The Perceptions of Teachers Regarding the Instructional Practices and School Leadership Supports that Contributed to High Pass Rates in Algebra I for Minority Students in Rural Schools

In the United States, students must pass Algebra I to graduate from high school. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the instructional practices of teachers and leadership supports in rural secondary schools with a high pass rate among African American and Latino students in Algebra I. This study was used to determine the instructional and leadership supports that influenced three high schools with a high pass rate in Algebra I for minority students for 3-years consecutively, based on Virginia Standards of Learning. This study was conducted using semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that teachers influenced the high academic performances of minority students through relationships, praise, and support while they employed effective teaching practices and consistently utilized teaching resources. Also, teachers provided sufficient time for practice, modeling, scaffolds, guided notes, and remediation using their personal experiences to serve the needs of minority groups. Teachers established relationships, built relatable lesson plans, and set high expectations continually. School leaders, who supported student success by providing autonomy to teachers, created plans and utilized approaches to meet the needs of struggling students. The implications of this study were that school leaders should institute a strong culture promoting strong relationships between teachers and students, provide mathematics teachers with professional development, give teachers time and space for meaningful collaboration, and consider teachers' skills when assigning a mathematics course.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Salley, Parcilla

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Cash, Carol S.
• Price, Ted S.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Lipscomb, Kecia Ormond
• Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn

• academic achievement
• African American
• drop-out rates
• high school principal
• Latino
• self-efficacy

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:41284

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/121015