Care is foundational to the way we reproduce and transform the world around us. Today, in a time marked by widespread calls for racial and social justice, and simultaneous backlash against these calls, it is imperative that we understand the ways that care circulates and operates within racialized struggle. In this dissertation I engage in this…

Despite decades of research and many frameworks designed to address the inequities and exclusion in the public school system, large achievement gaps, inequitable systems, and exclusive policies exist. The scholar-practitioner believes instructional coaches are well-positioned to address the inequities and exclusion that exist in the public school…

In this participatory action research (PAR) study, I sought to understand how teachers implemented equitable and culturally responsive academic discourse to support African American students during mathematics instruction. Working with a group of teachers in a co-practitioner researcher (CPR) group, I examined to how teachers effectively planned…

This research study examined inclusive teaching practices, class policies, and course structures in active learning Calculus classes. Analyzing interview data, along with focus group discussions and classroom observations, obtained from 23 students and 4 instructors, themes were extracted through open-coding methodology, employing scholarly…

"Shakespeare Fixes: Equitable Approaches to Shakespeare Pedagogy in U.S. High Schools" examines the world of Shakespeare professional development and pedagogy for high school teachers. Shakespeare's works occupy a unique place in U.S. schooling, where, due to both the entrenched status of his works in U.S. curricula and the challenging…

This study explored the ways that STEM faculty learn about, design, and implement inclusive STEM teaching practices to improve student belonging. An interpretive phenomenological approach was employed to understand the personal experiences and thought processes of faculty as they worked to further develop their understanding of issues of equity…

This study explores the perceptions of Hispanic students regarding their teachers' equity-oriented classroom practices at Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC), a majority-Hispanic community college in Southern California. The study used a qualitative phenomenological approach and involved twelve participants: three teachers and nine Hispanic students.…

School administrators are key components in improving educational experiences for ELL students with disabilities. However, no studies have assessed how administrators perceive equitable school experiences for ELL students with disabilities in the Pacific Northwest. This qualitative study included semistructured interviews with 12 school…

Teacher data use is often centered around standardized testing. Such data use that is commonly centered on standardized tests and used during professional development does not necessarily transform teacher practice toward equity and fails to change teacher conceptualizations of students while also perpetuating inequitable practices. Conversely,…

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March of 2020, education in the United States changed dramatically. Science teachers began to look at the implementation of ambitious and equitable science teaching practices differently. Employing the hermeneutic phenomenological framework, the purpose of this study was to investigate the lived…

Mathematics educators have moved past the days of students sitting quietly in mathematics classrooms, listening to their teachers while procedures are demonstrated at the board. While this is certainly not true everywhere, the evidence to move away from traditional lectures is clear. Rather than sitting and just listening, students must actively…

Student-centered teaching (SCT) has been the dominant education philosophy in the U.S. K-12 education. However, the definition and practice of SCT have been rooted in western education contexts. Since students in U.S. schools become more and more diverse, it remains unclear how SCT works for diverse learners. This research delved into the…

This dissertation presents research pertaining to how classroom teachers can become more effective in teaching their students of color. Through an examination of literature pertaining to critical whiteness studies, critical pedagogy, antiracist education, and transformative leadership, a professional learning program has been designed to offer…

The purpose of this study was to better understand multimodal usage in teacher professional learning. Thus, this qualitative phenomenology study was created and executed to better understand how leaders of teacher professional learning understand and implement modes in courses designed for teacher scholarship. Focusing on leader influences,…

The Focus of Practice (FoP) of this Participatory Action Research (PAR) project was to develop mentors' knowledge, skills, and dispositions to identify and implement equitable classroom practices through coaching conversations with beginning teachers. The study examined what happens when mentors shift from essential check-ins with beginning…