011).

Typically, school reform efforts sought to close the

achievement gap by reducing

7

classroom size (Hunn-Sannito, Hunn-Tosi, & Tessling, 2001;

Krieger, 2002), decentralizing management (Odden, Wohlstetter, &

Odden, 1995; Wagoner, 1995; Wohlstetter, Malloy, Chau, &

Polhemus, 2003), raising the stakes for failure (Paris & Uden,

2000; Reville, 2004), altering classroom instructional processes

(March & Peters, 2002; Ross & Lowther, 2003), and implementing

empowerment theory into the professional school counselor

curriculum (ASCA, 2005). Public school districts implemented

supplement education services and after-school tutorials for

challenged and at-risk students (Bridglall, Green, & Mejia,

2005). Unfortunately, these initiatives resulted in minimal

success in closing the achievement gap for African American male

students (Ogbu, 2003).

Research supports the need for the development of caring

relationships between at-risk African American male students and

knowledgeable adults who possess the ability to address

adversities that prevent learning (Adelman & Taylor, 2001;

8

Kinsler & Gamble, 2001; McNeil, 2000). Currently, schools are

attempting to educate counselors toward addressing the needs of

African American students in urban schools through contextually

appropriate school counseling services including empowerment

theory (Green, Conley, & Barnett, 2005; Green & Keys, 2001;

Holcomb-McCoy, 1998, 2001; Lee, 2001, 2007).

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 mandates school

districts to implement evaluations connected to achievement

standards, accountability, and significant progression for all

students (Texas Education Agency, 2009a). The NCLB Act directed

schools’ accountability measures for their dropout and graduation

rates, and academic performance using indicators

recorded on a report known as the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

The search for and implementation of interventions that will

produce positive outcomes for academically at-risk students is

the focus of educators, administrators, and policymakers at

district and state levels, but there is a lack of research

9

substantiating the effectiveness of these interventions (Cole,

2009; Lehr, Johnson, Bremer, Cosio, & Thompson, 2004).

Researchers agree that students from low SES backgrounds are at

greater risk for academic failure than their counterparts (Cole,

2009; Lee, 2007). The NCLB Act provides supplementary resources

to strengthen academic skills in low socioeconomic schools and

equitable educational opportunities for all students, including

exposure to professional school counselors (Kohn, 2004; Texas

Education Agency, 2009a).

Statement of the Problem

Research on the perception of the lived academic, personal,

and/or career counseling experience of African American male

graduates is lacking. African American male students are plagued

with substandard living conditions that impede their academic

progress and require supplemental resources (Kohn, 2008; Kozol,

1991), but some African American male students succeed in

spite of these adversities (Fashola, 2005). NCLB specifically

10

directs professional school counselors to address the needs of

all students through counseling, mentorship, college awareness,

and career and technical studies (Texas Education Agency, 2008).

This nation will jeopardize the leadership role in the global

economy if it fails to educate all students (Lockwood & Secada,

1999; President’s Advisory Commission, 1996; Wisconsin Center

for Educational Research [WCER], 1996).

In the 1993 report by the U. S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration Bureau of the 1990

Census, African Americans and Hispanics were the poorest and

are expected to make up the largest minority ethnic group

within the next 10 years. Texas Education Agency (2011)

reported an increased graduation rate for African American

students from 73.5% for the class of 2009 to 78.8% for the

class of 2010 with the African American male

disproportionately represented. The graduation rate for

11

Hispanic students rose from 73.5% for the class of 2009 to

78.8% for the class of 2010.

Texas public schools Guidance Counselor Department

implemented the Comprehensive Guidance Plan supported by the

Association of School Counselors (ASC, 2005) in compliance with

the NCLB mandate utilizing the theory of empowerment.

Purpose of the Study

This dissertation study described and gained a better

understanding of the academic, personal, and/or career counseling

experience of African American males in Texas public schools.

The intent was to listen to the voices of the graduates as they

recall their experiences as a high school student participating

in group and individual counseling sessions. Educational

reformers recently demanded school counseling programs provide

outcome-oriented approaches that promote educational success for

all students (Butler, 2003). Many African American male students

soar academically in school when compared to others with the same

12

SES background. How do some African American male students

negotiate low SES and cultural differences within an educational

context? The results of this study can prompt discussions on the

reorganization of school programs, influence the development of

counseling strategies, and provide counselors with positive

strength-based interventions to infuse in their counseling

approach with African American male students.

Research Question

What is the lived experience of African American male high

school graduates who participated in academic, personal, and/or

career school counseling? The research question is based on the

principle that lived experiences are significant and vital for

comprehension of individuals' perception of reality and

interaction among people. A series of interview questions

acknowledged participants’ social experiences including

adversities.

Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Study

13

Despite substantial research revealing the importance of

professional school counseling interactions for students, the

lived experiences of the students that attend counseling sessions

are not considered as vital in this process. Freeman (1997)

implied that researchers and policy makers often exclude

individuals who are central to a problem in the development of

educational solutions. There is a lack of research on the lived

experiences of African American males with counseling activities.

This qualitative study described and gained a better

understanding of African American male graduates’ academic,

personal, and/or career counseling interactions in Texas public

schools. The Houston Independent School District was excluded

from this study to avoid graduates from the researcher’s

employer. There is consensus among researchers that professional

school counselors are in the unique position to implement

empowerment theory as a

14

means of moving African American males toward graduation

(Hipolito-Delgado, 2007; Lee, 2007; Mitcham-Smith, 2007).

Mitcham-Smith posited that the combined efforts of the

empowerment theory, professional school counselors’ commitment,

and implementation of a comprehensive multicultural guidance plan

would improve services to students who would otherwise be

neglected.

Students’ perception is a catalyst for critical discussions

on counseling techniques. This study is significant because it

revealed phenomena and strategies that could facilitate the

academic success of African American male Texas public high

school graduates.

The qualitative approach was chosen to give a voice to

successful African American male students who overcame adversity

to gain high school diplomas. Qualitative phenomenological

studies allow the researcher to identify the essence of human

experiences as described by the participants in the study

15

(Creswell, 2005). The African American male students had the

opportunity to share their lived experiences as the researcher

bracket personal experiences, identified patterns, and revealed

meaning (Moustakas, 1994; Nieswiadomy, 1993).

Nature of the Study

In this study, the phenomenon of interest is the lived

experience of being an African American male graduate who

participated in academic, personal, and/or career school

counseling. This research study utilized the descriptive

phenomenological method. Phenomenology refers to the study of a

phenomenon as it appears and descriptive refers to the central

task of providing a clear, undistorted description of the ways

things appear (Husserl, 1982). The author conducted a

phenomenological study of African American males who graduated

from Texas public high schools.

Phenomenological studies can provide a holistic

understanding of how African American students interact with

16

their educational setting and the support that helps them stay

in school. Stake (1994) implied that recall of lived

experiences prompts participants to extend their memories of

past events providing rich details of actual events (p. 240).

The phenomenological method also allowed the examination of

subjective accounts of the schooling process as interpreted by

the participants relative to the roles their grade-level

counselors played in their schooling experiences. This method

is consistent with the basic features and premises of

qualitative methods and is congruent with studies that seek to

answer how and why questions, and it is also congruent with

studies in which the researcher has little control over the

research setting (Merriam, 1998).

The proposed dissertation study required delving into the

minds and lives of the participants in order to explore what

kept these African American male students in school while

others dropped out. The interview process afforded the

17

opportunity to hear the participants’ stories and their

perceptions of what their school experiences were like, as well

as what they believe the professional school counselors did to

help them stay in school. African American male graduates

participated in face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interview

(Marshall & Rossman, 2006) with prepared questions designed to

elicit reflections on experiences with their high school

professional counselor. African American male graduates

described their counseling interaction with their professional

school counselors. Using this data, the researcher identified

commonalities and themes that affected the participants’

graduation from high school. Professional school counselors

construct counseling activities guided by the ASCA National Model

and empowerment theory.

The use of the empowerment theory was based on the work of

Courtland Lee (2007) who provided professional school counselors

with a theoretical framework for understanding and addressing the

18

needs of students from oppressed communities. Lee (2007)

legitimized the negative influence oppression has on students

from disadvantaged communities. Lee posited that African

American males from disadvantaged communities have psychological

issues that can be addressed by professional school counselors

implementing individual and small group counseling to close the

achievement gap. The theoretical benefit of empowerment to

address at-risk African American males is supported by Korenny

(2009) who suggested that African Americans gained additional

status and empowerment with the election of the first African

American President of the United States. Additionally, the

concept of empowering youths has gained popularity with social

workers in Hong Kong (Siu-Ming, 2007). This study provides

parents, educators, community leaders, and policymakers with data

that can be used to plan and evaluate existing programs designed

to increase African American males’ graduation rate.

Definition of Terms

19

For this dissertation study, the following terms and

definitions are used:

African American male refers to citizens or residents of America

who have origins from Africa.

ATLAS.ti version 5.2 software is a qualitative software package

that is useful for organizing and coding qualitative data.

Coding “represents the operations by which data are broken

down, conceptualized, and put back together in new ways” (Corbin

& Strauss, 1990, p. 57).

Concepts refer to labels given to specific statements.

Categories/themes refer to classification of concepts that are

either similar or dissimilar (Corbin & Strauss, 1990).

Dropout student is defined as a student who has made the

decision to stop attending school.

Educational resilience is defined as the heightened likelihood of

educational success despite personal vulnerabilities and

20

adversities brought about by environmental conditions and

experiences.

Empowerment refers to the process in which individuals or

groups gain power over their lives to improve their situation

(Lee, 2007).

Giorgi’s phenomenological analytic method refers to a six

steps clear-cut-process developed by Amedeo Giorgi that provides

structure to the analyses and justifies the decisions made while

analyzing data (Koivisto, Janhonen, & Vaisanene, 2009).

Hope is an emotion that replaces deficits and employs

agentive thinking (Snyder, 2002).

Low-performing schools refer to schools that failed to show

progress on the federal Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) report.

Meaning units refers to the division of the data into common

themes and frequent use of text in the participants’ responses.

21

Professional School Counselors are employed in Texas Public Schools

to maximize student success through academic, personal, and/or

career counseling (ASCA, 2005).

Success will be measured by the experience of overcoming

adversities to graduate from high school.

Resiliency refers to an individual’s ability to rebound from

adverse experiences or overcome developmental threats to avoid

permanent harmful effects (Ungar, 2005).

Assumptions and Limitations

The researcher assumed that all participants are African

American male high school graduates from Texas public schools. It

is further assumed that Texas public schools Guidance Counselor

Departments implemented the Comprehensive Guidance Plan supported

by the Association of School Counselors (ASC, 2005) in compliance

with the NCLB mandate. The researcher also assumes African

American students will provide truthful answers to the interview

questions since their participation is voluntary. This study was

22

limited to African American male graduates who participated in

high school academic, personal, and career counseling with

positive outcomes. Further research is necessary to explore the

factors impacting African American female students and students

from other ethnic groups. This phenomenological investigation

was limited to the lived experiences of 10 participants within

the southern part of Texas. The findings in this study cannot be

generalized for all African American male high school graduates

living in South Texas. This study represented 4 of the 30 school

districts within an inner city located in South Texas. Texas has

a high rate of high school graduates and this

study only represented the graduates in a city located in South

Texas. This study was limited to self-identification of African

American Texas high school graduates with positive counseling

experiences. This study focused on African American male

graduates lived counseling experience with successful academic,

personal/social, and career development counseling in high school

23

without consideration for those that did not graduate after

receiving counseling.

Organization of the Remainder of the Study

Chapter 2 is the literature review, which summarizes the

body of literature on factors affecting the graduation rate of

African American male students. The historical background,

theoretical framework, contextual research, evaluation of viable

designs, and other relevant topics are discussed. The literature

search process included using the public library and the Capella

library database to search for the keywords African American, at

risk students, dropout rate, education, and success factors.

Chapter 3 contains the data analysis plan for this

dissertation study. This chapter describes the participants

and their relationship with family members, their school

experiences, peer relationships, views on dropping out of

school, and aspirations. Reflections are included at the end

of each chapter.

24

Chapter 4 presents the data collection and analysis

procedures utilized in this study. A brief description of the

status of the participants’ and an analysis of their verbatim

interview is analyzed for themes in this chapter. The

counselors as advocates, caring, respectful, offering praise,

and providing safety are thematically discussed. This chapter

also consists of textual description, imaginative variation,

structural description, academic, personal/social, career

guidance school counseling, creative textual-structural

synthesis, and conclusion.

Chapter 5 presents the conclusion and recommendations

implicated by this study. This chapter contains the background

of the study, summary of findings, discussion of themes,

significance of research compared to literature review,

implications, recommendations for future research, limitations

and conclusion.

25

26

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

To describe and comprehend the lived experience of African

American male graduates who participated in high school academic,

personal, and/or career counseling during high school, this study

relied on research related to the dropout rate. The literature

on this topic demonstrates the need for further exploration.

The education of African American males from low

socioeconomic backgrounds is plagued with failure, lack of self-

esteem, lack of identity, purpose, and direction. Literature

confirms the educational disadvantages of the African American

males living in poverty and the predictors that place them at-

risk for dropping out and incarceration. African American males

born in poverty are told at an early age that their destiny will

more than likely include the prison system (Marable, 2008).

Payne’s (2003) research indicated that poverty was negatively

related to high school graduation. According to the National

Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2002), the national

27

average for students failing to complete high school is 10% for

low-income students, 5.2% for middle-income students, and 1.6%

for high-income students. Low SES, school size, region, academic

ability, and family structure, as well as being over-age, male,

and African American, are associated with failure to complete

high school. However, some students overcame these barriers and

completed high school. Educational disadvantages resulting in

failure to complete high school are well documented in the

literature, but educational disadvantages resulting in successful

completion of high school is not well documented. Thus, these

results of this study will hopefully fill a void in the

literature.

At-risk students who chose to stay in school were the focus of a

study conducted in 2000 by Christenson, Sinclair, Lehr, and

Hurley (NCSET, 2004). This study revealed that students at-risk

for dropping out continued to attend school, secondary to

supportive family life, interaction with educators and other

28

adults, development of perseverance and optimism, positive school

attitude, relationship with school staff, satisfaction with

learning experiences, relevance of curricula, and fair discipline

policies.

A qualitative phenomenological study completed in 2006

focused on the lives of at-risk students in inner-city

educational settings (Britt et al., 2006). This study revealed

lack of parental support and pressures from school and home

environments were the most common reasons for failure to complete

high school. The theoretical framework for this study was based

on the 1987 research by Rumberger, which suggested that dropping

out of school is a systematic process that starts prior to the

student actually of dropping out of school. Students’

perceptions provide invaluable information for understanding and

addressing this systematic process prior to the final decision to

drop out.

29

A qualitative multiple case study of academically capable

dropouts from several large suburban high schools revealed that

17 students discontinued their high school education due to a

hostile academic and social environment, which included poor

relationships with the teachers and administrators (Rose, 2006).

The decision to drop out of high school was a longitudinal

process where students’ intentions, goals, and commitments were

continually influenced by interaction with the school’s academic

and social communities.

The shift from policy to research to practice implies an

increase in the rate of high school graduates (Lehr et al., 2004;

Texas Education Agency, 2011). Theoretical conceptualizations

helped elucidate the important role of student engagement in the

educational process. The significant fundamentals of engagement

include student participation, recognition, social interaction,

and individual investment in learning (Finn, 1993; Kohn, 1999;

Maehr & Midgley, 1996; Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, & Fernandez

30

as cited in Lehr et al., 2004). The implementations of programs

serve as models for strengthening African American male students.

Counselors maximize their services to students through strength-

based school counseling, mentorship, and guidance to promote

hope, self-esteem, and empowerment.

Academic Success for African American Males

Harris (2003) argued that African American males must shift

mentally from the victimization model to achieve academic

success. African American males at-risk for academic failure

must draw strength and courage from their 500-year struggle for

freedom from all forms of racism and reframe their perception of

self. Harris conducted a research study that revealed that

successful African American males fluently articulated a personal

concept of success. In addition, African American males who

defined themselves as successful understood the concept of being

connected and were proficient at networking with other ethnic

groups, diverse student groups, student government, and academic

31

student organizations (Harris, 2003). In addition, successful

African American males’ daily schedules were balanced with class

attendance, studying, school involvement, and working a part time

job.

Parents and the home continue to hold the most promise for

successful students (Maxwell, 2004). Students are influenced by

parental sharing of literary materials in the home and parents

taking an active interest in reading, discussing ideas, and

current affairs with them.

Achievement Gap

Research indicates that the achievement gap is the result of

ongoing personal and institutional discrimination (Van Laar &

Sidanius, 2001). In the United States, many schools that serve

African American students are located in urban environments,

where the effects of the achievement gap parallel a history of

slavery, racial segregation, and oppression. Becker and Luthar

(2002) found that academic and school attachment, teacher

32

support, peer values, and mental health are critical factors that

influence academic performance. Stadler, Middleton, and King

(1999) noted that research did not focus on minority populations

until minority organizations began demanding attention regarding

their concerns in order to close the achievement gap. Picucci,

Brownson, Kahlert, and Sobel (2002) found that high expectations,

collaboration, teacher support, and the provision of extra

services were instrumental in the success of seven high-poverty

middle schools. Evidence supporting the replicability of these

programs has not been found in the literature. Meanwhile, many

underachieving students attend schools where administrative and

instructional reforms, however well intended, are resisted by

what Towns (1996) referred to as structural hypocrisy. This

refers to the way in which different elements of the school

(i.e., administrative, instructional, and student support teams)

work against one another to prevent change.

33

Urban schools do not exist independent of the larger social

and political context. They are impacted by human and

organizational relationships, also referred to as social capital,

that effect achievement (Orr, 1999). For example, in Baltimore,

Maryland, school reform has been a central part of the political

agenda for nearly three decades; however, the way in which

school-based interventions are received in the school depends

heavily upon the norms and agendas set by local school,

community, and business networks (Orr, 1999). These social

capital networks interact with one another and are profoundly

influenced by historical and current political struggles

involving race, poverty, and the quest for social justice.

Lessons learned from the recent implementation of an urban school

counseling program in a predominately African American elementary

school system suggest that more attention should be given to the

role of social capital in education, reform, and the academic

achievement of African American Students.

34

Testing Standards

Testing and standardization are not new in education (Texas

Education Agency, 2009a). Standards have been used to promote

freedom of education for some time. Karp (2005) implied the

situation has slowly improved as education policies are enacted

at the state level; in particular, the law that some have

rechristened No Child Left Untested or No Child’s Behind Left,

played a role. Bracey (2007) suggested that even those observers

who missed, or dismissed, the causal relationship are realizing

the true purpose of this new law. Indeed, one only has to be

vision-impaired not to see it.

Jamie McKenzie, a former superintendent, put it this way:

“Misrepresented as a reform

effort, No Child Left Behind is actually a cynical effort to

shift public school funding to a host of private schools,

religious schools, and free-market diploma mills or corporate

experiments in education” (Kohn, 2004). The same point has been

35

made by Gerald Bracey (2007), an associate of the High/Scope

Educational Research Foundation, Stan Karp (2005) who is a high

school teacher in Paterson, NJ, and some prominent politicians.

Bracey (2007) described NCLB as a weapon of mass destruction with

the public school system as the target. Senator James Jeffords,

who chaired the Senate committee in charge of education from 1997

to 2001, described the law as a back-door maneuver that would let

the private sector take over public education and stated that

this is something the Republicans have wanted for years (Kohn,

2004).  Former senator Carol Moseley Braun (as quoted in Wallis,

2008) made the same point in 2008:

We now have corroboration that these fears were entirely

justified. Susan Neuman, an assistant secretary of education

during the roll-out of NCLB, admitted that others in Bush's

Department of Education "saw NCLB as a Trojan horse for the

choice agenda - a way to expose the failure of public

36

education and 'blow it up a bit'." (Claudia Wallis, "No

Child Left Behind: Doomed to Fail?” Time, June 8, 2008)

Numerous problems with NCLB have been highlighted including

the need to measure proficiency by redefining achievement because

the current method conceals the reality of the achievement gap

(Bracey, 2007). Bracey argued that at-risk students’ ability to

pass a standardized test fails to meet the requirement for

establishing proficiency. NCLB mandates every student meet

advanced standards without consideration to individuality or

barriers that

prevent at-risk students from receiving the full benefits of an

equitable education. This mandate set unrealistic goals and

timelines for reaching the expected proficiency scores for

subgroups of students. Educators and other observers view NCLB

as impossible (Bracey, 2007). Bracey argued that the attainment

of both 100% proficiency and a meaningful definition of

proficient are impossible.

37

Karp (2006) posited that NCLB placed band-aids on issues

that required a bulldozer impact. Due to the guidelines

established by NCLB, schools are confronted with an escalating

series of sanctions that fail to address the duality of their

needs and challenges. Sanctions result in schools being placed

on the school improvement list; presence on this list for two

consecutive years entitles students to transfer to another school

or receive supplemental educational services from private tutors.

There were an estimated 10,000 schools rated as failure to meet

AYP for two consecutive years and placed on the school

improvement list (Karp, 2006). In 2006, there were nearly 23,000

schools that failed to meet AYP for the first time (Karp, 2006).

As Monty Neill (2007) explained, regarding the federal

accountability of US public schools relative to the criteria for

making AYP toward that goal, “virtually no schools serving large

numbers of low-income children will clear these arbitrary

hurdles.” Consequently, he added, “many successful schools will

38

be declared ‘failing’ and may be forced to drop practices that

work well. Already, highly regarded schools have been put on the

‘failing’ list.”  Schools that manage to jump through these

hoops, which include a 95% participation rate in testing, must

then contend with comparable hurdles involving the qualification

of its teachers as highly

qualified teachers (Neill, 2011). All these requirements are

meant to make public schools improve, and forcing every state to

test every student every year is intended to identify troubled

schools in order to “determine who needs extra help,” as

President Bush put it in his 2008 State of the Union Address

(Bush, 2008).

Children living in poverty are at-risk for academic failure

secondary to the presence of potential stressors from parental

disengagement, structural employment, unemployment,

underemployment, and residential mobility (Britt et al., 2006).

Researchers investigated the low academic achievement of African

39

American male students and their overrepresentation in the

Special Education Programs in comparison to their peers in other

ethnic groups (Lehr et al., 2004; Payne, 2005). Literature

identified African American male students from low SES

backgrounds as an ethnic group at-risk for becoming high school

dropouts (NCSET, 2004). This phenomenon prompted educational

reforms that failed to gain the perception of at-risk African

American male students. Students know what works for students,

and this knowledge could improve their academic success (Cook-

Sather, 2002).

Educators can increase educational effectiveness for

students when they understand daily occurrences in the students’

lives (Britt et al., 2006; Khon, 2008; Papson, & Tyler, 2006).

It is imperative that educators understand how social conditions

impede school activities in order to guide the students to

successful educational experiences. High school reform is a

40

priority on the agenda for educators, community leaders, and

local and state government agencies (Kohn, 2004, Quint, 2006).

Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

According to Jackson (1995), the concept of counseling

African Americans was introduced during the 1950s as

multicultural counseling. African Americans were not considered

part of the civilized human race and cultural concerns were

unimportant. This resulted in a massive Anglo-European

counseling viewpoint founded on rigidity. A review of the

literature on the historical evolution of the multicultural

counseling movement in the American Counseling Association

revealed five articles from 1952 to 1959 on counseling African

Americans (Jackson, 1995).

The counseling profession evolved during the 1960s and 1970s

to focus on specific minority groups who had experienced

discrimination and institutionalized oppression. Hence, issues

41

regarding culturally appropriate counseling techniques and

strategies did not become amplified until minority populations

increased in America during the 1960s and 1990s (Harley,

Jolivette, Mccormick, & Tice, 2002). In the 1990s, The American

School Counselor Association (1999) established a position

statement on cross/multicultural counseling that stated that

counseling practice should be based on facilitating student

development through an understanding and appreciation of diverse

backgrounds. This position was taken after decades of a lack of

minority acknowledgement, a lack of research, and a lack of

multicultural counseling theories.

Over the past ten years, the transformation of the school

counseling profession has made strides toward filling the void in

student support services (ASC, 2009). Through models that

promote what is referred to as comprehensive school counseling

programs and services, school counselors seek to address all of

students’ developmental needs, including their academic

42

achievement (Gyspers & Henderson, 2000, 2001; Schawallie-Giddis,

Maat, & Pak, 2003; Sink & Stroh, 2003). The primary goal of a

comprehensive school counseling program is to support student

growth in academic, career, and personal-social domains (Gysbers

& Henderson, 2001; Paisley & Hayes, 2003). These programs allow

school counselors to shift their focus away from reacting to

crisis toward becoming proactive about student achievement needs

(Gyspers & Henderson, 2000; Sink & MacDonald, 1998).

Historically, school counselors focused primarily on meeting

the social and emotional needs of students and assumed that this

focus alone would have the most positive impact on school

outcomes (Galassi & Akos, 2004). Over time this has not proven

to be effective because focusing on personal and social well-

being alone bypasses opportunities to promote learning through

teacher and administrative collaboration (Bemak, 2000).

Historically, the perception that school counselors’ work was not

always directly related to the primary goal of learning

43

contributed to adopting a mental health only approach (Bemak,

2000). As the field evolved in the 1990s, school counselors were

encouraged to link their services and interventions to the school

mission and purpose, which typically focused on improving

achievement (House & Hayes, 2002). While efforts to place a high

priority on learning were a step in the right direction,

preliminary outcome research revealed that mainstream programs

did not measure up when addressing the needs of culturally

diverse students (Lapan, Gysbers, & Sun, 1997).  

Counseling African American Students

Within urban settings, schools that serve African American

students are faced with several challenges that can make the

provision of school counseling services particularly challenging

(Holcomb-McCoy, 1998). According to Holcomb-McCoy these

challenges include: (a) student diversity, (b) a lack of

available school resources, (c) poverty, (d) family issues, (e)

44

violence, and (f) high dropout rates. Each of these challenges

requires that a broader perspective be taken when providing

support for learning (Holcomb-McCoy, 1998). Given the inability

of traditional comprehensive models to meet the needs of

culturally diverse students, particularly in terms of the

achievement gap, school counseling programs designed specifically

for urban environments have been receiving more attention (Green

et al., 2005; Green & Keys, 2001; Holcomb-McCoy, 1998, 2001; Lee,

2001).

The emergence of urban school counseling programs is

providing a more effective and user-friendly framework that

school counselors can utilize to meet the needs of students in

urban settings (ASCA, 2005). The primary difference between

mainstream school counseling programs and those in urban areas is

the way in which barriers to learning are viewed and addressed

(Lee, 2001). Typically, school counselors operate from a

developmental perspective that views individual-level functioning

45

as being independent from the larger ecological context where the

development takes place (Galassi & Akos, 2004). Such a

perspective is limiting when the child’s ecological context and

school are filled with historical and contemporary barriers to

learning (i.e., diverse learning styles, poverty, and social

injustice). Under these circumstances,

it is important that individual student performance be understood

with these challenges in mind and that interventions are tailored

to meet students’ needs as idiosyncratically as possible (Burton,

Obedallah, & Allison, 1996).

Through an urban school counseling approach, contextually

relevant needs assessments are conducted to identify students who

need universal school counseling services (Burton et al., 1996).

For those students who require further assistance, urban school

counseling provides targeted counseling (e.g., individual, small

and large group, and classroom guidance), consultation, and

coordinated services that are mindful of the contextual

46

antecedents surrounding the challenges that prevent learning

(Green et al., 2005; Green & Keys, 2001). Through this model,

students are not blamed inadvertently for the difficulties they

experience but instead are encouraged to become critically aware

of the issues that impact their learning (Green et al., 2005).

Parents and families are also included in the helping

relationships that are formed on behalf of student development

and learning (Green et al., 2005).

To learn more about how an urban school counseling model can

promote academic achievement and development among African

American students, a federally funded elementary school

counseling project was implemented in historically

underperforming urban elementary schools that serves

predominately African American students (Green et al., 2004).

This implementation project grew out of a partnership between a

large, urban school district’s school counseling office and a

47

local university’s graduate program in counselor education (Green

et al., 2005).

Counseling Barriers

In previous decades, the ignorance of African-American

history, sociology, psychology, and inability to identify

culturally were used to validate barriers in the counseling

profession (Sue & Sue, 1990). Subsequently, despite progress in

race relations over the past 40 years, barriers remain (Sue &

Sue, 1990). Sue and Sue posited that there will always be

cultural barriers in intra-cultural counseling, but there are a

variety of unique barriers involving the interaction between

White counselors and Black clients that are responsible for less-

than optimal outcomes.

For example, cultural barriers such as White counselors’

lack of acceptance of African-American history and their plight

in American society impact this relationship (Pomales, Claiborne,

48

& Lafromboise, 1986). Cultural barriers can also become

detrimental to this relationship when the goals and expectations

of the White counselor do not “fit” the worldview of the African

American client (Sue & Sue, 1990). In addition, Sue and Sue

acknowledged that the existence of racism or prejudice,

paternalism, and even the acceptance of a Black power ideology,

could hinder the outcome of the counseling relationship. Racism

or prejudice is defined as feelings of superiority over another

group at a conscious or unconscious level. Paternalism refers to

the counselor interpreting the student’s problem as stemming from

racism or prejudice (Sue & Sue, 1990). The acceptance of Black

power ideology could impede the counseling process by allowing

the African American student to freely express hostility because

of racism and prejudice (Sue & Sue, 1990).

Furthermore, Kemp (1994) suggested that African American

males tend to exhibit habitual ways of initially relating to

counselors in general and particularly White counselors. Kemp

49

posited that the “relating” aspect for African American males is

closely associated with a number of external factors such as: (a)

skills; (b) learning a different way to dress, which is sometimes

done as a survival and acceptance tactic; and (c) learning a

different vernacular by which to communicate that may appear

different or inappropriate in the eyes of White counselors. More

importantly, Kemp noted that many African American males

displayed a body language that contained various non-verbal cues

that represented their discomfort, lack of trust, and overall

distaste for counseling interaction.

School Counselor Role

The professional school counselor works with the

administrative staff, children, and parents to comprehensively

address the needs of students through the implementation of a

developmental school-counseling program to create academic

success for all students (ASCA, 2009). Students’ developmental

stage, gender, ethnicity, needs, skills, and other individual or

50

group variables must be considered by the counselor when

implementing school counseling programs (ASCA, 2009). School

counselors are charged with bridging the gap to create equity in

education for sat-risk students from low SES backgrounds and

those with special need (ASCA, 2009). School counselors are

advocates for students and specialists in human behavior and

relationships that provide assistance to students through various

interventions (ASCA, 2009). According to ASCA, the counseling

relationship between a student and a school

counselor should be based on confidential individual or group

meetings to resolve or constructively cope with environmental or

institutional adversities and developmental concerns. The school

counselor is also charged with cultivating a collaborative

partnership with parents, teachers, administrators, school

psychologists, social workers, associate teachers, medical

professionals, and community health personnel in order to plan

51

and implement strategies to ensure educational success for all

students (ASCA, 2009).

Theoretical Framework

In conducting a study that examines the high school

counseling experiences of African American males graduates

enrolled in a public school district in Houston, a theoretical

framework must be used that illuminates the struggles of the

participants while giving a clear view into the workings of their

society. Researchers have failed to reach a consensus on the

description of empowerment theory, therefore; the exact

definition is broad (Lee, 2007). This researcher will employ

empowerment theory as prescribed by Hipolito-Delgado and Lee

(2007), which professional school counselors implemented as a

strategy for increasing personal, interpersonal, or political

power so that individuals, families, and communities can improve

their situations. This process supports the philosophy that

perception is important to the development of consciousness (Lee,

52

2007) that could possibly empower students toward high school

graduation (Wyatt, 2009). Lee strongly supports the empowerment

theory as a theoretical framework for counseling at-risk African

American male students. This theory was developed from the

legacy of feminist and multicultural theories and has been used

to promote self-

empowerment among at-risk African American students (Lee, 2007).

The concept of the empowerment theory focuses on the perception

of power with the ultimate goal of ownership of sociopolitical

liberation of oppressed communities (Carr, 2003).

Empowerment theory refers to the process in which

individuals or groups gain power over their lives to improve

their situation (Lee, 2007). The basis for empowerment theory

comes from the work of Paulo Freire who emphasized the poor and

their need to be educated to overcome adverse living conditions

(Lee, 2007). The components of empowerment theory consist of

critical consciousness, positive identity, and social action.

53

Critical consciousness requires an awareness and rejection of

poverty or adverse living conditions (Lee, 2007). Positive

identity requires the poverty-stricken individual to discover

their identity (Lee, 2007). Social action is a call for

liberation from adversities through participation in community

groups, social advocacy groups, and political rallies (Lee,

2007).

Dialogue, mentorship, and encouragement were identified as

success factors by Moore (2004). Her book is based on a study of

success factors for five successful African American males. In

her study, common themes that emerged were that success includes

education and career, family and community, church and society.

The men in her study identified a support system that deems them

as valuable and productive citizens. Similarly, in the book

review of Moore’s book, Dr. Walter E. Massey, the President of

Morehouse College, an all male and predominantly African American

educational institution, credited dialogue, mentorship, and

54

encouragement for students’ success (Moore, 2004). Dr. Massey

argued for the importance of

empowering students through the exchange of information between

teacher and students, which affirms their value as productive

members of society (Moore, 2004). Dr. Massey and Ms. Moore sought

to give African American males the opportunity to tell their

success stories in their own voices, which was emulated in study.

Crucial Theoretical/Conceptual Debates

Schmidt (2007) acknowledged the need for professional school

counselors to become

advocates for students but suggested professional school

counselors are not ready for the task of

empowering students due to their lack of belief in African

American students. Professional school counselors have often

placed students in less challenging courses and special

education, therefore; counselors are disempowered (Schmidt,

2007). In addition, Schmidt implied that the philosophy of using

55

a theoretical framework to overcome oppression omits the

seriousness of oppression. Schmidt also suggested that

empowerment theory identify concrete outcomes in terms of

empowering toward a definite goal. The theoretical framework

provided by empowerment theory provides an educational concept

for professional school counselors working with students

(Ravindran & Duggan, 2001).

On the contrary, Smith (2010) strongly opposed the

implication that at-risk African American males can be empowered

through a counseling relationship. The philosophy underlying the

opposition to empowerment theory suggests knowledge of the

history of slavery and overcoming obstacles in this country is

sufficient to empower at-risk students to excellence

(Smith, 2010). Smith suggested that African Americans are the

only individuals that can empower their community because

everything needed is within them as a people.

56

Resolving the Controversies

The counseling relationship between African American

students and professional school counselors can be advantageous

in equalizing the educational system for at-risk African American

(Venegas, Oliverez, & Colyar, 2004). Hipolito-Delgado and Lee

(2007) identified several goals for professional school

counselors and students including closing the achievement

gap by using empowerment theory. The professional school

counselor will have to cultivate a trusting and caring

relationship with at-risk students and gain insight into their

realities to ensure effectiveness in the counseling relationship

(Wyatt, 2009).

Research that measured professional school counselors’

beliefs about ASCA National Model School Counseling Program

components, using the School Counseling Program Component Scale,

revealed the importance of exposing all students to activities

that enhance academic performance (Hatch & Chen-Hayes, 2008).

57

This study was limited to self-evaluation by the counselors;

actual practice was not assessed.

Review of the Critical Literature

The literature is inundated with information about the high

dropout rate of African American male students and programs to

address the deficits. Currently, there is a trend toward a

strength-based approach in the general psychology and school

counseling literature to create an environment that reduces the

risk factors for students’ academic and social outcomes (Bosworth

& Waltz, 2005; Eppler, 2008). Barriers within the counseling

process must be overcome for a positive outcome. Resiliency

research examined how individual attributes such as intelligence,

communication skills, internal locus of control, positive self-

concept, emotional ties within the family, and external support

systems allow children to survive and thrive in spite of

stressful circumstances through (Eppler, 2008). According to

Braverman (2001), it is very unlikely that students from low

58

socioeconomic backgrounds with parental and community problems

would experience success without protective factors. The major

themes from the literature are: (a) that

caring relationships with adults are protective factors that

results in resilient outcomes, (b) protective factors like

internal locus of control results in resilient outcomes, and (c)

individual attributes and intelligence are protective factors

that results in resilient outcomes.

Researchers proposed two well-defined methods to examine

resiliency that are classified as person-focused studies and

variable-focused studies (Luthar & Cushing, 1999, Masten as cited

in Braverman, 2001). Person-focused studies seek to discover

children or adults who have adjusted well under adverse

circumstances, as well as those who encountered difficulty in

adaptation. There are five key protective factors of families,

schools, and communities which will be explored in this study.

Specifically, the impact of supportive relationships, student

59

characteristics, family factors, and community factors (Chavkin &

Gonzalez, 2000) are the focus of this study. Clinical research

hypothesizes that negative attitudes toward familial

relationships with parents and perceptions of self-inadequacy are

factors that may lead some males living within impoverished

conditions to develop negative perceptions toward their

schoolteachers and

their school. Research with economically disadvantaged

adolescent African American male students suggested that the

inability to live up to societal and familial expectations of

what men should be is associated with stress, domestic violence,

and violence outside the home (McLoyd, 1990).

The research on resilience was initiated over 40 years ago

by Werner and Smith in a longitudinal study with a sample size of

700 low SES at-risk Hawaiian residents (Chavkin & Gonzalez,

2000). This study revealed that 200 of the participants were

considered high risk for failure due to adversities including

60

chronic poverty and various problems during childhood. At the

conclusion of this study, the majority of the participants became

successful productive citizens overcoming barriers and adverse

conditions. Relationships with caring adults were the major

protective factor credited for the success of these at risk

students. In addition, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds were

not statistically significant.

A research study completed by Hao and Bonstead-Bruns (1998)

used National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) data to

investigate immigrant Mexican American and immigrant Asian

American family influence on 8th grade students’ academic success

(Chavkin & Gonzalez, 2000). The NELS is a large-scale

longitudinal study designed to provide trend data about

significant transitions of 8th grade students’ protective

factors. This study revealed a positive correlation between

parental involvement and academic success. Asian Americans had a

61

higher level of parental involvement and a higher level of

academic success than Mexican Americans.

The High School Assessment of Academic Self-Concept and the

Assessment of Personal

Agency Beliefs are instruments designed to provide a goal-

oriented, multidimensional, and complete assessment of motivation

(Gordon, 1995). Gordon used these measures with 138 African

American at risk 10th graders to examine resiliency traits. This

study revealed that resilient students excelled academically and

had a strong belief in their cognitive abilities compared to

nonresilient students. The study also implied that the school

environment was supportive of the students’ personal and social

needs, but does not support their cognitive, belongingness, and

extracurricular needs.

The conceptual framework of resiliency, hope, and

empowerment theories are useful in

62

understanding the plight of African American male students at

risk for academic failure, but resiliency theory provides the

best theoretical framework for this study (Braverman, 2001).

Environmental stressors such as poverty, exposure to violence and

parental problems increase the possibility that students will

experience academic failure and develop poor social skills

(Braverman, 2001). The resilient student will possess protective

factors that enhance the ability to cope with environmental

stressors and become successful academically and socially

(Braverman, 2001). Resiliency theory is the best theoretical

conceptual framework for this phenomenological qualitative study.

The literature on academic resiliency strongly suggests that the

most influential factor is the f the supportive school community

model, which aggressively guards children from harsh conditions

(Borman, 2006). Hope and empowerment are components requiring

internal motivation such as critical consciousness and agentive

thinking. Constructing meaning from experiences surrounding

63

factors included in the resiliency theory is age appropriate for

the sample in this study. Hope and empowerment theories are more

abstract in nature and will be difficult to measure. The school

protects children from harsh conditions by employing

compassionate and encouraging teachers, providing a secure and

organized school atmosphere, establishing affirmative

expectations for all children, providing opportunities for

students to become significant and productively involved and

engaged in the school, and cultivating a partnership between the

home and school (Borman, 2006). Resilience factors are present in

successful youth and absent in the lives of unsuccessful youths.

Resiliency theory

allows educators to discover how students succeed in school as

opposed to focusing on the achievement gap between ethnic groups.

Themes

Strength-Based Counseling

64

Dennis Saleebey pioneered the application of a strength-

based perspective in the field of social work, which has been

implemented in school counseling (Akos & Galassi, 2008).

Saleebey offered the strength-based perspective to encourage

school counselors to think differently about academically or

behavioral challenged students. In essence, the strength-based

approach invites counselors and other educators to believe in

students until they can believe in themselves. Strength-based

refers to the practice of school counselors functioning as an

agent of systemic change by engaging leadership, advocacy,

collaboration, and teaming with other professionals to secure

success for all students. Akos and Galassi (2007) identified

major characteristics of strength-based counseling, which

include: (a) the promotion of cultural and context-based

development; (b) evidence-based individual student strengths,

environments, interventions and practice; (c) emphasis on

strengths promotion versus problem reduction and problem

65

prevention; (d) and emphasis on promotion-oriented developmental

advocacy at the school level.

School counseling has undergone a paradigm shift from a

service-driven model to a strength-based programmatic delivery

system supported by the American School Counselor Association

(ASCA) National Model (ASCA, 2005). The ASCA National Model

seeks to provide equity education for all students in the 21st-

century using data and a social justice approach (Dahir, Burnham,

& Stone, 2009). There have been significant changes in the school

counseling process over the past 10 years to enhance the

educational attainment of all counselors. Saleebey (2006)

suggested that if just one person is caring and supportive of a

student, it can make a significant positive difference in how

that child feels about himself or herself. The high school

experiences of President Barack Obama and his mother’s strong

belief in him illustrate the effectiveness of this concept

(Obama, 1995). By definition, President Obama was at-risk after

66

experiencing two parental divorces, experimenting with illicit

drugs, being confused about identity, questioning the value of a

college education, and suffering from declining academic

performance and racial discrimination. He described his

matriculation into postsecondary school as simply going through

the motions due to the pressures of a persistent mother.

The underlying theories of the strength-based perspective

suggest that every stakeholder including students, parents,

community members, and educators have assets, resources,

capacities, and strengths that can be nurtured (Saleebey, 2008).

Also, the strength-based perspective supports the ideology that

individuals have some degree of right and wrong with skills for

advancement toward their aspirations to amplify the quality of

their lives. Right and wrong is often obscured in low

socioeconomic environments and/or by others’ definitions and

labels. In addition, the strength-based perspective supports

believing in the innate resiliency of every human being. The

67

strength-based perspective also suggests that the height of

individuals’ ability to grow and change is unknown. African

American male graduates from low socioeconomic backgrounds have

overcome substantial barriers with the guidance of natural

resources such as cultural backgrounds, families, associations,

businesses, schools, and communities.

Salebey (2008) shared several strategies for the

discernment of strength in African American males and other

students, including counselors’ interest in students’ hopes,

dreams, capacities, and talents. This acknowledgement will serve

as a catalyst to alert the students’ of their importance to the

counselor. Listening attentively to the voices of students will

provide insight on the strengths and make the student feel valued

by the counselor. Also, listening to students’ narratives will

provide an avenue for counselors to mirror positive images in

affirmation of strengths.

Mentor Theory

68

The presences of relationships with caring adults have been

documented as a primary factor for the positive development of

at-risk students (Digby & Ferrari, 2005). A fostering

atmosphere will enhance the possibility of promotion and increase

graduation rates for African American students (Cross, 2002).

Mentor programs address the growing concern of students growing

up without the ongoing care of parents or other extended family

members. Mentor programs provide students with caring

relationships from adults working with community based youth

programs, educational settings, and business partners. Mentors

offer amity, direction, and encouragement while modeling the

social skills needed in the workplace. Jekielek et al. (2002)

suggested that students with the highest risk of academic failure

benefited the most from

mentoring; such students experienced academic growth and

increased the likelihood of

69

postsecondary education. Jekielek (2002) also found a positive

correlation between a positive perception of the mentoring

relationship and the outcome for the students involved. Highly

structured, in-depth mentor training and student centered mentors

programs more effective in helping students.

Mentoring programs have been implemented throughout the

United States to provide at-risk students, including African

American male students, with psychological support to promote

their involvement in school and the community (Friedman, 2003).

Several school districts implemented mentorship in the form of

pairing business volunteers as mentors with low-achieving high

school juniors and seniors in a career-oriented support system

(Friedman, 2003). Mentorship operates within basic guidelines

throughout the United States including stated timelines for

commitment, one-on-one tutorials, after school activities and

group mentoring (Friedman, 2003). A wide variety of mentoring

models including one-on-one, group, team, community and school-

70

based mentoring are used. Programs are tailored to the specific

needs of the students.

In Atlanta, one initiative called Adopt-A-Student has been

successful in increasing the graduation rate in contrast to a

comparison group of nonparticipants (Friedman, 2003). The

California Governor’s Mentoring Partnership (GMP) operates in

partnership with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Communities in

Schools, Mentoring Coalitions, and Volunteer Centers of

California to encourage and facilitate opportunities for

business, community and education

mentoring collaborative (Friedman, 2003). The Connecticut

Mentoring Partnership (CMP)

created over 100 new mentoring programs, established a statewide

mentoring recruitment campaign, and developed a mentor resource

center. The Maryland Mentoring Partnership (MMP) serves as a

clearinghouse for mentoring programs, partnerships, training and

resources for low-income and lack opportunity (Friedman, 2003).

71

New Jersey and Texas have a GEAR UP Mentoring Program that

provides academic support and college preparation activities to

middle and high school students (Friedman, 2003). In Oregon,

Friends for the Children operates as a full-time professional

mentor program for at-risk students. Most mentor programs

recruit college students but Friends for the Children recruits

and trains professionals to work with students throughout their

elementary and high school years. In addition, mentorship was

implemented in Texas public schools as a component of

compensatory education Senate Bill 1108 requiring school

principals to designate advocates for at-risk students in grades

6-12 (TEA, 2008). Guidance counselors, teachers or other

advocates’ responsibilities include addressing participation and

expectations of the students’ parents or guardians, as well as

providing innovative methods to promote the students’

advancement.

72

In 1965, a national program called Upward Bound was formed

as a partnership between the educational sectors and communities

to provide academic and other kinds of assistance to economically

disadvantaged, underachieving students who show potential for

completing college (U.S. Department of Education, 1993). Upward

Bound initiatives function as summer residential programs

allowing high school students to reside at colleges and

universities or secondary

schools with residential facilities for 6 weeks. High school

students are exposed to a variety of

intervention strategies including remedial instruction, immersion

in new curricula, and tutorials.

Hrabowski, Maton, and Greif (1998) documented narratives from 50

families detailing their experiences with overcoming obstacles at

a time when their sons were more likely to be murdered or

incarcerated than to graduate from college. The African American

male graduates in this study overcame obstacles to raise African

73

American sons who earned college degrees and achievement at the

highest professional level. The participants in this study were

from diverse families and a range of socioeconomic and

educational backgrounds. Participation in extracurricular

activities, especially sports, was a key factor in the

cultivation of positive attitudes and healthy habits during and

after school hours. The authors reported four fifths of the

African American male students participated in athletic

activities, three fifths were involved in community services

activities, one half spent times with church activities, two

fifths were math and science club members, and one third recorded

involvement in government or a hobby. The authors concluded that

there is a positive correlation between involvement in

extracurricular activities and academic success.

Research conducted by Bridgeland, Kilulio, and Morison

(2006) on the perspectives of high school dropouts revealed the

need for students to have a strong relationship with at least one

74

adult in their school. The results of the study also suggested

that schools need to do more to help students with problems

outside of class. An additional study on reducing the dropout

rate suggested that schools should make a positive school climate

and positive relationships high

priorities (Woods, 1995). Students need to feel attached to

school as a supportive community that recognizes their

individuality and that cares about and promotes their success.

Resiliency Theory

The conceptualization of at-risk students developing into

well-functioning individuals is credited to the resiliency of the

individual (Braverman, 2001). Resiliency research supports the

presence of protective factors that shield children from at- risk

situations while promoting successful development (Eppler, 2001).

The successful outcome of a student living in adverse conditions

is attributed to factors that are absent in unsuccessful students

living in the same adverse conditions. These factors are the

75

distinctiveness of the child or the surroundings that improve or

diminish the potentially harmful effects of the risk factor.

Resilience in human services emerged from longitudinal studies on

children born into adversity (Van Breda, 2001). Resilience is

also described by Borman (2006) as developmental growth taking

place over time. Research studies on at-risk students suggest

the presence of hope, empowerment, and/or

resiliency factors used to overcome barriers to academic success.

Literature documents the effectiveness of resiliency in

promoting students with multiple at-risk factors emotionally and

academically (Digby & Ferrari, 2005). Resilience is defined in

relation to competence in developmental tasks and challenges to

constructive development, with orientation to major promotion and

protective roles of schools and school personnel (Masten,

Herbers, Cutuli, & Lafavor, 2008). Resiliency theory describes

the ability of individuals to

76

overcome adversity including poverty and other barriers to high

school graduation and experience academic success. Educational

resilience is the probability of completing high school despite

low SES, lack of resources, and negative environmental conditions

(Chavkin & Gonzalez, 2000). Resiliency theory identifies

protective factors present in the families, schools, and

communities of successful youth that often are missing in the

lives of troubled youth (Krovetz as cited in Chavkin & Gonzalez,

2000). There is a lack of consensus among researchers regarding

whether resilience is an individual trait or an unstable trait

that is dependent upon relations between the student and the

environment (Braverman, 2001).

Students gain the ability to cope with adversity when

protective factors are present. The common attributes of

resilient children consist of social competence, problem-solving

skills, autonomy, and a sense of purpose and future (Bernard,

1997). Resiliency proposes that all of these attributes are

77

present to some degree in most people, but the ability to cope

with adversity is dependent on the presence of protective factors

during childhood (Chavkin & Gonzalez, 2000).

Research on resilience defines and measures the adaptation

of students by focusing on age-salient developmental tasks

(Masten et al., 2008). As students mature, the expectations of

all stakeholders change to match the maturity level. High school

African American males are expected to behave appropriately in

the classroom, get along with peers, and to use the language and

mathematical symbols of their culture effectively. As maturation

occurs, the developmental tasks include advancing to the work

arena, peer relations, family structure, and child rearing.

African American male students are expected to engage

successfully in multiple areas which require them to overcome

challenging barriers through the manifestation of resiliency.

African American male graduates must also demonstrate academic

resilience, which requires them to master multiple criteria.

78

Masten et al. (2008) suggested that positive adaptation to

adverse conditions can be defined by either external adaptation,

internal adaptation, or both. Internal adaptation has the

potential to interfere with external adaptation, and conversely,

perceived external success or failure could affect a person’s

well-being. The ability of African American male students to

develop positive relations with peers and get along in the world

are examples of external adaptation, whereas internal adaptation

refers to the ability to gain life satisfaction.

The life of Ronald E. McNair, astronaut and laser physicist

offers an example of attribution theory. Ronald McNair was a

product of an impoverished family and worked as a child in the

cotton and tobacco fields to gain financial support (Bel Monte,

1998). He claimed his harsh childhood provided the skills

required for Dr. McNair and the other astronauts to advance

knowledge about the universe. For the purpose of this study, the

interplay of internal well-being and external success, as related

79

to high school graduation, will be investigated through

participants’ narratives.

Hope Theory

In consideration of the strength-based perspective, Park and

Peterson (2008) suggested counselors devise strategies to improve

hope in students. Hope theory provides a model of goal-

directed thinking and hope is considered an affective phenomenon

among most lay people

(Snyder, 2002). Hope is an emotion that replaces deficits after

failure and employs agency thinking, just as resiliency employs

protective factors. Agency thinking motivates students to

achieve success with such thoughts as “I think I can do it if I

study hard.” For example, there are several pathways to academic

success. He learned to read at the age of three, earned his B.S.

degree from North Carolina State University, his Doctorate at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and became the first

African American Astronaut. This includes but is not limited to

80

studying, but if failure occurs, the alternate pathway is to seek

tutoring or request assistant from the teacher. These pathways

to success will not be implemented in the absence of hope. Hope

contributes to the promotion of good health and the prevention,

detection, and treatment of physical illness. Hope is a

characteristic of positive psychology, which is interested in

promoting optimal lifelong development for all. The cultivation

of hope and other character strengths are the foundation of

lifelong healthy development. Hope extends beyond the ability to

resolve problems to reflect healthy development.

Evaluation of the Viable Research Designs

For this study, the qualitative methodology is the best

approach to answer the research question and describe lived

experiences because it allows freedom of expression through

responsive interviews. The quantitative methodology is too

81

restricted, but is useful in ascertaining the number of dropouts

and other considerations that are not part of this descriptive

study. Evaluations of the psychometric properties and

appropriateness of the Baruth Protective

Factors Inventory (BPFI), Brief-Resilient Coping Scale,

Adolescent Resilience Scale (ARS), Connor-Davidson Resilience

Scale, and Resilience Scale for the study of resilience in

adolescents were conducted (Ahern, Kiehl, Sole, & Byers, 2006).

The appropriateness of the BPFI and Brief-Resilient Coping Scale

for administration to adolescents was established. The ARS and

Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale had satisfactory reliability but

lacked sufficient research in adolescents.

Chapter 2 Conclusion

The review of the literature suggests many African American

male students overcame adversities to excel academically and

graduate from high school. The counseling factors influencing

this successful transition include strength based counseling,

82

mentorship, resiliency, hope, and empowerment. The voices of

successful African American graduates will serve as a catalyst

for change and implementation of effective school and community

programs to decrease the dropout rate for all students. The

voices of successful graduates will inform stakeholders about the

value of extracurricular activities as well as the role of

schools in providing equitable

educational resources to all students. Professional school

counselors are invaluable in maximizing student achievement

through the incorporation of leadership, advocacy, and

collaboration to support equity and access to opportunities and

meticulous educational experiences for all students (Dahir et

al., 2009). Educators and policymakers must become aware of the

importance of counseling factors for all African American male

students who graduated from high school in an effort to provide

these factors in educational or social programs to promote high

school completion.

83

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

This phenomenological study described the details of

African American male graduates’ lived experiences as they relate

to academic, personal, and/or career counseling services that

helped them overcome barriers to high school graduation. This

research explored how human beings “make sense of experience and

transform experience into consciousness, both individually and as

shared meaning” (Patton, 2002, p. 105). The results of this

study will provide counselors with data to plan and evaluate

existing counseling programs for all African American male

students. This chapter provides details on the researcher’s

philosophy, research design, sampling design and setting,

measures, data collection procedures, field testing, data

analysis procedures, limitations, internal and external validity,

expected findings, and ethical issues.

Researcher’s Philosophy

84

Phenomenological research is a qualitative method that

attempts to describe participants’ perception of societal

experiences (Leedy & Ormrod, 2003). This study focused on the

descriptions of African American males counseling experiences

that they helped them graduate from high school. Leedy and Ormrod

(2003) suggested the phenomenological focus as a meticulous

phenomenon as it is naturally experienced and viewed by

individuals. The ontological assumption associated with this

study implies there are multiple realities that are socially

constructed (Crotty, 1998); therefore, meaning was constructed

from African American

male students’ articulation of their lived experiences in

overcoming adversities to graduate from high school. The

epistemological assumption of the phenomenological method

requires interaction between the researcher and the participant

to promote knowledge of the realities in a study (Crotty, 1998).

As such, the researcher conducted face-to-face interviews to gain85

in depth descriptions of lived experiences that promoted positive

outcomes. The constructionist assumption is that African

American male students construct meaning through their personal

interactions in the world. The axiological assumption is that

the researcher’s values are expelled from the research project to

promote objectivity. In addition, the methodology used in this

phenomenological research study consisted of in-depth, semi

structured interviews of African American male high school

graduates.

Research Design Guide

Giorgio’s phenomenological method with the ATLAS.ti

version 5.2 software was used to analyze verbatim transcripts.

This approach allowed the researcher to construct meaning of

the specific themes and patterns that emerged from the school

counseling experiences reported by the participants. The

following excerpt illuminates the advantages offered in using

86

qualitative research to construct meaning from the experiences

related by the participants:

Qualitative research brings human meanings of social life as

it is lived, experienced, and understood by the research

participants. Capturing this social context is very

important in qualitative research because qualitative

researchers view each context studied to be unique. Because

qualitative researchers rely heavily on verbal description,

researchers are their own main instrument of data

collection, interpretation, and written narrative. Thus,

the qualitative researcher is a critical source of data

collection and interpretation. (Gay & Airasian, 2003, p.

163)

The interview questions for this study served as a guide

to delve into the school experience of the participants, but

in order to understand the participants’ experience;

87

additional unstructured questions were asked as the

interviews evolved.

Research and Strategy Design

The research design for this study is the qualitative method

using the phenomenological design. Qualitative research focuses

on conducting detailed investigations of cases that arise in the

natural flow of social life (Creswell, 2003). Phenomenology

identifies the “essence” of the lived experience (Creswell, 2003)

as opposed to a quantitative method, which is incapable of

describing individual’s lived experiences. Phenomenology also

refers to the perception of the meaning of an event as it exists

for individuals (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005). Phenomenology is

appropriate for this study because of the focus on the subjective

interpretations of students’ experiences from their perspective.

Leedy and Ormrod (2005) suggested phenomenological

researchers are dependent on a 60-90 minute interview with

interaction between the researcher and participants. The 88

researcher conducted responsive interviews with African American

male high school graduates to identify

counseling factors that impacted high school graduation. The

interview design followed the guidelines of responsive

interviewing combining main question, follow up questions, and

probes (Rubin & Rubin, 1995). Responsive interviewing reflects

the characteristics of an informal conversation with the

researcher working with the participants to achieve the goals of

the study (Rubin & Rubin, 1995). The participants’ role required

them to do most of the talking and the researcher did most of the

listening. The interview questions were formulated from

empowerment theory and protective factors present in the

families, schools, and communities of successful youth that often

are missing in the lives of troubled youth (Krovetz as cited in

Chavkin & Gonzalez, 2000). The participants were asked the same

questions in the same sequence to increase the comparability of

89

the responses and help facilitate the organization and analysis

of the data (Creswell, 2003).

Sampling and Setting Design

According to the Texas Education Agency (2009b), the

graduation rate of African American males continues to increase

minimally annually with the implementation of schools initiatives

for at-risk students including the counseling programs designed

to create equity in education. African American male graduates

from all Texas public schools are required by the Texas Education

Agency to receive guidance counseling as an intervention for

equitable education in satisfying the NCLB mandate (ACA, 2005).

These African American male graduates are the focus of this

dissertation.

The rational for the recruitment strategies is based on the

suggestions offered by Jones and Williams (2009b); recruitment

strategies for rare populations should occur at places commonly

used by the population of interest. Recruitment strategies 90

included flyers posted on public bulletin boards at the local

Laundromats, barber shops, carwashes, and public libraries.

The potential participants were screened with the use of the

criterion sampling approach. The criterion sampling approach is a

purposive sampling strategy selected to solicit Texas African

American male graduates who participated in high school

counseling in or after the 2005 school year. Purposive sampling

is non-probability sampling which starts with a purpose in mind

thus selected to include people of interest and exclude those who

do not meet the purpose (Creswell, 2003). The researcher excluded

the Houston Independent School District from this study due to

her employment with this district. Recruitment strategies sought

to interview at least 10 participants which is an adequate

sampling for qualitative data (Creswell, 2005).

In phenomenological study, the selection of participants is

based on their experience of a common phenomenon. In this study,

the phenomenon of interest is the lived experience of being an 91

African American male graduate who participated in high school

academic or personal counseling in or after the 2005 school year.

The art of articulation provided the researcher with the

opportunity to “obtain a picture of the experience” (Creswell,

1998, p. 52). The participants were requested to articulate

their lived high school academic, personal, and/or career

counseling experience for the purpose of this study. The

following questions were used to guide the selection of the

prospective participants:

1. Are you an African American male between the ages of 19-

25 living in the Houston area?

2. Did you graduate from a Texas public high school

(excluding Houston Independent School District) in or

after the 2005 school year?

3. Were you ever seen by your high school counselor?

4. Did you participate in academic, personal, and/or career

counseling?92

The criterion sampling questions are based on the needs of the

study. African American males are asked to participate if they

live in Texas for the accessibility of the interview. Creswell

(2005) supports geographical accessibility to expedite the

interview process. The implementation of academic, personal,

and/or career counseling programs for equity in education was

mandated in 2005; therefore, African American males who graduated

in or after 2005 are required for this study. This study also

required all participants to have at least one session of

academic or personal counseling in order to recall their lived

counseling experience. In addition, criterion sampling, data

review, and analysis will be done in conjunction with data

collection to monitor data saturation.

Measures

The data collection methods used in this study consisted of

60-90 minute audio taped responsive interviews and debriefing

93

conducted at the public library. A research study conducted by

Duncan (2006) on Mexican Americans success factors framed this

study. The

researcher gained permission from Duncan to use the research

instrument, which consist of a series of interview questions. The

interview questions posed by Duncan focused on why Mexican

American students remained in school while living in adverse

situations. The questions were modified, for the purposes of

this study, to address the counseling experience African American

males attribute to their completion of high school. Duncan

credited resiliency for the Mexican American students’ ability to

remain in school while overcoming barriers. This researcher

elected to describe the lived experiences of African American

male graduates in an attempt to gain a better understanding of

their experience. Duncan established credibility by methods of

triangulation, peer debriefings, member checks, persistent

observation and reflective journals. Likewise, the researcher 94

will establish credibility by methods of triangulation, member

checks, follow up, peer debriefings or use of a third party,

awareness of research bias, rich thick description,

persuasiveness, and pragmatic use.

The following questions were posed by Duncan: What are you

doing today? Would you tell me about your school experience in

general? What were you like in school? How do you think you did

academically? Did you have a job during school? What was it like

for you in high school, middle school, and elementary? Can you

tell me about any events you would call “significant” in your

school life? Tell me about your teachers. What were they like, or

what do you remember about them? Who else do you remember in

school? Why do you think you stayed in school? What kept you

going? Was there ever a time when you thought of dropping out?

Can

you remember a time when one of your friends wanted to dropout or

did dropout? Why do you think your friend(s) dropped out? Do you95

think anybody could have done anything to keep them from dropping

out? What are your future plans?

This researcher modified the aforementioned instrument to

adapt to African American male students’ lived academic,

personal, and/or career school counseling experiences, and high

school graduation without consideration for post high school. In

comparison, Duncan was focused on Mexican Americans’ perception

of their friends including teachers, their educational

experience, graduation, and post high school plans. The main

questions will acknowledge participants’ academic, personal,

and/or career school counseling experiences including

adversities. The following questions guided the interviews:

1. Did you receive academic, personal, and/or career

counseling in high school?

2. How would you describe your (academic, personal,

and/or career) school counseling experience?

96

3. When did you receive high school counseling and what

led you to seek counseling?

4. Did you ever think about dropping out of school?

5. Would you share academic, personal, and/or social

problems that the counselor helped you cope with or

resolve that could have prevented you from

completing high school?

6. What difference did a professional school counselor

make in your decision to complete high school?

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about

your counseling experience?

Theoretical commonalities associated with successful outcomes for

adolescents provided the framework for this instrument, which

emphasizes relationships with caring adults, internal motivation,

and engagement in family, community, and school based activities

(Duncan, 2006). Protection from adversity through the support of

97

caring adults, internal motivation, active engagement in family,

community and school based activities was addressed in the

interviews. A follow up question elicited additional

information: How would you describe your (academic, personal,

and/or career) school counseling experience?

The probe confirmed the participants were heard and

encouraged them to continue talking. The main question, follow

up question, and probing were repeated throughout the interviews

(Rubin & Rubin, 1995).

Data Collection Procedures

The main source of data collection was in-depth semi

structured interviews utilizing the Giorgi’s model (Koivisto,

Janhonen, & Vaisanene, 2009) and ATLAS.ti version 5.2 software.

The purpose of in-depth interviews is to view the world the way

the interviewee sees it (Ely et al., 1991). Fontana (2002)

posited that “qualitative interviews can turn fragmented parts of

everyday social practices and experiences into the creation of a 98

coherent situational reality.” Interviewing is an effective

strategy to gain insight through the personal experiences of

those who are engaged in the educational process (Siedman, 1998).

Responsive interviews involve semi structured and generally open-

ended questions that are few in number and intended to elicit

participants’ views and opinions (Creswell, 2003, p. 188). Leedy

and Ormrod (2001) determined that interviews could be flexible

and, if conducted correctly, yield interesting information.

Scheduled interviews lasted approximately 60-90 minutes for

each participant. The interview focused on counseling

interactions that impacted high school graduation. The

transcribed interview data was mailed electronically with an

automatic read receipt generated to indicate if the email was

received. All participated received the email and failed to offer

corrections. The participants were asked to respond within 48

hours if corrections were required. The main objective of the

interview was to stimulate open discussion with the participants,99

permitting them to freely explore their perceptions, experiences,

and interpretations. The participants selected the time and date

for the interviews. The researcher reiterated the purpose and

the procedures for the study before and after the interviews.

Field Testing

According to Ungar (2005), there is no instrument to date

that measures all factors attributed to successful outcomes.

Field testing was conducted as recommended by Teijinger and

Hundley (2001). The purpose of the field test was to develop and

test the adequacy of the

research instrument and identify potential problems with

following the research procedures (See Appendix F for results, p.

91). The interview questions were reviewed by a professional

school counselor, a dropout specialist, and a high school

administrator to address the wording or the interview questions

and to clarify ambiguous and difficult questions. The interview

questions were discussed and found adequate in length and wording100

with additional comments added to identify the professional

school counselor as the guidance counselor assigned to each

student.

Data Analysis and Qualitative Software

A Digital Voice Recorder was used to record the

interviews of 10 participants. The interviews were transcribed by

the researcher as a strategy to achieve cohesiveness with the

data. The data was transcribed and saved as a word document in a

file entitled “Interviews” on a scan disk. The phenomenological

method is descriptive and avoided premature analysis or

explanatory constructs; therefore, the interviews were typed word

for word. The verbatim transcribed data were analyzed using

Giorgi’s analytic method comprised of six steps (Koivisto et al.,

2009) with themes uploaded to the ATLAS.ti version 5.2 software.

The transcribed interviews were given pseudonyms to protect

the identity of the participants. The audiotapes, electronic

101

versions, and consent forms are stored in separate locked file

cabinets in the researcher’s residence.

Giorgi’s approach to data analysis was completed in steps

starting with several readings of the verbatim transcribed

interviews to grasp the essence of the African American male

graduates’ experience from their perspective, as opposed to the

theory of the researcher (Koivisto et al., 2009). Then, the

researcher followed the lived experience of the participant

examining his intentionality instead of the intentionality of the

researcher. The first reading, referred to as familiarization,

was done line-by-line, which allowed the researcher to grasp a

sense of the entire experience described by the participant. In

the third reading, the researcher searched for emerging codes and

categories from the existing themes. ATLAS.ti version 5.2, which

is qualitative data analysis software, was used to facilitate the

researcher’s analysis of emerging codes, clusters, and themes

from the transcripts of semi structured interviews. 102

Second, the researcher divided the data into what Giorgi

refers to as meaning units (Koivisto et al., 2009). Meaning units

were divided by the identification of common themes and frequent

use of text in the participants’ responses. The researcher

divided the data into meaning units to achieve manageable units

for a more detailed analysis.

Third, the meaning units were transformed into psychological

language, which required two steps. The first step required the

researcher to identify the meaning that dominates each meaning

unit considering the co-researchers’ words but using the words of

the researcher.

Fourth, the researcher interrogated each meaning unit using

the empowerment theory. The researcher reviewed concrete

expressions and language that the co-researcher described in

order to re-describe the meaning of the African American male

graduates’ reality using a more psychological language.

103

The fifth step offered by Giorgi required the use of the

imaginative variation (Koivisto et al., 2009). The researcher

intentionally altered various aspects of the descriptive

experience shared by the participants for the purpose of

producing meaning transformations on which there is consistent

intersubjective agreement.

The sixth step refers to the synthesis and integration of

the insights made by the researcher about the transformed meaning

units of each protocol in order to make a final consistent

description of counselors empowering African American male

graduates toward high school graduation. The researcher

synthesized to identify the structure of the counseling

experiences and how it took place. Finally, after the completion

of the general description of the counseling experience, the

researcher conducted a final analysis by identifying the

commonalities of all the descriptions.

104

Corbin and Strauss (1990) indicated that “coding represents

the operations by which data are broken down, conceptualized, and

put back together in new ways” (p. 57). Coding refers to the

analysis of data. Concepts refer to labels given to specific

statements. Categories/themes refer to classification of concepts

that are either similar or dissimilar (Corbin & Strauss, 1990).

The themes were charted for each participant’s response to each

question.

Naturalistic inquiry assumes there are multiple realities

versus a single reality to an experience and requires an

ongoing, active analysis of data (Patton, 2002). In observance

of the aforementioned requirements, the researcher maintained a

reflexive journal, audio tape,

transcribe, and code each interview. After each interview, this

researcher looked for patterns or factors that emerged from the

responses to the interview questions for inductive analysis.

Patton (2002) described inductive analysis as “patterns, themes,105

and categories of analysis that come from data; they emerge from

data rather than being imposed on them prior to data collection

and analysis.” (p. 390). The focus was to interpret what the

participant shared: Was the participant providing a clear

picture of his experience(s)? What follow-up questions are

needed? Should some of the questions be restructured? Are

additional questions needed?

Each interview also provided information about the

structure of the questions being asked and whether the

questions need rephrasing, or even elimination. Member

checks, peer debriefings, and the data will be studied

throughout the process of categorization to identify emerging

themes. After the interview, the researcher conducted a 10-

20-minute debriefing session with each participant to discuss

their post-interview thoughts, feelings, and emotions. A list

of free counseling offices was given to the participants for

future use as needed.106

Limitations of the Methodology

The methodology is limited to African American male

graduates’ perception of their lived experiences in academic,

personal, and/or career school counseling. The instrument is

limited to the researcher’s ability to gain information from the

participants. Data collection is limited to self-reported

perceptions which may not yield accurate information. The face-

to-face interviews are limited by voice intonation which must be

the same for each interview, general demeanor, as well as

nonverbal communication (Glicken, 2003).

Internal Validity

Internal validity is primarily used in experimental research

to disclose possible errors or elaboration of results (Neuman,

2007). In qualitative research, believability can be expected

when the data are derived directly from the data source, and the

researcher is familiar with the subjects' environment and

language. Every effort was made to adhere to these standards 107

suggested by Riessman (1993) and Creswell (2003) in the

evaluation of methodological rigor and accuracy. The researcher

established credibility by methods of triangulation, member

checks, follow up, peer debriefings or use of a third party,

awareness of research bias, rich thick description,

persuasiveness, and pragmatic use. The following guidelines were

used to ensure validity and reliability:

Member checks. Member checks occur to determine the accuracy

of the qualitative findings through taking the final report or

specific description of themes back to participants and

determining whether participants feel that they are accurate

(Creswell, 2003). In this study, transcribed interviews were

electronically mailed to the participants for confirmation of

responses. Riessman (1993) referred to this process as

correspondence.

Follow up. The transcribed interview data were emailed with

a confirmation of receipt each participant for clarification 108

purposes. The participants were asked to respond only if there

was a need for clarification of responses. The researcher

received confirmation of receipt for all participants. The

participants did not request changes to their transcribed

interviews.

Peer debriefing or use of a third party. This method

provided an external check

of the research process (Ely et al., 1991; Lincoln & Guba, 1985;

Merriam, 1988).

Employing the use of a third party (a Houston ISD Dropout

Prevention Specialist) during the research process reduced

researcher bias and increased validity. The third party was

chosen based on familiarity with issues impacting at-risk African

American male graduation rates. The goal was to allow the third

party to review the researcher's interpretations and findings to

confirm the consistency of the themes. Lincoln and Guba (1985)

referred to the third party role as that of a "devil’s advocate,"109

or an individual who keeps the researcher honest, asks questions

about meaning and interpretations, and provides the researcher

with a listening ear.

Researcher bias. According to Creswell (2003), researchers

must be conscious of any

personal bias and must acknowledge those biases at the beginning

of a study.

Rich thick description. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) reported

that the use of "thick"

descriptions void the process of generalization. It requires

researchers to interpret data according to their own

presuppositions. The descriptions provided in the interviews were

recorded in the language used by participants, incorporating

their interpretations and intentions. This process afforded

readers the opportunity to determine the level of transferability

of the research to their situation. Riessman (1993) discussed

110

the use of coherence which implies that an interpretation is more

than ad hoc and must be "thick" as possible.

Persuasiveness. Riessman (1993) suggested that

persuasiveness is "greatest when

theoretical claims are substantiated with the informants'

accounts and when optional interpretations of the information are

considered. This standard directed the researcher to document

interpretive statements for the benefit of skeptical outsiders”

(p. 65). In order to implement this standard for validity,

diverse interpretations of the participants' stories were

documented during data analysis.

Pragmatic use. Riessman (1993) proposed pragmatic use as

criteria for validity. In contrast to other validation criteria,

this one is future oriented. Pragmatic use is consistent with

providing data that will make it possible for others to assess

the trustworthiness of our work (Riessman, 1993). The researcher

met this standard by describing how the findings were produced, 111

explaining the procedures used for this study, and making primary

data available for other researchers.

In qualitative research, reliability refers to the

consistency between data collected and the results of the study.

The researcher created a chain of evidence which will allow

outside researchers the opportunity to authenticate the findings

(Merriam, 2001). The audit trail for this research study

included biographical information sheets, interview guides,

interview transcripts, and the coding process.

External Validity

External validity refers to the generalizations of results

from a specific setting and small group to a variety of

locations and population (Neuman, 2007). According to

Erlandson et al. (1993), trustworthiness is established

through credibility, applicability through transferability,

consistency through dependability, and neutrality through

confirmability. In this phenomenological study, the outcome 112

of this study can be generalized to groups with similar

ethnicity and adverse living conditions. The responsive

interview provides rich data described by Flick (as cited in

the Gales Group, 2005) that is subject to analytic

generalizations within the setting or group studied.

Ethical Issues

Respect for autonomy was addressed by allowing African

American male graduates to voluntarily participate in the study

without fear of repercussion or personal embarrassment.

Furthermore, there is no connection between the graduates and the

researcher thus removing the possibility of conflict of interest.

Furthermore, neither the participants’ names nor the raw data

will be shared with the schools. Informed consent was obtained

from graduates with full disclosure of the purpose of the study.

Confidentiality was addressed by the omission of participants’

names, the name of schools attended, and other identifying

information. The researcher was aware of the risk of emotional 113

distress from sharing negative family experiences, and safe-

guards for participants were provided. This possible risk was

also conveyed to participants as part of informed consent. The

researcher focused on participants’ verbal and nonverbal

responses for signs of distress. The researcher addressed these

issues by repeating the rights of the participant to terminate

the interview. All participants were provided the contact

information for free counseling within their area.

The data is stored in at the researcher’s home in a locked

file cabinet where it will remain for 7-years. At that time, the

scan disk and audiotapes will be destroyed by breaking them into

unusable pieces and the paper data will be shredded.

Conclusion

This chapter discussed the qualitative methodology using the

phenomenological approach for this study. The participants

described their experiences of participating in high school 114

counseling in a 60-90 minute recorded responsive interview.

Details on the researcher’s philosophy, research design, sample,

measures, data collection procedures, field testing, data

analysis procedures, limitations, internal and external validity,

and ethical issues were provided in this chapter.

CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

115

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived

experiences of African American male high school graduates’

counseling experiences. Each participant’s high school counseling

experiences were examined through qualitative interviews.

Theoretical commonalities associated with successful outcomes for

adolescents was the framework for the interview instrument, which

emphasizes relationships with caring adults, internal motivation,

and engagement in family, community, and school based activities

(Duncan, 2006). Ten African American male Texas graduates were

interviewed to gain an understanding of their lived high school

counseling experiences. This sample size was sufficient for data

saturation.

In Chapter 4, the researcher summarizes the demographics of

the 10 African American male high school graduates that

participated in this study and their perception of their

counseling experiences in high school. The strategy for the

collection of data, data analysis technique, and the major 116

themes, and participants’’ textual descriptions are also

summarized in this chapter.

Phenomenology was the best methodology to effectively answer

the study research question. This method provided the logical

framework that supported the purpose of this research to uncover

the lived experiences of African American male graduates who

participated in social, academic and/or guidance school

counseling. The principle advantage of the phenomenological

method is the focus placed on the identification of the “essence”

of human experiences as described by participants (Creswell,

2003). Therefore, phenomenological research requires the

researcher to understand the meaning and essence of participants’

experiences (Moustakas, 1994). In addition, the phenomenological

approach allowed participants to provide vital information about

their personal experiences while allowing the researcher to fully

understand the essence of their lived experiences.

117

The 10 participants were individually interviewed by the

researcher in a private study room at the public library. The

interviews were audio recorded and transcribed by the researcher

to cultivate intimacy with the data. The transcriptions were read

by the researcher a minimum of three times to provide greater

understanding of the participants’ experience and make footnotes

on the transcription. During the interview, the researcher

observed body language and facial expressions while listening to

voice intonation. Documentation of facial expressions, body

movements, and tone of voice were recorded in the researcher’s

field notes at the conclusion of the interview. The researcher

was careful not to take notes during the interview to avoid

distracting the participants. The researcher maintained a journal

throughout the study detailing initial contacts information;

criteria sample results for each participant, appointment times

and locations, field notes, and data analysis information. This

118

journal supported a clear focus and centralization of collected

information for the researcher.

The researcher reiterated the informed consent guidelines,

confidentiality agreement, purpose, and procedures for the study

at the commencement of each interview with special emphasize on

the rights of the participant to withdraw their participation at

any time without

penalty. The participant and the researcher exchanged casual

conversation for 10 to 15 minutes to establish a rapport and

cultivate an inviting sharing environment. The interviewing

process began as early as 10:00 am over a 3-day period and lasted

for approximately 7 hours per day. Individual interviews lasted

from 60 to 90 minutes. Participants were asked to select a date

May 21st through May 23rd according to their availability. The

main objective of the interview was to stimulate open discussion

with the participants, permitting them to freely explore their

perceptions, experiences, and interpretations. 119

The researcher employed the essential phenomenological

technique utilized by Rubin and Rubin (1995) which involves

asking the main question, follow-up questions, and probing to

elicit additional information. This technique of questioning

continued throughout the interview process. The probe confirmed

the participant were heard and encouraged them to continue

talking.

As prescribed by Moustakas (1994), the researcher set aside

prejudgments, biases, and preconceived ideas about things. Hence,

the researcher used caution in allowing the participant the

freedom to respond without enforcing time limits or presupposed

ideas, beliefs or assumptions. The participants’ role required

them to do most of the talking and the researcher did most of the

listening. At the conclusion of the interview, each participant

was asked to reflect on current thoughts and/or uneasiness due to

the remembrance of high school counseling sessions. Participants

were given the names of professional mental help offices 120

providing counseling for free or reduced fees for future use as

needed. All participants were emailed their transcribed interview

for validation. The interviews were transcribed verbatim using

Giorgi’s analytic six steps method (Koivisto et al., 2009) with

themes uploaded to the ATLAS.ti version 5.2 software.

Setting

This qualitative research study took place in the public

library. The participants resided in a large metropolitan area in

Texas. The decision to conduct the study in the public library

was based on the (a) central location known to African American

males, (b) close proximity, and (c) residence of the primary

researcher.

Participants

The sample of participants in this study consisted of 10

African American male graduates residing in a large metropolitan

area in the state of Texas. Purposive sampling was the primary

121

method of recruitment used to select participants who met the

following criteria:

1. African American male between the ages of 19-25.

2. Graduated from a Texas public high school (excluding

Houston Independent School District) in or after the 2005

school year.

3. Was seen by the high school counselor.

4. Participated in academic, personal, and/or career

counseling.

Appointments were made for 18 participants after establishing

eligibility for participation using the purposive sampling

criteria and willingness to participant. Exactly 52 African

American high school graduates responded to the flyers posted on

public bulletin boards. Thirty-seven eligible participants

declined participation due to lack of monetary gain. The

responses were generated from the public library and barbershops

flyers for nine of the participants. Word of mouth served as the 122

recruitment strategy for one participant who accompanied his

friend to the interview. Appointments were made and canceled for

two participants and six participants were “no-shows.”

Prior to listing and explicating the major themes found in

this study, the researcher briefly introduced each participant.

The names assigned to the participants reflect their title as a

graduate and the numerical order in which they were interviewed.

The following individuals participated in the study:

Graduate 1 is a 19 year-old single father of two boys, a 2

year-old and a 7 month-old, who was raised by his grandmother in

a public housing community. His boys have different mothers and

he has never been married. He is employed by a construction

company and currently working to remodel a building. His interest

and subsequent participation in the study was sparked by the

flyer he found at the Houston Library during his lunch break. He

is a learner in the local community college. Graduate 1 came to

the interview after work.123

Graduate 2 is a 21 year-old male who was raised by his

single mother while living with his grandmother in a single

family home. He is currently employed at the local city park as a

janitor. He is single and resides with his older brother in an

apartment. The participant saw the flyer at the public library

and contacted the researcher out of curiosity as an African

American male under investigation for a study. In the initial

contact he referenced the importance of this target population as

being “overlooked.”

Graduate 3 is a 19 year-old divorced father of four

children who was raised by a single mother of four. He admits he

is a convicted wife-beater and is presently in court ordered

counseling for anger management. He is employed as a mechanic at

a local automotive car repair shop. He contacted the researcher

to participate in the study because he wanted to share his story.

Graduate 4 is a 19 year-old single father of two boys and

who was raised by family members in foster care. He works for a 124

major cable company as an installer. This participant became

interested in the study through a friend who shared the flyer

with him.

Graduate 5 is a 19 year-old married man with an 8-month old

daughter. He was raised by his grandparents. He married his high

school sweetheart last summer and both are employed by one of the

major hospitals. This participant contacted the researcher after

viewing the flyer at his local barber shop.

Graduate 6 is a 23 year-old married male with two children.

He was raised by his grandmother. He is currently unemployed

because of a labor force cutback. While surfing the public

bulletin board for odd jobs, this participant located the flyer

and thought it would be an interesting experience.

Graduate 7 is a 21 year-old divorced male with one child. He

was raised by his single mother and is currently employed at a

local diner as a cook. This participant contacted the researcher

after viewing the flyer at his local barber shop. 125

Graduate 8 is a 21 year-old single college student who was

raised by his single mother. He lives in an apartment with a

friend and works in the mailroom of a hospital. This participant

noticed the flyer in the public library and decided he fit the

criteria for participation.

Graduate 9 is a 21 year-old divorced father of three who was

raised by his single mother. He works in a billing department.

This participant’s sister brought the flyer to him after finding

it in the public library.

Graduate 10 is a 21 year-old graduate living with his

grandmother whom raised him from an infant. He takes care of his

elderly grandmother and works the night shift in a local factory.

He is a divorced father of a 3 year-old son. This participant

heard the talk at the barber shop about African American male

graduates and contacted the researcher to find out more

information and decided to participate.

126

The high school counseling experience was unique for each

participant; however, several commonalities emerged within the

group. All of the participants were raised in a single female

parent household with limited to no connection to their

biological fathers. Only 2 out of 10 participants reported

currently residing in a married relationship. Five out of the 10

participants are divorced and 2 participants have never been

married. Two of the single participants are not parents and have

never been married. As documented in research, the 9th grade is

the grade level of the highest number of dropouts in high school

(Texas Education Agency, 2010) and in this study was also the

year cited as the initiation of counseling.

Table 1 depicts the similarities between the participants.

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of Participants

Partici Age Grade at Raised by Marital Number of

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pant timeof Counseling

Status Children

Graduate 1 19 10th Grandmother

Divorced 2

Graduate 2 21 9th Mother Single 0

Graduate 3 19 10th Mother Divorced 4

Graduate 4 19 9th Foster Care

Single 2

Graduate 5 19 9th Grandmother

Married 1

Graduate 6 23 9th Grandmother

Married 2

Graduate 7 21 10th Mother Divorced 1

Graduate 8 21 12th Mother Single 0

Graduate 9 21 9th Mother Divorced 0

Graduate 10

21 10th Mother Divorced 1

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Table 2 illustrates the themes that emerged from the lived

counseling experiences shared by the participants.

Table 2

Themes Presented by Participants

Themes Presented by Participants

Number of Participants

Counselor as an Advocate for student

10

Counselor was caring 7

Counselor showed respect 5

Counselor offered praise 2

Counselor provided safety 2

Theme 1: Counselors are Advocates

Participants clearly reported an awareness of the counselors

serving as their advocate in each high school counseling

129

experience. All of the participants described an obstacle during

high school in which their counselor debated on their behalf.

Advocacy refers to the counselors intervening to a third person to

gain the educational setting for all students. School counselors

had an enormous impact on these participants’ educational

achievement and attainment. Participants described how their

school counselors helped them set career goals, choose

appropriate courses, and prepare for life post high school. The

theme of advocacy was significant to the participants and emerged

in the recap of the experience due to the graduates recalling

problematic areas that caused them to seek counseling for

academic failure.

All participants shared different issues that were resolved

by the professional school counselor’s advocacy skills.

Graduate 1 spoke freely about his counselor as his advocate:

My counselor was really cool. He had swag and didn’t look down on us. My counselor, he would ask my teachers to let medo my work in his office sometimes and he would help me with

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my work. He even helped me find community service ordered bythe court.

Graduate 1 smiled brightly as he recalled his counselor’s

“swag” and his interaction. The counselor served as an outlet for

the student to retreat and do his work. This student had a court

order to do community service and his counselor assisted him in

fulfilling this order.

Graduate 2 share an academic issue in which the counselor advocated for tutorials:

But the high school counselor talked to me about my graduation plan and helped me pick classes. I had a hard time passing Math because I was not that good in Math and myfoster mom didn’t know Math either. So my counselor signed me up for Math tutorials with a group of college students who came over to help kids like me so that was good.

Graduate 2 spoke softly as he recalled his struggle with

math and his counselor’s intervention with tutorials. He realized

he needed help that could not be received at his foster home and

was grateful for the help of his counselor.

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Graduate 3 spoke of the schedule change that impacted his

life:

The school counselor talked to my teachers and asked them togive me time to do my work and then let me go to the shop but I was very active and couldn’t sit still for 55 minutes.I think if the counselor had just gave me a schedule withouttalking to me about my future, I probably would hate school and dropped out and wouldn’t have a respectable job right now. My relationship with my counselor was good cause she cared about my future and when she found out I was good withcars, she let me work on her car in the shop.

Graduate 3 sat up straight with a big smile as he recalled

the counselors advocating for his inability to function in the

traditional class setting. He cleverly discerned the difference

the counselor made in his life by discussing his future. The

counselor made an effort to align the course schedule with future

plans at a time when Graduate 3’s only thoughts were to get a

schedule and go to class awaiting the age of 18, which is when he

could quit school. The counselor advocated for Graduate 3 to

complete his work and then move to the car shop for the remainder

of the periods. This intervention provided Graduate 3 with the 132

incentive to report to class on time and accurately complete his

work, hence; he could report to the auto mechanic class.

Graduate 4 shared that his counselor advocated for him with the principal:

I dropped out one time but when I got in trouble with the law, the judge told my mom I had to go back to school or I would be sent off. When I went back to school the police officer told me I wouldn’t make it in front of everybody. Hetold me the minute you mess up I will kick your butt out of here. I started walking away just like I had learned to do to control my anger. I went to the counselor and told her and she said he shouldn’t talk to me that way and he was wrong and I was the bigger person for walking away. She helped me see that I didn’t lose anything by letting him getaway with that but every time he saw me, he would say something to get me mad. The counselor went to the principalwith me and we had a meeting with the officer to ask him notto talk to me when he sees me in the hall. He could only talk to me if I was doing something wrong and I made sure I didn’t do anything wrong around him because I didn’t want tomess up my probation and go to jail. I am glad I went to the counselor because if I had done things my way, I would probably be dead by now. I didn’t think I would live to be 20 because a lot of my friends got killed by 18 and I got shot and stabbed but now I am not in the gang. I didn’t think I could get a better life but my counselor said I could have a better life.

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This young man spoke of being bullied by the police officer

on campus because of his former activity as a gang member. He

stated that the counselor advocated for his right to walk around

the campus without the police officer’s verbal abuse. The meeting

with the principal and Graduate 4 resulted in a verbal

restraining order which prohibited the police officer from

cursing him out. The police officer judged this young man by his

past mistakes and didn’t realize the change that had taken place

in his behavior.

Graduate 5 shared the role of his counselor in the

management of his temper:

My counselor and me talked about why I was skipping and I said me and the teacher don’t get along. He is always calling me out when everybody in the room is talking. Some of the students cuss him out but he don’t do nothing to them. Every time I said something he had something to say tome and I got mad. Mrs. Counselor moved me out of that class because when she talked to him she saw for herself that he just didn’t like me. She told me I would always have people in my life that could cause me to get mad but I had to learnhow to control my temper. We talked about when I get a job how I would be able to solve problems without anger. I still

134

remember to be quiet when other people lose their temper andstart going off.

The counselor advocated for Graduate 5 by talking to the

teacher. After the discussion, it was determined there were

irreconcilable differences and the best course of action was to

move the student to another class. The lesson taught to this

student had a lasting impact on his dealings with difficult

people.

Graduate 6 spoke in detail about his counselor’s

nontraditional scheduling intervention:

Well after I dropped out my mom got a letter from the judge ordering her to court. When we went to court they told her that I must be back in school and she had to pay a fine of $500.00. She didn’t have $500.00 so they let her pay some ofit that day and she had to send in payments. After that, shemade me go to school and I went cause I didn’t want her to go to jail. My counselor told me if she was my mom, she would let me go to jail and I told her my mom wasn’t like that. She told me she would let me choose my own teachers ifI would go to class. I thought that was a good deal because some of the teachers I didn’t like but some were alright. I picked all the good teachers that were cool and my counselortalked to the teachers to help me catch up with my work. My counselor helped me with all the make-up work. When I got my

135

progress report 3 weeks later, I had good grades. This was my first time going to school without missing a class and now I made good grades. The counselor told me I was smart but no one would ever know it if I don’t show them. She really believed I could do it and she really cared about me and my grades. She was the only one that ever told me that Iwas smart. She wrote me a note one day and told me “You Can Do It!” I still have that yellow sticky note in my wallet.

Graduate 6 carried a green sticky note folded in his wallet

that his counselor wrote him when he was in the ninth grade more

than 5 years ago. The counselor used several strategies with this

student. She allowed him to take control of his schedule by

selecting his own teachers because he claimed he skipped school

because he didn’t like the teachers. The counselor advocated on

behalf of the student by discussing makeup work with his teachers

and provided assistance with completing the work. In addition,

she praised the student verbally and in writing.

Graduate 7 shared how his counselor advocated for him

outside the school:

I always wanted to graduate from high school even though it was hard. My attendance wasn’t good but my grades were okay

136

but I needed a job. My mom was too sick to work and my dad was in jail so I had to help take care of my little sister and three other brothers. My counselor’s cousin owned a foodplace called “The Nickel” and she got me a job there and helped me graduate early. My counselor helped me pick out the right graduation plan for me. I graduated with a TEA core plan and went to culinary art school at the community college for 12 months. You needed a recommended plan if you wanted to go a college.

Graduate 7’s struggles illuminate the reality of many other

students who quit school to find jobs to help support the family.

The counselor advocated for Graduate 7 by finding him a job and

the right graduation plan. The counselor reached beyond the scope

of the school to help Graduate 7. She demonstrated empathy while

maintaining academic expectations for this student.

Graduate 8 shared how his counselor advocated for his

through spiritual means:

I had to get counseling when I was in the 12th grade for a bad break up with my girlfriend. My mom took me to the school counselor because I did not want to go to school and it was right before the finals. If you didn’t take the finals, you couldn’t get the credit. My mom found a note in my bedroom saying, “I wish I were dead and I feel like jumping off the bridge with some other things I was going

137

through.” I didn’t want to quit school I just didn’t want togo to school right then. Everybody knew I had been duped by this girl but I really cared about her and I really thought she cared about me. When I found out she was just using me Iwas shame, hurt, and upset. My friends told me she was not worth it but I just felt sick inside. My mom told me how hurt she was when my dad left her but she had me and my other brother to think about so she had to go on with her life and take care of her boys. The counselor talked to me for 2 hours telling me I had a great future and I will get over this girl. My mom cried and my brother looked sad. The counselor said a prayer with my brother, mom, and me and we all cried and hugged. My mom told the counselor that she would take me back home and I had already missed three days.The counselor told my mom that she would go to class with mebut I must stay in school that day. She said I had to take control of my life and falling in and out of relationships is a part of life. I don’t remember everything the counselorsaid but that was the first time my family prayed together and we all had tears in our eyes. I knew I couldn’t hurt myself because it would devastate my family. Now, I am glad I took my finals and finished school number 11 in my class of 287 and now I am in my 2nd year at the university.

Graduate 8 is the youngest son of a single mother of two. He

refused to come to school because his girlfriend of 6 months

dropped him after the prom. He spoke softly about this situation

with his arms folded across his chest. His desire to stop coming

to school during the painful event of the breakup was brought to 138

his counselor’s attention by the mother and brother. The

counselor counseled him for 2 hours in her office and then called

in his family for a prayer for strength. He is convinced that he

would have jeopardized his Grade Point Average and class ranking

if his counselor had not taken a stand for him to remain in

school that day and take control of his life.

Graduate 9 share how his counselor advocated for him through

the ARD Committee:

I had counseling in high school with the same counselor for 4 years and I had counseling in middle school too but I don’t remember her name. I had to see my counselor as part of my modifications in high school because I was labeled attention deficit hyperactive when I was in elementary. I was never a bad child but I had problems sitting still for along time and I had problems remembering things. I could getthe lesson but it took me a longer time. I use to have my ARD meetings with my granny, teachers and the counselor. Thecounselor always believed in me and talked like she cared when the teachers tried to put me down and disrespect me thecounselor would always say he is a good boy.

Graduate 9’s counselor advocated on his behalf at Annual

Review Decision Annual Review Decision (ARD) meetings held for

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students receiving special service. Counselors must provide

services to all students with special focus on students with

disabilities.

Graduate 10 shared how his counselor advocated for him with

the legal system:

Yea I stopped going to school when I was in the ninth but I got in some trouble and got locked up and then my probation officer wouldn’t let me. The probation officer talked to Mr.X and if I missed school or got in trouble I would have to go to jail. One time I remember, Mr. X called my probation officer to tell him I was sick and couldn’t come for my weekly probation office meeting. So I got in cool with Mr. Xand he taught me how to cope with my problems and not get made for everything that happened.

Graduate 10 returned to school because of the guidelines

enforced by his probation officer. As part of his probation, he

was required to report to the probation office on a regular

basis. His counselor advocated on his behalf with his probation

officer when he could not fulfill his obligation in coming to the

140

probation office. He credits his counselor for teaching him

lifelong strategies for dealing with his anger.

Theme 2: Counselor was Caring

The second theme that emerged from the interview was the

care shown to the graduates by the counselors. Eight of the

graduates clearly articulated their belief that the counselors

cared about them.

Graduate 1 stated:

The time I really felt like giving up is when I did my best in school and I still got bad grades. Some of those teachersdidn’t teach and didn’t like me but I always knew my counselor had my back. I never told him lies because he was alright with everybody.

Graduate 1 stated that his teachers didn’t like him but he was

convinced that his counselor cared about him.

Graduate 2 shared the following statements:

I hated school and school I felt school hated me. I knew I was different and things didn’t come easy for me. My foster mom use to tell me that I was smart as anybody else but whenI got to school and was in classes with 6 other students andtwo teachers, I knew she just said that to make me feel good

141

but then my counselor started saying the same thang. So I stopped thinking bad about myself. My counselor said she cared about me and wanted me to be successful in school. My foster mom use to get tickets from the court because I skipped school but she didn’t have to pay them because I wasnot her real kid.Well the counselor helped me get out of BAC [behavioral adjustment class] classes and go to regular classes.

Graduate 2’s counselor communicated her care for him and helped

him get out of resource classes. He had been in a behavioral

adjustment class since middle school and didn’t like school

because of the stigma attached to this class setting. He admits

to not really caring about his success in school but his

counselor’s care for him was operationalized by her discussion

about his class schedule. This counselor looked beyond his

attitude and saw a future that could be actualized.

Graduate 3 recalled with a grin:

I had some good experiences with the counselor because I moved to XYZ High School when I was in the 10th grade. Ms. Grade was the one to make my schedule and tell me about the graduation plans. Ms. Grade was the one to make my schedule and tell me about the graduation plans. She was talking

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about what I wanted to do after high school and I was just looking at her and I said, “Miss, I’m not trying to disrespect you but I ain’t trying to hear all that college stuff. I just want to get a schedule. I don’t know what going to happen after that”. She started laughing and asked if I knew my schedule was going to be connected to my futuregoals.

Graduate 3 had moved several times during his high school

education and was waiting on the age when he could quit school.

He met a counselor who informed him of the graduation plans that

connected his future goal to his course schedule. The counselor

helped him visualize graduation by discussing courses that

matched his interest. He states that graduation was not his goal

until he met a counselor that informed him about the auto

mechanic courses. Graduate 3 spent the next three years in the

auto mechanic course and graduated with a certificate.

Graduate 4 stated:

I am glad I went to the counselor because if I had done things my way, I would probably be dead by now. My counselorsaid she would be disappointed in me if I got in trouble andshe cared what happened to me even if I didn’t care. At first, I didn’t think I would live to be 20 because a lot of

143

my friends got killed by 18 and I got shot and stabbed but now I am not in the gang. I didn’t think I could get a better life but my counselor said I could have a better life.

This graduate is extremely grateful for his counselor’s

concern for his life. She provided care and expressed concern for

his safety which he credits with his success in escaping death

and living longer than his friends.

Graduate 5 stated:

I got counseling for my grades and then they put in some special classes and this was easier for me. I had a good experience and she helped me a lot. The counselor called me into her office to talk about my failing grades when I was in the 9th grade and I was not going to class the way I should. I told her I don’t care but she said that’s’ okay cause I care enough for both of us. After she said that I was shocked because no one else said stuff like that to me.

Graduate 5 told his counselor that he didn’t care about his

grades. He didn’t expect his counselor to respond with kindness

and declare that she cared enough for the both of them. The

counselors’ response and actions to help this student was

144

interpreted by the student as her caring for him that he felt he

had never had among teachers.

Graduate 6 responded:

I spent lunch in my counselor’s office because I didn’t get along with a lot of people and the counselor told me I couldcome to her whenever I didn’t want to go to class. The kids would call me names and talk about my clothes and I got mad.I didn’t like school because they made you wear the uniform,a white shirt and navy pants. My counselor cared enough to buy me a white shirt but after a while the white shirt got dingy. I wore the same shirt to school every day. So I took clothes from other people lockers when they were at PE. The counselor talked to me about stealing things and I was embarrassed but I didn’t want to wear the same dingy shirt all the time so I stopped going to school.

Graduate 6 was bullied in high school for the clothes he

wore. His counselor showed empathy and care for him by purchasing

a white shirt to avoid him being bullied by other students. The

counselor also provided safety for Graduate 6 within her office.

Graduate 7 stated:

I use to have my ARD meetings with my granny, teachers and the counselor. The counselor always believed in me and talked like she cared when the teachers tried to put me down

145

and disrespect me the counselor would always say he is a good boy.

Graduate 7 received special education services and recall

his counselor declaring he was a “good boy” in response to the

teachers’ assessment of him during his Annual Review Decision

meeting which is a conference among educators, students, and

parents to develop individual educational plans for exceptional

learners. He admits that the counselor cared about him and

believed in him as a student.

Theme 3: Counselor Showed Respect

The counselors’ show of respect or lessons on respect was

remembered and appreciated by the students during the interview

process.

Graduate 1 reminisced with a smile about the counselor’s

show of respect:

I was with a group of boys and girls who was fluking out in class and we got counseling on everything. Sometimes we talked about grades, sometimes friends, gangs, and girlfriends, finishing high school, going to the military,

146

and just working to get out of school. We learned to be respectful to other people and especially we learned to respect ourselves. Sometimes it got on my last nerves and sometimes it was okay. I learned a lot about staying out of trouble and taking care of myself. Mr. Z talked to us guys about girls and staying out of trouble. He really helped us bad kids and was like a father to us. We all respected him and looked up to him.

Graduate 1 is still very appreciative for the time he spent

in counseling learning about respect among other life lessons. He

implied that the counselor’s guidance had an impact on these

behaviorally challenged students within his group.

Graduate 2 recalled while shaking his head:

Looking back, the counselor and teacher really cared about us and they respected us. They took care of me on campus andI knew I could come to her office even when she was with other kids. My brother help take care of me now but one day I am going to get my own place. I knew I had to walk away from the situation when I started getting mad. If I didn’t walk out when I was feeling mad, I would fight or throw something like a chair if I didn’t walk out and go to her office. My psychologist told me to remove myself from situations that caused me to react violently so my school counselor’s office was my safe place.

147

Graduate 2 acknowledged that his special education teacher

and his counselor showed them respect, care, and provided a safe

place for him in her office. He believed that he was always

welcome in the counselor’s office when he was having a crisis.

This student was under the care of a psychologist for his temper

and violent responses. He had been instructed to walk away from

situations potentially violent situations and find a safe place

to calm his temper. The counselor’s office served as his safe

place which suggests an effective counseling relationship between

him and his counselor.

Graduate 3 stated with a sincere tone and lifted eyebrows:

She respected my work and listened to me without looking down on me cause she knew what I could do. We use to wash the cars in the shop and work on them for money. She always told me to take care of her car and I would tell everybody Iam in charge of Ms. Counselor’s car.

Graduate 3 implied that his counselor trusted him with her

car and she respected his work. His memory of his counselor

projected warmth and calmness as he spoke. 148

Graduate 4 replied with enthusiasm:

I had to see the school counselor every time I got in trouble if the police officer didn’t get me first. I hated Officer W because he was rude and disrespectful. The school counselor would talk to you and help you figure out other ways to cope with your anger but the wanna-be cop would justhit you with that stick. I still hate that wanna-be cop. Theschool counselor would talk in a respectful voice and ask questions to see your side but Officer W would just jump in yelling and screaming at me. Man I never liked that man and I don’t stand for nobody to disrespect me. Its just like right now, you are talking nice and I am talking nice you respecting me and I show respect you understand? Yes but at school some of the people want to talk to you any kinda way because you are a student and they are grown but I didn’t gofor that.

Graduate 4 strongly expressed dislike for the law office

working within his high school. His counselor helped him cope

with the negative comments from the officer and he believed she

respected him.

Graduate 10 stated:

I respected my counselor because she didn’t talk down to me and showed me respect and I showed her respect. I respected her because she didn’t talk down to me and showed me respectand I showed her respect. At that time, I had enough creditsto be in the 11th grade that means I skipped the 10th and now

149

I am back up with my class. I got excited about that and took her advice and made sure I stayed out of trouble so I could march with my class. She made me feel I could do the work and I was smart enough to finish high school. She told me if I could make good grades being away from my grandmother who loves me then I can do the work living with my grandmother and I did. She showed me respect and didn’t talk all crazy to me.

Graduate 10 clearly stated that he and his counselor shared

mutual respect. The counselor convinced him that he was a smart

student and could achieve academically.

Theme 4: Counselor Offered Praise

Graduate 6 said:

She really believed I could do it and she really cared aboutme and my grades. She was the only one that ever told me that I was smart. She wrote me a note one day and told me “You Can Do It!” I still have that yellow sticky note in my wallet.

Graduate 6 shared a yellow sticky note written by his

counselor during his senior year. This student treasured this

150

yellow sticky note and the memory it symbolized. The counselor’s

praise continues to motivate this graduate.

Theme 5: Counselor Provided Safety

Graduate 2 said, “My psychologist told me to remove myself

from situations that caused me to react violently so my school

counselor’s office was my safe place.” Graduate 2 required a

nontraditional setting to avoid losing his temper. The

intervention was individualized and was beneficial in this

graduate’s educational plan.

Graduate 6 said, “I spent lunch in my counselor’s office

because I didn’t get along with a lot of people and the counselor

told me I could come to her whenever I didn’t want to go to

class.” Graduate 6 was a victim of bullying and avoided the

general school lunch crowd by spending time in the counselor’s

office. This interaction provides time to cultivate a positive

working relationship toward academic success for this student.

The fact that the student was allowed to come to the counselor’s 151

office suggest a nontraditional plan for building the counseling

relationship while addressing the issue of bullying.

Textual Description

When the participants recalled their interactions with their

high school counselors, they talked about the lasting effect;

they used words such as a “respect,” “care,” and “helped.”

Graduate 1 stated, “He really helped us bad kids and was like a

father to us.” The participants understood the counselor was

available for them as stated by Graduate 1, “I always knew my

counselor had my back.” Initially, Graduate 2 initially expressed

positive feelings for his middle school counselor and dislike for

his high school counselors by stating,

I had a good counselor in middle school but I didn’t like mycounselor in high school. The high school counselor was always too busy and she only wanted to talk to you when she wanted to talk to you. She like to talk more to smart people and she was always dissing me.

152

Through listening to himself speak, he restated his belief

about the counselor stating,

I think my counselor did care about us slow kids. But the high school counselor talked to me about my graduation plan and helped me pick classes. I had a hard time passing Math because I was not that good in Math and my foster mom didn’tknow Math either. So my counselor signed me up for an extra Math class for help so that was good.

Counselors are required to meet the needs of all students

and the discussion with smart and academically challenged

students must be balanced. The focus is on equitable education

when serving academically challenged students which may require

nontraditional strategies as described by Graduate 3: “the school

counselor talked to my teachers and asked them to give me time to

do my work and then let me go to the shop but I was very active

and couldn’t sit still for 55 minutes.” Graduate 6 also revealed

the nontraditional means the counselor employed to help him deal

with bullies, “I spent lunch in my counselor’s office because I 153

didn’t get along with a lot of people and the counselor told me I

could come to her whenever I didn’t want to go to class.” The

interaction between a student and the counselor must be based on

mutual respect as stated by Graduate 10: “I respected her because

she didn’t talk down to me and showed me respect and I showed her

respect.” The respect theme emerged in several perspectives,

Graduate 1 stated, “We all respected him and looked up to him”

and Graduate 3 stated, “she respected my work and listened to me

without looking down on me cause she knew what I could do.” In

addition, Graduate 1 recalled the counselor teaching the students

to respect others and themselves. Respect is valued by all youths

but especially by African American males. Teachers and other

educators are famous for writing disciplinary reports claiming

students are disrespectful and the reply from the student is

usually claiming the same trait for the adult.

Imaginative Variation

154

Imaginative Variation is another process in phenomenological

data methodology. In this process, the researcher uses various

perspectives from which to view the phenomenon in question.

Imaginative Variation frames the structural description.

Counselors were willing to invest time, show interest, listen,

understand, teach, connect, model, and serves as advocates for

their students. A positive counseling relationship is

advantageous in providing equity in educational opportunities for

at-risk students. It is imperative that at-risk students

cultivate a functioning relationship with their counselors to

gain the necessary help needed to enable the counselor to become

advocates, model care, teach and show respect for all students.

The cultivation of a positive caring counseling relationship will

allow prompt students to reveal inner most needs and obstacles

allowing the counselor a full assessment of the situation so the

counselor can meet the needs of the students accordingly.

Researcher can visualize more nontraditional settings and 155

individualized educational plans for students when the counselor

is informed of all issues facing the students prior to academic

failure. The researcher can visualize counselors and students

working collaboratively to align educational courses with career

goals.

Structural Description

In describing structures, the researcher examined factors of

academic, personal/social, and career guidance school counseling

as delivered by the professional school counselors and depicted

in the lived experiences of the African American male graduates

in this study. The professional school counselor is responsible

for monitoring academic progress of all students. Poor academic

performance requires a face-to-face conference with the student

to assess the causes related to the failures. This process is

aligned with the experience of participants in this study. The

professional school counselor is also responsible for providing

personal/social counseling to all students. The adverse living 156

conditions presented in this study created barriers to

educational achievement which were effectively addressed by the

professional school counselors. Harris (2003) conducted a study

which confirmed that successful students had class schedules that

balanced their curriculum, interest, and part time job. Research

also confirmed that children living in poverty are at-risk for

academic failure secondary to the presence of potential stressors

from parental disengagement, structural employment, unemployment,

underemployment, and residential mobility (Britt et al., 2006).

In this study, career guidance counseling was delivered by the

professional school counselor to address the participants’

interest and need for a part time job.

Academic Counseling

Academic counseling is the right of all students and

particularly necessary for African American males who are living

in poverty and/or single parent households. The participants in

this study were discouraged about the educational system due to 157

academic failures which can be attributed to lack of study

habits, grade retention, negative relationship between students

and teachers, excessive absences, and lack of academic support.

Each participant in this study failed courses and/or a grade with

the majority of failures in the 9th grade. Counselor intervention

is essential in creating equity educational opportunities for at-

risk students who have become disenfranchised with the

educational system.

In this study, the counselors reacted to the students’

academic conditions by providing tutorials, purchasing a uniform

shirt, providing help in selecting courses, and graduation plans.

The guidelines for school counselors require the selection of

courses and graduation plans; however, the empathy shown by the

school counselors prompted the purchase of a uniform shirt.

Academic success was endangered due to extenuating circumstances

that prevented the students from attending classes which were

addressed by the school counselors. The school counselor must 158

cultivate a positive counseling relationship with the students in

order to meet their needs. Students will not communicate needs to

school counselors if the relationship is not positive and

perceived as caring. Counselors have access to transcripts and

other records of students’ academic progression and can easily

identify failures quantitatively; however, discussions must be

held with the student to qualitatively identify means of

addressing their failures. In this study, all students attained

academic success after the establishment of a strategic alignment

between interest and ability in an environment conducive to

learning. This alignment was different for each individual

graduate who included a teacher change, a change from Behavioral

Adjustment Class to regular resource, enrollment in tutorials,

and purchase of a uniform shirt, identifying career paths, and

anger management. Academic counseling is vital in supporting

academic achievement for all students.

Personal/Social Counseling 159

In this study, personal and social counseling were necessary

to meet the needs of these at-risk students. The 10 participants

in this study were at-risk for dropping out of school due to a

variety of problems; however, they shared commonalities that

included poverty and single-parent or grandparent households

which placed academic barriers in their high school completion

goals. Each participant received personal/social counseling to

support academic success.

Academic success was endangered due to personal/social

dysfunctions within the family structure and school. One graduate

reported hating school and feeling that school hated him which

created a barrier to learning and was addressed as a

personal/social issue. Another graduate reported a case of

bullying, which was addressed through personal/social methods.

Counselors in each case provided counseling to meet the students’

needs through nontraditional means such as allowing the student

to select his teachers and/or allowing the student to report to 160

the counselors’ office to avoid the bullies during lunch.

Nontraditional means were necessary for these extenuating

circumstances that were revealed during the counseling

experiences. These interventions and the counselors’ empathy

provided the graduates with the environment necessary to fulfill

their academic goal of graduating from high school. Consequently,

one of the graduates developed the desire to graduate from high

school through the counseling techniques employed by the school

counselor. This graduate reported that he never planned to live

past 20 years of age and didn’t plan to graduate from high

school. He is very appreciative of his counselor today for taking

the time to discuss his future and disregard his negative

attitude. Personal/social counseling was the foundation to

identifying and meeting the needs of the participants in this

study.

Career Guidance School Counseling

161

In this study, career guidance school counseling experience

was shared by two graduates; Graduate 3, who is currently a

mechanic and Graduate 7, the chef. Graduate 3 reported that he

returned to school due to his probation officer’s threat of

imprisonment. He recalled being anxious with his counselor during

the scheduling process because he wanted a schedule and she

insisted on discussing his future. The discussion of his future

led him to select the mechanic career path which matched his

interest and also served as the safe haven for him after

completing the work in the other classes.

Graduate 3 reported the support given to him by the school

counselor provided immediate financial means for his family

during high school and now serve as the primary financial means

as an adult. Career guidance counseling is advantageous to at-

risk students and provided lifelong benefits for this

participant. The advantage of career guidance counseling is often

not provided due to the numerous barriers that exist in the 162

students’ reality. Many students are overwhelmed with

personal/social problems and fail to receive the benefit of

career guidance counseling; however, this component is essential

in developing financial security as adults.

Creative Textual-Structural Synthesis

The final step in phenomenological research is creative

textual-structural synthesis. This step combines both texture and

structure into a unity to describe the essence of the experience

of the African American male graduate academic, personal/social,

and career development counseling in high school. The phenomenon

of the African American male graduate counseling experience

impacts educational attainment, emotional health, and career

choices. Effective counseling programs for at-risk African

American students require a positive counseling relationship

between counselors and students.

The implementation of academic counseling by professional

school counselors has the ability to influence the educational 163

success of students. At-risk African American males have daily

struggles to get to school and stay focused on their coursework.

Their professional school counselors’ innovative intervention can

prepare them to overcome barriers and graduate from high school.

There are varying level of disadvantages to being raised by

single parents and single grandmother without the aid of a

father. Oftentimes, the male student is expected to play the role

of the father which voids the priority of academic studies. In

this study, the participants shared this commonality of being

raised without a male figure within the household. This dynamic

has embedded problems that define the essence of at-risk for

failure for the African American male who is searching for his

identity in the world. The school counselor plays an important

role in assisting this vulnerable population in balancing the

expectations of home and school. The role of the school counselor

can be described as advocacy for the promotion of academic

success for students. The response to each individual student in 164

this study required a different intervention which led to

academic success.

Personal/social school counseling is paramount in preparing

the African American male for future endeavors. The daily

struggles of the African American male students leave marks of

discouragement, anger, and feelings of being disconnected from

the norm of society as a whole and the educational arena in

particular. The search for relief of discouragement, anger, and

disconnection were met with avoidance of school, legal problems

with truancy and illegal activities, and the acceptance of a

shortened life span. The exposure to poverty and violence

resulted in an acceptance of educational mediocrity and low

expectations from teachers and students. The professional school

counselor worked to promote healthy emotional responses to

adverse situations and encouragement for future goals.

Career development counseling is necessary for all students

to select high school courses relevant to their future goals. 165

Career development counseling exposed two of the graduates to

optional career paths and afforded them the right to select from

the list of options. The graduates selected courses based on

their interest that motivated them to attend classes. Their

interest in school created improved academic performance and

increased their attendance rate which decreased the act of

truancy. The professional school counselor established the

alignment between each student’s interests, courses taken in high

school, and career choice. This alignment resulted in academic

success and extended to post high school success. Career

development counseling is often neglected due to the urgency to

get the student through social/personal barriers such as anger

management. Communication is the essence of cultivating a

positive counseling relationship.

Chapter 4 Conclusion

This chapter outlined the data collection and data analysis

process for 10 African American male high school graduates and 166

their academic, personal/social, and career development

counseling experience. A phenomenological approach was used to

describe the counseling experience of each participant. The data

was analyzed using the six steps approach supported by Creswell

(2007). The participants described their lived experience of

participating in high school counseling in a 60-minute recorded

responsive interview at a public library in a private study room.

Details of the shared experiences as it relates to the study

topic were provided in this chapter.

.

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study examined the high school academic,

personal/social, and career development counseling experiences of

African American male high school graduates. The results revealed

that academic, personal/social, and career development counseling

empowered the graduation of 10 African American males. They 167

described their counseling experience using statements that

define advocacy, caring, and respect. Each participant shared an

obstacle encountered during high school in which the professional

school counselor’s intervention promoted successful educational

outcomes for all participants. One of the participants proclaimed

the counselor as the primary external force that caused his

educational success.

These findings are particularly significant for the

importance of professional school counselors at a time when there

is a growing trend to replace professional school counselors with

deans within the school system. The importance of a professional

school counselor in the life of at-risk students is paramount to

successful outcomes in high school. These findings also have

implications for educators who are responsible for developing

programs for academic, personal/social, and career development

counseling of at-risk students. As noted in the literature

168

review, the theory of counseling was not originated based on the

needs of African Americans.

Background of the Study

The phenomenological approach was used in this study in an

effort to allow participants to describe how they experienced

this phenomenon. Moustakas (1994) described the phenomenological

model as the objective to identify the meaning of the experience

from the participants who lived the event. The data analysis

focused on the textural and structural descriptions made on the

overall cohesive understanding of the African American male

graduate experience of the phenomenon. The qualitative method

provided the researcher with the voice of the participants to

gain comprehension and awareness of what it was like to be

African American male participating in academic, personal/social,

and career development counseling. Interviews were semi-

structured to allow participants to focus on the counseling

experience without restrictions. This process afforded each 169

participant the opportunity to express emotions about the

experience and the impact of the experience.

The researcher set aside all personal bias and preconceived

ideas regarding the counseling experiences of African American

male students. Relevant statements made by the participants were

categorized into thematic units using the Giorgio’s methodology

and ATLAS. ti software. The data revealed results that supported

the apparent need for professional school counselors within the

educational system to assess and address the needs of at-risk

African American male students. All of the participants credited

their professional school counselors for their successful

educational outcomes. Participants defined their interaction with

the professional school counselor as productive and impactful on

their graduation status. Participants attributed their lack of

success to academic and personal/social barriers which were

successfully addressed by the professional school counselor. The

analysis of the data revealed three major themes and two 170

underlying themes. The major themes are (a) counselors are

advocates, (b) caring relationship, and (c) mutual respect. The

underlying themes emerged in this study are praise and safety.

Summary of Findings

Counselors are Advocates

Counselors as advocates for at-risk students emerged as the

commonality among all participants’ lived counseling experience.

Professional school counselors have the ability and the

responsibility to advocate for at-risk students in the

traditional school setting to promote academic achievement. All

students are assigned a professional school counselor in high

school and middle schools. It is the responsibility of the

professional school counselor to become informed of the issues

facing at-risk students and implement interventions to address

the issues accordingly. One participant stated that his counselor

only want to talk to the “smart kids” which in actuality, the

“smart kids” are the ones seeking future opportunities with help 171

of the professional school counselor. Professional school

counselors are in a distinctive role to advocate on behalf of all

the students they serve. The information obtained from these

graduates assisted the counselor in removing barriers to

students’ success and advocate for equity in education for all

students; consequently, professional school counselors must

become proactive in seeking relationships with at-risk students.

As with all relationships, the counseling relationship

required positive interaction to gain the trust of these

students. The graduates in this study trusted the counseling

process and provided the counselors with their personal

information. The trust established between the counselor and the

student afforded open and honest communication. The art of

helping at-risk students begins with effective communication and

resulted in interventions that removed the barriers to student

success. It is difficult for African American male students to

share the dysfunctional dynamics of their family with individuals172

outside the family; therefore, trust in the counselor as a person

and in the process as effective was established.

Professional school counselors are in the unique position to

monitor academic failure and attendance record of all students.

The monitoring of these records serve as a catalyst for

identification of students at-risk for academic failure which can

eventually cause students to drop out of school. The professional

school counselor has the responsibility to make initial contact

based on these documents to elicit firsthand information about

the causes of poor attendance and academic failure. The initial

discussion is positive creating an environment conducive to

sharing personal information. The student will not reveal all

pertinent or truthful information during the initial contact due

to mistrust of the counselor and the process. In this study, the

graduates accepted the counseling process after their belief in

the counselor as an individual who cared about their success.

173

In this study, professional school counselors were afforded

the opportunity to advocate on behalf of students which resulted

in them being empowered to excel academically. Each graduate had

an obstacle that was overcome by the professional school

counseling discussion of the situation with teachers and the

probation officer.

Caring Relationship

Professional school counselors are in a unique role to

develop caring relationships with at-risk students. Students

living in adverse situations will seek help from adults they

perceive as caring. Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care

how much you know until they know how much you care.” African

American male students living in adverse circumstances do not

care how much an educator knows until he knows that he/she cares

about him and his goals. The art of developing a caring

relationship with at-risk African American male students is 174

complicated by variation in the nature of the issues. One plan

will not fit all situations that emerge from a counseling session

with at-risk students. As indicated by this study, one student

was the victim of a bully and spent his lunch period in the

counselor’s office to avoid the perpetrator. Schools have

definite guidelines for handling bullies, but it is difficult to

regulate the reactions of other students due to the punishment of

their friend(s) who have received consequences for negative

behavior. The professional school counselor allowed the student

to sit in her office to help him move beyond his fear of negative

situations secondary to the bullying report filed. This

nontraditional act of allowing a student to come to the office

during his lunch period could have impacted the professional

school counselor’s lunch break or other duties during lunch. The

act of allowing the student to come to her office spoke volumes

to the student about how much the counselor cared about his

welfare. 175

It is impossible to mandate compression or regulate

guidelines to address at-risk students’

desire to interact with caring individual because qualifications

for becoming a professional school counselor can be met by adults

who are not empowered to be compassionate or with a belief that

all students deserve a caring relationship with their counselor.

In essence, students will not share intimate personal details

with a counselor unless they feel they will receive care or as

one of the graduated stated, “My counselor had my back [best

interest].”

Mutual Respect

Professional school counselors have the role and

responsibility for cultivating mutual respect with the students

they serve. African American males grow up using the word respect

loosely. As one of the graduates stated, “nobody is going to

disrespect me.” In this case he was referring the police officer

who yelled and cursed at him. Another graduate shared, “she 176

showed me respect and I showed her respect.” The student versus

authority figure is not perceived by the African American male

student in this study as vital. This is typical behavior of the

African American male students living in adverse circumstances

and poverty. Respect is defined through a broad code of actions

and statements in the low income area among African American

males. The act of raising your voice or stating facts face-to-

face can be considered as disrespectful. One of the graduate

stated he hated his counselor because she talked down to him and

always “dissing him.” The word dissing in translation refers to

the act of showing disrespect. The professional school counselor

is accused of disrespect secondary to reading a list of

behavioral infractions from the student’s discipline file in an

authoritative tone. The definition of “respect” as it relates

to the African American males living in poverty is broad and

easily enacted. Survival skills in the low income communities

177

requires individual to respect each other and failure to do so

could result in bodily injury.

In the counseling relationship, professional school

counselors must show empathy and be mindful of tone of voice.

This very vulnerable population of at-risk African American males

living in adverse situations and poverty had been exposed to

violence and operate from a defensive mode. The professional

school counselor will have an easier job developing a counseling

relationship by modeling respect for the at-risk students served.

Praise

Several of the participants in this study remembered words

of praise and one carried a yellow sticky note from his counselor

with the words, “you can do it.” Praise is important for the

growth of every relationship. Praise is considered an underlying

theme in this study because each of the major themes can be

accomplished by the use of praise. The advocacy theory was

implemented by praising the students in this study; consequently,178

praise can be used to meet the goal of the intervention with the

teacher. The counselor must praise the efforts of the teacher to

gain trust in the effectiveness of the intervention. The

professional school counselor found it necessary to exchange

teachers for an academically challenged student, which required a

differentiation in the skills that made him/her the best match

for this student. This is a concept that is often explored by

students who want to select what is called the “nicer” teacher or

the “most understanding” teacher over the inflexible teacher. The

value of praise can’t be overemphasized when working with at-risk

students in the counseling relationship.

Safety

Safety is listed as an underlying theme because only two

graduates sought safety from the counseling relationship. Safety

is considered to be a right of all students and all students are

guaranteed safety within the educational environment.

Unfortunately, the guarantee is not etched in stone and there is 179

no return policy when safety has been violated. Students must

feel safe physically as well as emotionally within the school

building. Actually, most of the schools attended by the

participants in this study are well known for gang activities and

acts of violence requiring medical care. This study revealed a

victim of bullying resorting to eating lunch in his counselor’s

office to avoid repercussions from the act of reporting a bully.

The professional school counselor allowed the student to

report to her office for lunch as an intervention for his anxiety

about prior events with students. The safety of students must be

taken seriously, even if the perpetrator has been removed from

the campus. This graduate’s perception of being unsafe could have

negatively impacted his educational advancement if the counselor

had not intervened. The professional school counselor empowered

the student to reach his academic goal by providing a safe haven

during lunch where he was allowed to talk about his thoughts and

feelings.180

Significance of Research Compared to Literature Review

This study confirms the findings from the qualitative

multiple case study of academically capable dropouts from several

large suburban high schools, which revealed that 17 students

discontinued their high school education due to a hostile

academic and social environment, which included poor

relationships with the teachers and administrators (Rose, 2006).

The decision to drop out of high school was a longitudinal

process where students’ intentions, goals, and commitments were

continually influenced by interaction with the school’s academic

and social communities. The participants in the present study

received interventions from the professional school counselor

that prevented them from becoming high school dropouts.

The results of this study supported the work by

Christenson et al (2000) on at-risk students who chose to stay in181

school (NCSET, 2004). This study revealed that students at-risk

for dropping out continued to attend school, secondary to factors

including parental support, interaction with educators and other

adults, development of perseverance and optimism, positive school

attitude, relationship with school staff, satisfaction with

learning experiences, relevance of curricula, and fair discipline

policies. The participants in this study revealed the decision of

the professional school counselor to advocate on their behalf

helped them remain in school. One participated stated his desire

to gain the approval of his mother as one of his reasons for

staying in school. The legal system required several of the

participants to return to school and the school staff was

instrumental in keeping the student in school.

In addition, this study mirrors another qualitative

phenomenological study, which focused on the lives of at-risk

students in inner-city educational settings (Britt et al., 2006).

The study revealed lack of parental support and pressures from 182

school and home environments were the most common reasons for

failure to complete high school. The theoretical framework for

the study was based on the 1987 research by Rumberger, which

suggested that dropping out of school is a systematic process

that starts prior to the student actually of dropping out of

school. Students’ perceptions provide invaluable information for

understanding and addressing this systematic process prior to the

final decision to drop out. The current study revealed similar

findings in all 10 participants. Each graduate had issues in

elementary and high school which could have triggered educators

to the fact that they were potential high school dropouts.

The professional school counselor advocated on behalf of the

students with teachers and administrators to prevent the students

from dropping out of school. These results are aligned with the

results of a 2006 study conducted by Rose. Rose conducted a

qualitative multiple case study of academically capable dropouts

from several large suburban high schools. The results of his 183

study revealed that 17 students discontinued their high school

education due to a hostile academic and social environment, which

included poor relationships with the teachers and administrators

(Rose, 2006). The decision to drop out of high school was a

longitudinal process where students’ intentions, goals, and

commitments were continually influenced by interaction with the

school’s academic and social communities.

The success of these graduates represents the shift from

policy to research to practice resulted in an increase in the

rate of high school graduates (Lehr et al., 2004). Theoretical

conceptualizations helped elucidate the important role of student

engagement in the educational process. The significant

fundamentals of engagement include student participation,

recognition, social interaction, and individual investment in

learning (Kohn, 2008). The implementations of programs served as

models for strengthening African American male students.

Counselors maximize their service to students through academic, 184

personal/social, and career development counseling, mentorship,

and guidance to promote hope, self-esteem, and empowerment.

The professional school counselor assisted the African

American male graduates in this study in the paradigm shift

mentally from the victimization model to achieve academic success

as argued by Harris (2003). Successful African American male

graduates’ daily schedules were balanced with class attendance,

studying, school involvement, and working a part time job.

The professional school counselor’s goal was to help the

graduates redefine their goals and align their actions to meet

their goals. Harris (2003) conducted a research study that

revealed that successful African American males fluently

articulated a personal concept of success.

The finding in this research study confirmed the research

conducted by Van Laar and Sidanius (2001), which indicated the

achievement gap is the result of ongoing personal and

institutional discrimination. The graduates in this study were 185

examples of academic failure due to ongoing academic, personal

and social barriers. The individual needs of these students

extended by the traditional educational setting. The practice of

ignoring such needs is a form of discrimination against students

living in poverty and adverse living conditions. The participants

in this study lived in poverty stricken areas and attended low

performing schools; this is consistent with Van Laar and

Sidanius’ findings. In the United States, many schools that serve

African American students are located in urban environments,

where the effects of the achievement gap parallel a history of

slavery, racial segregation, and oppression (Van Laar & Sidanius,

2001).

This study confirmed the finding of Becker and Luthar

(2002), which revealed that academic and school attachment,

teacher support, peer values, and mental health are critical

factors that influence academic performance. This study

substantiates the claim made by Picucci et al. (2002), that high 186

expectations, collaboration, teacher support, and the provision

of extra services are instrumental in the academic success of

poverty stricken schools.

Lastly, this study affirms the suggestion that more

attention should be given to the role of social capital in

education, reform, and the academic achievement of African

American students (Orr, 1999).

Implications

The results of this phenomenological investigation was based

on the exploration of the lived experiences of African American

male graduates who participated in academic,

personal/social, and career development counseling revealed

several implications for professional school counselors,

administrative staff, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

Students shared the embarrassment of coming to school without a

uniform shirt and felt the staff cared more about uniforms than

learning. A school district interested in the appearance and 187

academic success for students would benefit from a system that

provides uniform shirts to at-risk students living in adverse

living conditions. Educators must be aware of the student’s

living condition and refer these situations to the professional

school counselor for assistance. Students will not report to an

institution that humiliates by implementing dress code guidelines

that cannot be met by single parents or grandparents. This study

informs all stakeholders of the necessity for professional school

counselors for all at-risk students due to individual barriers

that require individualized counseling strategies.

Recommendations for Future Research

At the current time, there is no phenomenological research

on the African American male graduates’ academic,

personal/social, and career development lived counseling

experience. This researcher knows that with the No Child Left

Behind Act and the call for counselors’ accountability that

additional research on African American males will be conducted. 188

Educators, policy makers, and professional school counselors must

take a proactive role in collaboratively working together to

provide effective academic, personal/social, and career

development counseling strategies that address the needs of

African American male students. Additional phenomenological

research is needed to document the lived academic,

personal/social, career development counseling experience of

African American male high school dropouts.

This study revealed that all participants in this study are

products of single poverty households and required innovative

counseling interventions from a caring professional school

counselor to excel academically. The availability of professional

school counselors providing academic, personal/social, and career

development counseling in high school have the potential to

inspire the at-risk student to excel academically. Professional

school counselors are in a position to respond after the

formation of unhealthy perception of education and/or 189

unproductive coping skills to overcome adverse conditions.

Further research that focuses on the professional school

counselor providing services at all grade levels would provide

information on the impact of counseling services on students’

academic success. This data will provide professional school

counselors, policy makers, and school administrator with

pertinent information on the impact of the professional school

counselor working with at-risk African American students. In

addition, all the participants in this study grew up with a

single mother or grandmother; further data on African American

males growing up in a two-parent household would provide a basis

for comparison to the current data.

Within this study, poverty was a significant influence in

the participants’ lives. A comparative study of academically

successful African American males’ African American males that

grew up in poverty versus those that did not grow up in poverty

would yield additional data 190

for discussion and analysis. This data would inform educators,

policymakers, parents, and community of missing resources to

accommodate the at-risk African American male from poverty.

The educational system has become aware of bullying and its

impact on physical well-being. Further research on the impact of

bullying on academic success would inform the counseling

community of strategies for the bully and the victim of bullying.

This data would be informative to all stakeholders including law

enforcement.

Although this research focused on the successful counseling

strategies for African American male graduates, further research

on the African American female graduates and Hispanic students

would provide comparative data that would inform educators,

policy makers and all stakeholders on the needs of these

populations in meeting educational goals.

Limitations

191

This phenomenological investigation was limited to the lived

experiences of 10 participants within the southern part of Texas.

The findings in this study cannot be generalized for all African

American male high school graduates living in the South Texas.

This study represented 4 of the 30 school districts within the

southern part of Texas. Texas has a high rate of high school

graduates and this study only represented the graduates in the

South Texas. This study was limited to self-identification of

African American Texas high school graduates with positive

counseling experiences. This study focused on African American

male graduates lived

counseling experience with successful academic, personal/social,

and career development counseling in high school without

consideration for those that did not graduate after receiving

counseling.

Conclusion

192

The research question, “What is the lived experience of

African American male high school graduates who participated in

academic, personal, and/or career school counseling?” was

satisfactorily answered in the results of this study. African

American male graduates who received academic, personal/social,

and career development shared their lived counseling experience.

The participants credit their counseling experiences with their

successful graduation from high school and other life lessons

such as coping skills for anger management. The effective

counseling strategies consisted of advocating on behalf of

students to teachers and probation officers. The professional

school counselor proved to be invaluable to the success of the

participants in this study.

Overall, key findings in this study indicated major themes

consisting of advocacy, caring relationships, and mutual respect.

The professional school counselor must believe in the student

served and model respect. All of the participants in this study 193

are products of broken homes, experienced death of a parent,

imprisonment of a parent, responsible for financial support,

and/or negative behavior such as selling drugs on behalf of a

parent. These students enter the classroom with students who are

from traditional homes with working loving parents and are

expected to

perform equally in the educational setting. Counselors advocating

on behalf of the at-risk African American male student will

attempt to provide equitable education by implementing

nontraditional techniques such as allowing the student to pick

his own teachers in making his course schedule. This strategy is

not needed for all students and will overflow the classroom of

certain teachers and leave the other classrooms empty of

students. The counselors’ challenge is to empower at-risk

students in academic achievement. Certainly, the request made to

teachers to allow a student to complete his work and return to

the auto mechanic shop is a strategy that would empty the 194

classrooms and create chaos within the building. Yet, these are

only a few of the nontraditional techniques employed by the

professional school counselor to accommodate temporary situations

for the students at-risk of academic failure. These are

techniques a university is incapable of prescribing and the

school is likewise unable to implement. African American male

students living in poverty and adverse living conditions require

nontraditional methods to guide them into successful outcomes.

The students in this study came to school with defeated

attitudes due to their living conditions and the professional

school counselor could do very little to change the living

condition; but this limitation does not exempt him/her from her

duty and responsibility as a professional school counselor. The

role of the professional school counselor is to promote equitable

educational opportunities for all students. The guideline is

broad and void of specific instructions on how to address the

need for a uniform shirt or finances for the family. The 195

professional school counselor’s must be resourceful and

compassionate to empower at risk African American males toward

successful educational outcomes.

The emergent themes in this study are interrelated and

mandate professional school counselor’s belief in the ability of

the at-risk African American male students. Belief in the ability

of all students is a quality that can’t be mandated by legislator

or measured for compliance by school district. The data revealed

at-risk African American male students’ completion of high school

spoke volumes about the ability of the professional school

counselor to meet the needs of the students served. The

counseling profession is experiencing a paradigm shift to data

driven researched based programs to optimize academic successful

outcomes for all students. Professional school counselors must

advocate, care, and cultivate mutual respect for the all students

which requires a strong belief in the ability of all students.

196

The professional school counselors in this study serve as

models for their field in finding positive ways to reach out to

at-risk African American male students in empowering them to

graduate from high school. It is the responsibility of the school

to provide educational equity in a learning environment where

educators believe in the ability of all students. Professional

School Counselors are required to abide by the ASCA National

Model guidelines and meet the needs of African American males in

academic, personal/social, and career development counseling.

197

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232

APPENDIX A

CRITERION SAMPLING QUESTIONS

233

CRITERION SAMPLING QUESTIONS

1. Are you an African American male between the ages of

19-25 living in the Houston area?

2. Did you graduate from a Texas public high school

excluding the Houston Independent School District in or

after the 2005 school year?

3. Did you participate in academic, personal, and/or career

counseling during high school?

234

APPENDIX B

QUALITATIVE DISSERTATION STUDY QUESTIONS

235

Participant Interview Protocol

1. Did you receive academic, personal, and/or career

counseling in high school?

2. How would you describe your (academic, personal,

and/or career) school counseling experience?

3. When did you receive high school counseling and what

led you to seek counseling?

4. Did you ever think about dropping out of school?

5. Would you share academic, personal, and/or social

problems that the counselor helped you cope with or

resolve that could have prevented you from

completing high school?

6. What difference did a professional school counselor

make in your decision to complete high school?

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about

your counseling experience?

Header

APPENDIX C

FIELD TEST

237

Header

Field Test Results

The group met to discuss the wording of the questions and

the relevancy of asking these questions to address the research

question. These questions were revised according to suggestions

from the field test.

1. Did you receive academic, personal, or career

counseling in high school?

2. How would you describe your (academic, personal,

and/or career) school counseling experience?

3. When did you receive high school counseling and what

led you to seek counseling?

4. Did you ever think about dropping out of school?

5. Would you share academic, personal, and/or social

problems that the counselor helped you cope with or

resolve that could have prevented you from

completing high school?

6. What difference did a professional school counselor

make in your decision to complete high school?

238

Header

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about

your counseling experience?

Question number 1, (Did you receive academic, personal, or

career counseling in high school?) will inform the research of

the specific need(s) of the participant. This question will open

the discussion for additional questions on specific events.

Question number 2, (How would you describe your academic,

personal, or career counseling experience in high school?) will

yield responses and set the tone for the interview.

Question number 3, (When did you receive school counseling

and what led you to seek counseling?) was thought to be adequate

and easily understood to initiate a dialogue.

Question number 4, (Did you ever think about dropping out of

school?) replaced the question, “What barriers to completing high

school did the counselor help you overcome? It was discussed and

found to be adequate and broad enough to allow students to

reminisce on various activities.

Question number 5, (What were the most productive and least

productive activities utilized by the counselor?) was changed to

239

Header

“Would you share academic, personal, and/or social problems that

the counselor helped you cope with or resolve that could have

prevented you from completing high school?”

Question number 6, (What difference did a school counselor

make in your decision to complete high school?) was thought to be

adequate for open discussion.

Question number 7, (Is there anything else you would like to

share about your counseling experience?) was voted as adequate

and easily understood.

Field test was completed in 2 hours and 15.

240