Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Lequisha Brown-Joseph

Abstract

Access to an equitable education is a federal mandate to ensure that all students can access curriculum and instruction that is relevant and purposeful. In a local urban school district located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, elementary school teachers are charged with being culturally responsive, but there is little understanding of what teachers know about using culturally responsive teaching (CRT) to improve diverse students’ performance on standardized assessments. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore what teachers know about implementing CRT practices to ensure that diverse students have access to equitable curriculum and instruction. CRT presents the notion of engaging all students of diverse backgrounds by linking academic content to students’ culture through curriculum, instruction, and assessment as a means of increasing achievement. Gay’s conceptual framework of CRT guided this study and is the foundation for the research question. The research question focused on teachers’ perceptions of implementing culturally responsive teaching strategies in Grades K-5 at three local school sites. Data were collected from a purposeful sample study of nine elementary school teachers in Grades K-5 through semistructured interviews and classroom observations. Data were analyzed using an inductive search of themes and patterns through coding. Five themes emerged: classroom relationships, instructional practices, discourse, critical consciousness, and family collaboration. Results indicated that teachers had some knowledge of culturally responsive teaching theory, but practices were inconsistently implemented in classrooms. The results of the study may affect social change by providing instructional leaders a foundation to prepare professional development for teachers.

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