Nothing is consistent but change, and that yields true to the educational landscape in the United States of America. Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (1995) stated, "Any educational or training system that ignores the history or perspective of its learners or does not attempt to adjust its teaching practices to benefit all its learners is contributing to inequality of opportunity" (p. 26). While studies have been conducted on educator preparation and its correlation to student academic achievement, the use of qualitative narrative inquiry on administrator and teacher perception to determine the gap between professional development conceptualization and implementation has yet to be extensively researched. This dissertation examined whether school administrators and teachers felt equipped to implement culturally relevant teaching practices in their urban classrooms and school environments. It uses critical race theory and culturally relevant teaching as the guiding theoretical frameworks to analyze the narratives of three principals and nine high school teachers working in a large urban school environment. The data from this dissertation was derived from participants' narratives gathered in one-on-one, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. These themes emerged: cultural consciousness, transparent communication, safe space creation, district initiative alignment, and insufficient preparation/ resources. Findings indicate that educators often do not see how the district equity mission aligns from a top-down structure and that a safe space for educators to collaborate is essential when implementing culturally relevant teaching practices. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]