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Administrative Chair of Institutional Research The Graduate School

Appendix C: Participant Recruitment Letter [Insert Date]

Dear [Recipient]:

As a graduate student in the School of Education at Liberty University, I am conducting research as part of the requirements for a doctorate degree in education. The purpose of my research is to uncover the perceptions that African American males who have graduated from a four-year college have toward education and the factors that helped them experience academic success. It is my goal to explore what factors played a greater role in your academic success and what role the education environment you were exposed to played in your educational experience. I am writing to invite you to participate in my study.

To be eligible for this study you must be over the age of 18 and have graduated with a degree from a four-year college. If you are willing to participate you will be asked to be involved in one or more of the following activities. First an 1 hour focus group activity, a 1-2 hour personal interview that will be done either and preferably in person or over the phone at your convenience, or asked to complete a narrative timeline describing your academic career. Following the focus group or interview you will be asked to review your responses to the questions to insure accuracy and to allow you to clarify or expand on any responses. This process should also take 1-2 hours. Your participation will be completely confidential and no personal, identifying information will be required. Your name will be requested as part of your participation, but the information will remain confidential.

To participate contact me via phone at 865-207-7387 or via email at [email protected]. I will then send you a consent form for you to fill out and email back to me. This consent for contains additional information about my research and will inquire on a few more pieces of personal information that will help structure your involvement in this study. Once this form has been completed I will set up an interview time that will accommodate your schedule and arrange a location that is easily accessible for you.

It is my hope that this research will help other African American males understand what contributed to your academic success and utilize these factors to attain academic achievement themselves. It is also my hope that information gathered in this study can help educators and parents understand how they can help African American males attain success in their academic pursuits. Thank you for your time and willingness and I feel very confident that your efforts in helping this project will pay dividends in the future of a young man’s education.

Sincerely, Brian Nix Teacher/Coach Alcoa High School Graduate Student Liberty University

Appendix D: Informed Consent Form

CONSENT FORM

A Transcendental Phenomenological study that examines African American male student’s perceptions of factors that contribute to academic success at a four-year college.

Brian Nix Liberty University School of Education

You are invited to be in a research study about how African American males perceive factors that contributed to their ability to graduate from a four-year college. You were selected as a possible participant because you are an African American male that obtained a degree from a four-year college and attended high school and college in the rural southern region in which the study is being conducted. Please read this form and ask any questions you may have before agreeing to be in the study.

Brian Nix, a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at Liberty University, is conducting this study.

Background Information: The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions that African American males that have graduated from a four year academic institution have toward

education and the factors that helped them experience academic success. It is my goal to explore what factors played a greater role in your academics success and what role the education

environment you were exposed to played in your educational experience. It is my hope that this research will help other African American males see the factors that have contributed to your academic success and utilize these factors to attain academic achievement themselves. I also hope that information gathered in this study from your personal experience can help educators and parent’s beer understand how they can help African American males attain success in their academic pursuits. The questions that this study hopes to answer are what factors do African American male students perceive as contributing to their academic success in attaining a 4-year college degree? What factors do African American males, who have attained a 4-year college degree, believe have contributed to their academic success? What factors do African American males college graduates believe interfered with their academic progress and how were they able to overcome these obstacles in pursuit of their 4-year degree? How does the school environment of a 4-year college affect an African American male students' ability to attain a college degree? Procedures: If you agree to be in this study, I would ask you to do the following things:

1. Participate in a personal interview that will last 1 to 2 hours. An audio recording of this interview will be n=made along with notes that will be taken by myself.

2. Participate in a focus group session in which guiding questions will be asked to direct the conversation of the participants. This activity should take 1-2 hours. An audio recording

3. Complete a personal narrative describing your educational experience as a whole in story form. Guiding questions will be provided to help direct this activity. This activity should

take 1 hour.

Risks: The risks involved in this study are that you may be forced to deal with negative emotions or memories regarding your educational experience. It is also possible that you could feel

offended or prejudiced by some of the interview questions. The risks in this study are minimal. I have taken every step possible through pee review to ensure that my questions will minimize the likely hood of this occurring. My questions must also be approved by Liberty Universities Review board which will also help ensue that this will be a positive experience for all involved Benefits: The direct benefits participants should expect to receive from taking part in this study are Your participation in this study will hopefully create a sense of pride in your own

accomplishments and help you as a participant remember positive situations and events that helped you graduate from a four-year college. Hopefully the study will also help you remember individuals that helped you along the way. Benefits to society include the hope that your

involvement in this study will help African American males in the future that start college continue in their programs and obtain their degree. It is also hoped that the knowledge gained from this study will help parents and educators of African American males better assist these individuals in completing a four-year degree.

Compensation: Participants will not be compensated for participating in this study.

Confidentiality: The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report I might publish, I will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a subject.

Research records will be stored securely, and only the researcher will have access to the records. Your name will not be used within any of the identifying data—interview, transcript or within the actual paper. All identifying information will be secured. You will be assigned a pseudonym upon arriving for your initial interview and this name will be used to identify you throughout the study. Personal interviews will be done in a privet setting in which response will only be heard by myself. All personal interviews and focus group sessions will be recorded and transcribed. Only the researcher will have access to this information. Data will be stored on a password locked computer and after three years all of the data pertaining to this study will be deleted or destroyed. I cannot assure you that discussions and responses that occur during the focus group will not be shared outside of the research setting but I will encourage participants at the end of the focus group to refrain from repeating anything that was shared during our session to anyone outside of the study.

Voluntary Nature of the Study: Participation in this study is voluntary. Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your current or future relations with Liberty University. If you decide to participate, you are free to not answer any question or withdraw at any without

affecting those relationships.

How to Withdraw from the Study: If you choose to withdraw from the study, please contact the researcher at the email address/phone number included in the next paragraph. Should you

choose to withdraw, data collected from you,apart from focus group data, will be destroyed immediately and will not be included in this study. Focus group data will not be destroyed, but your contributions to the focus group will not be included in the study if you choose to withdraw. Contacts and Questions: The researcher conducting this study is Brian Nix. You may ask any questions you have now. If you have questions later, you are encouraged to contact him at865- 207-7387 or [email protected]. You may also contact the researcher’s faculty advisor, Amy McLemore at [email protected]

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study and would like to talk to someone other than the researcher, you are encouraged to contact the Institutional Review Board, 1971 University Blvd., Green Hall Ste. 1887, Lynchburg, VA 24515 or email at [email protected].

Please notify the researcher if you would like a copy of this information for your records.

Statement of Consent: I have read and understood the above information. I have asked questions and have received answers. I consent to participate in the study.

(NOTE: DO NOT AGREE TO PARTICIPATE UNLESS IRB APPROVAL INFORMATION WITH CURRENT DATES HAS BEEN ADDED TO THIS DOCUMENT.)

The researcher has my permission to audio-record me as part of my participation in this study.

______________________________________________________________________________

Signature of Participant Date

______________________________________________________________________________ Signature of Investigator

Appendix E: Interview Questions

1. Describe your family background, parents, and siblings. Where did you live throughout your childhood? What was the educational background of your parents or guardians?

2. Define academic success.

3. How has the attainment of a 4-year degree affect your life?

4. Describe personal choices you made and strategies you used that have caused you to be successful.

5. What role did your parents or guardians play in your academic success?

6. Explain the role that academic figures such as teachers, coaches, counselors and administrators played in your success.

7. Explain the role your social network such as friends, pastors and community figures played in your academic success.

8. How did you feel about the culture and environment of the schools you attended both pre- and post-secondary? Were your individual needs as an African American male were met by the school you attended. And also did you feel like you belonged in the school

environment in both high school and college.

9. Did you ever feel social pressure not to excel academically? Did you ever feel excluded or criticized due to your academic success? Explain these instances and how they made you feel.

10. How did interactions with various people family, friends, and teachers make you feel about your ability to achieve academic success?

11. What was in your opinion the number one factor that assisted you in your academic success.

12. What are some steps a group or an individual took to try and assist and support you in your academic success that you feel were unnecessary?

13. Was there ever a time when an individual made you feel that you were incapable of experiencing academic success? If so describe this interaction and why you believe it made you feel this way?

14. What advice do you have for other African American males trying to attain a college degree?

15. What advice do you have for teachers, parents, coaches, and other individuals who are trying to help African American males attain a college degree?

Appendix F: Focus Group

1. What challenges did you experience during your academic career in middle school, high school, or college? Why do you feel these challenges caused you problems and how were you able to overcome these problems and set backs.

2. Describe the factors that contributed to your academic success and why you feel they were effective. What factors do you feel were most effective in helping you achieve academic success.

3. Who were key individuals that helped you succeed academically and in what ways did they aid in your success?

4. What were some of the greatest needs you experienced during your academic career and how were some of these needs met?

5. What can educators and parents do to help African American males succeed academically?

6. Tell us a story that you would like to tell a young African American male, of a specific challenge you experienced in an academic setting and how you overcame it.

Appendix G: Personal Narrative Personal Narrative Questions

Use these questions to guide your reflections on your high school experience. Address each year of high school separately and consider how your responses to these questions may have changed over the course of attaining your diploma.

1. Describe personal choices you made during college and strategies you used that caused you to be successful in college. Which one of these factors played the biggest role in your success and why.

2. What was your perception of and attitude toward academic achievement during each year of your high school career? How did this change throughout high school and if so why?

3. Who were the most important influences in your life in regard to your academic achievement during each year of high school and why?

4. What were the attitudes of your peers toward academic achievement in general and specifically toward your pursuit of academic achievement? Did these attitudes ever affect your desire to achieve academic success? Did you individually ever fell criticized or alienated because of your academic success? Give specific examples of both positive and negative experiences regarding this question.

5. What advice would you give an African American male from each stage of your high school career on things they could do to improve their chances of academic success and things they should not do that could hinder their chance for academic achievement.