Education Commons^™

Cultural Sensitivity: Early Career Teacher Beliefs, Espoused Theories, Theories In Use, Michelle Steinberger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine early career teacher practice and beliefs about students of color in their classrooms and the relationship between those beliefs and their classroom practices. In this study, seven teachers in the initial five years of their teaching career were interviewed and observed inside of their classrooms using the Quality Responsive Classroom Observation Protocol. The interview questions were developed to look at the beliefs, teacher preparation, and culturally responsive pedagogy of early career teachers. Data was then analyzed using the five tenets of the Critical Race Theory: (1) Centrality of Race and Racism; (2) …

School Engagement And The Achievement Gap, Nicole R. Skalsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evidence of the influence of engagement on learning and achievement is well established. There is also indication of a test-score gap between poor students and middle class students as well as among racial and ethnic groups.

This gap continues to be a top priority in educational reform. Since the achievement gap continues to widen for many school districts and states, investigating the possible connection between the engagement gap and the achievement gap deserves needed attention.

This study sought to determine the differences in school engagement and achievement levels between students from low and high-SES backgrounds, as measured by free and …