This grounded theory study explores literacy achievement among male and female elementary school students. It focused on the perceived gap between genders and teachers' perspectives on narrowing this divide. Despite progress in education, educators still face ongoing challenges in literacy achievement disparities, where gender often plays a…

Research examining reading abilities among Black children diverges significantly from prior literature, which either lacked focus or lacked substantial representation of Black children. Black students, particularly boys, tend to exhibit lower academic achievement compared to their peers. The problem addressed in this study is that Black boys, in…

There is a global concern regarding boys' poor engagement in literacy activities. It is suggested that boys enjoy ways of learning that are active and have explicit goals. Readers' theater (RT) provides an active and collaborative means of practicing oral reading fluency, with a clear goal of performing for an audience at the end of training. In…

Relationships matter in the classroom. The connections elementary school teachers build with their students throughout the school year can affect learners as they move to secondary education. African American boys in third through fifth grade receive discipline consequences that remove them from classroom instruction, negatively impacting success…

Gender disparity in education is a perpetually compelling issue. It is especially attention-grabbing in economically disadvantaged areas, as it may reinforce backwardness on top of economic vulnerability. Underpinned by the self-determination theory, this study examined the underlying mechanisms that gave rise to gender differences in the academic…

Inequities have existed in formal public education since its inception in the United States. The educational experiences and outcomes for Black students have historically lagged behind their non-Hispanic, and White peers. This dissertation uses data from The Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey for the Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011) to…

In "Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Promising Practices for African American Male Students," I take us on a journey into teachers' perceptions of the impact of implementing culturally responsive pedagogical (CRP) practices on the student learning outcomes of African American male students. The book also helps to identify teachers'…

Background/Context: African American (AA) learners, like all other learners, bring into the classroom their cultural values, the way they express themselves, and how they problem-solve. Their life experiences, even at a young age, influence their social and emotional behavior. Unfortunately, all too many AA children experience life and family…

Black boys in grades third through fifth are not developing reading comprehension skills compared to their peers in an urban southeastern school district. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore perceptions of third through fifth grade reading teachers on reading comprehension of Black boys in this district. The conceptual…

Fewer than 15% of primary school teachers in both Germany and the UK are male. With the on-going international debate about educational performance highlighting the widening gender achievement gap between girl and boy pupils, the demand for more male teachers has become prevalent in educational discourse. Concerns have frequently been raised about…

Reading mastery is essential for academic success. As an emphasis is placed on more rigor in education, some boys are being left behind in the area of reading. School districts are adopting new rigorous standards and transitioning to produce students who are career and college ready upon graduation. Girls are responding positively and thriving…

African-American males continue to slip through the cracks of the Education System in America. McSpadden McNeil et al. (2008) report that district officials continue to focus on school scores as if they are the only way to assess student progress. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a difference between third, fourth and fifth…

The Crumpton School District (CSD) is a high performing school district in suburban Philadelphia that has expended a great deal of energy and work to close gaps in the achievement of its Black students. Despite these efforts, 2016 standardized test data reflect a reading achievement gap of 28 percentage points for Black boys attending four of the…

This study reports on one school district's attempt to address reading gaps in boys, Aboriginal students, and special education students at 1st grade by implementing Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) to supplement classroom reading instruction. Findings indicate that compared to previous years, when PALS was not used, students in this study…

Elementary African American males achieve proficiency at a lower rate than their peers in both reading and math. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how elementary school teachers described their use of equitable strategies in teaching elementary African American male students, how these teachers described the experience…