Moore, E. J., & Ratchford, V. F. (2007). Decreasing Discipline Referrals for African American Males in Middle School. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 4(2), 20.

Brogden Middle School (BMS) is located approximately 15 miles south of Goldsboro, North Carolina, a city of approximately 40,000 citizens and the home of a military base. To decrease the number of discipline referrals of African American males, 10 students who had the most frequent discipline referrals during their seventh-grade year were targeted. Administrators, teachers, parents, peers, social workers, and guidance counselors made referrals for the intervention. Even though there had been a decrease in discipline referrals for the entire school body over the three years before this intervention, there remained a disproportionate number of discipline referrals of African American males as opposed to their White counterparts. A university professor contracted by the principal to work with the staff for one year pointed out that young African American males shoulder many problems that occur in their home life. BMS’ demographics showed that 55% of the African American males in the school were products of single-parent (female) homes. They experienced few positive male role models in their lives. To provide positive male role models to African American male students, Dr. Earl Moore, Jr., the principal of BMS, solicited the support of his fraternity brothers, members of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans. These successful gentlemen became a part of the Boys to Men Mentoring Program at the school. All were trained and met weekly with their students. In addition to being positive role models for the African American males in the school, they provided assistance with homework, served as motivational speakers, and became study buddies for their assigned students.

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https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ831292