Date of Conferral
2-22-2024
Date of Award
February 2024
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Robert Flanders
Abstract
The research problem for this study was that school administrators in an East Coast urban public school district in the United States inconsistently implemented leadership strategies to reduce the chronic absences of African American male high school students. Chronic absenteeism rates had led to decreased graduation rates and higher drug use and school dropout rates in the district. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore high school administrators' perspectives on implementing situational theory strategies to address the challenges of reducing the chronic absenteeism of African American male high school students. Hersey and Blanchard’s theory of situational leadership served as the conceptual framework. A purposeful sample of 10 high school administrators with two or more years of experience in their current school and membership on their school’s attendance team participated in semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis featuring open coding was applied to the interview responses. Three themes—building relationships, establishing a support system, and communicating with students—encapsulated participants’ recommendations for making African American male adolescents want to attend school. These findings could contribute to positive social change by highlighting the potential for urban public high school administrators to use situational leadership strategies to maintain daily attendance among African American male high school students. Doing so may reduce chronic absenteeism, which may promote African American male adolescents' academic and postgraduation success.
Recommended Citation
Walker, Torrie Siemone, "High School Administrators’ Perspectives on Reducing Chronic Absenteeism Among African American Male Adolescents" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15427.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15427
