The demographic landscape of the elementary classroom continues to grow more diverse. Due to this increasing diversity, it is important that all educators, no matter the level of experience, are prepared to support all students, especially those from unique or under represented backgrounds. One way to assist educators in meeting these needs is to provide them with educational resources and effective teaching strategies that are culturally and linguistically responsive. A possible resource and teaching strategy is the literacy tool, Reader's Theatre. Considering this, the two studies contained in this dissertation provide readers with a glimpse of how Reader's Theatre may be used as a valuable resource to foster culturally and linguistically responsive classrooms. A content analysis (Berelson, 1952; Northrop et al., 2019; White and Marsh, 2006) of 141 Reader's Theatre scripts contained in the Best Class Collection (Young, 2019) was conducted to assess the cultural and linguistic authenticity of those resources. A thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was carried out accessing preservice teachers' perceptions and understandings of Reader's Theatre as a culturally and linguistically responsive teaching strategy gauging the value of combining the two teaching strategies. Overall, the findings from these two studies may serve as starting points for future research in respect to the value of implementing Reader's Theatre as a culturally and linguistically responsive teaching strategy as discussions about culturally and linguistically responsive teaching remain prevalent in today's elementary school classrooms. / Doctor of Education / Students in today's elementary classrooms come from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. Due to this increasing diversity, teachers must be prepared to support these students in a variety of ways. One of the best ways to support these unique students is to use teaching strategies that are engaging and allow students to connect with what is being taught in the classroom. Reader's Theatre, normally used as a literacy strategy, could be used as a tool to address the different cultures and languages of students. In this dissertation, two research studies were conducted about the connection of Reader's Theatre and culturally and linguistically responsive teaching. The first study looked at a group of Reader's Theatre scripts to see if they were appropriate to use in the classroom to support students from multicultural backgrounds. In the second study, preservice teachers, or student teachers, were interviewed to get their thoughts as to any possible value using Reader's Theatre as a culturally and linguistically responsive teaching strategy. The preservice teachers expressed that there is value in combining the two strategies, but only when teachers plan carefully and use Reader's Theatre in a meaningful way. As elementary classroom populations continue to grow in the number of students from diverse backgrounds, the information from these two studies can provide teachers with an idea of what may be possible to support all students in being successful.

University officials have identified a problem among secondary preservice teachers (SPTs) who have expressed reluctance to teach in local urban schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of SPTs regarding their preparation for and experiences with teaching in urban school settings. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Bruner's concept of scaffolding served as the conceptual frameworks that guided this study. Data were collected from 11 SPTs who completed the requirements of their field service experiences in urban schools. Data collection consisted of individual interviews, one focus group interview, and field observations. Findings showed that SPTs desire to make a difference in urban schools, lack confidence in managing culturally diverse classrooms, and desire more faculty guidance in working with diverse populations. SPTs asserted that they need more research-based teaching strategies and urban field experiences. Implications for social change include more collaboration among university faculty, urban school principals, mentor teachers, and community organizations. Findings may be used to prepare SPTs to serve culturally diverse populations, which may improve students' academic achievement in urban classrooms.