03/13/2026
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Zakkiyya Witherspoon “When We Play Our Way: A Culturally Grounded Intervention to Build Social Efficacy and Counteract Marginalization Among Black High School Girls."

Candidate: Zakkiyya Witherspoon
Degree: Doctoral- Ed.D. Leadership in Schooling
Defense Date: March 26, 2026
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Thesis/Dissertation Title: When We Play Our Way: A Culturally Grounded Intervention to Build Social Efficacy and Counteract Marginalization Among Black High School Girls

Dissertation Committee

  • Chair: Linda Riley, Ed.D., Visiting Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Committee Member: Robai Werunga, Ph.D., Faculty, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Committee Member: Michelle Scribner, Ed.D., Clinical Professor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract

Black girls navigating predominantly white educational institutions carry more than academic demands. They bear the labor of code-switching, the weight of adultification bias, and the persistent erasure of the identities that sustain them. These conditions actively constrain their social efficacy development. 

This Dissertation-in-Practice centers the question: How does participation in a culturally grounded intervention influence the social efficacy of Black girls in a predominantly white educational space? 

Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, Black Feminist Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Critical Pedagogy, Manuscript One builds an improvement science framework across macro, meso, and micro levels, informed by scholarship and a local needs assessment at Crescent Academy. Manuscript Two documents a Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle examining the Clap Club, a six-week intervention built around traditional hand-clapping games with nine Black high school girls. Using a mixed-methods design, the intervention surpassed its 10% improvement target: participants achieved a 30.6% mean increase in social efficacy scores. Six qualitative themes revealed deeper shifts in identity affirmation, critical consciousness, and self-advocacy. Manuscript Three translates findings into actionable recommendations for culturally affirming programming and structural change. 

The argument is straightforward, data-supported, and long overdue: identity-affirming spaces are not supplemental. They are essential.

Keywords: Black girls, social efficacy, Black feminist theory, social cognitive theory, hand-clapping games, predominantly white institutions