Although significant gains have been made in recent years with regard to increasing access to higher education for African Americans, with 38.4% of Black 18 to 24 year-olds enrolled in college as of 2016 compared to just 25.4% in 1990, completion rates have not kept pace. The national six-year graduation rate for Black students at four-year…

This dissertation is about a historically white university's engagement with what is called the 'coloured question.' It explores how the University of Pretoria (UP) grappled with the question of where 'coloureds' belonged politically, socially and economically in apartheid South Africa -- specifically through the disciplines of sociology and…

This study followed the course of a professional development intervention to support kindergarten teachers in using a critical literacy approach to teach their students about race, ethnicity, and equity. The purpose of the design-based intervention, which took place in a diverse but somewhat racially segregated school district, was to empower…

This dissertation recognizes that the emergence of post-apartheid South Africa as the most popular study destination in Africa follows racial segregation, regional destabilization, and international isolation during apartheid. Today, the country's public higher education institutions face intensifying pressures to respond simultaneously to…

Traditional research often excludes the voices of marginalized populations such as African Americans, who are usually written about instead of being allowed to tell their own stories (King, 2005). This research gives African Americans the opportunity to "tell their stories" of segregation and integration. Leaving the telling of our…

This research is a study of the educational systems of South Africa and the United States in a comparative perspective. The research examines the success and failures of the two systems, taking black student dropout rates as a case study for understanding the structural, philosophical and public policy foundations of the genesis and development of…

Historical racial segregation within Mississippi's public universities and colleges has led to litigation that spanned 25 years and eventually led to sweeping changes in policies and practices. Among these changes were the standardization of admission criteria and the creation of the Summer Developmental Program (SDP). This study sought to better…

Minority and dominant cultures present a power dynamic that could promote or impede academic achievement for Black immigrant students. Drawing upon bicultural socialization as a conceptual framework, this study explores the predictability of various factors on academic outcomes among foreign-born compared to US-born Black immigrant students. Using…

Domestic workers have played an essential role in the history of South Africa; and yet, current research neither explores the educational experiences of these women nor examines the ways in which national discourses surrounding English language learning influence their educational motivations. This dissertation aims to ameliorate this dearth of…

This research considers how Mexican American history becomes part of the curricular canon, and what their inclusion tells us about popular conceptions of Mexican Americans. At a time of increasing presence of Latina/o students in K-12 classrooms, it is important to consider how we depict their experiences in U.S. history. To address this concern,…

This study attempted to determine whether students participating in a summer camp learn more about a fifth grade history concept of social studies, the Reconstruction Era, via a theater arts production. Data collected for this qualitative study included pre- and post-test drawings, scripted comments, student interviews, teacher interviews, daily…

The Commonwealth of Kentucky was identified in the Adams v Richardson case as one of the nineteen states that were cited for providing separate but equal education for black and white students in higher education. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) required the state of Kentucky to develop a voluntary desegregation plan for its state institutions to…

The Title I program was established to support students who were enrolled in schools that had high rates of children from low-income households. The program's goal was to provide supplemental services that would assist in raising the academic success of students in Title I schools so that they achieve comparable outcomes to children in Non-Title I…

The purpose of this study was to find out how W. S. King School, a school for African American students that operated during segregation, impacted student learning and thereby, influenced the community. Because the former all-black W. S. King School was known to have produced graduates who went on to become successful, productive citizens in…

African-American students are less likely to attend and successfully complete college than their Asian and White peers. Possible explanations for this disparity include racial and ethnic segregation, socioeconomic challenges, persistent shortages of qualified teachers, and scant access to college-preparatory curricula. In the context of such…