This study examined perceptions of effective, urban, elementary general music teachers concerning effective teaching and pre-service preparation for urban, elementary general music classrooms. The study was conducted in two phases: survey and interview. Survey phase participants were experienced, urban, elementary general music teachers from different geographical areas of the United States, who had been identified as effective teachers by music teacher educators or music supervisors. Interview phase participants comprised a subset of survey participants who achieved high levels of potential cross-cultural adaptability on the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (Kelley & Meyers, 1995). A comprehensive interview instrument was administered to each participant in a collective case study research design. From the gathered data, 162 themes emerged from coded passages, with 100 themes comprising commonalities among the six interview participants. In addition to specific traits, beliefs, and strategies, the following four meta-themes emerged from an examination of commonalities: flexibility, cultural knowledge and skills, caring and responsive attitude, and musical knowledge and music teaching skills. From these meta-themes, a model of effective, urban, elementary general music teaching was generated. Findings and implications of the study were also discussed, and recommendations were made for future research.

This study explored the social inclusiveness of classrooms with culturally competent teachers who were identified both by their participation in in-service diversity training and by principal nomination. The design of this study was primarily quantitative using a one-way ANOVA to analyze whether fourth and fifth grade students (N = 125) in classrooms with teachers identified as culturally competent are more inclusive in their mutual friendships than students (N = 117) in classrooms with not trained teachers at the same schools. Sociometric questionnaires were used to collect data on mutual friendships. Observations of students in lunchroom settings were also conducted. Findings from the sociometric questionnaire suggest that students with culturally competent teachers, also referred to as culturally responsive teachers in the literature, have broader and more diverse social networks than students in classrooms with not trained teachers. However, in the lunchroom settings where a given student must choose a limited number of students to sit next to at the lunch table, no notable differences between the classrooms emerged. Other than training in diversity issues, teachers in the two groups were very similar.

The discourse on education for Aboriginal people has long been limited to a curriculum of cultural assimilation often resulting in an erosion of self-esteem and disengagement. Consequently, this research puts forth narratives of how fiddle programs in northern Manitoba work as a culturally responsive curriculum that in turn address such curricular erosions. As a research methodology, Metissage afforded me pedagogical opportunities to weave the various perspectives of community members, parents, instructors, and former students into an intricate story that attempts to represent some of their social, cultural and historical experiences within the north. Braiding stories of the historical and present impacts of fiddle playing reveals the generative possibilities of school fiddle programs in Canadian Indigenous communities. In addition to building intergenerational bridges, the stories put forth in this thesis demonstrate how the fiddle has become a contemporary instrument of social change for many communities across northern Manitoba.

Closing the achievement gap between African American and White students continues to challenge educators in both urban and suburban contexts. Teachers and administrators in America are overwhelmingly White, and have limited training, if any, in understanding cultural differences or developing culturally responsive practices and policies. More importantly, racism and deficit thinking impose invisible barriers that inhibit the success of African American students. This Problem of Practice explored the existing achievement gap between African American and White students at Keller Middle School, a Title I campus in southeast Texas. Using a qualitative research methodology, campus data, policies, and practices were examined through the lens of societal racism, institutional racism, and deficit thinking. Three fundamental themes were revealed in this study: 1) White teachers and administrators believed that African American students were not successful in school because they (or their families) had internal defects that impeded learning; 2) African American parent and student participants had deficit beliefs about other African Americans and used defensive othering as a coping strategy; and 3) African American students and parents perceived themselves as successful and attributed that success to a high motivation to achieve. Recommendations are given to address the gap in achievement for African American learners in middle school.

The discourse on education for Aboriginal people has long been limited to a curriculum of cultural assimilation often resulting in an erosion of self-esteem and disengagement. Consequently, this research puts forth narratives of how fiddle programs in northern Manitoba work as a culturally responsive curriculum that in turn address such curricular erosions. As a research methodology, Metissage afforded me pedagogical opportunities to weave the various perspectives of community members, parents, instructors, and former students into an intricate story that attempts to represent some of their social, cultural and historical experiences within the north. Braiding stories of the historical and present impacts of fiddle playing reveals the generative possibilities of school fiddle programs in Canadian Indigenous communities. In addition to building intergenerational bridges, the stories put forth in this thesis demonstrate how the fiddle has become a contemporary instrument of social change for many communities across northern Manitoba.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine teacher self efficacy and culturally responsive self efficacy of in-service Hispanic teachers teaching in high priority schools which serve large percentages of students of color with respect to the teachers' route to certification (alternative or traditional). This study also personal narratives to explore highly effective both alternatively and traditionally certified inservice teachers. The three guiding research questions for this mixed method study were: 1. What are teacher efficacy beliefs of alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students? 2. What are culturally responsive beliefs of alternative certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students? 3. What are the voices of highly effective alternative certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students?Participants in the quantitative portion of the study were 90 middle and high school in-service teachers teaching in high priority schools in the Texas/Mexico borderlands of South Texas. The participants (N=4) in the qualitative portion of the study were purposively drawn from the quantitative participants. Findings of the study were derived from the use of two questionnaires (Teacher Self Efficacy Scale & Culturally Responsive Teacher Self Efficacy Scale) and an in-depth semi-structured interview with four participant in-service teachers. The major findings in this study were: 1. There are no significant differences in teacher self efficacy between alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified teachers. 2. There are no significant differences in culturally responsive teacher self efficacy between alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified teachers. 3. Sample population of Hispanic teachers scored themselves as having high teacher self efficacy and culturally responsive self efficacy. 4. The themes from teachers participating in the narrative portion of the study were: (a) high levels of teacher expectations, (b) effective school/parent relationships, (c) effective use of previous work experience, (d) utilization of the funds of knowledge of the students, (e) effective teacher/student connection, and (f) consistent use of self reflection.

This study examined what items driver education instructors felt should be included in a cultural awareness survey to assess instructors' preparedness to teach a culturally diverse student clientele. In addition, the study examined the ways driver education instructors felt a cultural awareness survey should be administered. The instrument used in the study was the Driver Education Cultural Awareness (DECA) Survey that consisted of 14 items. There were eighty-one (N = 81) participants in the study with forty-six (N = 46) from the Texas' Education Service Center, Region 4 area (Houston area) and thirty-five (N = 35) from the Texas' Education Service Center, Region 10 area (Dallas area). The findings of this study were: (1) Instructors believed that a survey instrument should include information about "preparedness to teach a culturally diverse student clientele," "men and women presented in equitable roles," and "images of teenager drivers;" and (2) Instructors did not agree on how a survey instrument should be administered.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a problem of practice present in an actual school district. The study examined the achievement gap that existed between African American and European American students in eighth grade science. Over the course of one school year, the perceptions of five eighth grade science teachers and an administrative team’s series of strategies were explored in a suburban middle school in Southeast Texas. Since the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (2001), the achievement gap has been discussed and studied. However, few studies have investigated the strategies used by teachers to close the achievement gap for African American students who attend suburban schools. This study examined the perceptions of five science teachers about the achievement gap at one suburban middle school, and identified and described the teaching methods and practices, aimed at closing the achievement gap as measured by the performance of African American students on the eighth grade Science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. Participants were the eighth grade science teachers at the chosen school. The results yielded a reduction in the achievement gap for African American students in eighth grade science on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills; 90% of the African American students passed the Science TAKS test in comparison to the 77% pass rate the previous school year. Member checking and peer debriefing were used to establish trustworthiness. Recommendations for future study include a comparison of culturally responsive teaching and Quantum Learning (2008) strategies, as well as areplication of the identified strategies in the study to other suburban and urban schools, and districts.

The aim of this study is to investigate the place of the students&amp / #8223 / native culture in the English language classrooms in the context of the English 101 course at Middle East Technical University. In accordance with this aim, the study is concerned with revealing the opinions and beliefs of language teachers regarding the importance of integrating the students&amp / #8223 / native cultures into their classes and their attitudes about practicing culturally responsive teaching in multi-cultural classrooms. During the process of data collection, various methods were utilized: Five teachers working in the Department of Modern Languages were interviewed to learn their ideas about the topic from different aspects of language instruction, and two teachers were observed while teaching to better understand the classroom application of their ideas and the principles of culturally responsive teaching. Further post-observation interviews and stimulated recalls were also carried out to make an in-depth analysis. The results of the study show that although the teachers believe in the importance of making use of the students&amp / #8223 / native cultures in their classrooms through different means, they usually neglect to do so. The study also shows that what the teachers associate with the term &ldquo / culture&rdquo / in the context of language teaching is the target culture rather than the native cultures. It is also found that while the individual cultures of the foreign students are made use of to a greater degree (but still in a very limited fashion), the native cultures of the Turkish students are ignored during the instruction.

Urban settings are described in scholarly literature as areas beset with high concentrations of poverty, high incidences of crime and violence, and are typically occupied by high percentages of people of color (McKinney, Flenner, Frazier, & Abrams, 2006; Mitcham, Portman, & Dean, 2009; Vera, 2011). For many children who live in low-income urban school districts, our educational system is failing them (McKinney, Flenner, Frazier, & Abrams, 2006). Swanson-Gehrke (2005) reported that at least two-thirds of these children fail to reach basic levels of achievement in reading. Such dismal achievement results may be attributed to a myriad of issues faced by students living in high poverty that may impede the learning process. Improving the school achievement of these students requires comprehensive knowledge, unshakable convictions, and high-level pedagogical skills (Gay, 2010). The identification of effective instructional practices used to address the academic and social needs of these students has appeared to be an elusive task. The current study focused on this reality by investigating a school that has been able to create systems that result in improved academic and social outcomes of their students. Specifically, the study examined the instructional practices and beliefs of teachers of students of color with disabilities or at-risk of identification of disability at a high-performing high-poverty school.