Teacher Perceptions of Causes and Solutions to the Academic Achievement Gap Between Latinx and White American Students

Swami, S (Sruthi)¹, Mireles-Rios, R (Rebeca)^1
1University of California, Santa Barbara, Gevirtz School University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 116, 11-07-2019, 13:30 - 15:00

Keywords

Teacher Training, Culturally Relevant Interventions, School Climate, Latinx, Achievement Gap

Summary

Schools try their best to provide an equitable education to all students; however, research shows that students from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, particularly Latinx, enter kindergarten with lower levels of school readiness than their White peers due to various systemic barriers (Halle, Hair, Wandner, McNamara, & Chien, 2012). This achievement gap can be remedied early on, but if not addressed, can also persist and impact later student achievement. In an effort to address this disparity, the researchers aimed to understand teachers’ perceptions of the achievement gap and brainstorm strategies to bridge the gap.

Ninety Californian high school teachers were asked to write about how students, parents, teachers, and administrators contributed to the achievement gap. Using elements of CQR and thematic analysis, seven themes emerged: 1) Achievement, 2) Expectations, 3) Parent-Specific Factors, 4) School-Specific Factors, 5) Support, 6) Systems, and 7) Other. While some teachers suggested culturally-based solutions and increased support from administrators to reduce the achievement gap, others either believed that cultural and familial factors were directly responsible for it or did not believe that it existed. These results will be expanded upon and implications related to teacher trainings around culturally relevant pedagogy and implicit biases will be delineated.

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