Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Educational Leadership
First Advisor
Thomas Gregory Barrett, Ph. D.
Abstract
Using an oral history format, the qualitative study of graduates from Sparkman Training School, an all-Black small, rural school in Sparkman, Arkansas, sought to identify factors evident in this segregated school that enhanced the chances for those graduates in becoming successful in college. The four research questions of the study sought factors in the segregated experience that motivated participants to attend college, helped prepare them for college, contributed to their academic persistence to college graduation, and contributed to a successful collegiate experience. Seven former teachers and 24 of the 35 identified college graduates from 1954 to the school’s closing in 1969 were interviewed. Available archival data were used. The participants represent 14 earned master’s degrees and career years of over 400 in education, 240 in business, 150 in social services, and 80 in the ministry. Parents and teachers were the main motivators. Parental involvement mostly consisted of the “home porch” approach that continually encouraged good school attendance, good behavior at school, homework completion, and earning good grades. Teachers were positive and motivated students to “do the best you can do.” Principals were strict but provided a school environment that was safe and conducive to learning. All participants indicated self motivation and, in addition to parents and teachers, two-thirds of the participants identified “other” persons who motivated them. Unlike the existing literature, community unity was not found in this study (16 participants lived outside the town of Sparkman). A “basic” curriculum, a State Department of Education school rating of “B” during most of the study years, facilities that were adequate at best, used and outdated textbooks, and lack of science and library resources were not hindrances that prevented these participants from achieving success. All were first-generation college students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, but their hard work to achieve high expectations in high school and their extra effort in college enabled them to be successful in college and after. The study adds to the genre of literature on the numerous all-Black, segregated and now defunct public high schools that operated throughout the South.
Recommended Citation
Stallings, George Ann Newsome, "Growing up Separate: An Oral History of the College Educational and Career Outcomes of Black Graduates from a Rural, Segregated Public High School from 1954 to 1969" (2008). Theses and Dissertations. 88.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/88
