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The importance of Black and Latino teachers in BIPOC student achievement and the importance of continuous teacher professional development for BIPOC student achievement

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The importance of Black and Latino teachers in BIPOC student achievement and the importance of continuous teacher professional development for BIPOC student achievement

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The Importance of Black and Latino Teachers in BIPOC Student Achievement and
the Importance of Continuous Teacher Professional Development for BIPOC Student
Achievement

David Keys

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2023

© Copyright by David Keys 2023
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for David Keys certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Maria Parker
Gregory Franklin
Morgan Polikoff, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023
iv
Abstract
Black and Latino teachers offer many strategies that benefit BIPOC students because students do
better academically if they have a teacher who looks like them. Empirical and theoretical data
suggest Black and Latino teachers’ strategies to support BIPOC student achievement through
personal connections and building classroom community improve student outcomes. Historical
and contemporary qualitative and quantitative research also shows how Black and Latino
teachers have supported their BIPOC students’ social and emotional development because they
better understand these students’ social, emotional, and academic needs. The integration of more
Black and Latino educators, as well as a significant increase in professional development that
supports culturally relevant pedagogy in every classroom, is essential to prepare teachers for
education in the 21st century. Professional decisions to include culturally relevant literature and
strategies in teachers’ classrooms result in deeper learning. Engaging teachers in perspective-
taking—adopting the cultural perspectives of their students as an act and process of knowing—
invites them to obtain knowledge of students and the sociocultural context where they teach.
Supporting Black and Latino educators leads to supporting BIPOC students, which leads to a
more inclusive and better-educated country.

v
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my wife, Edith, and my daughter Emma. Thank you for all the
support I have received on this doctorate journey over the years.
I would also like to thank the USC Rossier School of Education program and my
Thursday cohort class. I genuinely appreciate the lively night discussions, project collaborations,
and festivities. A special thank you to the professors, especially Dr. Crew, Dr. Phillips, and Dr.
Polikoff, my dissertation chair. I am super thankful for your guidance during this process. Dr.
Crew, thanks for your knowledge and class discussions. I appreciate you and your teaching style
and feedback. Dr. Phillips, thank you for your professional insight and guidance during the first
year in this program. Thank you to Dr. Franklin and Dr. Parker, my dissertation committee.
Finally, I would like to show immense appreciation for all the educators fighting the good
fight and tackling the inequities our students of color face daily.
My gratitude for USC taking a chance on a kid from East LA.
Fight on!
vi
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................v
List of Table ................................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter One: Overview of the Study ...............................................................................................1
Background of the Problem .................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................3
Research Questions ..............................................................................................................5
Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................................5
Significance of the Study .....................................................................................................5
Limitations and Delimitations ..............................................................................................6
Definition of Terms ..............................................................................................................6
Organization of the Study ....................................................................................................9
Chapter Two: Literature Review ...................................................................................................10
History of Black and Latino Teachers in Education ..........................................................10
The Trajectory of Black and Latino Educators in the Twentieth Century .........................14
The Impact of Black and Latino Teachers in Public Schools ............................................15
A Diverse Teaching Force Has Positive Effects on Students ............................................19
Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices .........................................................................22
Ongoing, Relevant Professional Development at School Sites .........................................25
Continuous Professional Development for Educators .......................................................27
Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................32
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................34
Chapter Three: Methods ................................................................................................................35
Research Design .................................................................................................................35
vii
Sample and Population ......................................................................................................36
Site Selection .....................................................................................................................36
Participant Selection ..........................................................................................................37
Instrumentation and Data Collection Procedures ..............................................................39
Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................44
Credibility and Trustworthiness .........................................................................................45
Ethics ..................................................................................................................................47
Limitations and Delimitations ............................................................................................47
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................49
Chapter Four: Findings and Results ...............................................................................................50
Participant Profiles .............................................................................................................51
Data ....................................................................................................................................53
Personal Connections .........................................................................................................54
How Black and Latino Teachers Build Community ..........................................................57
Advocacy ...........................................................................................................................60
Culturally Relevant Academic Professional Development ................................................64
Student Achievement .........................................................................................................70
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................73
Chapter Five: Discussion ...............................................................................................................74
Summary of Findings .........................................................................................................75
Research Question 1 ..........................................................................................................75
Research Question 2 ..........................................................................................................78
Limitations .........................................................................................................................80
Implications ........................................................................................................................81
Future Research .................................................................................................................82
viii
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................83
References ......................................................................................................................................86

ix
List of Table
Table 1: Interview Questions and Conceptual Framework Alignment. ........................................40

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Chapter One: Overview of the Study
People emphasize quality teachers and the many factors contributing to a student’s
academic performance, including individual characteristics, family, and neighborhood
experiences. But among school-related factors, hiring and retaining quality teachers directly
impacts a student’s academic achievement and educational experiences (Gershenson &
Papageorge, 2018). While we know that there are differences in the quality of teachers, there is
little dispute that teachers are impactful agents in students’ educational pursuits.
The U.S. Department of Education defines effective teachers as those who can generate
acceptable student achievement outcomes and at least one grade level of student growth in an
academic year (Kaplan, 2013). But effective teachers produce more than high student test scores;
they have long-term personal impacts. An effective teacher can greatly benefit students’
educational outcomes (Adnot et al., 2016).
Closing the achievement gap for students of color continues to be challenging for
educators across America, including in urban centers. Having diverse educators in our school’s
classrooms benefits all students and helps to prepare them to succeed in our multicultural society
(U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Many indicators suggest that a diverse teacher workforce
benefits students of color through congruence in teacher-student relationships and prepares all
students for successful democratic and economic participation in a diverse global society (Sleeter
& Milner, 2011). Further, research on social justice-oriented teacher education and culturally
responsive teaching shows the connection between teacher effectiveness and the positive impact
teachers of color have on students’ academic and social-emotional development (Ladson-
Billings, 2000).
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Public school students of color overall now make up slightly more than 50% of all school
enrollment, yet our teacher workforce is more than 80% White and female (Goldring et al.,
2013). In many of America’s urban schools, more than 80% of the students are of color, with
70% being Latino/a and Black students (Geiger, 2018). The data collected by Geiger in
conjunction with the Pew Research Center suggests that our Black Indigenous People of Color
(BIPOC) students need more educator representation in their schools. For our minority students,
having a diverse teaching staff provides a familiar and relatable learning environment.
According to the U.S. Department of Education (2016), experiences and perspectives
foster intellectual growth for minority students. Students can see role models who reflect their
identities while breaking down negative stereotypes and preparing students to live and work in a
multiracial society in our urban schools. While teachers from all backgrounds are needed across
education, Latino/a and Black students must see themselves represented in their teachers (Geiger,
2018).
The need for more Latino/a and Black educators has never been greater. Latino/a and
Black educators are underrepresented in education throughout American urban schools. The lack
of Latino/a and Black educators is a disservice to students of color, and those teachers are needed
to close the educational gap among minority students.
Background of the Problem
Latino/a and Black teachers remain underrepresented in education. In public schools
today, minority students are no longer the minority. According to the U.S. Department of
Education (DOE, 2016), 51% of the public school student population is non-White. This
percentage is expected to increase for years, with predictions of the BIPOC student population
growing to 60% by 2030. Latino/a and Black educators remain underrepresented in urban
3

schools. Despite this growth and change in student demographics, according to the Pew Research
Center (Schaeffer, 2021), about eight in 10 U.S. public school teachers (79%) identified as non-
Hispanic White. Based on the statistics of the changing student demographics and
responsiveness of urban youth to minority teachers, there is an urgency for BIPOC education.
Decentering racial stereotypes and barriers set for Latino/a and Black teachers will enable the
pursuit of equitable educational systems for BIPOC students. So, why does it matter if most
BIPOC students have White teachers?
Teaching diverse learners is a complex task with high teacher proficiency demands
(Ladson-Billings, 2013). Weinstein et al. (2004) indicated that teachers must differentiate
instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. When planning for instruction, educators can be
aware of their students’ readiness to learn, interests, and learning profile, which includes learner
preferences, strengths, and challenges. Every individual’s background and experiences (in and
out of the classroom) shape the learner. For instructional planning to truly make a difference for
all learners, educators should consider how students’ differences affect learning and align
pedagogies that effectively address those differences.
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed to examine the perceptions of Black and Latino teachers and the
strategies they use to support BIPOC student achievement and whether those teachers have
support systems to create and sustain culturally responsive teaching practices for their students.
This study is interested in the types of professional development offered to teachers and how it
informs their teaching practices, specifically in the realm of cultural relevance to meet the needs
of their students.
4

While most districts and schools have pre-existing policies to address diversity, the
subsequent professional developments (PD) vary from site to site based on leadership. A lack of
targeted and consistent PD centered around meeting the needs of the diverse urban student
population will not help teachers hone their craft, reach their full potential, and impact student
achievement. Ambler (2016, as cited in Postholm 2018), discussed teacher-learning
opportunities. Ambler found that teachers need to be able to talk and thus put words to their daily
work; in short, they need to work with others during the school day to learn from their everyday
practices (Postholm 2018).
Teacher PD and its associated courses are designed for teachers to improve their teaching
skills and innovation; according to the Department of Higher Education (DOE, 2007), as cited in
Phetla and Newman (2020), PD develops the teacher’s skills, knowledge, expertise, and other
professional behavior.
Currently, prevailing PD models are one-off, ‘top-down’ in nature, focusing on
interventions instead of proper teacher development. According to Phetla and Newman (2020),
many teacher PD programs are ineffective and will continue to remain as such because these PDs
do not take into account teachers’ needs but two additional crucial factors:
• What motivates teachers to engage in [PD] and
• The process by which change in teachers typically occurs (p. 3).
By examining teacher interviews, this study aimed to better understand the impact Black
and Latino teachers have on student achievement, how the PD educators receive informed their
teaching of BIPOC students, and how the ongoing training they may receive to support culturally
relevant practices aligned with their student population.
5

Research Questions
1. What do Black and Latino teachers perceive as the reasons for their effectiveness in
working with BIPOC students?
2. What professional development opportunities do teachers have to create and sustain
culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement?
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework for this study examines two major factors at the K–12 school
site: external and internal. At the core, BIPOC student achievement is being examined through
the increase of Black and Latino educators and culturally relevant in-service PD that lends to
training/curriculum development for student achievement. It is important to consider other
factors that can affect student achievement in urban communities, such as the neighborhood
context, systemic racism, and educational policies that frame the teacher’s experiences.
Significance of the Study
There is a need for research, as this study provides insight into how Black and Latino
teachers impact BIPOC student achievement and how ongoing PD prepares educators to teach
these students in the urban setting. This study adds to the literature by highlighting the support
systems teachers need to create and sustain culturally responsive teaching practices for BIPOC
students. The objective was to examine the role credentialing programs and PD play in
developing teachers’ capacity to support BIPOC students through culturally responsive teaching
practices. The results of this study can assist districts, school sites, and teacher credentialing
programs in evaluating current curricula/training and applicability, given the changing landscape
of students in American public schools. As well as contribute to evolving said programs to
appropriately match the learners that educators in urban sectors are responsible for teaching by
6

highlighting teachers’ skills and practices to foster BIPOC student development and
achievement.
Limitations and Delimitations
The sample for this study is composed of early career teachers (less than 5 years of
teaching) located in urban Los Angeles, California. As a result, their experiences may vary from
those of teachers in other parts of the United States and internationally; therefore, the results may
not be generalizable in other U.S. states and countries. The interviews are based on Black and
Latino public school educators’ experiences with BIPOC students. The questions pertained to
interviewees’ perceptions of their classroom experiences with BIPOC students and their
challenges and success with these students’ achievement, graduation, and other successes. In
addition, this study investigated how Black and Latino teachers believe a culturally relevant
curriculum adds to student achievement. Credentialing programs and culturally relevant in-
service training will be discussed and may differ from those with more years of teaching
experience in Southern California.
Definition of Terms
Black Indigenous people of color (BIPOC): According to Smith of Greatist (2021),
“BIPOC is, essentially, a political term used to categorize and display solidarity between Black
people, Indigenous people, and people of color in the United States” (para. 1).
BIPOC has developed as a term to highlight that, in North America, Black and
Indigenous folks have a specific relationship to racism and White supremacy. “Black” denotes
the hypervisibility of Black people in American society, while “Indigenous” is included to
highlight the erasure of Indigenous people.
7

Many people prefer BIPOC to POC due to the belief that POC has been watered down by
White institutions. BIPOC is also more often used by activists and organizers, who are more
cognizant of their language. This is why we emphasize that BIPOC is a political term and a
categorical one.
It is important to emphasize that BIPOC is a U.S.-centric term, although Canada also has
a similar history concerning its Black and Indigenous populations.”
Culturally relevant pedagogy: As defined by the California Department of Education
(2022), culturally relevant pedagogy is a theoretical model that focuses on multiple aspects of
student achievement and supports students in upholding their cultural identities. Culturally
Relevant Pedagogy also calls for students to develop critical perspectives that challenge societal
inequalities. Gloria Ladson-Billings proposed three main components of culturally relevant
pedagogy: (a) a focus on student learning and academic success, (b) developing students’
cultural competence to assist students in developing positive ethnic and social identities, and (c)
supporting students’ critical consciousness or their ability to recognize and critique societal
inequalities. All three components need to be utilized.
Culturally responsive teaching: Culturally responsive teaching has been defined as “the
process of using familiar cultural information and processes to scaffold learning, emphasizes
communal orientation, focused on relationships, cognitive scaffolding, and critical social
awareness” (Hammond, 2015, p. 156).
Educational equity means that each child receives what he or she needs to develop to his
or her full academic and social potential. Working toward equity involves:
8

• Ensuring equally high outcomes for all participants in our educational system;
removing the predictability of success or failures that currently correlates with any
social or cultural factor
• Interrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, and creating inclusive
multicultural school environments for adults and children
• Discovering and cultivating every human’s unique gifts, talents, and interests
(National Equity Project, 2018).
Efficiency: “Getting the most out of a given input, achieving an objective for the lowest
cost” (Stone, 2001, p. 61).
Equality: Equality is described by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2018) as
ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their life and talents.
It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of how they were
born, where they come from, what they believe, or whether they have a disability. Equality
recognizes that, historically, certain groups of people with protected characteristics, such as race,
disability, sex, and sexual orientation, have experienced discrimination.
Transformative research paradigm: Set of assumptions and procedures used in research:
• Underlying assumptions that rely on ethical stances of inclusion and challenging
oppressive social structures.
• An entry process into the community that is designed to build trust and make goals
and strategies transparent.
• Dissemination of findings that encourage the use of the results to enhance social
justice and human rights (Creswell, 2014, p. 71).
9

Urban community/setting: As defined by National Geographic (2022), “an urban area is a
region surrounding a city. Most inhabitants of urban areas have nonagricultural jobs. Urban areas
are very developed, meaning there is a density of human structures such as houses, commercial
buildings, roads, bridges, and railways.”
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the problem, outlines
the purpose of the study and its importance in education, and defines the research problem that
guided the study.
Chapter Two summarizes the literature examining the Black and Latino teacher diversity
gap in America by specifically looking at teachers and their impact on BIPOC students. It also
highlights the need for culturally responsive teaching practices and the connection between
teacher effectiveness and teachers’ positive impact on BIPOC students’ academic and social-
emotional development.
Chapter Three presents the research methods that were employed in this qualitative study.
It describes the research design, population and sampling, and instrumentation used during the
study. The procedures for data collection and analysis are also covered to address issues of
maintaining credibility, trustworthiness, and ethics during the study.
Chapter Four presents the studies results, and Chapter Five discusses the findings with
recommendations and future studies.
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Chapter Two: Literature Review
This dissertation looks specifically at the Black and Latino teacher deficit. There will be
specific literature reviews that examines the benefit of Black and Latino teachers. Further, the
dissertation examined teachers’ preparedness via their preservice credential programs to educate
BIPOC students in urban communities. Specifically, the literature review examined the changing
demographics of urban schools in the United States and how teacher expectations and race
impact the achievement of students of color.
Black and Latino teachers remain underrepresented in education. BIPOC students
continue to grow exponentially across American schools, yet teachers continue to be
predominantly White and female (Ball & Tyson, 2011). Black and Latino educators remain
underrepresented in schools, with urgency for educators of color. Decentering racial stereotypes
and barriers set for Black and Latino teachers will facilitate the pursuit of equitable educational
systems for BIPOC students. The literature review will examine the Black and Latino educator
deficit in America. First, I will review the literature on the history of Black and Latino teachers.
Next, I will discuss Black and Latino teachers’ impact on all students. Then I will discuss the
arguments for teachers’ culturally responsive teaching practices and peer equity coaching.
Finally, I will review the conceptual framework and how it examines the interactions between
Black and Latino educators and its significance to my study.
History of Black and Latino Teachers in Education
The history of race and ethnicity in America is tied inextricably to concerns about justice
and equality. A primary concern is rooted in the educator’s role in America. From the earliest
days of our nation’s history, European settlers subjected American Indians to severe forms of
oppression. In the realm of education, boarding schools for American Indian children emerged in
11

the United States of America in the late 1800s with the intent to force assimilation into White
culture (Loring, 2009). During this time, Christian women would teach American Indian
children. In California in the 1800s, school administrators routinely denied Chinese American
children entrance into schools based on their ancestry. Schools also routinely excluded Latino
students from educational opportunities during the turn of the 20th century, particularly in the
southwest region of the United States, where Latino populations were more expansive. It was not
until 1931 that the first local school desegregation court decision (made by a San Diego judge in
Roberto Alvarez v. The Lemon Grove School Board) prohibited Lemon Grove School Board
from turning away Mexican American students. At this time, many teachers in San Diego were
White Christian women, and very few were of Mexican descent.
According to Sleeter and Milner (2011), the societal role of people of color was distinct
from that perceived by the dominant majority for the 19th and most of the 20th centuries. There
was the perception that Black, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans would serve a supportive
role in the majority population’s goals and that their education is framed in this context. Minority
teachers in the Southwest were primarily Mexican and Chinese immigrants who faced harsh
teaching conditions and were only in the schools to aid the White woman. Schools diverted funds
from minority schools to those of White schools throughout America. Minorities were to reside
in segregated communities with segregated schools and adhere to the cultural norms of the
majority. It was difficult for many individuals of color to see beyond these expectations as they
struggled daily to provide for themselves and survive. Still, some from these communities saw
beyond the socioeconomic and political limitations of the time and led the masses through more
ambitious and liberating education agendas (Moore, 1999)
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In Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast Revisionist History, Gladwell talks about the aftermath of
Brown v. Board of Education. He states that between the 1950s and 1960s, over 82,000 Black
teachers were fired in the South (Gladwell, 2017). Before Brown v. Board of Education,
primarily Black teachers taught Black students. The educational system at that time was nothing
to celebrate; there were many inequities during segregation, including a lack of facilities,
dilapidated schools, and funds not being equally distributed. However, there was a “leaky
pipeline” after the ruling, as Ethridge (1979) highlighted the loss of students of color at every
point along the educational continuum. The consequences of such teaching losses echo the
devastating impact of the dismissal of thousands of Black educators in the decade following the
1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, as Ethridge (1979) pointed out. Those students who
were displaced started attending schools that had been White only. As a result, tens of thousands
of Black teachers and principals were out of work. In addition, many Black teachers who lost
their positions to integration were ill-educated and poorly trained. Brown v. Board of
Education’s positive outcomes for students of color also put many Black educators out of work.
Latino Educators in the United States
The ideological practice of Americanization during the mid-1800s had an immediate
impact on Latino communities’ educational experiences (San Miguel & Valencia, 1998).
Americanization was a political movement aimed at teaching, acculturating, and educating U.S.
economic, political, religious, and cultural forms. In the case of Mexican Americans, public
school officials instituted “Americanization” practices by banning the use of Spanish in schools
and removing all content and pedagogical practices associated with Mexican culture. This policy
affected Latino educators entering the field.
13

Data for 2021 revealed a Latino teacher representation of 9%, an Asian-Pacific Islander
teacher representation of 1.4%, and a Native American combined with Native Alaskan teacher
representation of .9% (NEA, 2021). Holmes (1990) noted that, for Latinos, there has been little
representation in public education, and as the Latino population in the United States increases, so
does their underrepresentation in the teaching profession. In the early 20th century, English-only
policies became standard practice throughout most Western and Southwestern states, limiting the
opportunities for Latinos to enter the education field. San Miguel and Valencia (1998) argued
that the effort to remove Spanish and Mexican culture from the schools is part of a national
campaign against diversity. Despite such practices, however, various Mexican American and
Latino communities developed educational and social interventions to meet the needs of Latino
communities. For example, several academic historians (DeLeon, 1982; San Miguel, 1987; San
Miguel & Valencia, 1998) noted that from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, there were
several examples of Mexican and Latino teachers and educators who worked to meet the specific
educational needs of Spanish-speaking children. However, opportunities for Latino educators
were limited to Spanish-speaking communities. Moreover, many of those communities were
only in the Southwest.
Exclusionary policies included English-only instruction and curriculum, so Mexican
American community leaders, as early as the late 1800s, opened their schools and hired Spanish-
speaking teachers of Mexican and Latino descent to meet Latino students’ cultural and linguistic
needs (DeLeon, 1982). The communities continued to grow across the Southwest. By the early
1900s, some Latino community leaders and education advocates gained support for teacher
training programs for Latino teachers working in rural Spanish-speaking regions (DeLeon,
1982).
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The Trajectory of Black and Latino Educators in the Twentieth Century
In 1909, Latino leaders opened a school to educate “Spanish-speaking natives of New
Mexico for the vocation of teachers in the public schools of the countries and districts where the
Spanish language is prevalent” (MacDonald, 2001, p. 204). By 1918, over one hundred future
teachers enrolled in the teacher training program. Latino educator growth remained stagnant
across the Southwest despite the program’s expansion. The dismissal of Latino educators was
underrepresented in education across America in the early 20th century. This underrepresentation
is a natural phenomenon from historical and institutional factors that occurred in the first half of
the century. Black and Latino educators faced many obstacles trying to gain footing in education.
For Black educators, it was the continuous effect of systemic racism; for Latinos, it was the
assimilation into American culture and the language barrier. Despite significant struggles and
movements to include Latinos in education, Latino educators have continued to be marginalized.
In the first years after World War II, 79% of Black women who worked after college
graduation were educators (Murnane et al., 1991). In the 1950s, one-half of all Black
professionals were teachers (Foster, 1989). In the mid-1980s, 23% of Black women who worked
after college graduation became teachers (Murnane et al., 1991). The 1960s and 1970s brought
racial and ethnic identity to education and teaching in urban areas across the United States. In
similar but louder voices than in the past, African, Latino, Asian, and Native Americans
redefined their missions and goals to focus explicitly on the needs and desires of their
communities and youth (Getz, 2001). Public and private schools and educational programs in
communities of color were established and controlled by the parents and students who attended
them. Public agencies condoned these community or alternative schools as experiments. Still,
15

some often questioned and dismissed the efficacy of these schools’ teaching practices and the
curriculum as pacifiers to civil unrest.
Given the new Black and Latino cultural focus, the 1960s prompted the establishment of
several race/ethnic-specific organizations for teachers. The Native American Education
Association, Aspira-the organization devoted solely to the education and leadership of Puerto
Rican and other Latino youth, and the National Alliance for Black School Educators were
established (Brown, 2014). Unlike the segregated local, state, and national organizations of
earlier decades, these organizations could openly engage teachers from these groups, formally
establish relationships with each other, and engage majority organizations and colleagues on
issues of policy and practice relating to education and society.
Despite the growing support systems in the 1960s and 1970s, there began a steep decline
in the number of teachers of color. Given access to careers that were previously prohibited,
women generally and women of color specifically started to pursue careers in other fields,
leaving a significant void in the teaching ranks (Darling-Hammond et al., 1996). Thus, as the
nation’s student population became increasingly diverse, those most prepared and
knowledgeable about culturally responsive practice were absent. In the 1980s and 1990s, we
eventually found seasoned teachers of color retiring. They left the profession, taking the heritage
and knowledge of previous decades and the spirit of racial uplift; they were lost to the nation’s
educational system at its greatest need.
The Impact of Black and Latino Teachers in Public Schools
The U.S. Department of Education (2016) suggested that, when compared with their
peers, teachers of color have higher expectations of students of color (as measured by higher
numbers of referrals to gifted programs), confront issues of racism, serve as advocates for
16

students and develop more trusting relationships with students, particularly those with whom
they share a cultural background. Importantly, when teachers of color serve as role models,
White students, too, benefit as they unlearn racist stereotypes they might have internalized in
other settings (Sleeter et al., 2014). For students of color, Lodaya states that the impact on
learning shows a student’s performance is significantly enhanced when their teachers are of
color, with higher graduation rates, higher state assessment scores, decreased incidences of
absenteeism, suspension, and expulsion (as cited in Sleeter et al., 2014). The U.S. Department of
Education (2016) found, via quantitative and qualitative data, that teachers of color can improve
the school experiences of all students; furthermore, teachers of color contribute to improved
academic outcomes while serving as strong role models for students.
Research suggests that “racial matching” (the paring of a given student with a teacher of
the same racial or ethnic background) points to the same conclusion: “All things being equal,
Black students do better when Black teachers have taught them” (Mahnken, 2018, para. 1). In
addition, a study in North Carolina revealed that Black students who had “exposure to just one
Black teacher between Grades 3 and 5 significantly reduced the high school dropout rate among
Black male students” (Mahnken, 2018, para. 1). Gershenson (2016) found that teachers who had
the greatest effects on children’s behavior did not always have large effects on children’s test
scores, suggesting that by focusing only on teachers’ effects on test scores, effective teachers
may be misclassified as ineffective and vice versa. Teachers’ expectations are important, and
research suggests that college completion rates are systematically higher for students whose
teachers had high expectations for them. More troublingly, it has also been found that White
teachers have far lower expectations for Black students than they do for similarly situated White
students. This evidence suggests that raising student attainment, particularly among students of
17

color, elevating teacher expectations, eliminating racial bias, and hiring a more diverse teaching
force are worthy goals (Gershenson & Papageorge, 2018). Gershenson and Papageorge (2018)
unearth how teacher expectations impact student behavior:
Students might perceive and emotionally react to low or high teacher expectations, which
could benefit or damage the quality of their work, or they might actively modify their
expectations and, in turn, their behavior to conform to what they believe teachers expect of them.
Alternatively, teachers with expectations for certain types of students may modify how they
teach, evaluate, and advise them, and in the case of low expectations, could shift their attention,
time, and effort to other students (p. 66). Gershenson and Papageorge (2018) consider that each
possible scenario creates feedback loops triggering self-fulfilling prophecies. Intentionally or not,
teacher expectations cause student outcomes to converge on what were initially incorrect
expectations and reflect implicit or overt biases by the teacher (p. 66). The data is clear on
disparities in expectations that teachers have for students of different races (Gershenson &
Papageorge, 2018). Gershenson and Papageorge (2018) have found a large, statistically
significant bias regarding White teachers’ expectations for Black students and almost none for
White students. They also found that these biases were slightly more pronounced for Black male
students than for Black female students (p. 67). White students received more optimism than
their Black classmates, and while Gershenson and Papageorge (2018) stated that “all teachers are
optimistic” (p. 69), this means that White teachers’ low expectations for Black students are
selectively applied in a manner that places Black students at a disadvantage.
Gladwell's statement that “the research that says Black students did better in school when
they had Black teachers” is based on research from the University of Duke’s Behind the Veil.
(Gladwell, 2017, 17:05). Gladwell also stated that schools that employ teachers of color have a
18

positive impact on White students throughout America, and most importantly, our minority
students are not constantly in a classroom where the teacher does not look like them. Therefore,
the research suggests that Latino and Black teachers are absent in America’s urban schools. The
systemic social and racial inequalities will persist if Latino and Black educators are not in our
classrooms.
Meta-analyses examining various occupational areas, including teachers, report that
personality is associated with job performance and job satisfaction (Kim et al., 2018). The meta-
analyses further found that the characteristics of effective teachers are personality-based,
including respect for students, the ability to challenge students, and both organizational and
presentation skills (Kim et al., 2018). A teacher’s personality may be more important for student
socio-emotional outcomes than academic achievement. Teacher personality characteristics such
as conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability led students to feel academically and
emotionally supported and have higher expectations for their academic performance (Kim et al.,
2018). Since teaching is inherently a social practice requiring interpersonal interactions with
students, teachers must recognize that emotional support requires the creation of a positive
climate with agreeableness and sensitivity to students’ needs, such as being warm and helpful
(Kim et al., 2018). A teacher’s personality is strongly associated with these key variables and
drives student social and emotional outcomes.
Brown (2014) argued that students of color need to see and interact with teachers that
come from a similar background, and Black teachers hold high expectations for students’
learning, expect that their students will develop social responsibility, moral preparedness, and an
understanding of and ability to deal with racism when it occurs in their lives. Black preservice
teacher participants view themselves as teachers that would act as transformative change agents
19

in the classroom (Brown, 2014). Preservice teachers of color often possess vital cultural
knowledge that can be used to bridge connections between teacher and student (Sleeter et al.,
2014).
A Diverse Teaching Force Has Positive Effects on Students
For the past 3 decades, two concerns have dominated the national conversation about the
teaching workforce: diversity and talent. The teaching profession is not as racially diverse as it
needs to be (Partelow et al., 2017). According to the Pew Research Center (Schaeffer, 2021),
about eight-in-ten U.S. public school teachers (79%) identified as non-Hispanic White during the
2017-18 school year, the most recent year for which NCES has published demographic data
about teachers. Approximately 20% were either Black (7%), Hispanic (9%), or Asian American
(2%). And fewer than 2% of teachers were either American Indian or Alaska Native, Pacific
Islander, or of two or more races. In addition, 82% of public school teachers identified as White.
Teachers of color continue to be underrepresented at U.S. public schools, making up just 18% of
the U.S. teaching force, thus creating the teacher diversity gap (Sawchuk, 2021). STATS In most
states, there is a growing gap between the percentage of students of color and teachers of color.
According to (Partelow et al., 2017), racial diversity benefits every workforce, and
teaching is no exception. Teachers of color tend to provide more culturally relevant teaching and
better understand the situations that students of color may face. These factors help develop
trusting teacher-student relationships. Minority teachers can also serve as cultural ambassadors
who help students feel more welcome at school or as role models for the potential of students of
color. Teachers of color tend to have more positive perceptions of students of color, both
academically and behaviorally, than other teachers. These findings may partially explain the
significant positive effect on the standardized test scores of students of color when they are
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taught by teachers of color. When Florida researchers analyzed a massive data set of about 3
million students and 92,000 teachers over 7 years, they found a positive effect in both reading
and math scores when Black teachers taught Black students. For students who performed at the
lowest levels, the effect of having a teacher of the same race was even larger.
Here are the hypothesized reasons why the diversity gap matters in educators. There are
several explanations for the positive effects of teachers of color on educational outcomes for
students of color. Wilkins et al. (2014) examined how the beliefs and aspirations of individual
minority students were linked to the overall representation of Latino and Black teachers in their
schools. First, since school connectedness has been tied to improved student outcomes, the
presence of minority teachers was examined to see if it increased how connected minority
students felt to their school. Second, the data tested whether the representation of minority
teachers improved a minority student’s expectations for the future. The data tested two possible
explanations for why minority students may perform better when minority teachers are well-
represented at their schools. This positive result and association are likely due to the teacher
serving as a role model for the students, thus influencing students' choices about their future and
enhancing their success.
First, there is nothing about being a member of a minority group that guarantees
effectiveness in teaching. However, the Center for American Progress (Ahmad & Boser, 2014)
reported that minority teachers have higher expectations of minority students, provide culturally
relevant teaching, develop trusting relationships with students, confront issues of racism through
teaching, and become advocates and cultural brokers. Wilkins et al. (2014) examined the
qualitative and quantitative data that captured how the beliefs and aspirations of individual
minority students are linked to the overall representation of Latino and Black teachers in their
21

schools. The data tested two explanations for why minority students may perform better when
minority teachers are well-represented at their schools. First, since school connectedness has
been tied to improved student outcomes, the authors examined where the presence of minority
teachers increases how connected minority students feel to their school. Second, the data tested
whether the representation of minority teachers improves a minority student’s expectations for
the future. This effect is likely due to the teacher serving as a role model for the students and
influencing the choices that students make about their future.
For all the barriers and inequities that Black and Latino educators face, they continue to
impact all students, especially students of color. Instead, because of their success in school and
higher education and presumably in their home culture, it is believed that the experiences
minority group teachers bring will help them be empathetic toward and skilled in crossing
cultural and linguistic boundaries in school contexts. It is through their shared social and cultural
experiences (Carrasca et al., 1981; Nieto, 1998), as well as the cultural mediation skills teachers
have developed relationships for connecting between school and home (Irvine, 1989; Meier et
al., 1989), that strengthen their potential for effectiveness in teaching. Experiences and
perspectives foster intellectual growth for minority students. Students can see role models who
reflect their own identities in our urban schools. While teachers from all backgrounds are needed
across education, it is essential for Latino and Black students, who make up 25% of the school-
aged population, to see themselves represented in their teachers (Pew Research, 2013). This is a
powerful visual representation that is reflective of our students.
Closing the achievement gap for students of color continues to be challenging for
educators across American urban cities. However, many indicators suggest that a diverse teacher
workforce benefits students of color through congruence in teacher-student relationships and
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prepares all students for democratic and economic participation in a diverse global society
(Sleeter & Milner, 2011). Further, research on social justice-oriented teacher education and
culturally responsive teaching suggests that teacher preparation programs have led to the neglect
of the needs of teachers of color and show the connection between teacher effectiveness and the
positive impact that teachers of color have on students’ academic and social-emotional
development (Ladson-Billings, 2000).
Pitts (2007) studied Latino and Black student achievement tied to teacher representation
in Texas. Hispanic and Black students benefit from teacher representation, and the substantive
impact is not insignificant. These results provide evidence in favor of the role model hypothesis.
Minority students, in this case, Black and Hispanic students, do better when there are more
minority teachers. When the ethnic composition of teachers matches that of the students, Black
and Hispanic students seem to do better on the TAAS exam, which is an important finding. What
makes this evidence particularly supportive of the role-modeling hypothesis is the significance of
teachers making a difference with Black and Hispanic students. The minority teachers are role
models for the students in the findings.
Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
If the Black and Latino teacher deficit continues, research suggests educators embed
culturally responsive teaching practices. Teaching diverse learners is a complex task with high
student proficiency demands (Ladson-Billings, 2013). Tomlinson (2001) indicated that teachers
must differentiate instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. When planning for
instruction, educators can be aware of their student’s readiness to learn, interests, and learning
profile, including learner preferences, strengths, and challenges. Every individual’s background
and experiences (in and out of the classroom) shape the learner. For instructional planning to
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truly make a difference for all learners, educators can consider how students’ differences affect
learning and align pedagogies that effectively address those differences. Without an awareness of
how experience and culture can affect learning, there is a danger of disproportionate
representation in special education and the possibility of “confusing disability with diversity”
(Gay, 2002, p. 614). Here is an excerpt from Ladson-Billings (1998):
A telling mismatch between what schools measure and what students know and can do is
that of a 10-year-old Black girl who was repeatedly told by the teacher that she was a
poor math student. However, the teacher was unaware that the girl was living under
incredible stress where she was assuming responsibilities her drug-addicted mother could
not. To ward off child welfare agents the child handled all household responsibilities,
including budgeting and paying all the household bills. Her ability to keep the household
going made it appear that everything was fine in the household. According to the teacher,
she could not do fourth-grade math, but the evidence of her life shows she was doing just
fine at ‘adult’ math (p. 20)!
This focus on practice within a vision of teachers as intellectuals who learn to exercise
their judgment in the classroom and teach in culturally responsive ways is not always evident in
practice-based literature (Zeichner, 2012). There is a shift to leverage practices built for the
cultures being served. A practice to leverage is the knowledge that teachers have about cultural
diversity that goes beyond mere awareness of, respect for, and general recognition of the fact that
ethnic groups have different values or express similar values in various ways. Another suggestive
practice is developing a knowledge base for culturally responsive teaching by acquiring detailed
factual information about the cultural particularities of specific ethnic groups (e.g., African,
Asian, Latino, and Native American; Gay, 2002). Knowledge of the cultures supports the idea
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that school is more interesting and stimulating for, representative of, and responsive to ethnically
diverse students. There is a space for cultural diversity that all teachers can teach in all subjects
at school.
Douglas and Nganga (2015) discussed how positionalities impact teaching practice and
explored ways teachers can enact radical love in their classrooms. This can be accomplished in
part by teachers exploring their own identities, understanding them, and beginning an
investigation into their histories as educators: “Our own cultural, racial, and linguistic
backgrounds and experiences as raced, classed, and gendered children, parents, and teachers in
the world” (Douglas & Nganga, 2015, p. 9). As evidenced by Utt and Tochluk (2020), “research
documents profound negative consequences of having a primarily White teaching force with
little critical understanding of race and racism” (Douglas & Nganga, 2015, pp. 126–127).
Teaching programs and their approaches to instructing future teachers in urban environments
acknowledge this and offer knowledge for learning about cultural and racial diversity. If Black
and Latino teachers are not serving students who look like them, then the 82% of teachers who
are White are not prepared to teach in an urban environment.
Conversations about race in the classroom and at school sites are pivotal for making
strides in cultural awareness. Many educators attempt to connect with BIPOC students by
sharing how they grew up in poverty, too, but this still does not address race and issues
concerning racism and systemic inequality. Teachers who are not Black or Latino do not often
frame identity through every lens other than race, such as gender, religion, and sexual orientation
(Utt & Tochluk, 2020). Many White teachers are not appropriately prepared to teach in urban
schools, which is evident in their performance and students’ achievement. The emphasis is to
transform U.S. teacher education so it more adequately addresses their preparation to provide a
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high-quality education with access to a rich and broad curriculum and culturally and community-
responsive teaching for everyone’s children (Zeichner, 2012). This emphasis will address the gap
in culturally responsive teaching. In short, not preparing teachers to effectively teach all students
is an act of Whiteness, integral to the race-based system of White supremacy (Hayes & Juarez,
2012). Good multicultural practices, as defined by Carrim (1998), would overtly confront
questions about the power dimensions of racism and cultural differences among all people. This
is important because it suggests and requires teachers to embrace their intersectionality and
Whiteness while juxtaposing them against their teaching practice (Carrim, 1998, p. 316).
Interrogating one’s relationship to systems of Whiteness and White culture allows one to
make conscious choices about relating to it. For many White educators, the cultural loss resulting
from trading ethnic traditions for the privileges available in a White supremacist system
complicates the development of a positive, anti-racist identity and an effective anti-racist
teaching praxis (Utt & Tochluk, 2020, p. 135). As a result, White educators struggle to identify
and align themselves with any specific culture, resulting in not having any sense of belonging
and cultural identity.
Ongoing, Relevant Professional Development at School Sites
Day (1999), as cited in Phetla and Newman (2020), described PD as all-natural learning
experiences and those conscious and planned activities which are intended to be of direct or
indirect benefit to the individual, group, or school and which contribute, through these, to the
quality of education (p. 1). Teacher PD and its associated courses are developed for teachers to
improve their teaching skills and innovation, and according to the Department of Higher
Education (DoE, 2007), as cited in Phetla and Newman (2020), PD develops the teacher’s skills,
knowledge, expertise, and other professional behavior.
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Currently, prevailing PD models are typically one-off, ‘top-down’ in nature, and focus on
interventions as opposed to proper teacher development. According to Phetla and Newman
(2020), many PD programs for teacher are ineffective and remain as such because they do not
consider teachers’ needs or two additional crucial factors:
• What motivates teachers to engage in [PD] and
• The process by which change in teachers typically occurs (p. 3).
Traditional approaches to PD include workshops, seminars, and conferences that adopt a
technical and simplistic approach to teaching and believe that teachers’ knowledge and skills can
be improved through the use of experts from outside the school system (Phetla & Newman,
2020). Newborn and Huberty (2004) added that the problem with this approach is that it is
ineffective at changing teachers’ subject knowledge or pedagogical skills, which is why it is
believed that teacher PD programs do not improve teaching and learning. Per Phetla and
Newman (2020), effective PD must be structured learning, leading to drastic changes in teachers’
knowledge and practices and improving learning outcomes. Moreover, these PD opportunities
must lend themselves to a change in teachers’ beliefs and attitudes. It is only then that teachers
will understand the process of teaching and learning and thus transfer it to their classroom
practice.
Professional development can play a role in helping teachers develop culturally
responsive teaching practices. Teachers exposed to issues of race, racism, and racial politics
could demonstrate how these issues permeate the educational landscape. Teachers and school
leaders can also have an awareness of how the effect of racism intersects with other areas of
difference, such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, and class oppression. Educators taught
how to cultivate the courage to envision different schooling possibilities, particularly for our
27

most marginalized communities (López, 2003). Educators who are trained to interact with Black
and Latino girls will exercise empathy and respect and use developmentally appropriate
approaches. Blake and Epstein (2019) detail the benefit of training on gender responsiveness and
improved cultural competency to help educators better understand Black girls and address bias or
lack of cross-cultural experience. Goldhaber (2015) added there is significant literature that
argues that a match between the race/ethnicity of teachers and students leads to better student
outcomes,
The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (2005), as cited by
Phetla and Newman (2020), defined effective PD as ongoing, includes training, practice, and
feedback, and provides adequate time and follow-up support. Furthermore, successful programs
involve teachers in learning activities similar to those they use with their students and encourage
teachers to develop professional learning communities. Professional development for teachers
would be aligned to the identified areas in teacher evaluation, directly support improvements in
student achievement, and happen over an extended period in high-value forms such as coaching
or teacher collaborations (Ahmad & Boser, 2014).
Continuous Professional Development for Educators
Teachers matter and are the single most important in-school factor that impacts student
learning and achievement (Fountas & Pinnell, 2020). Therefore, all students should be taught by
effective teachers (Ridge & Lavigne, 2020). Ridge and Lavigne (2020) studied the format and
definition of peer observation and feedback as to how peer observation and feedback may be
useful vessels for instructional improvement in teacher evaluations. This feedback typically
comes in the form of administrator-to-teacher feedback, but another alternative is peer-to-peer
feedback. Programs like Race to the Top (RTTT) created competitive programming, which
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toggled teachers’ test scores to school funding and, ultimately, their evaluations. As a result,
Ridge and Lavigne (2020) found that principals coped with RTTT by completing fewer
observations, cutting observations short, and being unavailable to address teacher concerns.
Additionally, principals spent more time writing evaluations than observing and guiding
teachers. Subsequently, as Ridge and Lavigne (2020) acknowledge, only half of the teachers
indicated that the feedback they received from their principals was useful. The feedback was
normally about a generalized instructional practice.
Collaboration can take many forms. The general idea is to address the form of a
collaboration called peer coaching, defined by some scholars as a confidential, voluntary,
reciprocal, and non-evaluative process whereby teaching professionals work together to observe
and reflect on curriculum and instruction. Peer coaching has been shown to have positive effects
on teachers and educational institutions (Hoensee & Lewis, 2019). Equity coaches have also
been instituted among schools to further enhance the idea of collaboration. Peer equity coaching
is constantly found to be a highly effective form of PD (Bussman & Louis, 2020). It is built on
trusting relations and is focused on student learning. Equity coaches provide professional
learning opportunities for staff. The practice of courageous conversations about racial equity
using relevant articles or current events to support staff. While equity coaches had defined duties,
their mission was to disrupt racism and create systemic change. One equity coach, when asked
what they loved about being an equity coach, quoted the job description stating, “To develop
will, skills, and capacity of educators in order to disrupt racism in order to impact and improve
the achievement and experiences of students” (Bussman & Louis, 2020, p. 18).
The research discusses that many schools use equity coaching as a means to build
capacity among all teachers who are in schools that have BIPOC students. In addition, a way to
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ensure continuous effective teaching strategies for all students is by improving instruction
through observation and feedback and peer and equity coaching. Ridge and Lavigne (2020)
reveal that peer coaching facilitated collaboration among teachers and was reported as one major
benefit of peer-to-peer feedback. Other data gathered showed that environments ripe for
implementing peer coaching determined the success of peer coaching and growth in the teacher’s
practice. Another finding was relationship building. Data showed that teachers who trusted their
peer coaches bought into the program and were part of its success, whereas untrusting teachers
and those who did not want to participate in the program were markedly less successful.
Preparing Teachers to Teach in a BIPOC Community
Preservice teacher education is another source of support for improving the preparation of
beginning teachers to serve diverse learners. Teacher education programs or preservice teaching
programs could be transformed to attract, welcome, and prepare Black and Latino teachers. Agee
(2004) suggested that implicitly, many programs are designed mainly with a traditional-age
White student in mind. This reality may be invisible to those in such programs but visible to
those who sense they do not belong. Further, she explained that “the teacher education texts used
in the course made recommendations for using diverse texts or teaching diverse students based
on the assumption that preserve teachers are White” (p. 31).
The idea that most teachers are White creates the assumption that teachers of color are
alienated from joining the education ranks. Many universities have begun diversifying their
faculty and curriculum to attract Black, Latino, and teachers of color. According to Sleeter and
Milner (2011), teaching programs have begun to recruit and prepare teachers of color because
they have addressed the past issues that have pushed away many teachers of color. Universities
have recognized that many teachers prefer to teach close to home; “growing your own” teachers
30

of color has been recommended as a promising strategy (Boyd et al., 2005). In addition to
cultivating teacher preparation programs, such as Sacramento State University’s
Multilingual/Multicultural Teacher Preparation Center (M/M Center), universities strive to hire
diverse staff.
At the M/M center, the program is designed around student diversity. According to SSU
statistics, “75 percent of its teacher candidates are of color and are bilingual, a mix the program
attracts because of its focus, diverse faculty, and commitment to working with communities of
color and social justice” (Enchandia & Wong, 2007, p. 10). SSU has taken steps to diversify its
program to meet the needs of the area’s student population and also understands the importance
of placing Black and Latino educators in the Sacramento area. Alternative teacher certification
programs that serve as a way to diversify the teaching population are often viewed as grow-your-
own programs (Sleeter et al., 2014). These small programs that depend on external funding
involve collaborations between communities of color, school districts, and universities to prepare
and certify residents who otherwise lack access to teacher preparation programs (Sleeter et al.
(2014). Nadler and Pederson stated that grow-your-own alternative certification programs
produce a larger number of non-White teachers than traditional certification programs (as cited
in Sleeter et al., 2014).
Sleeter and Milner described two types of approaches: those that organize to bring
candidates of color into and through teacher education programs and those that involve redesign
or alternative versions of teacher education programs (as cited in Ball et al., 2011). The first type
of program builds pipelines and support systems that may start as early as elementary or middle
school (as cited in Ball et al., 2011). Pipeline programs for youth match them with mentor
teachers of their same race or ethnic background, offer academic support workshops, visit
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university campuses, and involve them in teaching activities with younger children (Sleeter et al.,
2014). Programs focused on supporting students of color on predominantly White campuses
offer financial assistance such as scholarships, academic support, and social and cultural support
to combat alienation (Sleeter et al., 2014).
Grow-your-own programs are seen as viable pathways for increasing the racial diversity
of teachers (Gist et al., 2019). Grow-your-own programs create high school pipelines with
articulation programs to offer college credit, community-based organizations offer social and
professional support as a buffer against structural obstacles, and district paraprofessional
programs partner with teacher education programs to offer student teaching hours during work
time in schools (Gist et al., 2019). Grow-your-own alternative teacher certification programs,
such as The Oakland Partnership and the CSU/Hayward-Oakland Public School District
Partnership, have had a direct impact on teacher diversity, with 60 to 80% of candidates of color
in their programs contributing to Oakland’s relatively high proportion of teachers of color
(Sleeter et al., 2014).
Finally, grow-your-own alternative certification programs can help individuals who
cannot afford to work for a year for free by earning a salary while learning to teach. Traditional
credentialing programs are housed in a university, while an alternative certification is often
housed in a school district or community facility and often involves a partnership with a
university and enables teachers to serve as interns and choose to practice teaching in a paid
position while studying to complete their certification program (Ellis and Epstein, 2014).
Teacher education programs or preservice teaching programs could be transformed to attract,
welcome, and prepare Black and Latin teachers. Agee (2004) suggested that implicitly, many
programs are designed with a traditional-age White student in min. This reality may be invisible
32

to those in such programs but visible to those who sense they do not belong. Further, Agee
explained that “the teacher education texts used in the course made recommendations for using
diverse texts or teaching diverse students based on the assumption that preserve teachers are
White” (p. 31).
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework focuses on the relationship between Black and Latino
educators, their impact in the classroom, and the ongoing support systems to support BIPOC
students. The conceptual framework was used to answer the following questions:
1. What do Black and Latino teachers perceive as the reasons for their effectiveness in
working with BIPOC students?
2. What professional development opportunities do teachers have to create and sustain
culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement?

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

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The independent variable, Black and Latino educators, set at the left, flows toward
BIPOC student achievement. Below the Black and Latino independent variable is continuous
support systems for culturally responsive teaching. This variable also leads to BIPOC student
achievement.
The framework incorporates two significant factors that support BIPOC student
achievement. The recruitment of Black and Latino teachers, culturally responsive teaching, and
continuous support systems for teachers are examined to support BIPOC student achievement.
The opportunity to dismantle implicit bias and address culturally diverse students. Both proximal
processes influence the success of BIPOC students. Additionally, the variables will continue to
close the achievement gap for BIPOC students. In the conceptual framework, the two pillars that
support BIPOC student achievement are Black and Latino teachers who look like their students,
PD, and a culturally relevant curriculum. The teachers must be capable of promoting and
sustaining a culturally relevant curriculum through continuous PD. If the teachers learn how to
serve their students, they will support positive outcomes for their BIPOC students. If teachers
attend PD to ensure the culturally relevant curriculum is continuously responsive to BIPOC
students. Gay (2002) stated culturally responsive teacher education preparation—be it school-
based PD or a university preparation program—is necessary, even when teachers are from the
same cultural, racial, and socioeconomic background as students. Therefore, I highlight the role
of school districts in ensuring that teachers are and remain culturally responsive.
Those two ideas encompass the continuous development of teachers and becoming
culturally responsive to their own teachings. The framework begins with Black and Latino
teachers. In addition, studies suggest that when a student has at least one teacher of color who
looks like them, the students of color do better (Mahnken, 2018). And most importantly, our
34

minority students are not constantly in a classroom where the teacher looks like them. The
conceptual framework maps out the need for more BIPOC teachers.
Conclusion
This chapter provided the research that Black and Latino educators are integral to
educating all students. The research suggested that if BIPOC students have at least one teacher
who looks like them, they are more likely to succeed in their own education. In addition, if
continuous support systems are in place for teachers, they are more likely to be effective in
providing culturally responsive and relevant teaching strategies. Teachers will have the cultural
knowledge to teach historically marginalized BIPOC students. The conceptual framework aligns
the literature with more Black and Latino educators and continuous support systems for teachers
to support BIPOC students. The teacher’s personal investment in their BIPOC students will
enable them to invest in culturally responsive and relevant classroom practices. Teachers could
use their knowledge of BIPOC students and cultures to deliver meaningful content.

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Chapter Three: Methods
This chapter outlines the qualitative approach, instrumentation, and data collection
methods used to conduct this study. The following research questions are the basis of my study:
1. What do Black and Latino teachers perceive as the reasons for their effectiveness in
working with BIPOC students?
2. What professional development opportunities do teachers have to create and sustain
culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement?
This chapter includes five sections. First, I will discuss the reasoning behind the decision
to conduct a qualitative case study. Second, I will describe the sample and population I propose
for this case study. Third, the data collection methods will be explained. Fourth, the planned
analysis of the data will be explained, and finally, I will discuss the credibility, trustworthiness,
limitations, delimitations, and ethics of this study.
Research Design
This research studied a basic qualitative methodological approach in the form of multiple
case studies to investigate how Black and Latino teachers contribute to BIPOC student
achievement. Professional development is essential for preparing educators to teach BIPOC
students in urban schools. Qualitative methods are the most appropriate approach for this study
because it enables me to explore how teachers interpret their teaching experiences. (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Merriam and Tisdell (2016) discussed qualitative research as uncovering the
meaning of the perceived experiences of phenomena. This research focuses on whether teachers
are prepared to deliver effective instruction in a culturally responsive classroom in an urban
setting. The units of analysis for this study were 12 teachers working in an urban school setting.
The interviews were used as they represent a first and second-hand account of the phenomenon,
36

respectively, and allowed me to triangulate findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Also, the
interviews provided insight into the participants’ thoughts, perspectives, and intentions. The
following sections explain how I learned more about this phenomenon.
Sample and Population
The focus of this study was to better understand Black and Latino teachers’ teaching
experiences and their contribution to BIPOC student achievement in urban schools. The
sampling technique was non-probability and purposeful. This qualitative methodological
approach does not aim to generalize to a population; therefore, probability sampling is not
justifiable (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As a result, it is essential to purposefully include
participants who are the most qualified to answer the research questions, as the researcher wants
to discover, understand, and gain insight and, therefore, must select a sample of respondents
from whom the most can be learned (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Merriam and Tisdell (2016)
suggested deciding on criteria fundamental in choosing the respondents and the sites to be
studied to obtain thorough information that directly reflects the study’s purpose. The following
section discusses the criteria for the site and participant selection.
Site Selection
Milner et al. (2015) developed a framework that defines urbanism by population density,
diversity of peoples, and availability of resources along a continuum of intensive, emergent, and
characteristic. According to their framework, an urban district is located in an area with a
population either close to or exceeding one million. There is also much student diversity in terms
of racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic composition (Milner et al., 2015). School districts
in Southern California, many of them urban, were selected using this criterion.
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The selection criteria for the sites are schools in urban school districts in Southern
California with much diversity in their student populations (i.e., Black, Latino/a, Asian, bi-
racial). These sampling criteria identified relatively heterogeneous, diverse schools in a
demographically diverse urban school district. The schools were selected based on publicly
released demographic data from the Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange County Departments of
Education. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) stated that a typical or model sample “describes how
typical the program, event, or individual is compared with others in the same class, so that users
can make comparisons with their own situations” (pp. 257–258). I use the word “typical” here to
describe the school’s environment with respect to any active agendas or district initiatives to
implement or dissuade culturally responsive curriculum and instructional practices, not to
explain ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status (SES) demographics as there is no “typical”
school in that respect.
Criterion 1: The first criterion for my study is the district. I interviewed Black and Latino
teachers from school districts in Southern California. They teach in urban school districts with a
high number of Black and Latino educators.
Criterion 2: The second criterion is related to the school site selection. The schools
selected for my study are neither: (a) actively pursuing an agenda to implement culturally
responsive curriculum/instructional practices, (b) affected by such an initiative underway at the
district level, nor (c) actively discouraging any culturally responsive curriculum and instructional
practices.
Participant Selection
Purposeful network sampling was used to determine the participants. As purposeful
sampling assumes that the investigator wants to discover and gain an in-depth understanding of a
38

specific issue, this criterion-based selection is fitting to garner the best results from the teachers
in the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Eleven teachers were sampled for this study. Merriam
and Tisdell (2016) suggested that for qualitative studies, it is important to have a large enough
sample to cultivate new information but not too many at which saturation of information is
exceeded. Since this study focused on Black and Latino educators and early career teachers
instructing BIPOC students in urban areas, the selection was limited to teachers who fit the
criteria. The following criteria were used to select the five teachers.
Criterion 1
The first criterion is that respondents must be employed as K–12 public school teachers
in a general education classroom at a public school in Southern California.
Criterion 2
The second criterion is for teachers who are full-time classroom teachers who have their
own classes and do not co-teach or are special education teachers in inclusion classrooms. Since
I sought to understand how teachers feel their preservice/credential programs and school site PD
have and continue to prepare them to instruct BIPOC students through a culturally responsive
curriculum, the teacher piece is crucial to this study.
Criterion 3
The third criterion was that respondents must be currently physically teaching on a school
campus, as opposed to in an online environment. For this study, I was interested in teachers’ in-
person experiences and perceptions around delivering effective, culturally responsive classroom
pedagogy.
39

Instrumentation and Data Collection Procedures
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), qualitative research uses words and data in
several ways. Specifically, interviews provide an understanding of the participant’s classroom
experiences as well as the preparedness of their preservice teaching programs to plan and deliver
culturally responsive lessons for BIPOC students in an urban setting. The literature on
contemporizing preservice teacher programs shows that teachers and their teaching practices are
ineffective and lack core values in their classrooms aligned with that of their students and
communities (Hollins, 2015). Interviews are an appropriate data collection method to gather
information about participant perspectives and experiences to understand meaning-making,
(Maxwell, 2013). The following sections will present additional information about the purpose
and content of each instrument.
This study examined the ongoing and relevant PD at school sites and teacher
preparedness to educate BIPOC students and how teacher positionality, and implicit bias, in
conjunction with the preservice programs and ongoing PD, affect the achievement of BIPOC
students. Each participant was interviewed on their firsthand experiences in their preservice
teacher programs with respect to their preparation for education BIPOC students and their
continued PD and learning to offer culturally relevant teaching.
Lochmiller and Lester (2017) stated that the ideal sample in a qualitative study enables
researchers to make sound interpretations of the data and to have sufficient data to ground and
produce an in-depth report of their findings. To get a clear understanding of the strategies and
Black and Latino educators’ daily interactions with BIPOC students, interviews provided insight
into their lived experiences. Patton (2002) stated, “We interview people to find out from them
those things we cannot directly observe.” To better understand the lived experiences of Black
40

and Latino teachers and their ongoing PD aimed at meeting the needs of BIPOC students. The
interview questions were open-ended and based on the conceptual framework. Interviews
occurred in the teachers’ classroom based on a predetermined time. Interviews lasted
approximately an hour and were recorded and transcribed for later analysis.

Table 1
Interview Questions and Conceptual Framework Alignment
Interview questions Systems/concept from CF Type of question
Transition: I’d like to start by asking you some background questions about yourself.
Introduction: Setting the Stage
First, tell me about your
background in education.
How did you become
interested in the field of
education?
How long have you worked in
the field?
What roles or positions have
you held?
What subject(s) do you teach?
Tell me about your role in the
program/school.
Meaning-making

Meaning-making
Background/demographics
(Patton, 2002)

Background/demographics
(Patton, 2002)
[How has your ethnicity played a part in your teaching?]
Transition: Thank you for sharing about your background and journey into education. Now, I’d
like to ask you to think about your ethnicity. Heart of the interview
First, tell me about why you
became a teacher in this
district (BIPOC Students)
Probes: What factors did you
consider while selecting the
district you work in?
Could you tell me about a
time you connected to your
students because of your
ethnicity?
Schools with 50% or more
BIPOC students.

Shared experience

Experience and
behavior/feeling (Patton,
2002)

Experience and
behavior/feelings/opinion
(Patton, 2002)
41

Interview questions Systems/concept from CF Type of question
Probes: Tell me about some
of the positive elements of
being of the same ethnicity
as your students. Do you
have an advantage over
some non-Black/Latino
teachers?
Discuss some areas of your
teaching where you
connected with student
achievement?
Discuss how your shared
ethnicity has contributed to
BIPOC student
achievement. (Test Scores,
SEL, etc)
How do you differ from
teachers who are not of the
same ethnicity as your
BIPOC students?
Probes: Do you have an
advantage over some
teachers who are not Black
or Latino?
Discuss the student’s effort
and motivation for you as
opposed to a teacher who is
not Black or Latino.
Do you think it is important
that students have a teacher
who looks like them? What
are some contributing
factors to your answer?
As a Black/Latino teacher, do
you feel you have an
advantage in “connecting”
to BIPOC students over
those who are not
Black/Latino?
Can you give me some
examples?
Discuss the student’s effort
and motivation for you as

Student achievement

Establishes practical
experience of the success
the Black or Latino teacher
has on BIPOC student
achievement

Experience and behavior
(Patton, 2002)

Ideal position (Strauss et al.,
1981)

42

Interview questions Systems/concept from CF Type of question
opposed to a teacher who is
not Black or Latino.
Transition: I’d like to start by asking you about your teaching and practices in your classroom.
BIPOC: BIPOC is an acronym that connotes Black Indigenous People of Color
Can you tell me about the
discussions you had in your
credential program about
educating BIPOC students?
Tell me about those
discussions among your
professor and classmates.
Preservice teacher programs Experience and
behavior/knowledge
(Patton, 2002)
Culturally responsive teaching: Culturally responsive teaching has been defined as “the
process of using familiar cultural information and processes to scaffold learning, emphasizes
communal orientation, focused on relationships, cognitive scaffolding, and critical social
awareness” (Hammond, 2015, p. 156).
Tell me how equipped you
feel you are to teach BIPOC
students.
What does culturally
responsive teaching mean to
you?
How would you describe to
someone what a culturally
responsive classroom may
look, sound, and feel for
both students and the
teacher/s.
Tell me about the support you
receive as a teacher to teach
in ways you just described,
if any?
What would be more helpful
to you?
If you do bring in a culturally
relevant curriculum. Do you
feel BIPOC students are
more receptive as opposed
to other “standard”
curriculum?
Culturally relevant curriculum

Culturally relevant curriculum

Professional development

Opinion and values (Patton,
2002)

Feelings (Patton, 2002)

Ideal position (Strauss et al.,
1981)
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Interview questions Systems/concept from CF Type of question
Transition: Now, I’d like to ask you some questions about how these practices are promoted at
your school.
Think about a professional
development you found
meaningful, tell me about it.
In the last year, tell me about
the kinds of professional
development offered at your
school site.
How have these professional
developments supported
your teaching and the
students and the BIPOC
students in your classroom?
Please describe any
professional learning
opportunities you have
received in the last year
related to culturally
responsive teaching and
learning conditions, if any.
How were you informed
about this/these professional
learning opportunities?
What were some reasons you
decided to attend?
Ideally, what kind of
professional development
would you like to receive
concerning BIPOC students.
What are some specific things
you are hoping to gain that
would be particularly useful
to you and your students?
Professional development

Professional development

Professional development/
culturally relevant
curriculum

Professional development

Ideal position (Strauss et al.,
1981)

Ideal position (Strauss et al.,
1981)

Experience/knowledge/
opinion and feelings
(Patton, 2002)

Opinion and values (Patton,
2002)

Conclusion:
What other insight would you
like to share about Black
and Latino teachers
contributing to BIPOC
student achievement.
Is there any other insight
about professional
– –
44

Interview questions Systems/concept from CF Type of question
development you would like
to share?
Is there anything else that you
would like to share
regarding what we’ve
spoken about?
Closing comments:
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate your time and
willingness to share. The information you shared is helpful for my study. If I find myself
with a follow-up question, can I contact you, and if so, is email, ok? Again, thank you for
participating in my study. As a thank you, please accept this small token of my appreciation
(gift card, school supplies, etc., if appropriate).

Through the interviews, I sought insight into the participants’ experiences in preservice
teacher programs and their beliefs about how prepared they felt to educate BIPOC students in
urban schools. I also asked about their professional practice to determine their beliefs regarding
the types of PD they receive and how interconnected and related it is to their students’
demographics and culture.
Data Analysis
This study utilized qualitative data from interviews. Data were derived from interview
transcripts, field notes, and my memos. The research questions guided the data analysis. Bowen
(2009) suggested that data analysis is a systematic procedure for reviewing a qualitative study.
Data analysis is the process of giving meaning to data by identifying and looking closely at its
various components to realize their relationship with each other (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).
As I collected data, I wrote separate reports documenting my findings. The interviews
exist in a social context. Seidman (2013) suggested that interviewing is both a research
45

methodology and a social relationship that must be nurtured, sustained, and then end gracefully.
After each interview, I transcribed the audio recordings and field-coded transcripts accordingly. I
coded and sorted the data. According to Stuckey (2015), one of the more practical uses of memos
is to record how one is developing the codes and making decisions about coding. This enhances
the audit trail to demonstrate how decisions were made and conclusions reached. Memos can be
written when one decides to combine or split codes when one wants to write conceptual notes
about how the codes tell the storyline or the context in which a certain code could be applied.
Adhering to a strict and consistent data analysis allowed me to find patterns of words or
ideas that continue to emerge from the interviews. These concepts and ideas presented
themselves as I explored the data. I wrote separate reports documenting common themes among
the participants. The analysis developed from the information the participants supplied. In
addition, I compared the ideas and themes in the interviews. This allowed me to gain a better
understanding of the teacher’s preservice programs and the students they serve. As I analyzed the
data, I wrote a qualitative narrative that presents the findings as it relates to the research
questions and conceptual framework.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Maxwell (2013) implies the existence of any objective truth to which an account can be
discovered and measured in qualitative research is notwithstanding. However, Maxwell (2013)
suggested the idea of objective truth is not essential to a theory of validity that does what most
researchers want it to do, which is to give them some grounds for distinguishing accounts that
are credible from those that are not. I took steps to maintain validity throughout the data
collection. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) suggested that it is important to establish rigor and
46

trustworthiness in qualitative studies through ethical practices often associated with validity and
reliability.
As the interviewer, I needed to maintain validity for the interviewees. Seidman (2013)
suggested the interviewer might attempt to isolate the interviewing relationship from the context
and make it unique to the interviewer and participant, the social forces of class, ethnicity, race,
and gender, as well as other social forces of class, ethnicity, race, and gender, as well as other
social identities, impose themselves. Understanding my positionality as I interviewed and
collected data was vital to the research.
To begin, I am a former secondary English teacher. At the core of the material we studied
when I was a classroom teacher, the literature was diverse and carefully selected to align with the
students’ cultural pluralities. I led my classroom and school as a leader, sitting on various
leadership committees, and championing funding and equity for students. Constant self-
reflection, awareness of my positionality and privilege, as well as seeking to listen to the voices
of systematically marginalized populations is crucial to my continued work in education. I
operate under the assumption that all teachers, regardless of their race and background, consider
their students’ culture and race in planning, lesson implementation, and interactions with
students. While I am aware that as a researcher and teacher, I possess implicit biases, classroom
teachers do, too. With the interviewees, I strove for equity because it is not only an ethical
imperative but also a methodological one (Seidman, 2013). In remaining open and constantly
engaging in dialogue to grow, I came to this study with an open mind.
In addition, throughout the study, I made every effort to ensure strong validity and
reliability by observing Patton’s (2002) belief that it is vital that the study be carried out with
intellectual rigor, professional integrity, and methodological competence. Multiple steps were
47

followed to promote validity and reliability throughout the study such as triangulation of the
data, member checking, adequate time spent collecting the data, researcher self-reflecting on any
assumptions, worldviews, and/or biases, peer review, audit trail, and purposefully seeking
variation in the sample selection (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Ethics
At the core, research ethics involves practitioner-scholars acting in a responsible and fair
way while continually keeping in mind the interests, needs, and protection of current and/or
future research participants (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). It was my responsibility as a researcher
to act ethically and clearly communicate the data. Additionally, the purpose of this study was
communicated to the participants. Additionally, participants were asked to sign a statement
indicating they were informed. While conducting the survey, participants were reminded that
they could rescind their participation at any time, refuse to answer any questions, or ask for the
audio recording to be stopped. I maintained confidentiality by only using pseudonyms in the
findings presented and all data (Rubin & Rubin, 2012).
Utilizing Patton’s (2015) checklist, I continuously explained the purpose of the questions
and methods I used as I introduced the data being collected from the teachers. I followed all
institutional review board protocols, guidelines, and requirements for protecting the participants
in the study. In addition, if I had any questions, I contacted my committee chair for guidance. I
strove to act ethically during the execution of the study and data collection.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations to this study are factors outside my control. The results and/or interpretation
of the study may be impacted by generalizability, truthfulness, and credibility. The study is
generalizable only to the teachers and their classrooms that are the units of study. The study also
48

relied on the trustworthiness of the participants, and truthfulness in interviews could be
controlled. With the limitation of openness and truthfulness of the participants, the interviewees’
responses could not be guaranteed to be truthful (Weiss, 1994). Respondents may have tried to
paint a particular picture based on their positionality (Weiss, 1994).
For example, interviewed a variety of teachers at different schools, and they could have
wanted to present how they deliver effective culturally responsive instruction in a limited way
due to the sensitive nature or the desire for privacy. Lastly, participants may not have been
forthcoming in their responses due to the insider/outsider status that may be perceived. I assumed
that the data would be true to each teacher’s actual perceptions of effective culturally responsive
instruction and their choices regarding curriculum and pedagogy. The reliability of this study
depends upon this assumption. Finally, the data were limited to five case studies. The findings
and the generalizability and transferability to similar school contexts are constrained by the
phenomenon studied in five classrooms.
Delimitations are factors in the researcher’s control that may affect the interpretation of
the data and the study’s results. As with all qualitative research where the researcher is the
primary instrument, my limited experience with conducting research and my personal biases are
delimitations. My biases might have influenced the questions I asked and how I read and made
meaning of the data. Secondly, as a novice, I was unfamiliar with the art of research in terms of
building a participant relationship through interviews and probing appropriately to seek more
information resulting in the possibility that markers and cues from interviewees may have been
missed, which may have caused opportunities to ask probing questions to be missed. Lastly, I
had a limited time in which to gather data. Data were collected over about 2 months during one
49

semester of school, and the information obtained provides only a glimpse of the phenomenon in
each classroom.
Conclusion
This chapter focused on the design and implementation of this qualitative study, where I
engaged in systematic inquiry, gathered data, and looked for patterns in the data to help me
understand this phenomenon. The purpose of the research was to examine how teacher PD
prepared teachers to educate BIPOC students in urban areas as well as the support that teachers
need to instruct BIPOC students in urban areas. I interviewed and observed 12 teachers at
different schools in Southern California. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews,
documents, and artifacts.
I remained aware of my positionality, limitations, and biases, and how these represent the
constraints of this study. I implemented strategies to increase the validity and reliability of my
methods and data collection. I made ethical decisions throughout the research, from the
beginning to the final presentation of the findings that emerged from the data. Finally, the
conceptual framework served as the foundation for this work and guided the data analysis.

50

Chapter Four: Findings and Results
This qualitative study aimed to explore Black and Latino educators’ contributions to
student achievement. In this chapter, I will present a report of the results from the interviews
conducted as part of the research. The data were collected from interviews to interpret the work
and the need for more Black and Latino educators. In addition, the chapter also highlights
interviews that suggest continuous PD for all teachers. This chapter outlines the themes from the
data analysis. A participant profile has been compiled to share demographic information about
the participants and the context of their schools. The major themes from the data analysis will be
outlined and discussed via quotes and information collected from the document review and
interviews. The chapter concludes with a summary that leads to a discussion of the findings
provided in Chapter Five, the final chapter.
Latino teachers, functioning as role models and representatives of the school for students
of color, support their students by developing positive school expectations, fostering a sense of
belonging, and improving subsequent educational outcomes (Antrop-González & De Jesús,
2006). The interviews highlighted consistent institutional themes, such as fostering student
relationships, building rapport through language and culture, empathy, and PD for all teachers.
Similar to research on Latinx teachers’ positive social and emotional influences on Latinx
students, long and established research shows Black teachers contribute to their Black students’
social and emotional development (Ladson-Billings, 2009).
It was important throughout the research process that the focus remained on the
individual participants, especially as common themes emerged. I also wanted to maintain this
emphasis on the individual evident in the presentation of the findings. Trahar (2009) reiterated
that narratives are not only gathered by using various methods, but they may also be represented
51

in several ways. Presenting the findings in this manner prioritizes the individual’s experience and
embraces “the particularity and complexity of the individual’s lived experience” (Carless &
Douglass, 2016, p. 307). According to Brooks (2016), the value of this approach is that it gives a
“voice” to the individual teacher in recounting not just their experiences but how they made
sense of those experiences. In this chapter, the findings are from 11 interviews with Black and
Latino teachers who teach in Southern California. This chapter begins with brief descriptive
profiles of the teacher’s participants. It continues to explore the common themes presented in the
interviews that suggest that Black and Latino teachers are important.
Participant Profiles
Each teacher participant was initially interviewed in 2023 in person or via Zoom. The
participants were Black and Latino teachers who teach in Southern California. I interviewed 11
teachers: six Latino teachers, three females and three males. I also interviewed five Black
teachers: three women and two men. Ten of the 11 teachers interviewed were first-generation
college-educated educators and the first in their families to attend college. Many wanted to
become teachers and give back to the communities they grew up in. All but one of the educators
teach in schools that have more than 70% BIPOC students, according to the California School
Dashboard (2023).
The participants in this study are described and presented below by the pseudonyms they
chose for themselves.
Participant 1, Lola, is a female Latina high school History teacher who teaches in a
school with 2100 students. Ninety percent of the students are BIPOC. Lola is a first-generation
college graduate. She has been teaching for 7 years.
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Participant 2, Alexis, is a female Latinx high school English teacher. She has taught for 2
years at a high school in Los Angeles County, where over 90% of the students are BIPOC. She is
the first in her family to attend and graduate from college.
Participant 3, Manny, is a Latino middle school science teacher in Orange County. He
taught science for 9 years in a school that has 800 students. Fifty percent of the students are
BIPOC. There are 40 staff members on the campus, of whom five are Latino. He is one of three
Latino teachers on campus. He is a first-generation college graduate.
Participant 4, James, is a Black male middle school English teacher in San Diego County.
James is in his 3rd year teaching at a school with 600 students. Twenty percent of the students
are BIPOC, and none identify as Black. James is the first in his family to graduate from college.
Participant 5, John Doe, is a Black male teacher who has taught health and science for 15
years at a high school in Los Angeles County. John is at a school where there are 1,600 students,
90% of whom are BIPOC. Two percent identify as Black. John will transition to an administrator
after the 2022–23 school year. He is a second-generation educator.
Participant 6, Kimmy, is a Black female who has taught science for 7 years at a high
school in Los Angeles County. There are 1,300 students at Kimmy’s school: 95% of them are
BIPOC, and 30% identify as Black. Kimmy is one of seven Black teachers on campus. She is the
first in her family to graduate from college.
Participant 7, Woody, is a Latino male who has taught history for 10 years at a high
school in Orange County. The high school has 2,100 students. Half of the students are BIPOC.
Woody is a first-generation college graduate.
Participant 8, Sonya, is a Black female English teacher. She has taught middle and high
schools. She is in her 12th year of teaching. Sonya teaches at a school in Ventura County with
53

1,700 students. Twenty percent of the students are BIPOC. She is the only Black teacher on
campus, and one of five teachers is a “teacher of color.” Sonya says “people of color” means
Black and Latinx. Sonya is the first in her family to graduate college.
Participant 9, Omar, is a Latino History teacher in Los Angeles County. He has taught
History for 13 years. Omar teaches at a high school that has 2,400 students, of whom 95% are
BIPOC. Omar is the first in his family to graduate college and earn an EdD. He is the only
educator at his school with a doctorate in education.
Participant 10, Isa, is a Latinx female. Isa is in her first year of teaching at an elementary
school in Orange County. The elementary school has 400 students. Fourteen percent of her
students are BIPOC. She is one of two Latinx teachers at her school. Isa is third in her family to
graduate college.
Participant 11, Sara, a Black female English teacher, has taught at high schools in Los
Angeles County and New Orleans. She is in her 7th year of teaching. Sara teaches at a school in
Los Angeles County. The school has 1,200 students, of whom 75% are BIPOC. Sara is the first
in her family to graduate college.
Data
The interview data provided insight into the following research questions:
1. What do Black and Latino teachers perceive as the reasons for their effectiveness in
working with BIPOC students?
2. What professional development opportunities do teachers have to create and sustain
culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement?
The data supporting these questions provided unique strategies and perspectives from
Black and Latino teachers in their respective schools. The interviews aimed to represent the
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participants’ lived experiences to illustrate how these teachers constructed their roles as
educators in communities that serve BIPOC students. A critical component of interviews was to
elucidate the participants’ unique experiences in educating students who look like them. Many of
their stories during the interviews identified five major themes: (a) personal connections, (b)
building community, (c) advocacy, and (d) culturally relevant academic PD.
Personal Connections
The interviews explored the educators’ narratives in their public schools, and all said that
building personal connections is an essential part of connecting with Black and Latino students.
All but one of the teachers had classes where most students were BIPOC. Many were Latino
students, and teachers talked about how the best way to teach and build community was to build
personal connections with the students. Alexis said,
As a new teacher in a new school, I relied heavily on my ability to connect with students
through their culture to survive my first year. I didn’t yet have teaching experience, and I
was not as sure of my teaching ability. But I knew I had to connect to my kids to teach
them. I’m not a fluent Spanish speaker but could speak a little, and I would throw in these
Spanish words or phrases so that I can let them know I’m a Latina woman who knows
their culture and knows that I am here for them.
I asked teachers if they could build connections easier or faster with their classes because
many of the students in their classrooms were BIPOC. Lola suggested that it was easier for her
compared to others because she was Latina teaching at her alma mater. Lola said,
I was back home, so I know where my students live, ate, and hang out; there was an
instant connection. And I speak Spanish fluently. I don’t want to suggest that a teacher
would have trouble connecting with their students regardless of their cultural background,
55

but where I teach, it is rich with community. I do think I have an advantage over all other
new teachers at the school and more so than a Caucasian teacher.
This aligns with findings from the literature; for instance, Bristol and Martin-Fernandez
(2019) add, “One particularly salient way Latinx teachers enacted social and emotional support
with their monolingual—and, in some cases, bilingual—Latinx students was through a shared
value of linguistic diversity in the classroom” (p. 4). Many Latino teachers are bilingual. They
regularly switch between Spanish and English when instructing a lesson, speaking to individual
students, and using students’ primary language to provide clarity for students. Using a student’s
home language provides comfort that may not exist in other classrooms.
More recent research has documented how Black students describe the unique ways their
Black teachers care for them and serve as role models (Bristol & Martin-Fernandez, 2019). John
Doe said,
Many of my kids were Latino, Armenian, and Asian, and very few Black kids. I just
presented myself as someone who cared for them and wanted to teach health and science.
And for the most part, kids gave me a chance to teach, and they knew I had their best
interest. I’m sure there are White teachers who are good as well. And kids know if the
teacher has their best interest and will be fair with them. I’m not sure because I’m Black,
I was better at making connections. I was just personable.
Omar, a history teacher, added,
I definitely think I was able to build personal relationships easier than most. One reason
is that when I teach History, I start with the textbook. And I say “sabes que” [did you
know[, like in an ol’ school cholo voice, and kids start laughing, so they know I know
them and where they come from, and I say, skim through that history book, write down
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how many names and ethnicities outside of White people are in it. After about 20
minutes, many of the kids have like eight names. I follow up by saying, ‘History has
forgotten about us, Native, Latino, Black, Asian, and people of color.” I’m going to teach
you how important we are to America. The kids are “in!” I’ve connected with them and
have begun to build a personal connection with all my students. The students know I will
do right by them. I’ve instantly built that personal connection with them. That personal
connection lays the groundwork for teaching the entire school year.
To Omar’s point, studies of Latino prospective and practicing teachers highlight a view
of families as respected allies with whom they can and should have close warm relationships.
Latino educators often extend themselves to help Latino children feel pride and motivation to do
well in school through informal contacts in the school setting offering encouragement and
support (Gomez et al., 2008). Omar can use language and culture to build personal connections
with her students prior to providing instruction. Omar creates buy-in from her students, many of
whom are BIPOC, by building those “warm relationships.” BIPOC students who have someone
who looks like them and can share a lived experience with their teacher or an adult on campus
are encouraged to have better attendance and do better in school. These teachers who build those
personal connections begin to build community and a shared purpose that leads to student
achievement. The personal connections teachers have made lend themselves to student
achievement. Black and Latino teachers are unique in that they have more likely experienced and
survived some form of racial oppression in their personal and professional lives. Educators and
“Leaders of Color in the U.S. have traversed, negotiated, and often overcome myriad inequities
in education themselves” (Santamaria, 2013, p. 349). Cultivating personal connections supports
facilitating student learning in the classroom community.
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How Black and Latino Teachers Build Community
Building community in classrooms encourages teachers and students to create a common
space of trust, a sense of belonging, and engagement opportunities beyond the standards or skills
taught. Practices such as community circles, team-building exercises, and productive discourse
questions lend themselves to an inclusive and supportive classroom. Burden (2016) suggested
that building classroom communities enables teachers to be aware of the student culture,
promotes autonomy, is inclusive, and develops communication skills.
Asked if building community is an integral part of supporting achievement for BIPOC
students, all participants said that building classroom community is essential to teaching BIPOC
students. As one teacher said, “I need that interaction with students. I can’t just get up in front of
the class and teach. I like talking to kids about life and fun stuff like shoes and music. Like, who
wouldn’t want to have a cool classroom community? I would hate ‘just’ to lecture and teach for
56 minutes and not know who my kids are.”
Omar viewed classroom community as a “vital part of building the student’s efficacy.”
López-Robertson (2017) suggested, “Through extended engagement, … the instructors created
an opening for students to share and appreciate their different experiences as a foundation for
building classroom community.” Omar and López-Robertson spoke of building community to
bring value to students worth and speak of the value teachers have for their students. The process
of self-efficacy is motivational. According to Bandura (1993), motivation is governed by
expectations that behaviors will lead to outcomes of performance. The teachers identified that by
creating a classroom community, students could complete a certain task if their self-efficacy
beliefs were higher. James said,
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Not only are the personal connections vital to supporting the best outcomes for my
students but creating an environment, a classroom community that invites students to
learn and build their self-efficacy, is as important as teaching them to read or understand
the idea of photosynthesis.
Woody stated,
I wanted to come back and teach in my community. As a Latino, I want to help and
empower others like me. I knew I could make a difference and have an impact on the
students because they would know that I am from the community, and I know their
struggles and can be a support system for them. So, if I could create a classroom
community, help the students know that this is a safe place for them, their identities will
be respected, and that we have a common goal, they are going to want to come to school
and learn. My students have a common purpose.
According to Kohli and Pizarro (2016), SES, geographic upbringing, immigration status,
and culture impact the cultural connections and engagement between teachers and students
(Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011). By creating a welcoming community, teachers could become
familiar with the home lives and community of their students from diverse backgrounds. Isa,
who teaches at a school where “just” 10% of the population is BIPOC, said,
Many of the students I have are Latinx. I have a class of 22 students, nine of whom
identify as Latinx, and I am the only Latinx teacher on campus. I felt that my students
needed a safe space and that it was important to build that class community to be
inclusive for all of my second-grade students. Now, I’m not sure that my second graders
know what inclusive means, but I do know that my BIPOC students need a place where
they won’t be judged or looked at differently than their White peers or other teachers.
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Isa added, “there have been times where I have heard teachers say, ‘oh, those kids,’ I
need to make sure all of my kids have a space where comments like those don’t apply to them.”
Building a community for students is a step toward knowing students have a place of belonging
and a space where they feel safe and not judged by biases, whether explicit or implicit. Having
teachers who champion these spaces for BIPOC students alleviates barriers to inequalities in
education. Sara added, “One of the goals as a classroom teacher is for all students to feel
important, safe, and valued; I take measures to ensure that BIPOC and White students in our
schools are represented and acknowledged.”
The teachers interviewed viewed building community as an integral part of teaching and
learning. Building community equipped teachers with knowledge and skills to help their students
achieve academic success. Better learning and achievement were evident in their classrooms
because the Black and Latino teachers mirrored the student population. The teachers who
become familiar with students’ home lives and community equip themselves with the knowledge
and skills to help their students achieve academically. Building community is not utilized enough
by all teachers across all grade levels. Saffold and Longwell-Grice (2008) suggested, “It would
seem that teaching preservice students something about culturally diverse children and requiring
them to work directly with children, or their communities would help them to become better
teachers” (p. 198). If this practice started early in the teacher’s career, classroom communities
would be an integral part of the school culture. Despite teaching in historically under-resourced
schools, Latinx teachers who share their Latinx students’ cultural experiences create classroom
environments that foster positive social and emotional support (Bristol & Fernandez, 2019). All
these attributes lend themselves to student advocacy.
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Advocacy
Advocacy was used throughout the participant’s interviews and became a unanimous
term to support why BIPOC students need teachers to advocate for them. While students of color
are steadily increasing in public schools, teachers of color continue to be drastically
underrepresented (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011; Villegas & Jordan-Irvine, 2011). Does the
question become, who fights for those students of color? Who is their ally? Who is their
advocate? Kimmy addressed these questions by saying,
I advocate for students. I chose to come to this district because I’m familiar with the area.
I know who this community is, and I know I can make a difference with my students. As
a student in the area, I did not have any Black teachers. Almost all of my teachers were
White, and a few were good. Still, for the most part, they didn’t “see me” or my friends,
the teachers who did make a difference were my coaches, who were Black, and my
history teacher and science teacher, who is Latino/Mexican specifically. So, I want to
give back and be an advocate and voice for my students. Many here don’t have someone
who says yes! You can go to college; you can go into the medical field; you can leave
California, attend college, and afford it. Not many of my students have someone who
tells them that. I’m here to voice those things.
Kimmy identifies her students as needing a voice to encourage and promote optimism for
their future. According to Yosso (2005), many schools operate through Eurocentric cultural
frameworks that devalue BIPOC students’ communities and their community-based forms of
knowledge. Many interviewees feel a responsibility to model for their BIPOC students, to make
them feel proud, and encourage them and build on that capital. The teachers believe they play an
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integral part in advocating for their students and share that responsibility, positively impacting
their students’ lives. Manny suggested,
The school where I became a teacher and coach is endearing. It is where my teaching
and coaching evolved into advocacy for the kids I teach and coach. I was noticed by
adults and pushed because I was good at baseball in high school. I couldn’t say the same
for those who didn’t participate in athletics. So, as a teacher, I always reflect on that. I
advocate for all my students. I think that advocacy lends itself to doing well academically
and socially for my Latino students and really for all my students.
Researchers have long documented how Latinx teachers have attended to the social and
emotional needs of their Latinx students (Bristol & Fernandez, 2019). Sonya added,
I student taught and got my credential but left to pursue other passions. I didn’t think I
wanted to teach; it was just something to do at the time. But after working in the
hospitality industry and talking to other workers, the conversation always ended with
“How did you end up working here.” Many said they didn’t do well in school and had no
ambition to go to school after high school. I was like, oh, I taught high school for a little
and I tried to push kids to college because if I could do it, anyone could do it. And
immediately they would say, ‘I wish I had a teacher like you,’ maybe I would have gone
to college. So, when I reflect on my time away from teaching, I know it was always at the
back of my mind that I wanted to go back. So, now, fast forward 4 years later, I can think
about the adults I met who didn’t have someone to advocate for them. As an educator
who knows that not everyone is given the same opportunities that I have and that many of
the students don’t have an ally on their side, I have that obligation to be that ally and
advocate.
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The teacher participants’ personal backgrounds were familiar to their BIPOC students.
This awareness primed them to notice the injustices and unfair disadvantages their students
receive. The teachers were receptive to developing greater awareness of their situations and, in
turn, applied their expanded consciousness to building their BIPOC students’ cultural capital.
Omar adds, “As a high school history teacher and advocate of social justice, I have a very strong
passion for empowering my students.” I asked if this was inherent. Omar said,
I learned through my upbringing in East Los Angeles that we Latinos [emphasis added]
were oppressed, and that was magnified in college and through my EdD at USC. In my
class, I teach about social justice and the need to empower us [Latinos] and all people of
color. Many, if not all, of my students are Latino or Latinx whose parents emigrated to
our country. So many of my kids are all first-generation and need guidance that they can
achieve. With that empowerment comes advocacy for our students. I strive to be a role
model and voice for the disenfranchised and marginalized. I believe this is crucial to
develop learning and social awareness for our students. As an educator who can
acknowledge the inequities in the educational system, I have an obligation to my
students.
Omar’s advocacy for his students supports Bristol and Martin-Fernandez’s (2019)
assertion that Latinx teachers, functioning as role models and representatives of the school for
students of color, support their Latinx students by developing positive school expectations,
fostering a sense of belonging, and improving subsequent educational outcomes.
James, a Black teacher who teaches middle school English added,
Kids at my middle school don’t know what they want or need in their education. They
just know they need to be at school. So, I’ve taken the approach of providing literature
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my students can see themselves in. Short stories or articles that have characters or people
who look like them and are people of color who succeed. I advocate for more literature
like this in all classes at school so that kids know it’s not only the “White people” who
are succeeding or have stories worth reading. Advocating for a curriculum that brings
social awareness is as vital as advocating for each student in my class in our school.
A significant body of research shows that students of color have improved academic
outcomes when they are taught by teachers of similar ethnoracial backgrounds (Bristol, 2020;
Redding, 2019). Several of the teachers I interviewed felt that advocacy for BIPOC students was
one thing that separated Black and Latino teachers from other teachers. In addition, Recent
evidence also suggests that Latinx teachers have particular impact on educational outcomes for
Latinx students, specifically achievement (López, 2016). For example, James said,
I can’t speak for another teacher other than myself; however, I do know my kids score the
best. My kids are well-behaved, there are way fewer discipline issues in my class, and I
am asked to lead PD at my site more than some other teachers. Is it because my kids
know I champion their efforts and want them all to succeed? I honestly don’t know if
some of my White counterparts do advocate. I know they care for their well-being, but do
they advocate? I’m not sure.
The narratives shared by Omar and James suggest that advocacy is more than caring.
There is an innate duty to care for students, to ensure they are safe and prepared to learn.
Advocacy differs from caring; advocacy promotes teachers championing their student’s personal
career, college, and life goals. Omar stated,
I think there is a difference between advocacy and caring for students. Many teachers,
White, Asian, Latino, and Black, care for our kids. They all want them to be safe and get
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an education. But I want my kids to excel in their education and be college and career
ready. I advocate for things such as literature, field trips, and equity for AP and honors
classes so that it benefits student achievement. I think the investment I have in our
students is a long-term investment. Our kids are going to come back and live in this
community and be a part of it. I need them to have an education. That’s maybe the
difference between other teachers here and me. Those are my [Latino] kids.
The Black and Latino teachers stress advocating for their students. Advocacy looks
different for all teachers, but they all have the same common denominator: they will go above
and beyond for their students. They are student champions for the BIPOC student community. In
a school context, Black and Latinx teachers establish relationships through sharing culture,
language, and lived experiences (Monzo & Rueda, 2001). Consequently, these commonalities
between teachers and students serve as one mechanism through which Black and Latinx teachers
support their student’s social and emotional development and learning (López, 2016).
Culturally Relevant Academic Professional Development
When asked about culturally relevant teaching, nine teachers did not know what that
meant; despite this, they provided evidence that they were doing the work. Two of the 11
participants knew what it was. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) defined culturally relevant
pedagogy (or culturally relevant teaching) as a “theoretical model that not only addresses student
achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing
critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate” (p.
51). Culturally relevant teaching is a way to “empower students intellectually, socially,
emotionally, and politically by using cultural references to impart knowledge, skills, and
attitudes.” Also used to enhance the performance of underachieving BIPOC students, culturally
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responsive teaching is “the process of using familiar cultural information and processes to
scaffold learning, emphasizes communal orientation, focused on relationships, cognitive
scaffolding, and critical social awareness” (Hammond, 2015, p.49).
The interviews aimed to ask if this was taking place in their classrooms and their school.
In addition, I wanted to identify if there was PD that supported the changes in their curriculum
from their respective district. The interviews discovered the stories of the Black and Latino
educators who “circumvent the curriculum” by integrating multicultural education into their
instruction. In general, interviewees said they learned these strategies from speaking to their
colleagues or having peer-to-peer conversations about culturally relevant practices. The teachers
provide a space and opportunity for their students to think critically and self-reflect (Vickery,
2016). Two teachers actively integrated culturally relevant readings and curriculum, and all
teachers suggested that PD was needed for culturally relevant curriculum and PD to learn and
connect and build community with students for all teachers. As Kimmy suggested, many
teachers do not know what internal biases are, nor do they know how to run community circles in
their classrooms. It is important to know how to teach students and create a positive class culture.
Alexis added,
I bring in literature that many other students don’t get to read. I read There There by
Tommy Orange in the fall with my class. My kids loved it as opposed to some other lit
we had read and were supposed to read. When you ask about cultural relevance, I think
that’s an important lens to teach. Many kids don’t know who or where these characters
come from or the authors. All they know is that they read literature written by someone
who is European White, and the characters are mainly all White. I’m like, we need to
change this up. So, we read literature that is not part of the “canon.”
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I asked a follow-up question, “Did you learn about this literature or why it is important
from your credential program?” Alexis responded,
No, I had read the book, and I knew the literature could be relatable for my students as
well as vital critical thinking, and I knew that they can and need literature they can relate
to. Alexis continues, Cool story, I had a student come back after the Thanksgiving break,
and they were excited because they went to Alcatraz Island, a part of the book. The
student could give a lesson about the island and its importance to their parents. So, that
was cool for them to be able to relate to that and know about the Native American Indian
experience in Oakland. And I was like, cool! I was happy they got something out of it
instead of something like Shakespeare.
Alexis’ idea of bringing this literature to the classroom exemplifies the lack of PD in her
district. She is organically thinking about culturally relevant teaching. There was not any PD that
suggested that reading or any other reading. Alexis’s choice to teach a novel about Native
American Indians offers students an opportunity to learn about cultures other than those most
studied. The choice of literature also mirrored that of her students, which Vickery (2016) is
essential to “circumventing curriculum.” What if all the teachers received training about using
this literature? Would the teachers leverage this literature and get more buy-in from students?
Vickery (2016) pointed out that these teachers (teachers of color) have found ways to
circumvent the curriculum that aids in developing intelligent, critically conscious, and
community-centered citizens. This is the quality of education that all students should engage in.
Students can face the challenges of the 21st century; however, this is especially critical to BIPOC
students who are often economically challenged, thus having fewer resources and educational
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opportunities. In addition, BIPOC students need to acquire skills and tools to challenge the
oppression, discrimination, and institutionalized racism they face daily.
Omar, for example, stated that because his desire was “to motivate, educate and inspire,”
he often shared personal anecdotes of his life, stories of triumphs and struggles as a Latino. He
also used inclusive literature to empower students to challenge racism and advocate for social
justice:
Listen, I use The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I want students
to read the truth about history. The narratives are why many Latinos have been
oppressed. Make no mistake, I’m not trying to start a revolution with my kids, but I want
them to read for discovery and understand that the stories in American history are directly
tied to their own stories. I wish our district provided PD for our staff and district about
the advantages of culturally relevant literature.
Omar added, “Don’t get me started on CRT [critical race theory] and ethnic studies. I
know it is a sensitive topic among educators, parents, and communities.” I followed up with this
question, “Could you tell me why people or certain communities do not want to teach
CRT/Ethnic Studies being taught to their kids?” Omar answered,
Well, Mr. Keys, I think people are scared to teach about America’s past and teach about
its current condition in regard to how people of color are treated in our country. The truth
scares people. So, why do you teach it? I want my kids to know what’s in front of them
and why we [America] have arrived at this juncture.
From Bristol and Martin-Fernandez’s (2019) research paper, Swartz (1993) argued that as
a post-critical construct, multicultural education could be utilized to expose and contest the use
of school curriculum as a pipeline of dominant ideology; as such, it has the political potential and
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agenda of unmasking and unraveling the supremacies upon which this ideology is based.
Multicultural education can be used to advocate for social justice and equity in education.
“When curriculum is transformed, what is immediately apparent is the significant
presence and contribution of a number of different groups in addition to the Europeans;
with the addition of these ethnic groups comes the addition of new concepts to assist in
the transformation of the curriculum” (Branch, 2004).
Omar said that his district does not provide PD for teachers in regard to culturally
relevant curriculum, but is there a PD that can support all teachers to teach in communities where
BIPOC students are the majority? When I asked teachers whether they were required to attend
PD and or implement it, Sara suggested that schools need to make it mandatory to not only
attend PD but implement it:
We had a few issues with racism in our school. And as a Black woman, I needed to let
my voice be heard that this was unacceptable behavior by some of our students. The
issues were brought up to the principal, and support was provided in the form of PD
about implicit bias, restorative practices, and how to use community circles. It was a
great PD, and I began to use community circles in my class to address the racist
comments being circulated and helped my students understand that that word [emphasis
added] is never tolerated and should never be tolerated. At the follow-up staff meeting, I
shared how the circle helped my students understand how that word [emphasis added]
affects me as a Black person and what it is to use derogatory words against all minorities.
The principal asked if anyone else could share how their circles went. And has he called
on a few teachers, many said they still have not had them or were reluctant to have them.
How do you [teachers] not have those conversations? I don’t get it, there isn’t
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accountability for teachers to do this. So, yes, we do need PD, but we also need mandates
to use what we are taught.
At Boston College, where Lola received her credential, she said,
We took classes that specifically focused on teaching in urban areas and with BIPOC
students. We were giving classes on positionality, implicit bias, culturally relevant
teaching, and pedagogy. These were all things we learned in school prior to teaching and
reinforced when we were doing our student teaching. In Boston public schools, the
majority of the students are BIPOC. So, we needed to know who our population was,
how to teach in the community, how to show empathy, and just know the environment
we would work in. This program gave me many tools to be a better teacher and build
community with our students.
The narratives from the teachers suggest that few are receiving PD about culturally
relevant pedagogy. The other teachers who are not receiving a formal PD from their district or
conferences are internally cultivating ideas about culturally relevant pedagogy organically. They
happen from peer-to-peer conversations or an individual’s ideas. Of the few who said they are
receiving any PD, those teachers are implementing it and seeing the benefits of it. The narratives
from the teachers I interviewed confirm that ongoing PD is critical for BIPOC student
achievement. If more teachers had access to this PD, all teachers could use these valuable tools.
Warren (2017) stated,
Simply playing a popular song during a lesson is not evidence of a teacher’s cultural
responsiveness. Teaching through students’ cultural filters implies that these cultural
perspectives guide a teacher’s pedagogical orientations. These cultural filters are the
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intellectual and ideological frames necessary to scaffold how teachers navigate classroom
interactions with individual students, choose lesson examples, and deliver instruction.
These findings support the idea that culturally relevant teaching is “good teaching.” (p.
32) (Ladson-Billings, 1995), but the testimonials also indicate that a focus on PD is beneficial.
But does this lead to the outcome all educators want, student achievement?
Student Achievement
As an educator, I will assume all educators want student achievement. Does the work of
Black and Latino educators personally connect to students, building community, advocating, and
using culturally relevant teaching lend themselves to BIPOC student achievement? Bristol and
Martin-Fernandez (2019) suggested, “A research synthesis points to the added-value—benefits
to social and emotional development, as well as learning outcomes—for students of color taught
by teachers of color” (p. 1). As I elicited more information about student achievement, Woody
said,
For sure, I saw student growth and achievement. One of the classes I had was an ELD
class of 11th graders, and it was very difficult for them; American History and the book
weren’t in Spanish, and many didn’t speak English well. But by the end of the year, many
were reading and speaking about the American history they learned in their native
language. They were able to write essays about WWI, WWII, and other topics we read
about in class. I think because I spoke and read to them in English and their native
language, Spanish, I was able to close that achievement gap; in addition, my kids were on
track to graduate HS, so seeing my kids earn at least a C toward their graduation was
great, and all but two graduated. I’m not saying they graduated because I was their
teacher, but I think I helped them achieve that and believed that they could do the work in
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my history class and all other classes. Also, I noticed that my kids did better in their state
testing than other teachers who taught the same class.
Literature on Latino education finds that not only the presence but also the experience of
minority teachers can be crucial in influencing minority student achievement (e.g., Meier et al.,
1999). The data suggested that practicing a shared classroom community and advocating for
students led to better BIPOC student outcomes. In addition, it was noted that teacher experience
seems to have a much more substantial overall influence on Latino student achievement. Black
teachers also have substantial influence over their Black students. After the percentage of Black
math teachers increased, Black students were more likely to enroll in rigorous math courses,
highlighting the race-based role-model effect (Klopfenstein, 2005). When I followed up with the
same question with James, he said,
Just because I’m Black and many of my students are Black or BIPOC, having me as their
teacher does not directly lend itself to student achievement. I think we have to factor in
the things we have talked about, personal connections, building community, and knowing
who these kids are. Those are the most difficult parts of teaching. The standards, reading
levels, and all of that are easy. I need the kids to buy in; once they buy in, the teaching is
easier. So, yes, my kids do well on the SBAC and other assessments. They leave my class
with better reading, comprehension, and speaking skills.
In addition, Many stated,
Science is science, it can be challenging, and kids come to class thinking they can’t be
successful because everyone says it’s “hard.” But I tell them we are in this together, and
we can do it together. They can see the example in me; even if they say, “Mister, but you
are a smart Mexican.” I respond by saying yes, but I wasn’t always smart. You know. I
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build those connections with kids. Those contributing factors lend themselves to my
students doing well on their science tests and the SBAC. And honestly, my kids do better
than the White teacher’s class.
Bristol and Martin-Fernandez (2019) explained that increasing Latinx teachers caused
Latinx students to take more Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses
compared with Latinx students in schools with fewer Latinx teachers (p. 5). The teacher’s
testimonials align with the assertion that
Qualitative research has influenced recent quantitative work that measures the effect of
Black teachers’ added-value support of Black students’ social and emotional
development. In the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, with 16,810 student-teacher
dyads, researchers found that Black teachers hold higher expectations for their Black
students compared to those of White teachers (Gershenson, 2016).
However, John Doe followed up the same question with a different perspective:
I’m not sure if there is a direct correlation between my kids doing well on AP tests or
SBAC tests, but I know that I have seen firsthand. Me pushing kids to do better and
seeing them have those small moments of achievement. For example, I see some kids
struggling, and just knowing that they know I have their back, I want them to do better
and learn. We talked earlier about personal connections; well, I make those; I know all
my kids’ names, and some teachers don’t or don’t care to know all their names. Maybe
that makes a difference in connecting with them. But at the end of the day. My kids
performed well on the SBAC and had a high pass rate on the AP Bio test. Many of the
teachers are good and have great pedagogy and teach well. But I do think that they know
“I know them,” meaning I know where they [students] live; I know it isn’t the best area
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of LA, and their parents work hard. I know what it’s like when people don’t give you a
chance. I give the kids a chance to be successful, and I hope that all teachers do that, but
I’m not sure they do.
All the teachers I interviewed gave themselves credit for student achievement reluctantly.
They were averse to saying they were better than their White counterparts, but they all did say
they honestly thought they had a direct impact because they “look like their kids.”
Conclusion
The interviewees’ narratives as well as prior studies have shown that having Black and
Latino teachers can have a positive impact on the academic achievement of BIPOC student
students. This can occur due to several factors, including shared cultural experiences such as
personal connections, building communities, advocacy, continuous PD, and linguistic
background, which can foster a sense of cultural identity and belonging in students, leading to
increased engagement and motivation in their learning. Additionally, Black and Latino teachers
may serve as role models, helping see the possibilities of higher education and providing a level
of support and understanding that can help students overcome obstacles in their academic
journeys. However, it is important to note that the relationship between teacher background and
student achievement is complex and multifaceted.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine Black and Latino educators’ impact
on BIPOC student achievement and the role of continuous teacher PD for BIPOC student
achievement. The research and teacher interviews fill the knowledge gap by developing a better
understanding of how the narratives of Black and Latino educators’ experiences are reflected in
supporting BIPOC student achievement. Eleven teachers representing urban public school
districts in Southern California were recruited to participate in this study. All participants were
interviewed face-to-face or on Zoom. The information gathered from the interviews was critical
and validated Black and Latino teachers’ impact on BIPOC student achievement. Their daily
advocacy, inclusiveness, and instruction with BIPOC students help narrow the achievement gap.
The data also provided essential recommendations for improved teacher practices with BIPOC
students.
The following research question guided this research:
1. What do Black and Latino teachers perceive as the reasons for their effectiveness in
working with BIPOC students?
2. What professional development opportunities do teachers have to create and sustain
culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement?
This chapter will outline the findings from the interviews conducted with the 11 teachers.
It will explain the limitations of the study and its implications. Based on the findings, there will
be a section on future research that will be recommended. A conclusion will follow with the
recommendations of the research conducted.
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Summary of Findings
Below is the summary of results pertaining to the two research questions regarding Black
and Latino teachers in BIPOC student achievement and the role of continuous teacher PD for
BIPOC student achievement. Four themes emerged from the research questions gathered through
interviews. The findings revealed the positive impact of Black and Latino teachers on BIPOC
student achievement. Specifically, the discussion of the findings presented the following themes:
(a) personal connections, (b) building community, (c) advocacy, and (d) culturally relevant
curriculum PD. Additionally, implications for future research and practices for public education
are examined, followed by a conclusion of the study.
The findings related to the Black and Latino teacher interviews found that Black and
Latino teachers emphasize their importance because they are part of the teacher minority and
their impact on the BIPOC students who look like them. The findings confirm that they need to
be the students’ advocates, and they may be the only ones on campus who will champion their
students’ education. In addition, their insight confirms the need for PD in the fields of culturally
relevant curriculum and building an inclusive classroom community.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 inquired about what the participants perceived as the reasons for
their effectiveness in working with BIPOC students. The qualitative data related to Research
Question 1 produced three findings. The first finding confirmed that the personal connection
Black and Latino teachers make with BIPOC students is an essential component of belonging for
the students. The data suggested that teachers used unique strategies to build personal
connections with the students. A significant finding was the use of students’ home language and
cultural connections Black and Latino teachers made with their students. Having a teacher who
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looked like them and identified with the student’s culture led to personal connections that
supported student achievement. These unique strategies that non-Black and Latino teachers do
not possess enable Black and Latino teachers to connect to their students. González et al. (2005)
found that teachers better served children when they gained insights into the children’s and
families’ funds of knowledge, understood as “the historically accumulated and culturally
developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and
well-being” (p. 72). This finding was consistent with the work of Welch (2014), which
established servant and sustainable leadership as having a positive influence on teacher morale.
Interviewees’ responses focused on personal connections needed for BIPOC students.
Before teaching lessons in math, science, or English, group participants found that personal
connections to students needed to happen in the context of knowing who the students are.
Building rapport with their students was important in building and maintaining trust. All sampled
teachers conveyed that building trust and accountability with their students was a precondition
for cultivating a classroom culture.
The second finding that emerged in relation to Research Question 1 confirmed the
fundamental importance of building community. The Black and Latino teacher’s principle was to
build community in their classroom. The teacher wanted to create an inclusive community. No
matter the primary language or ethnic culture the students belonged to, each student had a
purpose in that classroom with the Black and Latino teacher. López-Robertson (2017) suggested
that “the most important thing teachers can do to build a community of empowered stakeholders
is to get to know all of the children in the classroom.” This statement means that teachers cannot
rely on classifications of students assigned based on culturally incongruent formal assessments or
basic information about students.
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The teachers’ main concern at the beginning of the school year was building a classroom
community of learners. It was important to them that BIPOC students, as well as all students, felt
a sense of belonging and a sense of responsibility to and for each other. It was equally important
that all students felt that each had a contribution to make to each other’s learning. Further, Black
and Latino teachers wanted the BIPOC students to feel welcomed in their classroom by being a
member of a classroom community where all students have mutual goals of learning, having fun,
making friends, and understanding the classroom and teacher expectations. Each Black or Latino
teacher I interviewed wanted to create a culture that could foster a community where
collaboration and understanding were prevalent, and all students felt they were active and
integral pieces of that classroom community.
The third finding related to Research Question 1 was advocacy. Teachers stressed
advocacy for their students. Griffin (2018) stated that “a whole other kind of teacher” (p. 1)
speaks to the unique value Black and Latino teachers bring to their schools and classrooms.
Experts have called them cultural guardians, more likely to choose to teach in schools with large
students of color populations, motivated to advocate for students, parents, and families with
similar backgrounds and challenges Griffin (2018). Many teachers identify with the social and
educational inequities many BIPOC students face. Caring about students and understanding their
experiences led Black and Latino teachers to become advocates for these students.
As Goldhaber et al. (2015) found, this study found “that minority teachers are more likely
to have higher expectations for minority students. This can have important impacts on student
outcomes because minority students, especially Black students, appear to be more sensitive to
teacher expectations.” The strategies used by the teachers in this study reflect that there are
advantages to teaching BIPOC students when there is a teacher who looks like them. The
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perceived effectiveness of the teachers interviewed suggests the strategies used to promote
student achievement. Responses from the teacher interviews found that part of their job as a
teacher is to advocate for their students. Ten of the 11 interviewed conveyed that they needed to
advocate for their student’s learning in their classroom and be an ally for the BIPOC students’
academic and social struggles. Many said their job extends beyond teaching their content, and
they are there to support their students’ future endeavors and support them through the
mistreatment and discrimination they face from other teachers and in school. Empowering their
BIPOC students was part of Black and Latino teachers’ jobs.
The work of Black and Latino teachers aligns with Goldhaber et al.’s (2015) assertion
that there are good theoretical reasons to believe that minority students would benefit from a
more diverse teaching workforce, and these theoretical arguments are primarily backed by
empirical evidence suggesting that there are small but meaningful role-model effects when
teachers of the same race teach minority students.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 inquired about the PD opportunities teachers have to create and
sustain culturally relevant teaching practices for BIPOC student achievement. The qualitative
data related to Research Question 2 produced one finding. The findings that emerged from the
research suggested that many of the teachers are not receiving PD to support culturally relevant
teaching practices. Of those who are receiving it, they are finding extreme value that supports
their teaching. Through informal conversations and peer-to-peer support, many teachers are
organically finding ways to support one another in culturally relevant teaching practices as well.
The teachers want PD to support their teaching, but their districts must offer it. This finding
needs to be better aligned with prior literature. For instance, Vilson (2015) noted that “systems of
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preparation and ongoing development should ensure that educators have the time, investments,
and supports necessary to acquire the knowledge about curriculum, teaching, assessment,
linguistic and cultural competence, implicit bias, and student support needed to teach students
effectively” (p. 30). The data showed there are no systems of ongoing PD to support teachers in
culturally relevant curriculum and teaching practices. Warren (2017) suggested that culturally
relevant pedagogy represents an expansive body of conventional knowledge that reveals
important considerations for building upon, appreciating, and sustaining students’ cultural
differences in one’s teaching practice. The teachers recognize this and seek it individually as
opposed to receiving PD from their respective districts.
Villegas and Lucas (2002) noted that “culturally responsive teachers not only know their
students well, but they also use what they know about their students to give them access to
learning” (p. 3). The access to learning extends to the curriculum BIPOC students can see
themselves in. Moon (2011) stated that many educators value culturally responsive teaching as a
salient approach to increasing teachers’ understanding of racially and ethnically underprivileged
students. According to the interviews, multicultural education and culturally responsive teaching
have a direct link to the positive self-esteem of urban youth. The teachers who teach English and
History said they incorporate a culturally rich curriculum that reflects their students’ cultures and
identities. They all said there is value in the literature they use instead of the canon of literature
or the prescribed history books from their respective districts. The math and science teachers try
to incorporate scenarios that may be familiar to the BIPOC students they teach. All teachers said
they create or find literature and culturally relevant curriculum pieces. Black and Latino teachers
were skilled at weaving culturally relevant material into the curriculum to help students feel
connected to the curriculum.
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The teachers revealed that their respective districts do not offer professional development
that introduces culturally relevant curriculum, nor do they offer PD on incorporating strategies
and tools to address any cultural deficit curriculum. Sleeter and Milner (2011) stated that PD that
is most likely to impact teaching is sustained over time, focuses on specific instructional
strategies or content areas, involves teachers collectively rather than individually, is coherent,
and uses active learning. The goals of culturally relevant curriculum PD suggested are to produce
effective PD that develop culturally efficacious teachers who know their student’s culture and
offer a curriculum the student can see themselves in.
Limitations
During the study, one of the limitations encountered was the consensus definition of
student achievement. All participants had different definitions of student achievement. The
questions about their impact on student achievement ranged from students learning to graduation
and whether student achievement means only better SBAC scores for BIPOC students. Despite
this variation, I felt I received more than sufficient data from each participant to move forward
with the study.
The second limitation was the lack of interviews for non-Black and Latino teachers. The
interviews were with Black and Latino teachers who spoke about their effect on BIPOC students.
No interviews were conducted with non-Black or non-Latino teachers to either assert or refute
the participants’ viewpoints. This was an intentional design choice, but the choice means that I
cannot say anything about what White or Asian teachers, for instance, would have said in
response to the same interview questions. Furthermore, because this study relied on interviews,
limitations could include respondent validity from a small sample size of Black and Latino
educators. Had the number of participants increased, more information about their contributions
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to student success would have been presented on a larger scale. The 11 teachers do not represent
or speak for all Black and Latino teachers. The inability to generalize study findings may
constitute a delimitation of this study due to the size and scope of the sample population.
However, the purpose of this research was not to generalize. Rather, this study intended to
provide a detailed description of the “perceived” impact Black and Latino teachers have on
BIPOC student achievement.
Implications
With an increase in BIPOC students, it is important to understand that the educators who
teach these students do not “generally” look like them. Given ongoing education debates about
student achievement, a workforce with more Black and Latino educators benefits BIPOC
students, all students for that matter. It is important to understand the issue of the
underrepresentation of Black and Latino teachers in America’s education workforce. Historical
research shows how Black and Latino teachers have supported their BIPOC students’ social,
learning, and emotional education development (Partee, 2014). Our BIPOC students should have
teachers who inspire them to always ask questions, make well-informed decisions, develop
solutions to common problems to create sustainable change, and advocate for an equitable and
socially just society. The data and studies show that this occurs when Black and Latino teachers
are teaching BIPOC students and are equipped with an inclusive curriculum that empowers their
spirits, develops their critical thinking skills, and awakens their sense of empathy.
There is a need to bolster the recruitment of Black and Latino teachers in schools across
America. To be clear, I do not suggest that the approximately 80% of White teachers who
comprise the U.S. educator workforce have no place in working with students of color. Clearly,
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some White teachers create high-cognitive, demanding, engaging, and relevant content for
historically marginalized students of color (Goldenberg, 2014).
Further implications for the future study included getting more Black and Latino
educators into the field. There is a need to grow the education pool, examine the stories of Black
and Latino teachers teaching BIPOC students in public school districts, including their
experiences integrating multicultural education across different content areas and identifying
culturally responsive teaching practices to assess if they have applied culturally responsive
teaching strategies to students’ benefit.
Future Research
The purpose of this study was to understand the Black and Latino teacher’s impact on
BIPOC student achievement and how continuous PD for BIPOC student achievement. Further
research could gain a deeper understanding of how Black and Latino teachers differ from their
White and non-Black and Latino teachers in terms of their impact on BIPOC student
achievement. Are the strategies and practices that Black and Latino teachers use better than non-
Black and Latino teachers? Additional studies can identify whether Black and Latino teachers
impact student achievement in areas where there are not many BIPOC students. A larger study
with additional data to support how effective Black and Latino teachers are in a concentrated
subject area such as math and science are effective where the curriculum is standard as opposed
to English or History would provide another lens to address the need for more Black and Latino
math and science teachers. Another suggestion would be to conduct the study with a larger
population of Black and Latino teachers on their impact on student achievement.
Future research could also be done on the PD all teachers receive for teaching BIPOC
students. It could examine how PD is cultivated and implemented across all disciplines, such as
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PD for community building and inclusiveness for all students. In addition, how PD will meet the
needs of all students and how a shift in “pedagogical and content knowledge” can play an
integral role in “studying and understanding race and racism in teaching and learning” (Milner,
2007, p. 369).
This research only focused on one group of individuals, and additional insight can be
gained if future research focused on the student’s perspective. For example, do Black and Latino
kids want a teacher who “looks like them” or shares their cultural background? Do non-BIPOIC
students want teachers who look like them? Do the students want to be part of a classroom
community and share their experiences with Black and Latino teachers? Another aspect of future
research that can be addressed is the support Black and Latino teachers get from their principals
and other administrators. Questions were not asked about the support provided by their
administrators. Are there Black and Latino administrators who promote building community and
culturally relevant curriculum, or are these strategies implemented by the teacher with no
administration supervision or support? Does research show that Black and Latino administrators
indirectly contribute to BIPOC student achievement?
It is imperative to conduct research centering on the educational experiences of Black and
Latino teachers to understand and ultimately disrupt the oppression and racism they have faced
in educational spaces for too long. Furthermore, there is also an opportunity to incorporate
longitudinal data that explore a cohort of Black and Latino teachers teaching BIPOC students
and assessing their impact on student achievement.
Conclusion
The moral imperative to raise the bar and close the achievement gap to prepare all
students for 21st-century career and college opportunities starts with understanding the role
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Black and Latino teachers have in student achievement. This dissertation highlighted the impact
Black and Latino teachers have on BIPOC students’ achievement and the PD needed to support
BIPOC student achievement. Only 8% of teachers who identify as Latino are teachers in
America’s public schools (Griffin, 2018), and less than 5% are Black (Ahmad & Boser, 2014).
The dissertation was constructed to illustrate their connections to BIPOC student achievement.
This study and other studies have examined Black and Latino teachers’ classroom experiences
and their impact on all students’ achievement. Bristol and Martin-Fernandez (2019) highlighted
the benefits for students of color taught by teachers of color and the added value these teachers
bring to education. Black and Latino teachers do impact BIPOC student achievement. BIPOC
student achievement is measured by test scores, graduation, college, and career readiness as well
as students’ access to an inclusive classroom and culturally relevant curriculum. There is a need
to dive deeper and find data that measures how Black and Latino teachers contribute to these
student outcomes.
Glazier and Seo (2005) stated that “multicultural curricula have the potential to challenge
the willful ‘silences’ that exist in schools around issues such as race and class; positively affirm
student identities, empower students, support academic achievement and challenge popular
stereotypes in the larger society” (p. 8). Also, “It would seem that teaching preservice teachers
something about culturally diverse children and requiring them to work directly with children or
their communities would help them to become better teachers” (Saffold & Longwell Grice, 2008,
p. 201).
Another research finding focused on a diversified teaching force, especially in public
schools. Multicultural education and culturally responsive teaching have the most optimal impact
on urban youth when facilitated by Black and Latino teachers. Teachers of color are better
85

equipped to replenish the self-worth of children of color due to their experiences and
internalization of institutionalized oppression and their resistance to it. According to Kohli and
Pizarro (2016), teachers of color have more positive views of students of color, including more
favorable perceptions of their academic and learning potentials; also, many teachers of color
often enter the field with an orientation toward social justice and equity.
Before we get to the academics of our students, we must collectively build the foundation
of trust with our students. Trust from the Black and Latino teachers is personal connections,
community, and advocacy. Our Black and Latino teachers contribute to BIPOC student
achievement because the teachers cultivate an inclusive curriculum and community that includes
social justice as well as positive role models with whom students can identify. Their presence in
education is powerful for BIPOC student achievement.
There is not a cure to remedy preparing all teachers to meet BIPOC students’ needs
because their needs are different from those of non-BIPOC students. Professional development
was non-existent or did not meet the needs of teachers building classroom committees like their
Black and Latino counterparts. In addition to the lack of Black and Latino teachers and the gross
overrepresentation of White educators in public schools is a civil rights issue (Ingersoll & May
2011). The implication for students not seeing teachers who look like them is vast and has
persisted for far too long. Every participant in this study shared stories about their impact on
BIPOC student achievement. How do we get more Black and Latino teachers to teach our
BIPOC students? If we can collectively answer that question, Black and Latino teachers will
collectively share the responsibility for the success of all learners.

86

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Asset Metadata

Creator Keys, David (author)

Core Title The importance of Black and Latino teachers in BIPOC student achievement and the importance of continuous teacher professional development for BIPOC student achievement

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 06/08/2023

Defense Date 06/07/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag BIPOC,Black and Latino teachers,Black student,Latino student,OAI-PMH Harvest,student achievement

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Polikoff, Morgan (committee chair), Franklin, Gregory (committee member), Parker, Maria (committee member)

Creator Email dkeys@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113169217

Unique identifier UC113169217

Identifier etd-KeysDavid-11938.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-KeysDavid-11938

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Keys, David

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230609-usctheses-batch-1053 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu