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The purpose of this qualitative, critical race analysis study is to explore how White faculty conceptualize and apply critical race theory (CRT) and culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) to curricula within a college of education and how the perceptions of their students’ identities influence specific pedagogical decisions. The researcher sought to extend the research on CRT in education by analyzing specific, detailed cases and incorporating purposeful sampling by selecting participants who match specific study criteria, i.e. graduate-level White faculty located in Tennessee who teach in programs of education. This study was limited to six faculty in a college of education (in educational leadership and teacher education graduate programs) at a college in Tennessee. This study provided a framework for additional studies that may assist with exploring how faculty pedagogical decisions in the classroom could be impacted by incorporating CRT/CRP in courses and across curricula in educational leadership and teacher education graduate programs. A total of four themes emerged following the analysis of findings from this study: 1) CRT and CRP in Curriculum involved participants expressing awareness for the need to address race-related issues, e.g., race, diversity, equity, and inclusion matters, in their course curricula. In addition, this awareness highlighted their concerns for departmentwide consistency across course curricula/programs and not just within their isolated courses. 2) CRT/CRP are Novel with Room to Improve was developed based on over half of the participants discussing aspects related to how CRT and CRP within the realm of teaching are nascent and only beginning to be implemented. 3) Faculty Conceptualization of CRT/CRP involved participants expressing an awareness of CRT/CRP but not a full conceptualization of the matter or how to incorporate it in the classroom to address race-related issues (diversity, equity, and inclusion matters) in their course curricula. Lastly, 4) Student Perspective and Composition was another common theme expressed. With race and diversity being the focus, many participants discussed student composition and student perspectives as being relational.

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<p>  </p> <p>This study examined preservice teachers’ culturally responsive literacy teaching self-efficacy changes during the field experiences in relation to the sources of self-efficacy. I delved into the meanings under the theoretical frameworks of culturally responsive teaching and social cognitive theory. I explored 84 preservice teachers’ experiences over three semesters, who have been working with K-5 students from diverse backgrounds. Mixed-methods explanatory sequential design was adopted. In the quantitative phase, I administered a culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy survey before and after the field experiences. Additionally, sources of self-efficacy were studied using a source of self-efficacy inventory scale. Results of the quantitative study indicated that four different types of clusters exist: self-efficacy increased, self-efficacy high-stable, self-efficacy decreased, self-efficacy low-stable. In the qualitative phase, I investigated one preservice teacher from each cluster. This phase shed light on the reasons for the different self-efficacy change patterns among the preservice teachers. Findings from both phases (quantitative, qualitative) have implications: 1. It is crucial for both teacher educators and preservice teachers to understand their culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and its changes. 2. Culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and the sources of self-efficacy display reciprocal interaction. An awareness is critical of how preservice literacy teachers’ experiences in the field affects their culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and other sources of self-efficacy. In light of the findings of the current study, teacher educators may wish to consider helping preservice teachers form informed and realistic culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy. </p>

This study used mixed methods to examine middle school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about English Learners’ ability to participate in rigorous, grade-level math instruction as well as beliefs about their own capacity for teaching English Learners. Additionally, the study investigated the influence of teachers’ beliefs on their instructional practices and identified the types of support teachers need to develop as culturally and linguistically responsive educators. Findings revealed some dissonance between teachers’ explicit beliefs about teaching English Learners and their implicit beliefs illustrated through instructional decisions made, as well as previously unrecognized gaps in teachers’ ability to identify and differentiate the needs of different types of English learners. Finally, the study identified teachers’ pressing needs for additional support at the school and district levels to continue to develop skills and knowledge to improve their teaching for English learners. The study concluded with an action plan for developing a robust professional learning system to develop teachers’ self-efficacy as culturally and linguistically responsive educators while also addressing implicit bias through reflection.

The primary focus of this study was on how the Puente Project helps Latina/o/x community college students feel supported and validated. Additionally, it focused on how community and familial efforts can influence students’ experiences, and how the Puente Project leverages those forms of capital. Examining the lived experiences of Latina/o/x Puente community college alumni contributed to the study of retention and graduation initiatives for Latina/o/x students in the California Community College system. For this study, the participants chosen already completed the Puente program at a California Central Valley community college, transferred to a four-year institution, and either graduated with—or are close to graduating with—a bachelor’s degree. Using a general qualitative approach for this study, along with a conceptual framework composed of Tara Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model and Laura Rendón’s (1994) Validation Theory, helped highlight the stories and experiences of student participants while also answering this study’s research questions. Since this study used a general qualitative approach, the data collection tools included an initial participant interest form, semi-structured one-on-one interviews that were recorded and transcribed, researcher notes, document analysis of Puente’s Community College Guidelines, and a researcher positionality journal. Four major themes were identified through the data analysis process. Theme 1: Family Influence on Educational Journey is comprised of two subthemes: (a) Source of Motivation and (b) School Selection. Theme 2: Creating a Community of Care and Belonging has three subthemes: (a) Puente Trips and Events, (b) Culturally Responsive Curriculum, and (c) Affirmations and Encouragement. Theme 3: Guidance Navigating Higher Education Structures contains three subthemes: (a) Course Planning and Transfer Guidance, (b) Exposure to College Programs and Resources, and (c) Continued Puente Support Post-Transfer. Lastly, Theme 4: Leadership Development encompasses three subthemes: (a) Role Modeling, (b) Mentoring and Networking, and (c) Applying Leadership Skills. The findings of this study can help community college administrators, policy makers, faculty, and staff support California community college Latina/o/x students to increase retention and graduation rates.

Latinx families, particularly those whose primary language is Spanish, are significantly underrepresented in independent schools nationwide and experience barriers to engaging in their children’s education. Recognizing the crucial role of parent engagement in student academic success and socioemotional well-being, this research aimed to understand the unique challenges faced by Spanish-dominant parents in navigating the independent school contexts. Grounded in Khalifa et al.’s (2016) culturally responsive school leadership framework, the study intended to identify effective practices and strategies that facilitate Spanish-dominant parent engagement. The narrative data, collected through both a group plática and individual interviews, offered valuable insights into the experiences of a group of Spanish-dominant mamás The findings revealed three major themes: the importance of enhanced access to services and resources for meaningful engagement, the critical role of bilingual school contacts in bridging communication gaps, and the positive impact of cultivating a sense of belonging to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for Spanish-dominant families. Language access proved to be a vital factor in fostering parent engagement, enabling these parents to actively participate in their children's education through support with translation and interpretation services and other resources in Spanish. Additionally, a bilingual family liaison provided them a portal of accessibility to the whole school. Lastly, opportunities for authentic and culturally sensitive involvement further enhanced their sense of belonging, contributing to a more inclusive and supportive school environment. This research highlighted the transformative potential of culturally responsive school leadership, emphasizing its role in empowering Spanish-dominant parents and facilitating their active involvement in independent schools.

Teenage parenting is widely constructed in prevailing research and public discourse as a social problem, with poor outcomes for parent and child. Teenage parents are regarded as a drain on state funds, too young to parent well, and at high risk of social exclusion, both educationally and economically. This thesis proposes that teenage motherhood is a turning point in a young woman’s life and identity, which can be an opportunity, rather than a problem, if there is adequate support for the mother and her child. It considers the role of a New Zealand School for Teenage Parents in providing this support. Using qualitative narrative methodology, ten young women, six family members and nine other members of the School community were interviewed about their experiences of its culture and practices. Six of the young women were also interviewed to gather their life stories. Informed by the narrative understanding that we story our identities from the narrative possibilities available to us within the varied discursive contexts of our lives, this thesis draws on these life stories to explore how the young women storied the fashioning of their own identities as young women, as learners and as young parents. It presents their stories of childhood and family life, teenage-hood and schooling, pregnancy and parenthood, their experiences at the School for Teenage Parents, and their lives since leaving the School, in order to consider the role of the School in supporting the positive refashioning of their identities. This thesis draws on social constructionist and narrative theories to interpret the storied contexts of the young women’s lives, and the role these often constraining and difficult contexts played in the fashioning of their multiple identities. Māori culturally responsive pedagogical theories are also drawn on to interpret the culture of the School for Teenage Parents, and its attempts to provide a supportive and affirming family or whānau environment for its students, in order to offer them more positive narrative possibilities of self and identity as young women, as learners and as young parents.

This was a qualitative study that used the procedures of case study design while incorporating ethnographic techniques of interviewing and non-participant observation in classrooms with six selected students, six teachers, and eight interviews of selected administrators and staff members in one middle school in a large Texas urban school district. The purpose of this study was to understand the educational experiences and perceptions of selected immigrant students and their mainstream teachers. Following the method of case study design, the educational experiences of English Language Learner (ELL) students were examined in the naturally occurring context of the school and the classroom. Because the goal of case studies is to understand a given phenomenon from the perceptions of the participants (referred to as “emic” perspective) all participants were interviewed in-depth in order to understand their unique perceptions. The study took place during a five-month period in the spring of 2002. Data were analyzed concurrently during data collection and were framed by Geneva Gay's (2000) characteristics of culturally responsive teaching. The findings and interpretation of data are divided into three parts that encompass the results of the five research questions that guided this study. Part one presents the teachers' perceptions and addresses the themes that arose from research questions one and two: what are teachers' perceptions of the academic problems facing (ELL) students as they enter the mainstream classroom? What instructional practices do regular teachers use to meet the academic needs of students? Part two presents the students' perceptions and addresses the findings from research questions three and four: what are (ELL) students' perceptions of the academic challenges facing them in the mainstream classroom? What are the ELL students' perceptions of the instructional practices used by mainstream teachers to meet their academic needs? Part three addresses the fifth research question that guided this study: What administrative policies and procedures are in place in the school and district to meet the educational needs of ELL students?

Several studies have indicated that American Indian students in the United States higher education system confront unique challenges that derive from a legacy of colonialism and assimilationist policies (Huff 1997). Several scholars, American Indian and non-Native alike, have explored the effects of this history upon students in higher education (Brayboy 2004; Guillory and Wolverton 2008; Waterman and Lindley 2013). Very few, however, have explored the role of the educators of American Indian students, and most of the literature focuses on K-12 educational settings (McCarty and Lee 2014; Yong and Hoffman 2014). This thesis examines exploratory user research conducted to generate a foundational understanding of educators of American Indian students in higher education. Utilizing methods from design anthropology and user experience, semi-structured interviews and think-aloud sessions were conducted, almost exclusively virtually, for 17 participants. This research was conducted for a client, Fire & Associates, as part of the applied thesis process. Findings revealed a complex web of needs for educators of American Indian students in higher education related to teaching diverse students, the use of media and technology in the classroom, and the process of networking among other educators. The research culminated in content and design implications for the Fire & Associates website as well as suggestions for further research based on best practices in the field of user experience.