Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and practices regarding culturally and linguistically diverse students served in a suburban Title I elementary school. The study was also conducted to determine beneficial components of the professional development. A collective case study involving interviews, questionnaire surveys, and reflective journaling was conducted over a 6-week period to gain insight into eight teacher participants’ perceptions and practices before, during, and after engaging in the professional development designed to promote transformation of their thoughts and actions through the processes of critical reflection and rational discourse. The study revealed how the reflective nature of the professional development fostered notable changes in the participants’ perceptions and practices. The findings also yielded implications and recommendations for stakeholders – teachers, teacher leaders, school leaders, district leaders, teacher preparation programs, and policymakers – regarding the significance of prioritizing the learning needs of all students by maximizing opportunities for ongoing professional development intended to cultivate and sustain a culturally responsive teacher workforce.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and practices regarding culturally and linguistically diverse students served in a suburban Title I elementary school. The study was also conducted to determine beneficial components of the professional development. A collective case study involving interviews, questionnaire surveys, and reflective journaling was conducted over a 6-week period to gain insight into eight teacher participants’ perceptions and practices before, during, and after engaging in the professional development designed to promote transformation of their thoughts and actions through the processes of critical reflection and rational discourse. The study revealed how the reflective nature of the professional development fostered notable changes in the participants’ perceptions and practices. The findings also yielded implications and recommendations for stakeholders – teachers, teacher leaders, school leaders, district leaders, teacher preparation programs, and policymakers – regarding the significance of prioritizing the learning needs of all students by maximizing opportunities for ongoing professional development intended to cultivate and sustain a culturally responsive teacher workforce. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mack, Angela L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Camille Sutton-Brown","Dr. Lateefah Id-Deen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-12-14T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-12-14T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:51Z","subjects":["culturally responsive teaching","professional development","transformative learning theory","critical reflection","teacher leadership","teacher preparation","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/55","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Camille Sutton-Brown","Dr. Lateefah Id-Deen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mack, Angela L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-11-21T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["culturally responsive teaching","professional development","transformative learning theory","critical reflection","teacher leadership","teacher preparation","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/55"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and practices regarding culturally and linguistically diverse students served in a suburban Title I elementary school. The study was also conducted to determine beneficial components of the professional development. A collective case study involving interviews, questionnaire surveys, and reflective journaling was conducted over a 6-week period to gain insight into eight teacher participants’ perceptions and practices before, during, and after engaging in the professional development designed to promote transformation of their thoughts and actions through the processes of critical reflection and rational discourse. The study revealed how the reflective nature of the professional development fostered notable changes in the participants’ perceptions and practices. The findings also yielded implications and recommendations for stakeholders – teachers, teacher leaders, school leaders, district leaders, teacher preparation programs, and policymakers – regarding the significance of prioritizing the learning needs of all students by maximizing opportunities for ongoing professional development intended to cultivate and sustain a culturally responsive teacher workforce.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Cultivating Culturally Responsive Elementary Teachers in a Suburban Title I School"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Camille Sutton-Brown","Dr. Lateefah Id-Deen"],"dc:creator":["Mack, Angela L."],"dc:date.available":["2021-11-21T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and practices regarding culturally and linguistically diverse students served in a suburban Title I elementary school. The study was also conducted to determine beneficial components of the professional development. A collective case study involving interviews, questionnaire surveys, and reflective journaling was conducted over a 6-week period to gain insight into eight teacher participants’ perceptions and practices before, during, and after engaging in the professional development designed to promote transformation of their thoughts and actions through the processes of critical reflection and rational discourse. The study revealed how the reflective nature of the professional development fostered notable changes in the participants’ perceptions and practices. The findings also yielded implications and recommendations for stakeholders – teachers, teacher leaders, school leaders, district leaders, teacher preparation programs, and policymakers – regarding the significance of prioritizing the learning needs of all students by maximizing opportunities for ongoing professional development intended to cultivate and sustain a culturally responsive teacher workforce.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/teachleaddoc_etd/55"],"dc:subject":["culturally responsive teaching","professional development","transformative learning theory","critical reflection","teacher leadership","teacher preparation","Educational Leadership","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["Cultivating Culturally Responsive Elementary Teachers in a Suburban Title I School"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:51Z"}