The problem. Teachers have been given responsibility for providing the academic, social and vocational education necessary for students to function as whole and healthy citizens in society. In the United States, public schooling has stood at the center of viable democratic processes. This study examines the extent to which one large, urban school district with a multicultural population, provides multicultural educational opportunities to classroom teachers. Scope of study. The primary questions this study seeks to address include: (1) What multicultural staff development opportunities are available to teachers in the District of Columbia school system? (2) Are teachers given release times to participate in multicultural staff development training? (3) What incentives are provided to encourage teachers to participate in multicultural staff development training? and (4) What resources have been made available to assist teachers with training and development in multicultural education? Chapter one outlines the statement and background of the research topic and research questions. The significance of the study and study's assumptions and limitations are described. In addition, definitions of the key terms used in the study are provided. Chapter two provides a review of the literature on multicultural education. Research on teacher education and staff development and multicultural curriculum development is also reviewed. Chapter three outlines the research design. This includes a description of the data collection and analysis procedure, the population of the study and the methodology used in the data analysis. Chapter four presents the study's findings and chapter five provides a summary of the conclusions, implications and recommendations of the study. Method. A six-point Likert type scale questionnaire consisting of 27 items was designed to measure four categories related to multicultural education training and development opportunities for middle school teachers in three randomly selected middle schools. Subsequently, a total of 57 out of 65 respondents returned questionnaires. In conclusion, an overall review of the qualitative data reveals the level and frequency of participation of middle school classroom teachers within three randomly selected middle schools in multicultural staff development activities. Further, the analysis of the data will serve as a guide for subsequent planning with system-wide training.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1595 |
| Date | 01 January 1998 |
| Creators | Butler, Roberto R |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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