Culturally responsive teaching practices in schools and classrooms have been shown to be an effective means of addressing the achievement gap, as well as the disproportionate representation of racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students in programs serving students with special needs. While there has been a recent influx in research discussing these issues, teachers and school staff lack clear examples and tools for best practices that will aid them in addressing the achievement gap and disproportionality effectively within their schools. Conducted in three phases, this research provides a framework for developing, implementing, and evaluating a culturally responsive tool for schools and school staff in order to impact beliefs and practices related to culturally responsive teaching, leading to the enhanced learning outcomes of all students.

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This study sought to investigate the efficacy of a professional development designed to equip teachers with antiracist practices and support them in developing an abolitionist mindset. The study was designed for white teachers. Participants of the study engaged in a 6-week course grounded in a constructivist learning theory, TLT, and centered around the text, We Want to Do More Than Survive by Love (2019). Participants also engaged with a variety of other texts and resources grounded in asset pedagogies. The sessions were participant-led and focused on cultivating the skills for antiracist teaching while cultivating a mindset grounded in abolition. The data gathered through surveys and a focus group revealed that some design elements, such as continued reflection, affinity space, and building community before engaging in critical dialogue, were found to be highly effective. Stages of development emerged as teachers moved from leveraging culturally responsive practices, to engaging antiracist practices, to critiquing systems of oppression. As teachers deepened their understanding of abolition, they became more aware of the implications of systemic racism in education, and how educators can play an active role in dismantling it. The current study, along with the growing body of research on asset pedagogies, could provide a road map for what effective asset pedagogy professional development could look like.

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore and analyze the nature of and rationale for classroom pedagogical and management strategies used by two effective female, Caucasian teachers who taught predominantly low socioeconomic, African American students. Teachers’ perceptions about the cultural and linguistic differences between low socioeconomic African American students and themselves were studied, as well as how these differences influenced their teaching and management strategies. Ladson-Billings’ (1994) work on culturally relevant pedagogy and Weinstein, Curran, and Tomlinson-Clarke’s (2003) and Brown’s (2003) models on culturally responsive classroom management served as conceptual frameworks for this study. Qualitative data were collected using classroom observations and teacher interviews. Findings from the study indicated that these two teachers built positive, mutually respectful relationships with their students to better understand their students on a personal level, delivered explicit behavioral expectations and classroom lessons, taught students the importance and applicability of lessons, demanded quality student performance, and possessed high expectations for student achievement. Both teachers selected pedagogical and classroom management strategies based on the individual academic needs of the students. Nevertheless, these teachers had difficulty identifying cultural and linguistic differences between themselves and their students. Therefore, cultural and linguistic differences did not directly influence teaching strategies they selected. However, these teachers inadvertently used culturally relevant pedagogical strategies without being aware of their own cultures and their students’ cultures. Finally, these teachers did not understand the important role that students’ cultures play in the classroom. Contrary to the findings of previous research, this study demonstrated that effective Caucasian female teachers do not need to understand the general cultural characteristics of African American students. However, on a specific individual basis, if the Caucasian female teacher understands the child, then she can successfully utilize pedagogical and classroom management strategies that will ensure the child’s academic success.

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