Exploring Hurricane Katrina's Influence on At-Risk Black Males' Graduation Rates: Views-Experiences of Secondary Teachers

Researchers have sought to understand factors that contribute to the low high school graduation rate of at-risk Black males. Studies have shown that at-risk Black male students in particular drop out of high school at nearly twice the rate of males not considered at-risk. One area of particular interest is the coast of Louisiana, affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There is concern that the lingering presence of Hurricane Katrina could be affecting graduation rates of some at-risk Black males. In addition, these students face internal and external challenges, which may influence their decision to graduate. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore reasons why some at-risk Black males in Louisiana fail to graduate from high school by exploring the views and experiences of teachers who were present before and after Hurricane Katrina. A case study approach was used in this research, in which nine purposefully chosen faculty members were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol. Five core concepts from social cognitive theory formed the conceptual framework for the study: observational learning (modeling), expectation of outcomes, sense of self-efficacy, goal setting, and self-regulation. Chaos theory was used as a lens to extend the social cognitive theory. Collecting data from teachers aided researchers in understanding the impact of Hurricane Katrina on at-risk Black males and offered lessons learned toward developing solutions to help mitigate the impact disasters have on vulnerable student populations. Recommendations for future research included replicating this study in another school system that has experienced a natural disaster to validate the findings in this study. Comparing and contrasting the findings of this study with findings from future studies might aid in understanding the reasons that these students are not graduating.