African American students across income classes have been found to struggle with mathematics, impeding their ability to complete college, pursue lucrative careers, and address socioeconomic problems. Using the tenets of liberation and critical race theory, this qualitative case study explored the perceptions of a small group of 8 African American adults as to what they believe to be the root causes of mathematics achievement disparity for African American K-14 students, and what role the African American community can play in ameliorating these disparities. As most related studies are on low income communities, this study focused on an affluent African American community. Standardized math test performance data were gathered for local public schools, and 8 African American community leaders were interviewed; all but one were parents and 5 were science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals. Participants identified 4 root causes of disparities and 4 roles the community can play in addressing them. Root causes related to stunted aspirations, cultural obstacles, academic barriers, and poor rewards. Roles included funding a parallel culturally-responsive academic support system, inducing African American organizations to improve support for academic initiatives, improve children's understanding of the importance of math, and strengthen the community's communications with schools. Curriculum for a community training program was designed to support these roles. The results of this study support social change by informing stakeholders on how disparities manifest in mathematics achievement, even in an affluent African American community, and by providing information about how to leverage community participation in developing more culturally relevant and sustainable academic interventions.

Employee Training and Development (T&D) is a crucial component to an organization’s success and its ability to remain competitive. Although researchers in the field have discovered ways to enhance the effectiveness of training programs through the design, delivery, and evaluation process, research has not provided empirically-based recommendations for how to best train individuals whose cultural backgrounds may influence receptiveness of training curriculum. This is particularly relevant for employees whose cultural groups have been historically discriminated against, where cultural norms implicit in the training design may be met with resistance on behalf of the trainees. In the field of multicultural education, an instructional approach has been suggested to overcome cultural differences between instructor, curriculum writers, and students known as culturally responsive education. I evaluated a pre-training video prime based on this approach in the context of multi-site data-use training program for Native American educational professionals. Data-use training was delivered after exposure to one of two videos that framed the objectives of data use either in a culturally responsive way or in a generic mainstream fashion. Participants filled out surveys after the video but before the training, and then again after the training. Prime type was randomly assigned by training location. I hypothesized that participants who received a culturally responsive training prime would learn more during the data-usage training than participants who did not, and that this effect would be mediated by heightened affective motivators immediately following the culturally responsive prime. None of the hypothesized pathways were supported. There was no direct effect of my prime manipulation on knowledge (Hypothesis 1) or skill acquisition (H2), or on pre-training motivation to learn (H3), research-related self-efficacy (H4), goal-commitment (H5), or identification with research (H6). Furthermore, there were no indirect effects of my manipulation on knowledge (H7) or skill (H8) acquisition through pre-training motivation to learn, self-efficacy, goal-commitment, or identification with research. The motivation to learn subscale for valence had a significant positive direct effect on knowledge and skill acquisition and self-efficacy significantly positively predicted skill acquisition. Goal-commitment and motivation to learn subscales for instrumentality and expectancy had a significant negative relationship with skill acquisition. Lack of support for my hypothesized pathways is explained partially by the failure of my independent variable to influence perceptions of cultural responsiveness. A manipulation check revealed that participants did not appraise my culturally responsive priming video as significantly more relevant or culturally appropriate compared to the alternative mainstream video. Findings on the positive effects of valence and self-efficacy are discussed in support of current literature. Negative effects of expectancy are discussed in terms of stereotype threat. The implications and applications for trainers and researchers in training and minority education are followed by a consideration of this study’s limitations and suggestions for future research.

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Teachers can use culturally relevant pedagogical strategies and technologies as emerging tools to improve students' problem-solving skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the effectiveness of culturally specific computer-based instructional tasks on ninth-grade African American mathematics students. This study tried to determine if problem-solving skills and overall mathematical achievement and attitude could be improved using these computer-based tasks. A culturally specific, computer-based mathematics assessment (CD-ROM) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment were used to measure student growth in mathematical problem solving. The Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales (MFSAS) were used to measure mathematics attitude. To determine whether or not the study was practical, an initial study was conducted (Study I) to see if pre- and post-tests would accurately forecast student performance. There were three groups for Study I. The two treatment groups worked in the computer lab on a Cognitive Tutor program to improve skills in Algebra 1. They were also exposed to word problems that were based on culturally specific themes. The control group had no exposure to the computer lab or word problems with culturally specific themes. Only one significant difference occurred in Study I. One of the treatment groups' data results declined significantly on the CD-ROM. In spite of this, the group revealed a slightly more favorable attitude towards mathematics than the other two groups. This treatment group also demonstrated the largest increase in NAEP pre- and post-test data results. For Study II there were two groups. The treatment group worked on a Google Maps project where students mapped different coordinates within their neighborhoods and plotted the results. The control group received computer lab instruction similar to the treatment group but did not work on Google Maps. When scores of the control and treatment groups on the CD-ROM assessment, NAEP assessment, and MFSAS survey were compared using a pre-test/post-test design in Study II, only one significant difference occurred. The control groups' CD-ROM scores resulted in nearly a 50% decline. A correlation analysis in Study II revealed that there were weak relationships between most of the measures, suggesting scores on each measure were unrelated. / CITE/Mathematics and Science Education

The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to determine the degree of culturally responsive teaching practices and level of cultural competence of participants who teach upper elementary (grades three through six) STEM educators of predominantly Native Hawaiian students. The second purpose was to identify differences in cultural competence and culturally responsive teaching practices of those same participants identified above. These two participant groups were from the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s Keonepoko and Pāhoa Elementary Schools. Both schools are from the Keaʻau-Kaʻu-Pāhoa Complex Area. The educators from Keonepoko were afforded knowledge and experiences from a culture-based professional development program known as the Moenahā School Program, while the educators from Pāhoa were not afforded these same knowledge and experiences. Using a quantitative, quasi-experimental design, data were collected via an online survey using three instruments: the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Inventory (CRTSE), the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Questionnaire (CCSAQ), and the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Scale Demographic Information (CCSASDI). The data were analyzed using mean scores and those mean scores were compared for differences using a Mann-Whitney U test. The findings indicated the Moenahā participants had a statistically significantly higher level of cultural competence and higher degree of culturally responsive teaching practices than the non-Moenahā participants suggesting the importance of cultural competence professional development iii opportunities. These findings are applicable for teachers in schools with an higher Native Hawaiian student population. / Ph. D.

Children from many culturally diverse backgrounds do not achieve in mathematics at the same rates as their counterparts from the dominant White, European-American culture (Gay, 2010). This so-called achievement gap is an artifact of an educational system that continues to fail to provide equal learning opportunities to culturally diverse children (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Nieto & Bode, 2011). Teachers who employ culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2010) may help to close this opportunity gap and hence, the achievement gap. This study investigated, "How do elementary teacher candidates perceive teaching mathematics in a multicultural environment"; Using a critical constructivism research paradigm, this qualitative instrumental multiple case study involved a questionnaire, two interviews and a focus group with four elementary teacher candidates enrolled in a one-year teaching licensure program. The study examined elementary teacher candidates' images of mathematics and diverse students and the relationship between those images and their perceptions of teaching mathematics in a multicultural environment. The study concluded that the participants', images of mathematics, learners, and the teaching of mathematics were interrelated. The participants struggled to understand how students' diversity based on group membership (e.g., culture) influences a mathematics classroom and their teaching. However, on the basis of these participants, teacher candidates who hold a conceptual image of mathematics could be more open to adopting culturally responsive teaching than teacher candidates who hold a procedural image of mathematics. The study recommends the integration and modeling of culturally responsive teaching throughout all teacher education coursework.