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Lack of culturally relevant teaching in international bilingual schools: a gap analysis

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LACK OF CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING IN INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL
SCHOOLS: A GAP ANALYSIS
by

Caroline E. Gray

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2020

Copyright 2020 Caroline Gray

ii

Dedication
For Daniela, Edwin Jonathan, and Cesar

Let your commitment to academic excellence remain unwavering and your ambition to succeed
never falter. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey towards greatness.

Permitan que sus compromisos con la excelencia académica permanezca y sus ambiciónes de
tener éxito nunca disminuya. Gracias por permitirme ser parte de sus viajes hacia la grandeza.

iii

Acknowledgments
To my mom, the first cheerleader in my life, for her unconditional love and making sure I
never gave up on a dream. To Mark, for answering my panicked phone calls when I needed to
confirm the ethical boundaries of my study. To Kathryn, for listening to every single highlight
and frustration of this doctoral journey. I am immensely thankful for our family and all the love
you each have given me. I would not be at the finish line without your endless support.
To my friends, near and far who have watched the last four years unfold with limitless
encouragement, this belongs in part to you. To Ross, who showed me that a secondary degree
isn't something to fear and that being true to yourself is of utmost importance. To the other three
members of the Core Four, Angela, Kandance, and Shaniece, for constantly bringing light and
joy to my life and for the tireless love you give to both our community and each other. To
Franceska, for your check-ins, calls, and constant reminders that I am, indeed, enough, which
carried me through some of the most challenging terms in this program. To the Monday night
Bachelor crew, Wes, Mary, and Mike, for giving me a scheduled two hours every week to let go
of stress, watch arguably terrible television, and most of all, laugh. To the people who were
evacuated out of Honduras with me, mid-program, Jeff, Jessa, Julia, and Sam, for more than I
can ever state in a single sentence; somos Villa. To Charlie, Matt, and Molly, for the many, many
puppy playdates that kept me sane in the last two years. To Jenny, Miranda, and Suzie for the
girl's nights that brought us together with wine, cheese, laughter, and space to commiserate. To
everyone mentioned here and the multitudes of friends and champions I've had in my corner for
the last four years, thank you. I am here because of you and I am beyond fortunate to know each
of you.

iv

To the SVA community, for your trust, love, and patience. It is within your walls that I
began this journey and with your teachers, students, and families that I continue to work. We
have big goals for the future, but with the passion and drive of everyone in our circle, I know we
can accomplish every one of them. It has been six years since I first walked through your gates
and I would not change anything about the experience. Thank you for believing in me, in my
leadership, and in my guidance.
To Cohort IX, for the years of class sessions, breakout groups, group projects, shared
notes, and seemingly endless revisions. I’m honored to have completed this journey with each of
you. Immeasurable thanks go to Melissa, my proxy researcher and confidant without whose
encouragement I may have never finished my first draft, to Obi, my New York City writing
partner and source of inspiration, and to Debbie for the constant support and partnership in
quantitative research.
To my dissertation chair, Dr. Moore, and co-chair, Dr. Brady, without whose expertise,
revisions, and support this would have been an insurmountable challenge. I am so thankful for
the time and space you both gave to show me the way to write, to explain, and to examine. To
my dissertation committee members, Dr. Ferrario and Dr. Muraszewski, for your willingness to
serve on my committee and your guidance in the proposal process. My work is significantly
stronger because of your input. And to the professors who have made a lasting impression on my
work, both scholarly and professional: Dr. Chung, Dr. Mendoza, Dr. Lundeen, Dr. Rosenthal,
and Dr. Sanchez, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from you and look forward to
the next time we can share space. Thank you for believing in me.
Lastly, to David, for everything. For bringing home macaroni and cheese when my days
felt impossible. For your endless patience and for your hugs when I needed it most. For all of the

v

printing and stapling of articles and papers. For the late nights in solidarity of mine and the
coffee the next morning. For the reassurances that I could finish this program and that my goal
was achievable. For the statistics tutorials. For listening to the joys and the hardships. For your
flexibility in planning vacations and your understanding that weekday nights from 8-10 pm were
reserved for class, always. For celebrating the milestones. For your support, encouragement, and
most of all, your love. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

vi

Table of Contents

Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………………ii
Acknowledgments………………………………………………………..………………..……..iii
List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….…..……....ix
List of Figures…………………………………………………………….…………...………….xi
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..xii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..1
Introduction to the Problem of Practice…………………………………………………...1
Organizational Context and Mission………………………………………………………2
Organizational Performance Status………………………………………………………..4
Related Literature………………………………………………………………………….4
Importance of Addressing the Problem…………………….……………………………...5
Organizational Performance Goal…………………………………………………………6
Description of Stakeholder Groups………………………………………………………..7
Stakeholders Performance Goals…………………………………………………………..8
Stakeholder Group of Focus……………………………………………………………….9
Purpose of the Project and Questions. ……………………………………………………10
Methodological Approach………………………………………………………………..11
Definitions…………………………………………………………………………..........12
Organization of Project…………………………………………………………………..12

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE…………………………………………..13
Reading Achievement of English Language Learners……………………………………13
Historical Challenges of English Language Learners…………………………….14
English as an International Language………………………………………….…………17
Role of English as an International Language…………………………………….17
Culture and English as an International Language……………………………….18
Teaching Methods for International English Educators…………………………..19
English as a Second Language: Reading Achievement…………………………..21
Reading Achievement in Honduras………………………………………………22
Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Reading Achievement……………………………..23
Culturally Relevant Teacher Practices…………………………………...………23
Using Culturally Relevant Teaching to Improve Outcomes……………………...27
Barriers to Success in Implementing Culturally Relevant Teaching…………….29
Clark and Estes’ (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Framework……………………………………………………………………….31
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences……………………32
Knowledge and Skills…………………………………………………………….32
Motivation………………………………………………………………………..36
Organization……………………………………………………………...………39
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and
the Organizational Context…………………………….………………………....43
Components of Conceptual Framework………………………………………………….44
Knowledge Influences……………………………………………………………44

vii

Motivation Influences……………………………………………………………44
Organizational Influences…………………………………………………….….45
Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization Influencer Interactions…………….……….47
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...…………..48

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS …………………………………………………………..……49
Participating Stakeholders………………………………………………………..………50
Survey Sampling Criteria and Rationale…………………………………………52
Survey Sampling (Recruitment) and Rationale…………………………..………53
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale…………………………………….…53
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) and Rationale……………………………..…54
Quantitative Data Collection and Instrumentation………………………………….……55
Survey ……………………………………………………………………………56
Qualitative Data Collection and Instrumentation………………………………...………57
Interviews……………………………………………………………...…………58
Data Analysis…………………………………………………….………………………59
Reliability and Validity……………………………………………..……………………61
Credibility and Trustworthiness…………………………………………….……………62
Ethics…………………………………………………………..…………………………63
Limitations and Delimitations……………………………………………………………65
Limitations……………………………………………………………………….65
Delimitations……………………..........................................................................66

CHAPTER FOUR: ………………………….………………………….………………………..67
Participating Stakeholders………………………….…………………………………….68
Results and Responses for Knowledge Causes………………………….………………..69
Factual Knowledge………………………….……………………………………69
Procedural Knowledge………………………….………………………………..73
Conceptual Knowledge………………………….……………………………….85
Results and Responses for Motivation Causes………………………….………………..92
Utility Value………………………….…………………………………………..93
Attribution Theory………………………….……………………………………99
Results and Responses for Organizational Causes……………………………………...105
Cultural Models………………………….………………………….……..……106
Cultural Settings………………………….………………………………..……114
Synthesized Summary and Gap Identification ………………………….…...………….129

CHAPTER FIVE: ………………………….…………………………………………………...133
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences…………………………...134
Knowledge Recommendations ………………………….……………………...134
Motivation recommendation………………………….………………………...139
Organization Recommendations………………………….…………………….141
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan………………………….……………..145
Implementation and Evaluation Framework……………………………………143
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations…………………….……....…146
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators……………………………..…….……147

viii

Level 3: Behavior………………………………….………………………...….148
Level 2: Learning ……………………….…………….…………………..…….151
Level 1: Reaction …………………………..………….………………….…….154
Evaluation Tools ……………………….….……….………….…….….………154
Data Analysis and Reporting ………………………….………………………..155
Strengths and Weakness of the Approach…………………………………….……..….157
Limitations and Delimitations………………………….……………………………….158
Limitations…………………………………………………………………...…158
Delimitations………………………….…………………………….…….…….159
Future Research………………………….………………….……………………….….159
Conclusion ………………………….…………………….……...……….…………….161

References………………………………………….….………………….…….……..………..164
Appendix A………………………………………………………………………….…….……176
Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………….…….177
Appendix C…………………………………………………………………………….……….179
Appendix D………………………………………………………………………….………….185
Appendix E……………………………………………………………………………………...187
Appendix F……………………………………………………………………………………...190
Appendix G…………...………………………………………………………………………...192
Appendix H……………………………………………………………………………………..196

ix

List of Tables

Table 1. Grade Level and On- Grade Level Reading Proficiency at SVA…………...…..………..4

Table 2. Organizational Mission, Performance Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals………9

Table 3. Knowledge Influences, Types, and Influence Assessments for Knowledge Gap
Analysis………………………………………………………………………...………...36

Table 4. Motivational Influences and Assessments for Motivation Gap Analyses………...……..39

Table 5. Organization Influences and Influence Assessments for Organization Gap Analysis…...43

Table 6. Demographics of SVA Compared with the Survey and Interview Samples……………..51

Table 7. Interview Responses: Knowledge of Culturally Relevant Texts to the Latino
Community………………………………………………………………………………72

Table 8. Interview Responses: Daily or Weekly Planning Process……………………………...80
Table 9. Interview Responses: Activation of Prior Knowledge in Students……………………..82
Table 10. Interview Responses: Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies Employed at SVA…..84
Table 11. Interview Responses: Primary Cultural Influences on Education in Honduras……….91
Table 12. Interview Responses: Role and Benefit of Selection of Culturally Relevant Texts for
Students…………………………………………………………………………………..98

Table 13. Interview Responses: Ownership of Student Success and Achievement……………104
Table 14. Interview Responses: Willingness to Create New Culturally Relevant Curriculum...109
Table 15. Interview Responses: Organizational Guidance Provided for Teaching Material
Creation…………………………………………………………………………………113

Table 16. Interview Responses: Typical Collaborative Meetings at SVA…………...……….....118
Table 17. Interview Responses: Feedback on Lesson Planning from academic director………121
Table 18. Interview Responses: Access to Model for Exemplar Culturally Relevant Teaching
Practices………………………………………………………………………………...127

Table 19. Summary Table of Influences……………………………..…………………....……131

Table 20. Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations………………………….136

x

Table 21. Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations……………….…..……..140

Table 22. Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations………………..………143

Table 23. Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes……..…...……148

Table 24. Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation………..….………149

Table 25. Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors………………………….……….….150

Table 26. Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program……………..……...……153

Table 27. Components to Measure Reactions to the Program………………………..………….154

xi

List of Figures

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………,………..46

Figure 2. Number of Culturally Relevant Books Known to SVA Stakeholders…………..…..…..70

Figure 3. ELA Teachers’ Procedural Knowledge Influences……………………..……...……….75

Figure 4. Honduran Teachers’ Knowledge Influences………………………….……….……….77

Figure 5. Knowledge of Influences on Student Success…………………….……...…………….87

Figure 6. Perceived Influences on Education in Honduras…………….………...……………….88

Figure 7. Perceived Value of Culturally Relevant Texts………………………………..………...94

Figure 8. Personal Responsibility for Success of Students…………….………………...……...101

Figure 9. Instructional Staff’s Responsibility for Instructional Shifts………,…………..………107

Figure 10. Instructional Staff’s Knowledge and Comfort with Instructional Support……...……111

Figure 11. Frequency of Meetings with academic director per Month………………..……..…115

Figure 12. Access to and Use of Outside Resources in Planning…………………………......….123

Figure 13. Access to an Exemplar Culturally Relevant Teaching Model………..………………124

Figure 14. The New World Kirkpatrick Model…………………………..……………………...146

Figure 15. Immediate Instrument Assessment Results – Level 1 and Level 2………...…………156

Figure 16. Delayed Instrument Assessment Results – Level 3 and Level 4………..……………157

xii

Abstract
The purpose of this project is to examine the influences that impact the achievement of Sunny
Village Academy, in El Progreso, Honduras, meeting its organizational goal of all third through
ninth grade students reading on or near grade-level in English. English Language Learners
(ELLs) have historically underachieved in reading fluency in comparison with their English-
fluent peers. Administrators and teachers may have a positive impact on ELLs with an
appropriate adoption of culturally relevant pedagogy in their schools. Using Clark and Estes'
(2008) Gap Analytic Framework, the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
impacting English Language Arts (ELA) teachers at Sunny Village Academy were named. A
convergent mixed-methods study was used to investigate the given influences. Survey data from
teachers and administrators (n=19) and interview responses from ELA teachers (n=5) were
examined to determine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational gaps impacting the
teachers' ability to adopt culturally relevant teaching practices to meet their goal. Three
knowledge gaps, one motivation gap, and two organizational gaps were found to possibly impact
SVA's ability to meet its organizational goal. The New World Kirkpatrick Model (2016) was
used to offer recommendations to close the aforementioned gaps and an implementation guide is
provided to support the execution of the given recommendations.
Keywords: culturally relevant pedagogy, English as an international language, English
Language Learners, Honduras

1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of Problem of Practice
The number of international bilingual schools is rapidly increasing globally, according to
the International School Consultancy Group 2014 report. In 2014, 7,017 international bilingual
schools were located by the research group, serving over 3.5 million students and in 2018, over
9,400 K-12 international schools were located. In each of these school sites, English is the
predominant language being taught. While previously these international bilingual schools were
reserved for the expatriates of the United States, currently only 1 million students are children of
expatriates and 2.5 million are children from the local community (ICEF Monitor, 2014). There
are certain future career aspirations and market advantages to graduating as a fluent speaker of
English and it is critical for the empowerment and development of those 2.5 million students
from the local community that their curriculum be culturally relevant.
Culturally relevant teaching is comprised of three critical components: the experience of
success by the students, the development of multiple cultural competencies, and the development
of a personal lens from which they feel empowered to challenge the status of their environment
(Ladson-Billings, 1995). With the implementation of a culturally relevant curriculum, student
achievement scores also increase, closing the achievement gaps that exist (Rishel & Zuercher,
2016). As it stands, Sunny Village Academy (SVA; pseudonym) in El Progreso, Honduras needs
to address the use of culturally relevant texts in English Language Arts (ELA) classes, to
increase students’ overall literacy rates in English. The purpose of this project is to examine the
knowledge, motivation, and organization influences that impact the achievement of the
organization meeting its goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy

2

will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic
Reading Assessment 2 by June 2021.
Organizational Context and Mission
The school site being studied is the Sunny Village Academy in El Progreso, a town in the
department of Yoro, Honduras. SVA is a prekindergarten through ninth grade private
international bilingual school, that serves majority low-income students. SVA is considered an
international bilingual school for several reasons. SVA promotes international education by
using a curriculum and standards that are different from the Honduran government and it is
considered a bilingual school because the course content is taught in two languages, Spanish and
English. Sunny Village Academy follows the 90:10 one-way, dual language immersion model of
language instruction. According to Babino (2017), dual language programs are one-way
immersion programs when all students speak the same native language. Dual language programs
are at their most effective when the goal for students is to achieve biliteracy and bilingualism, as
well as a deeper understanding of their own culture in relation to others (Lopez & Tapanes,
2011).
SVA students in kindergarten are taught 90% of their material in their first language,
Spanish, and 10% of the academic material in their second language, English. By fifth and sixth
grade, students are learning 70-80% of their academic material in their second language, English,
and 20-30% of the material in their first language, Spanish. The mission of the school as stated
on the organization’s website
1
(2018) is “to provide an education that leads to lifelong
employment and achievement.” The daily classes provided include one math period, two English
language arts periods, science and social studies periods, one Spanish period, and weekly

1
To protect the anonymity of the site studied, the website is not provided.

3

specials classes like art, gym, computer, and music. In second through sixth grade, all classes are
in English except Spanish and social studies. In seventh through ninth grade, only
English/reading, math, and science are taught in English; as required by the Honduran
government, Spanish, social studies, art, technology, and civics must be taught in Spanish. By
seventh grade, courses meet the ultimate requirement of 90:10 dual language programs. This is
when each language is taught 50% of the time, at the discretion of the school in which courses,
on what days, etc. (Babino, 2017).
SVA is led by an academic director and an administrative director who share the
traditional role of principal (Organization website, 2018). At the time of this study, SVA could
have nine native-English speaking teachers and seven native-Spanish speaking teachers in the
building at any given moment. As the school grows, these numbers will increase and by August
2022, the school will be fully staffed as a prekindergarten through twelfth grade school with
nearly double the number of native-English and native-Spanish speaking staff members. The
racial-ethnic make-up of the staff is in constant flux, as the native-English speaking teachers
rotate on a one to two-year basis. The Spanish and social studies teachers, and other support
staff, are the stable employees, 100% of whom are Honduran (Organization website, 2018). The
Honduran instructional staff is required to show current transcripts or a conferred degree in
education, while the native-English speaking staff must have a conferred degree, in any field.
The occasional native-English speaker arrives to teach with teaching experience, but the majority
do not, looking to SVA for their complete training. There is no Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages certification required. The student population is comprised of 100% Latinx
students. As of January 2019, there were 242 students, 130 male students and 142 female

4

students. 35% of the student body is on scholarship. 100% of students are English Language
Learners (J. Renehan, personal communication, June 2018).
Organization Performance Status
To determine the reading level of SVA students a comprehension assessment is given to
students in August, February, and May of the academic year. Students read a text aloud for a
fluency score and are questioned aloud to assess their comprehension of the text. The highest-
level texts also have a corresponding written comprehension assessment. According to the
February 2019 benchmark testing data from third through eighth grade students at SVA, no
grade level has a majority of students who are on- or above-grade-level in reading
comprehension. Table 1 shows the grade level and percentage of students who are reading and
comprehending texts in English on or above their respective grade levels.
Table 1
Grade Level and On- Grade Level Reading Proficiency at SVA, February 2019
Grade Percentage of Students Reading on Grade Level
Third grade 3%
Fourth grade 13%
Fifth grade 3%
Sixth grade 8%
Seventh grade 30%
Eighth grade 37.5%

Related Literature
It is historically documented that English Language Learners underperform on reading
comprehension assessments in comparison with their English-fluent peers (Kieffer, 2010; Polat

5

et al., 2016; Snyder et al., 2016; Swanson et al., 2016; Taboda et al., 2013). The gap in literacy
rates between the two groups can be attributed to multiple factors including teacher preparedness
(Davila & de Bradley, 2010; Hansen-Thomas & Sourdot, 2015; Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Souto-
Manning, 2006), achievement testing challenges (Davila & de Bradley, 2010; Iddings, 2005;
NCES, 2011; Souto-Manning, 2006; Wooley, 2010), and wrongly referred English Language
Learners to special education services (Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Souto-Manning, 2006; Wooley,
2010). Teachers and school administrators can make choices to support English Language
Learners through curricular elements in English Language Arts classes. Culturally relevant
curriculum can be used to partially close these gaps in reading achievement by students when
implemented correctly (Chung, 2016; Davila & de Bradley; 2010; Dearing et al., 2016; Fuller &
Hosemann, 2015; Iddings, 2005; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Rishel & Zuercher, 2016).
Importance of Addressing the Problem
Implementation of culturally relevant curriculum in international schools is important to
address for a variety of reasons. Because students are learning primarily in English in these
international, bilingual schools, comprehension of new and unfamiliar concepts is made more
difficult due to a lack of literacy in English. As a result, students’ English does not improve nor
does their understanding of the larger reading comprehension skill or strategy being taught, such
as comparing and contrasting the themes of two texts. The use of a culturally relevant curriculum
allows students to master skills because of their background knowledge being used to teach the
reading skill (Menchaca, 2011). Without a curriculum that includes students’ cultural
experiences, teachers cannot expect their students to leave the classroom empowered and ready
to make change or reaching the English literacy level of their peers who may see themselves in
the texts read every day. These limiting educational experiences can have a negative effect on a

6

student’s education which impacts the organization’s success on a much higher level (Menchaca,
2011).
Organizational Performance Goal
The organizational performance goal for the organization is by June 2021, 85% of ninth
grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a level within one-grade band of
their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 as administered by
classroom teachers in English. This goal was set by the academic director when writing the long-
term organizational goals for Sunny Village Academy in 2015. To track the progress of students
within Sunny Village Academy, teachers use semester exams, benchmark testing (including the
administration of the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 three times a year), and the Measures of
Academic Progress assessment in reading. Retention information is also accounted for in the data
collection to monitor student growth. The academic director and dean of SVA supervise the use
of those data sources each testing cycle to determine if the students are on-track for success to
meet the goal. The goal is important to meet because faculty and staff aim to ensure student
success in upper elementary school and middle school, to set students on a path towards “lifelong
employment and achievement” (Organization website, 2018) and one way to achieve this goal
may be through culturally relevant curriculum in ELA courses.
Three stakeholder groups are vital in the culminating success of the organizational goal:
the academic director, the ELA teachers, and the third through ninth grade students. The ELA
teachers have been selected because beginning as early as March of the upcoming instructional
year compared to other instructional staff who are hired later in summer, the level of
instructional English used in their classrooms is high, nearly 80% of the day by third grade. Also,
ELA teachers implement the reading curriculum daily and can use the texts selected by the

7

academic director for the new curriculum. These teachers are also responsible for the benchmark
testing of reading achievement of their students and carry a significant amount of responsibility
for their students’ achievement. The director must implement the directive to include culturally
relevant texts in the curriculum, providing text lists and book selections to classroom teachers.
The classroom teachers must infuse the texts into their pre-existing curricular materials, and the
students must make the reading growth as a result of these new texts. Without each stakeholder
group completing their specified goal, the larger organizational performance goal will not be
met.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Three stakeholder groups are involved in actualizing the organizational goal to increase
English reading achievement scores in third through ninth grade students at SVA. The academic
director of SVA oversees the ELA teaching staff and ensures curriculum is used with fidelity,
resulting in academic gains of students. The academic director in the 2019-2020 academic year
has no post-graduate professional teaching experience. She holds a master's in teaching, with a
focus on special education and high school history. She entered the position with only university
required practicum and student teaching experience.
The ELA teaching staff is the second group of stakeholders. It must be acknowledged
that the ELA teachers of 2019-2020 arrived in Honduras with no formal education in teaching
and no teaching experience to name. This lack of experience is common in the staffing of these
positions, as many teachers have not studied or worked in the field of education. Before their
travel, teachers are expected to complete a variety of readings and activities related to both the
act of teaching and the educational landscape of Honduras. The ELA teachers arrive in Honduras
five weeks before the academic year begins to take a five-week training course which is modeled

8

after the Teach For America Institute experience. The ELA teachers assess students and plan and
implement daily lessons to result in the academic growth of the students in their classes; they
have been selected due to the amount of English that is used instructionally in their classrooms
and the level of academic and conversational English spoken by their students. A third
stakeholder group contributing to the success of the organizational goal is the third through the
ninth grade student body. These students are executing the work to make tremendous gains to
reach the organizational goal set for them.
Stakeholder Performance Goals
The goal for the academic director is by August 2020, School Leadership will have all
culturally relevant texts selected and purchased for whole group reading in grades three through
nine. The teachers’ stakeholder goal is by August 2020, 100% of ELA teachers will implement
new, culturally relevant curriculum as evident by whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2020-
2021 school year's ELA units. The students' stakeholder goal is by June 2021, 85% of ninth
grade students enrolled will read within one-grade band of their given grade level. These three
stakeholder groups are critical to the success of the organizational goal. The adoption of
culturally relevant curriculum by the ELA teachers at SVA will include the culturally relevant
texts as selected by the academic director but must also include culturally relevant teaching
practices to teach reading comprehension successfully. Table 2 provides the organizational
mission and performance goal to be addressed with this study. The table also includes the
specific stakeholder goals that will lead to the achievement of the organizational performance
goal.

9

Table 2
Organizational Mission, Performance Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals

Organizational Mission
The mission of Sunny Village Academy is to provide an education that leads to lifelong
employment and achievement.
2

Organizational Performance Goal
By June 2021, 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a
level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading
Assessment 2 as administered by classroom teachers in English.
ELA Teacher Goal Academic Directors Goal 3
rd
-9
th
Grade Student Goal
By August 2020, 100% of
ELA teachers will implement
new, culturally relevant
curriculum as evident by
whole-group text choices in
60% of the 2020-2021 school
year’s ELA units.
By August 2020, school
leadership will have all
culturally relevant texts
selected and purchased for
whole-group reading in grades
three through nine.

By June 2021, 85% of
ninth grade students
enrolled will read within
one-grade band of their
given grade level.

Stakeholder Group of Focus
Despite all stakeholders being critical to the success of the organizational goal of 85% of
ninth grade students enrolled at Sunny Village Academy reading within one-grade band of their
given grade level by June 2021, it is important to evaluate the specific success rate of ELA
teachers in creating, planning, and implementing the new curriculum. The stakeholders' goal,
supported by the academic director, is that by August 2020, 100% of English Language Arts
teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as evident by whole-group text
choices in 60% of the 2020-2021 school year’s English Language Arts units. This goal was
determined by examining current student achievement data and seeing a need for a push in

2
Note: Organizational mission retrieved from the organization website (2018).

10

improved instruction and use of best practices due to low achievement in the upper elementary
and middle school grades. The Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 is the primary measure of
progress, but the Measures of Academic Progress assessment will also be consulted to look at
normative scores to help benchmark progress. Students will be significantly closer to achieving
academic success in English if the organizational performance goal is met.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organization
influences that impact the achievement of the organization meeting its goal of 85% of ninth
grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy reading on a level within one-grade band of
their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 by June 2021. The
analysis will focus on knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences related to achieving
the organizational goals. While a complete performance evaluation would focus on all
stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholder to be focused on in this analysis is ELA
classroom teachers. The research questions are as follows:
1. What are the knowledge influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
2. What are the motivation influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the

11

Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
3. What are the organizational influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of
the organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in
SVA will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according
to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom
teachers in English?
Methodological Approach
Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis, a systematic analytical method that helps to clarify
organizational goals and identify the gap between the actual performance level and the preferred
performance level within an organization, was implemented. Assumed interfering elements were
generated based on personal knowledge and related literature. These elements were validated
using a mixed-methods study, through data collection of student's reading levels in grades three
through nine, surveys, interviews, a literature review, and content analysis. Mixed-methods
studies are those that collect both qualitative and quantitative data, responding to a larger
research question (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). According to Creswell and Creswell (2018),
mixed-methods studies could be selected for a variety of reasons, including identifying the
changes necessary for an organization or "marginalized group" (p. 216) by examining both
qualitative and quantitative data. In this study, the marginalized group requiring change is the
students of SVA, predominately low-income, with nearly 100 students receiving a full
scholarship. A convergent mixed-methods design was used. Convergent mixed-methods design
research is when quantitative and quantitative research occurs at approximately the same time
(Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

12

Definitions
Culturally relevant curriculum: A pedagogy for learning that prioritizes cross-cultural materials
ELA: English Language Arts; a subject in school typically inclusive of reading, writing, spelling,
and phonics.
ELL: English Language Learner; a student of English of any age whose first language is not
English.
L1: An individual’s first language
L2: An individual’s second language
SVA: Sunny Village Academy; the organization being evaluated in this study.
Organization of Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. Chapter One provided the reader with
concepts and terminology commonly used when discussing reading achievement of elementary,
middle, and high school English Language Learners. SVA’s mission, goals, and stakeholders
were introduced, as well as the basic concepts of gap analysis. Chapter Two provides a literature
review of the current literature surrounding the scope of the study. History of ELLs, English as
an international language, and culturally relevant curriculum is discussed. Chapter Three
addresses the methodology of the study including the choice of participants, data collection, and
analysis. The data and results are reported and analyzed in Chapter Four. Chapter Five provides
solutions for closing the reading achievement gaps discussed, as well as recommendations for an
implementation and evaluation plan for the solutions presented.

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CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
This literature review examines possible root causes of gaps in the English reading
achievement scores of third through ninth grade English Language Learners. The review begins
with a history of English Language Learners (ELLs) achievement and barriers to success. A
discussion of English as an international language follows. This is followed by a review of
culturally relevant teaching in classrooms, including both the successes and common barriers to
implementation in kindergarten through twelfth grade schools. Following the general research
literature, the review examines the Gap Analytic Conceptual Framework (Clark and Estes, 2008)
and details the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that affect the adoption of
culturally relevant texts in response to low achievement scores in reading programs for ELLs.
Reading Achievement of English Language Learners
It has been well documented in the United States that ELLs are underperforming in
reading comprehension compared to their English-fluent peers (Kieffer, 2010; Polat et al., 2016;
Snyder et al., 2016; Swanson et al., 2016; Taboda et al., 2013). By fourth grade in the United
States, only 7% of ELLs reached proficiency in reading in English and the percentage of
proficient students dropped to only 3% proficient by eighth grade according to the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2011 Annual Report on reading. The low reading
proficiency of ELLs in the United States mirrors the low reading proficiency of students at SVA,
regardless of geographic location. In an extensive examination of this NCES data, Polat et al.
(2016) confirm that English-fluent students reading comprehension achievement scores
compared to ELL students’ reading comprehension scores show some variance among grade
levels, but the result is consistently the same. ELL students are performing worse on English
reading assessments than their English-fluent peers in the United States. This is relevant to the

14

study being presented because SVA currently operates as though it is an American school, using
Common Core State Standards as a benchmark for student success. The SVA teachers instruct
their students, nearly 100% ELLs, in Honduras, the same way ELLs are being taught in the
United States, without strong training research-based practices to teach English as a second
language. The achievement gap in scores between ELLs and English-fluent students remains
(Polat, et.al., 2016). Reading comprehension and the skills required to understand a text are areas
of challenge for ELLs (Kieffer, 2010; Snyder et al., 2016). ELLs, especially ELLs from a low
socioeconomic (low-SES) background, also have a higher risk for reading difficulties which may
exaggerate the achievement gap between ELLs and their English-fluent peers (Kieffer, 2010). In
El Progreso, Honduras, bilingual education is typically reserved for the wealthy elite; as a result,
many students who are high-SES and English-fluent in schools neighboring SVA. Because SVA
is a bilingual school serving low-income students, research on SES as it affects reading
achievement relates directly to this study.
Historical Challenges of English Language Learners
Teacher Preparedness
A discussion of teacher preparedness as it connects to student achievement is relevant to
this study because the majority of the native-English speaking staff at SVA have no background
in teaching, teaching fluent English speakers, or ELLs. The background and inexperience of the
SVA ELA teachers are discussed in Chapter 1, in the section Description of Stakeholder Groups.
This lack of training and background can negatively impact the achievement of ELL students in
SVA classes. Teachers receive little training in their preparation programs to successfully
instruct English Language Learners (ELLs) and as a result, students are underperforming in
reading classes (Hansen-Thomas; & Sourdot, 2015; Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Yoon, 2007).

15

Helfrich and Bosh (2011) found that three of the struggles grade level teachers faced when
working with their ELLs included a lack of knowledge regarding the literacy and language
acquisition process of other cultures, an inability to differentiate lessons, and a lack of
understanding in using the assessment tools to determine the needs of an ELL. Limited
knowledge of English Language Learner instruction disenfranchises students and does not offer
the students the same chance to succeed as their English-speaking peers (Hansen-Thomas &
Sourdot, 2015). A lack of teacher preparedness and knowledge regarding English Language
Learners also can result in an over-referral to special education services, although this is illegal
(Souto-Manning, 2006). In an observational study completed in Chicago Public Schools, Davila
and de Bradley (2010) found that in schools with a high number of ELL students who required
services, the staff was comprised of predominantly inexperienced and sometimes uncertified
teachers with little knowledge of ELL instruction. Yoon (2007) found that extensive teacher
preparedness and understanding of strategies to use when instructing ELLs in a classroom made
a significant difference in student learning.
Achievement Testing
English Language Learners are consistently scoring lower than their English-fluent peers,
both in El Progreso, Honduras and in the United States, on standardized achievement tests
including benchmark exams, Common Core testing, and state-administered exams (Davila & de
Bradley, 2010; Iddings, 2005; Souto-Manning, 2006). This is leading to a gap in the elimination
of the deficit model and actual classroom practices (Iddings, 2005). In Chicago Public Schools,
students in their fourth year of transitional bilingual education are required to take the state test
for promotion to the following grade, despite their fluency in English. If this assessment isn't
passed, students are forced to repeat the grade level just completed (Davila & de Bradley, 2010).

16

There is little equity for students on achievement tests because of their English-only nature
(Souto-Manning, 2006). Policies in schools continue to diminish the value of bilingualism in
children and treat dual-language skills as a deficit to a child’s learning (Souto-Manning, 2006).
Wrongly Referred ELL Students to Special Education
A notable problem of practice in K-12 education is the over-referral of English Language
Learners to special education services when it is not necessary by any quantitative measure
(Hansen-Thomas & Sourdot, 2015). This over-referral is often a result of a failed attempt at
assessments by students, administered in their second language instead of their first language
(Wolley, 2010). In Chicago Public Schools, students in their fourth year of bilingual education at
any level are required to take a state test in English to be promoted to the following grade. If this
assessment isn’t passed, students repeat the grade level just completed (Davila & de Bradley,
2010). English Language Learner screening assessments are given to English Language Learners
but are often not conducted correctly or the data is not interpreted accurately (Helfrich & Bosh,
2011). Helfrich & Bosh (2011) found that Language Assessment Scales were frequently
misinterpreted in schools. This misinterpretation of results can often lead to English Language
Learners being placed in special education when they lack proficiency in their second language
which is not a learning deficit (Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Souto-Manning, 2006).
Assessments to determine whether students need special education services or simply
struggle with reading in their second language are not being utilized appropriately (Guiberson,
2009; Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Ortiz et al., 2011; Woolley, 2010). Policies in schools continue to
diminish the value of bilingualism in children and treat dual-language skills as a deficit to a
child's learning, jeopardizing the future of English Language Learners because they are placed in

17

classrooms that do not meet their instructional needs (Davila & de Bradley, 2010; Souto-
Manning, 2006).
English as an International Language
Role of English as an International Language
In countries where English is not necessary for daily operations, English is most often
used to share ideas and culture across national boundaries (McKay, 2002). More than 85% of
international organizations use English in an official capacity for communication and travel,
tourism, and higher education opportunities often depend on some fluency in English (McKay,
2002). It is not the case that every individual who studies English as a second language needs to
speak, read, write, and listen with the same proficiency as a native English speaker; in fact, it
may not be their intention in learning the language to reach perfect fluency (Sridhar & Sridhar,
1994). Because native-like fluency is not always the desired outcome, the thresholds for
acceptable error rates in speaking and writing differ (McKay, 2002). Errors are more frequently
accepted in speech than in writing because written language errors make the lack of fluency clear
and can isolate the individual from being a member of the English-fluent community (McKay,
2002).
When developing an English acquisition program in an international setting, the
community and cultural need for English must be discussed to determine the goal level for
proficiency in learners (Sridhar & Sridhar, 1994). In many contexts of English instruction
internationally, the student does not have the assumed inputs for English in their environment to
achieve native-like fluency. A lack of native-like fluency is acceptable in some cultures where
the acquisition of English is motivated only by the desire to pass tests, read books in English, and
access English-only internet sources (McKay, 2002). This is called "instrumental motivation"

18

(McKay, 2002, p. 40) and appears in research and practice when it is assumed that the individual
learning English desires to be a part of a different culture than their own (Sridhar & Sridhar,
1994). Instead, according to Sridhar and Sridhar (1994), teachers and schools should be
considering how English contributes to a larger global communication pattern for the individual,
and not how a student's first language hinders or bolsters their understanding of English.
Culture and English as an International Language
Students will be more motivated to learn a target language, or second language, when the
target language is presented in culturally relevant ways to the students to allow for more
relatability (Adaskou et al., 1990). In the case of SVA, students would be more motivated to
learn if Latino protagonists and themes within texts were presented in English, the target
language. Target culture is not the best way to teach a new language to the source culture
(Adaskou et al., 1990). This means that texts focusing on American and Western culture will not
be the most successful route to teaching Honduran students at SVA English. If the target culture
must be used in instructional materials, students should be allowed to reflect on their own culture
as it relates to the text they are reading (McKay, 2002). According to McKay (2002), this allows
students to develop meaning cross-culturally while improving their English fluency. Ideally,
source culture will be included in any language acquisition programs created because culturally
relevant texts motivate students to learn the target language, or second language (McKay, 2002).
Source culture texts allow students to more deeply understand their own culture and improve
their target language to meet the overarching goal of teaching English as an International
Language: to share culture and ideas with the international community (McKay, 2002).

19

Teaching Methods for International English Educators
Educators in the community where English is being taught must develop curricular
materials for their schools, so they align with the source culture of education and learning
(McKay, 2002). The use of Western materials in other communities and cultures can result in a
feeling of otherness by the teachers and students because of a disconnect between their own
culture of learning and those being imposed by the outside materials (McKay, 2002). One
teaching approach, communicative language teaching is seen as a modern and productive way of
teaching English but is often difficult or impossible to implement because of different cultures of
learning, for example, a culture that values rote memorization compared to critical thinking
(McKay, 2002). Holliday (1994) found two versions of communicative language teaching being
used internationally. The first version, developed in private institutions, emphasizes oral English
and student participation in groups. The second version of communicative language teaching,
according to Holliday (1994), was developed in public institutions with an emphasis on how
language works in conversation, allowing students to engage with a text in their source, or
native, language and reporting findings to a group or class in their target, or second, language.
The latter version is better for countries where English is an elected second language to study but
lacks immediate importance in the community (Holliday, 1994). Both versions of
communicative language teaching will be discussed, with an emphasis on the second version of
instruction because of the lack of importance of English in SVA students' immediate community.
Other researchers found that communicative language teaching was not always the best
choice for English as an International Language communities (Burnaby & Sun, 1989; Ellis,
1996; Li, 1998; McKay, 2002). According to Ellis (1996), communicative language teaching is
not culturally sensitive because the methodology values process over content. In a study of

20

communicative language teaching in China, students saw the instruction as irrelevant because the
lessons learned would not help the students pass their end of year exams. Instead, the language
learning process was often gamified instead of rigorous (Burnaby & Sun, 1989). Li (1998) also
found issues in the implementation of communicative language teaching, such as a lack of
funding for materials, little teacher support for professional development, a low student
proficiency in English combined with a hesitancy to speak aloud and participate, and a lack of
teacher fluency in English. These factors combined impeded the teachers' abilities to be as
effective as they'd hoped (Li, 1998). Li's (1998) proposed solution to these issues is to look
within the school for ways to teach English as an International Language instead of leaning on
Western influence to guide all curricular decisions. Li's (1998) proposed solution is relevant to
this study because SVA currently relies on Western influence to dictate the direction of the
instruction happening within the school. In Hungary, teachers using the communicative language
teaching approach are encouraged to base the syllabus on student needs and interest but struggle
with finding connections to student life, written in English (McKay, 2002). This may have been a
challenge for SVA teachers too, as life in Honduras is not often referenced in children's
literature.
Other barriers to success in the implementation of communicative language teaching
methods include little student motivation to learn English (McKay, 2002). According to McKay
(2002), there are many countries and communities where students are required to study English
in school, but because there is no obvious connection to their life or their future, students opt to
use their native language to communicate outside of the classroom. There are environments
where teachers are asked to throw away the Western textbooks for more culturally relevant
materials, but this is a challenging request to meet because English texts are not always readily

21

available (McKay, 2002). Regardless of whether communicative language teaching methods are
selected by English-teaching institutions internationally, one thing remains clear: No one method
fits the needs of every cultural context where English is being taught as an international language
(McKay, 2002). McKay (2002) recommends that the use of English in the source culture be
examined before developing an instructional methodology. Local teachers must be involved in
the process of developing the right pedagogy for their classrooms and English as an International
Language must be taught with culturally sensitive materials (McKay, 2002). Research on
international English instructional practices is relevant to this study because SVA is a bilingual
school operating in Honduras, teaching English, using primarily Western resources.
English as a Second Language: Reading Achievement
The more proficient a student is in their first language, the easier acquisition will be of a
second language which is important to understand when examining English as a second language
reading achievement scores (Ernst-Slavit, Moore, & Maloney, 2002; Liu, 2014; Sparks, Patton,
Ganschow, & Humbach, 2012). Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and Cognitive
Academic Proficiency Skills threshold theory states that conversational English is easier and
faster to learn than academic English (Cummins, 2008). Research states that it takes between five
and eleven years to gain the level of English literacy necessary to succeed in high school courses
and the amount of time needed to gain proficiency is dependent on the academic skills a student
enters the classroom with before attending the school. The more developed a student's native
language is, the more academic success students have in learning English (Ernst-Slavit et al.,
2002). This is because reading involves many different components including proficiency in a
first language, prior knowledge, academic habits, and proficiency in a second language (Liu,
2014). A stronger background in L1, beginning in preschool, leads to higher scholastic

22

achievement in a L2 by high school (Sparks et al., 2012). Interestingly, Gunderson, D'Silva, and
Odo (2012) found that younger learners in L2 are at a disadvantage because they lack the context
of older L2 learners, who can more easily pick up academic vocabulary and improved reading
skills. Jeon & Yamashita (2014) found that grammar and vocabulary are correlated with reading
comprehension. The more knowledge of grammar and vocabulary a student had, the higher their
reading comprehension scores were, indicating that reading comprehension in a second language
is often determined by the proficiency in grammar and vocabulary in the second language (Jeon
& Yamashita, 2014). Proficiency in spoken L1 is also directly related to reading comprehension
proficiency in a second language (Kim, 2012). When examining Spanish as a first language,
specifically, high rates of proficiency in academic Spanish skills are linked to the easier
acquisition of academic English (Carlo et al., 2014).
Reading Achievement in Honduras
While literacy rates appear high in Honduras with 89% of the youth population
considered literate by the definition of being able to read and write, literacy rates are often
elevated by other standards and requirements that may inflate the statistic beyond its true form
(Adkins, 2009). 89% of the population over the age of 15 is literate, meaning they read and
write, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (2016). Upon closer examination, 83% of
enrolled students complete primary school but only 72% of girls and 69% of boys enrolled in
primary school continue to secondary school (World Bank, 2016). In 2015, 94,336 primary
school females were not enrolled in any school and 107, 283 primary school males were not
enrolled. This number of unenrolled students increases significantly when including students in
secondary school for a total of 719, 788 primary and secondary school age students unenrolled in
a formal school system (World Bank 2016). Of the students enrolled in schools in Honduras,

23

strong community ties between parents and teachers were cited as having a positive impact on
students’ literacy rates, while community violence and unsafe travel to and from school had a
negative impact on literacy rates in the country (Crea et al., 2017). While the above research
references literacy in Spanish, the discussion is relevant to this study because the barriers exist to
literacy in Spanish or English. For example, community violence is a factor in the success of
students at SVA, both in their Spanish and English studies, as supported by the work of Spanish
Literacy by Crea, et. al. (2017). The reviewed studies above are also relevant to this study
because of the documented link between proficiency in L1 as it relates to proficiency in L2.
Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Reading Achievement
Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices
Teachers using culturally relevant teaching curriculum in their classrooms must use
teaching practices that are culturally and socially relevant to their students (Au, 2006; Brown,
2007; Gay, 2002a; Howard, 2003; Montgomery, 2001). Teachers must use culturally relevant
strategies that will engage students and increase academic achievement in their classes (Brown,
2007). These practices include classroom environment and actual teaching practices which are
culturally relevant to all students in the space (Gay, 2002b; Howard, 2003; Souto-Manning,
2009). Classrooms must be warm and inviting where students feel cared for and supported (Gay,
2002b). Students should be surrounded by visuals of their cultural diversity and the community
within the classroom should mirror a community of a family (Gay, 2002a; Gay, 2002b).
Before instruction, a teaching practice that can create space for culturally relevant teaching is
teacher self-reflection (Howard, 2003; Montgomery, 2001). This practice involves a self-
examination of deeply held beliefs and actions, allowing for the understanding of prejudices and
personal relationships that teachers may have with those of a different cultural background than

24

their own (Howard, 2003). This practice also forces teachers to reflect on how their teaching
practices may emphasize the experience of white, western European values, and not those of the
students they are teaching. Howard (2003) writes that teachers' willingness to reflect on and
confront their notions of race can show their commitment to students' academic achievement in
their classrooms.
The practice of selecting culturally relevant texts for students is also critical in student
success in classrooms (Gray, 2009; Lohfink, 2010; Souto-Manning, 2009). When a sample of 41
students was studied by Gray (2009), students’ connection to characters was the most frequently
cited reason for selecting a book, followed by a strong preference for realistic fiction. She found
that fifth grade students noticed the ethnic background of the characters they were reading about
and preferred texts with characters reflective of the students’ own experiences. Selecting texts to
read in class that allow students to make connections to both through the text and personally
encourages the meaning-making process and can improve oral literacy (Lohfink, 2010).
Culturally relevant texts should not be read only for their relevance to students’ lives, but to
foster reading comprehension strategies and facilitate reading in English (Lohfink, 2010).
Student-facing teaching practices that are supported by culturally relevant curriculum
must emphasize higher-level thinking skills of all students, providing students with instructional
scaffolding and remediation when necessary (Au, 2006; Gay, 2002a; Montgomery, 2001; Souto-
Manning, 2009). When Souto-Manning (2009) made the interests of students central to the
classroom and built a curriculum around students, she saw improvement in her students'
achievement, writing that the classroom discussion about a text is just as important as the
selection of the text itself. She facilitated conversations to support students to problem-solve both
in response to the text and their own lives, pushing students to use higher-level thinking skills to

25

examine texts from multiple perspectives. Mestre (2009) also believes the discussion of a text is
critical to student success, indicating that open-ended questions cultivate a stronger discussion
than questions with a single right answer. Souto-Manning (2009) pushed her students to higher-
level thinking through open-ended questions by reevaluating their thought processes of right and
wrong and showing students that a classroom of inclusion and collaboration is possible.
These higher-level thinking skills are not created overnight in students and must be
cultivated by the instructor (Au, 2006; Souto-Manning, 2009). Through the use of whole-group
instruction, small group instruction, student-led small groups, and independent work time,
students can have multiple chances to practice and master a new comprehension strategy (Au,
2006). Whole-group instruction should be used sparingly, and only when nearly all students in
the classroom need explicit instruction of the strategy. Small-group instruction should be used
for specific groups of students who may need remediation or enrichment in specific
comprehension strategies and should not include more than six students at a time. This is to
allow students the opportunity to participate in learning and practice the strategy with more
feedback from the teacher. Small group instruction also allows for the experience-text-
relationship approach to be used towards literacy instruction, allowing students to see texts as
connected to their own experiences (Au, 2006). Partner work allows students to practice a skill
or strategy together and to problem-solve with another individual, to find the best response to the
question at hand. Individual work time, for example, a silent sustained reading block, is valuable
for students but must be overseen by the teacher, ensuring that students continue to improve
upon the comprehension strategies they are taught in the classroom (Au, 2006).
The focus of instruction in culturally relevant literacy classes should be comprehension
strategies, not skills (Au, 2006). These strategies include before-reading, during-reading, and

26

after-reading strategies to increase comprehension of a text (Au, 2006). Before reading any text,
activation of students' prior knowledge on a topic must be discussed (Au, 2006; Scott & Purdum-
Cassidy, 2016, Grassi & Barker, 2010). A discussion of what students know and understand
about a text before reading allows students to both comprehend the text better at its most basic
level, but also allows students to practice the comprehension strategies as instructed. This may
take the form of a KWL chart, where students complete what is known (K) on the subject, what
they want (W) to know on the subject, and after reading complete what they learned (L) on the
subject (Grassi & Barker, 2010). If students do not have substantial prior knowledge on the topic,
the teacher must build their students' background knowledge prior to reading through the use of
other texts, non-fiction sources, images, or discussion (Au, 2006, Grassi & Barker, 2010).
Throughout the reading of a text, teachers must facilitate students' connections between their
prior knowledge and the current classroom instruction.
Before reading, students may be taught the comprehension strategy of making
predictions, based on words in the text, illustrations in the book, or simply from the title of the
text (Au, 2006; Grassi & Barker, 2010). During reading, students may be instructed on a variety
of comprehension strategies including making inferences, generating questions of the text, or
monitoring their comprehension of the text (Au, 2006, Grassi & Barker, 2010). Making
inferences is when students are required to make meaning of the text based on their prior
knowledge, specifically when the author of a text does not write every detail of a setting or
scenario. Generating questions of a text is when students reverse roles with their teacher, forcing
students to engage deeply with the concepts in the text. Students monitor their comprehension by
re-reading when they are confused, looking back at the text to check their understanding, pausing
and reflecting on their mental image of the scene, or researching an unfamiliar vocabulary word

27

critical to their understanding of the text (Au, 2006). After reading comprehension strategies
taught in culturally relevant classrooms may include determining importance and summarizing
information. Determining importance requires students to identify what the author believes is
critical to the story versus what the reader finds interesting. Students of different cultural
backgrounds may find varying details of a text important, thus teaching the most important
background knowledge to understand the text is critical before reading (Au, 2006). Summarizing
information requires students to paraphrase the most important sections text, which is
challenging for many second language learners. The practice of speaking or writing summaries
should be given to students with multiple opportunities for success with significant teacher
coaching and feedback for students (Au, 2006).
Using Culturally Relevant Teaching to Improve Outcomes
The use of a culturally relevant curriculum allows students to master skills because of
students' prior knowledge of the topic being used to teach the reading strategy. Without a
curriculum that includes students' cultural experiences, teachers cannot expect their students to
leave the classroom empowered and ready to make a change or reaching the achievement level
of their peers who may see themselves in the texts read every day (Ladson-Billings, 1995).
Culturally relevant teaching is comprised of three critical components: the experience of success
by the students, the development of multiple cultural competencies, and the development of a
personal lens from which they feel empowered to challenge the status of their environment
(Ladson-Billings, 1995).
To begin dismantling the power that fluent-English speakers hold in classrooms,
educators and administrators must address each child’s strengths, especially cultural and
linguistic strengths (Dearing et al., 2016). The education provided to students needs to become

28

culturally competent and inclusive of all student backgrounds by employing the use of critical
pedagogies that develop or utilize culturally relevant curriculums, which students can connect
with and understand (Chung, 2016). In Chicago Public Schools, English Language Learner
education and curricular choices practically eradicate individual cultures of students, making
their English Language Arts experience solely about the white-American experience (Davila &
de Bradley, 2010). Culturally relevant curriculums allow students to read about kids like them,
students from a variety of places, who speak a variety of languages and share similar
experiences. Students can then make connections and share the same level of discussion as fluent
English-speakers (Iddings, 2005). It is also possible to create successful educational experiences
for ELL students by examining ways in which bilingual education can address and support
Common Core State Standards language strands (Fuller & Hosemann, 2015). Common Core
State Standards are one benchmark SVA teachers and leaders use to monitor the growth of
students, making research regarding these standards of education relevant to this study and
research site. The other primary benchmarks of student success are the Honduran educational
standards. With the implementation of a culturally relevant curriculum, student achievement
scores also increase, closing the gaps where certain United States or Western rooted philosophies
may not address the needs of students (Rishel & Zuercher, 2016).
One aspect of using the cultural and linguistic strength of students to the advantage of
their studies is to include the learner's native language in the classroom (McKay, 2002). An
emphasis on English-only classrooms can impede the growth of students (Kumaravadivelu,
2003; McKay, 2002). Texts in a first language can be used in conjunction with materials in
English to allow for an easier transition from native language to the second language
(Kumaravadivelu, 2003). This inclusion of the native language also creates a more comfortable

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environment for teachers from the school’s community where they can influence the role of both
native language and English in the classroom (McKay, 2002).
Barriers to Success in Implementing Culturally Relevant Teaching
Professional Development
A cited challenge in implementing culturally relevant curriculum in classrooms is a lack
of strong, structured professional development opportunities for teachers to engage in to
strengthen the skills necessary to build a different ELA program (Islam & Park, 2015; Shealey et
al., 2011; Young, 2010). Research indicates there is widespread confusion about what culturally
relevant pedagogy is (Young, 2010). Teachers aren't attributing academic achievement to the use
of culturally relevant pedagogy in their classes. Although instructional staff can often speak to
the reasons why culturally relevant texts may be important to include, they can rarely discuss
specific curricular choices that could be made and lack the knowledge and skillsets needed to
implement new curricular programs (Young, 2010). According to Shealey et al. (2011), teaching
strategies are rarely provided to teachers to implement culturally relevant texts by administrators
who initiate directives to include culturally relevant texts in their courses. Also, research-based
instructional practices are not being used with fidelity in some English Language Arts courses,
according to Islam and Park's (2015) study. As a result, teachers struggle to implement new
practices or texts for the English Language Learners in their classes (Islam & Park, 2015).
Curricular Materials
The material being taught in American schools, specifically in reading, is often irrelevant
or ignores ELLs’ culture and heritage meaning that students of color, immigrant families, and
non-English speakers are rarely represented in the course topics and dialogues within the
classroom (Davila & de Bradley, 2010; Guiberson, 2009; Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Yoon, 2007).

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Many school sites are lacking strong and/or coherent ELL programs and materials, which include
culturally responsive teaching, high-quality multicultural literature, small group instruction,
individual progress monitoring, and one-on-one support when necessary (Islam & Park, 2015).
Yoon (2007) found in an examination of two classrooms that the more successful teacher was
using culturally relevant pedagogy with her students. She allowed them to read about and
interact with characters that looked, thought and sounded like them (Yoon, 2007). The dismissal
of varying cultures in American curricular school materials is relevant to this study because the
materials SVA uses were created for use in U.S. based schools, not Honduras, indicating a
mirroring of the lack of culturally relevant texts in Honduras to the United States.
Implicit Bias
A pervasive problem of practice in K-12 urban education is the occurrence of implicit
biases and stereotypes held by teachers and the microaggressions that reflect those biases in the
classroom. The presence of implicit bias and negative stereotypes held by K-12 teachers can
result in low academic performance by students (Gorski, 2012). On an individual level, teaching
professionals that hold negative stereotypes of low-income students inhibit the academic
performance of those very students. These negative biases result in low academic expectations
being set for students which creates a culture of low-performance by students due to their
internalizing the stereotypes held by their teachers (Gorski, 2012). An “incongruence” between
teacher and student race and culture, as Howard (2003) calls it, prevents a culturally relevant
pedagogy from being employed, which would allow all students to access material that reflects
themselves.
Students' perceptions of teachers' biases and stereotypes can negatively affect their
academic performance (Milner, 2011). Mr. Hall, the subject of Milner's (2011) case study, was

31

forced to confront his students' beliefs that he was racist to create an environment that felt safe
and welcoming for all. The conversation Mr. Hall had with his students was deemed critical by
Milner (2011) in creating the groundwork for high scholastic achievement in Mr. Hall’s
classroom. Depending on the attitudes and perceptions of ELL students held by the instructor,
students may be positively or negatively affected by the instruction occurring in the class
(Shealey et al., 2011).
Teachers must also discuss their own cultural identity in the classroom in meaningful
ways to help create a critical cultural consciousness (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). According to
Kumaravadivelu (2003), critical cultural consciousness is the understanding that no one culture
is made of the best, nor is there one culture that is made of the worst, components of a
community. In an English as an International Language classroom, the native speaker of the
target language, English, holds the power and privilege in the room and is often regarded as the
cultural informant, but the learners in the room are also cultural informants of the source culture
and native language (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). Facilitating critical cultural consciousness allows
learners to reflect on their own culture in the broader global sphere while learning a second
language. It also allows teachers and students to self-reflect on their own cultures concerning the
source culture of the classroom and students (Kumaravadivelu, 2003).
Clark and Estes’ (2008) Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Framework
Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis framework is designed to examine stakeholder
performance within an organization. This framework aids researchers in determining the human-
factors causing performance gaps within an organization. It is based on influences in the area of
knowledge, motivation, and organization relating to stakeholder goals, the organizational goal,

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and assumed performance. Krathwohl (2002) identified four distinct types of knowledge (a)
factual; (b) conceptual; (c) procedural; and (d) metacognitive, which is used to determine if
stakeholders have the knowledge to achieve the organizational goal. Utility value and attribution
theory can be used to determine the stakeholders’ motivations for achieving the organizational
goal (Rueda, 2011). Lastly, organizational influences are examined to determine if the internal
processes, culture, and material resources are available to achieve the organizational goal (Clark
& Estes, 2008).
The knowledge, motivation, and organizational components of Clark and Estes’ (2008)
gap analysis framework are discussed regarding the ELA teachers' organizational goal. First,
knowledge influences are examined. Second, motivation influences are discussed and finally
organization influences are considered.
Stakeholder Knowledge and Motivation Influences
Knowledge and Skills
According to Krathwohl, there are four distinct types of knowledge, based on the original
Bloom's Taxonomy: factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, conceptual knowledge, and
metacognitive knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). Factual knowledge is defined by
concrete elements of content that are indisputable and true (Krathwohl, 2002). Followers being
able to state the global goal of their organization is an example of factual knowledge. Procedural
knowledge is the "how-to" knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002). An example of procedural knowledge
is knowing the steps required to successfully submit a lesson plan through a given online
platform. Conceptual knowledge includes the interrelationships between elements of a larger
system (Krathwohl, 2002). Knowing the categories of behaviors of K-12 students in a school and
being able to classify them within the larger behavior management systems is an example of

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conceptual knowledge. Lastly, metacognitive knowledge is the knowledge of one's self,
strengths, and areas of growth (Krathwohl, 2002). A teacher's ability to reflect on their practices
to identify areas of student misunderstanding is an example of metacognitive knowledge.
A lack of knowledge and skillsets is a documented reason why some performance gaps
exist in organizations (Clark & Estes, 2008). Increasing knowledge and skills are shown to
increase strategic knowledge, affect changes in knowledge structures, and enhance the
empowerment of followers (Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009). While the skills learned are directly
applied to the work being done, the knowledge acquired by the follower must include both the
steps required to learn the concrete skill and the knowledge of what their goal is and how to
accomplish it to find success in their work (Rueda, 2011). The four distinct types of knowledge
are based on the original Bloom's Taxonomy: factual knowledge, procedural knowledge,
conceptual knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). To know
if stakeholders have the knowledge and skills required to execute the task and meet the
designated goals, though, knowledge assessments must be completed (Clark & Estes, 2008). In
this section, three documented knowledge influences necessary to achieve the stakeholder and
global goal are discussed: (a) culturally relevant curriculum; (b) curricular planning; and (c)
cultural influences.
Culturally Relevant Curriculum
At SVA, ELA teachers may not know appropriate culturally relevant texts to incorporate
into their curriculum. This represents a factual knowledge gap, defined by Krathwohl (2002), as
knowledge of titles and summaries of culturally relevant texts is concrete in nature. There is a
documented lack of knowledge surrounding the creation and implementation of culturally
relevant curriculum in schools (Islam & Park, 2015; Young, 2010) Teachers may have a lack of

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knowledge of texts to include in their courses and programs and have no exemplar to follow to
supplement their inexperience. Any lack of content knowledge, including knowledge of
culturally relevant texts from which to teach, must be addressed to be successful in the
implementation of the selected texts.
Curricular Planning
A possible gap in procedural knowledge to be addressed when focusing on using specific
texts to address reading achievement is a lack of knowledge of basic curricular or lesson
planning (Anderson et al., 2001). Young (2010) completed a study to determine the viability of
culturally relevant pedagogy in K-12 classrooms through monitored discussion and case studies.
She concluded that one of the many barriers to the successful implementation of culturally
relevant teaching in schools is a lack of awareness of how to implement culturally relevant
teaching programs (Young, 2010). Because teachers are often handed curricular materials and
lesson plans requiring little modification, the skill sets necessary to alter those large-scale and
small-scale plans are not developed and thus the culturally relevant material does not appear in
classrooms (Young, 2010). Shealey, Mchatton, and Wilson (2011) conducted a literature review
to examine the use and effectiveness of culturally relevant teaching in special education
classrooms. They found that there are very few teaching strategies given to teachers by coaches
or principals in schools to implement in their attempts to use culturally relevant teaching
practices in their classrooms. Islam and Park (2015) concluded after analyzing the data collected
while monitoring graduate student reflections after completion of a reading methodology course
that research-based instructional practices are not being used in the planning or implementation
of culturally relevant teaching. The lack of curricular and lesson planning knowledge that

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teachers at SVA hold impede their success in creating dynamic plans with culturally relevant
texts.
Cultural Influences
An absence of understanding of the cultural influences of the specific country in which
teachers are instructing, in the case of this study, Honduras, needs to be addressed before
culturally relevant texts can be added to a school’s curriculum. The researched cultural
influences on reading achievement as discussed previously are family and community ties within
the school and the rate of violence surrounding students on their routes to and from school each
day (Crea et al., 2017). This represents a gap in conceptual knowledge as defined by Anderson et
al. (2001). In Shealey, Mchatton, and Wilson’s (2011) study they concluded that a barrier to
implementing culturally relevant teaching in classrooms was a lack of cultural knowledge. This
finding is mirrored in Byrd’s (2016) examination of culturally relevant teaching as practice
through statistical breakdowns of student perceptions. She found that knowledge of students’
cultural backgrounds is critical to the correct implementation of culturally relevant teaching
(Byrd, 2016). Knowledge of the culture and backgrounds present in the Sunny Village Academy
classrooms is a knowledge gap that persists. Table 3 provides the organizational mission,
organizational global goal, and the stakeholder goal. The table also includes specific knowledge
influences, knowledge types, and knowledge influence assessments that are used in the gap
analysis.

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Table 3
Knowledge Influences, Types, and Influence Assessments for Knowledge Gap Analysis

Motivation
Motivation is the mental process that allows individuals to begin a task, continue working
through the task, and expend effort through the task (Schunk et al., 2008). To achieve the
stakeholder goal of 100% of English Language Arts teachers implementing a new, culturally
relevant curriculum in 60% of the unit material by August 2020, investigating the motivational
indicators and influences affecting the teachers' mindsets is critical. Teachers must be persistent
and willing to exercise mental effort to shift the curricular materials being used in classrooms to
include culturally relevant texts to achieve the larger performance goal of increasing reading
achievement scores. Utility value and attribution theory are theories used to explain motivation
as it relates to successfully meeting the stakeholder goal as named in this proposal.
Organizational Mission
The mission of SVA is “to provide an education that leads to lifelong employment and
achievement.”
Organizational Performance Goal
By June 2021, 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a
level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading
Assessment 2 as administered by classroom teachers in English.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2020, 100% of ELA teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as
evident by whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2020-2021 school year’s ELA units.
Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type
ELA teachers should have knowledge of culturally
relevant texts to incorporate in curriculum.
Factual
ELA teachers should have knowledge of basic
curricular or lesson planning.
Procedural
ELA teachers should understand the primary
cultural influences of the specific country in which
they are teaching.
Conceptual

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Utility Value
Utility value is defined as the value one puts on completing a task or goal (Rueda, 2011).
According to Young's (2010) case study of eight teacher participants, none attributed the success
of their students academically to culturally relevant pedagogy. Because of this, teacher
motivation to implement any changes to their already-existing curriculum and plans was
hindered (Young, 2010). Byrd (2016) points to what she deems a lack of quantitative research
demonstrating that culturally relevant teaching impacts student achievement in a positive light.
This shared outlook on the lack of quantitative proof of improvement impacts teachers'
willingness to change plans and motivation to do the extra work required to implement new texts
in a classroom; according to Byrd (2016), the value of using culturally relevant teaching in
schools does not have enough overwhelming evidence to illustrate exemplar school sites or
success stories. But as Ladson-Billings' (1995) report on culturally relevant pedagogy states,
without a curriculum that includes students' cultural experiences, teachers cannot expect their
students to leave the classroom empowered and ready to make a change or having reached the
achievement level of their peers who may see themselves in the texts read every day. Addressing
the value of using culturally relevant materials is important to this study because teachers must
be motivated to make the changes necessary to the standing curricular materials.
Attribution Theory
Teachers should take ownership of student success and achievement through culturally
relevant texts in English Language Arts classes instead of placing the blame on a student's
inability to learn (Gorski, 2012; Young, 2010). This motivational influence relates to attribution
theory, or a follower's beliefs about the underlying reasons a task or goal is completed or failed
to execute (Weiner, 1985).

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In the case of the statement made about Sunny Village Academy teachers taking
ownership of student success, the attribute is unstable, internal, and controllable. The attribute is
unstable because the lack of teacher ownership over student success is not permanent in any
teacher or school system. If a classroom teacher made the choice to shift their mindset and take
ownership of the success of students' in their class, a change has occurred in the room, meaning
the mindset is impermanent. The attribute is internal because the mindset of ownership is
reflective of an internally held mindset. A teacher's mindset is not an external attribute or
characteristic; it is created and changed within the self. It is controllable because it can be
changed; the ownership-mindset can shift from student-blaming to teacher-focused through
effort or choice by the teacher to actively change their thoughts and actions.
One reason teachers may resist taking ownership of their students' success through
culturally relevant text use is an underlying negative attitude and bias towards culturally and
linguistically diverse students as found by Shealey, Mchatton, and Wilson (2011). In their study,
a common theme among teachers who resisted the implementation of culturally relevant teaching
was their negative stereotypes and biases against culturally and linguistically diverse students.
As a result, of these biases, the teachers lacked the motivation to implement any new curriculum
or text into the preexisting materials (Shealey et al., 2011). In Young's (2010) case studies
regarding the viability of culturally relevant teaching as practice, she also documented a lack of
race consciousness in teachers. Cultural biases are barriers to the successful implementation of
culturally relevant teaching (Young, 2010). When teachers hold negative beliefs about their
students, the ownership for poor performance will be placed on students (Gorski, 2012). Through
the use of culturally relevant pedagogy, ownership of success and results can shift from student-
focused and student blaming to teacher-focused (Ladson-Billings, 1995). In motivating teachers

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to address this problem, utility value and attribution theory are important to consider. Table 4
provides the organizational mission, organizational global goal, and the stakeholder goal. The
table also includes the two assumed motivational theories identified: utility value theory and
attributions theory.
Table 4
Motivational Influences and Assessments for Motivation Gap Analyses

Organizational Mission
The mission of SVA is “to provide an education that leads to lifelong employment and
achievement.”
Organizational Global Goal
By June 2021, 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a
level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading
Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in English.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2020, 100% of ELA teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as
evident by whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2020-2021 school year’s ELA units.
Motivational Indicators
Persistence – K-9 teachers are not persisting in the face of challenges with their students in
achieving high levels of academic success in their classrooms.
Mental effort – K-9 teachers are not willing to put forth the effort in curriculum and lesson
planning with new culturally relevant texts in their classrooms.
Assumed Motivation Influences
Utility Value – Teachers need to see the value of using culturally relevant texts for whole-
group reading instruction.
Attribution Theory – Teachers should take ownership of student success and achievement
through culturally relevant texts in ELA classes instead of placing the blame on a student's
inability to learn.

Organization
An organization's culture can inhibit or accelerate change within the group (Clark &
Estes, 2008). There are two distinct models with which the organization can be examined.
According to Schein (2017), there are three levels of cultural analysis: artifacts, espoused beliefs

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and values, and basic underlying assumptions. The first level, artifacts, is the visible and
observed behavior held within an organization, for example, the common language used or a list
of values prescribed by the larger organization (Schein, 2017). The second level, espoused
beliefs and values, are the shared ideas and goals of an organization (Schein, 2017). The third
level, basic underlying assumptions, is the unspoken beliefs that can govern behavior, feelings,
and thoughts in organizations. The alternate model, and the one employed in this proposal, is one
set by Rueda (2011) which includes cultural models and cultural settings. Cultural models are the
shared schemas of an organization and often go unnoticed by those who hold the shared
understandings to be true (Rueda, 2011). Cultural settings are the visible aspects of an
organization's culture and explain the stakeholders, the location, the purpose, and the steps
behind the routines that constitute a typical day in an organization (Rueda, 2011). Two cultural
models and two cultural settings at SVA are discussed as they relate to the conceptual framework
detailed below.
Willingness to Change Course
The first organizational influence to address in reaching the stakeholder goal is a
willingness of teachers to change their course of instruction from what they have historically
used. The cultural model at work within the organization must shift from the unspoken but strict
adherence to pre-written pacing guides towards re-writing the curriculum to create a culturally
relevant whole group reading program. According to Gay (2013), a common barrier to the
implementation of culturally relevant teaching practices is a resistance to change, in mindset,
materials, and practices. If the organizational model can shift towards a culture that embraces
curricular change for the greater good, instructional preparation may also shift towards one that
challenges the status quo and pushes for increased use of culturally relevant texts.

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Culture of Collaboration
The organization culture also must work towards a model of transparency and
collaboration between the academic director and the ELA teachers in creating the curriculum and
daily lesson plans. Price-Dennis and Souto-Manning (2011) found success in mentoring a pre-
service teacher by using culturally relevant teaching practices to improve the teacher's instruction
through collaboration on lesson plans, lesson delivery, and addressing the teacher’s own biases.
In this study, although not pre-service teachers, the teaching staff is mostly comprised of first-
year, inexperienced young adults. Using Price-Dennis and Souto-Manning's (2011) case study as
an exemplary practice, a shift in cultural model within the organization to increase collaboration
between academic director and ELA teaching staff could allow for increased learning for the new
teachers in selecting and instructing with culturally relevant texts in their classroom.
Increase in Planning Time
A cultural setting influence that must shift to achieve the stakeholder goal surrounding
the visible routines and practices of academic director and teachers at school addresses the
planning time provided to the academic director and teachers to plan their daily instruction and
larger units of study. Both parties must have enough time in their weekly planning cycle to select
and preview culturally relevant texts, write unit plans, and create the daily lesson plans.
According to Freire and Valdez (2017), a commonly cited struggle of schools attempting to
implement culturally relevant teaching practices is the question of time to research, plan, and
implement the new materials. The planning routine should be shifted within the organization to
allow the academic director and teachers to have time to do the prework necessary to begin
teaching with culturally relevant texts by August 2020.

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Expert Guidance in the Creation of Curricular Materials
The second cultural setting component that is needed to achieve the stakeholder goal is an
increase of expert consultation on the research, development, and writing of the new curriculum
using culturally relevant texts as the anchor for instructional materials. Changes in organizational
settings should include access to expert opinions, according to Clark and Estes (2008). If the
routine is shifted from the academic director being the only expert in the organization on
curricular materials to a multitude of experts weighing in on the best practices in culturally
relevant teaching, the cultural setting may shift. According to Ullucci (2011), helping teachers
learn about and implement culturally relevant teaching methods is critical in the success of
actualizing any goal of increased use of culturally relevant materials. Table 5 provides the
organizational mission, organizational global goal, and the stakeholder goal, as well as the
assumed organizational influences. The two types of assumed influences indicated are cultural
model influences and cultural setting influences.

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Table 5
Organization Influences and Influence Assessments for Organization Gap Analysis

Organizational Mission
The mission of SVA is “to provide an education that leads to lifelong employment and
achievement.”
Organizational Global Goal
By June 2020, 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy (SVA) will
read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic
Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in English.
Stakeholder Goal
By August 2019, 100% of ELA teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as
evidenced by whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2019-2020 school year's ELA units.
Assumed Organizational Influences
Cultural Model Influence 1:
There needs to be a willingness to change the course of instruction from pre-written pacing
guides to re-creating a culturally relevant whole group reading program.
Cultural Model Influence 2:
There needs to be a culture of transparency and collaboration in creating the curriculum and
daily lesson plans between the academic director and the ELA level teachers.
Cultural Setting Influence 1:
The academic director and teachers must have enough time in their weekly planning time to
select culturally relevant texts, write unit plans, and create daily lesson plans.
Cultural Setting Influence 2:
The academic director and teachers must have guidance in the research, development, and
writing of the new culturally relevant curriculum from a role model or outside professional
consultant.

Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and
the Organizational Context
A conceptual framework ensures the research provided in the literature review is aligned
with the research problem, purpose, and questions provided (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
conceptual framework justifies the proposed research project (Maxwell, 2013). The structure of
the framework indicates the interaction between the varying concepts illustrated (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).

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In the literature review, there are many knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences discussed but a few were selected as the most critical to address through the study.
The knowledge and motivation influences chosen for this study came from research and
observation of practice. The organizational influences were selected from prior knowledge of the
organization. These influences align with research by Rueda (2011) and Clark and Estes (2008)
on organizational influences affecting goal achievement.
Components of Conceptual Framework
Knowledge Influences
The three knowledge influences represented in the conceptual framework below are
supported by research on reading achievement and culturally relevant teaching. ELA teachers not
having knowledge of culturally relevant texts is supported by Young's (2010) research stating
that many teachers do not know how to implement culturally relevant teaching practices in their
classrooms. ELA teachers not knowing curricular planning is supported by Islam and Park's
(2015) research of teachers not knowing how to create, write, or modify curriculums to support
English Language Learners. These studies and other research provide a strong indication that this
is true for the stakeholders not understanding the cultural influences of Honduras (Gorski, 2012;
Howard, 2003; and Young, 2010).
Motivation Influences
Two motivational influences are represented in the conceptual framework of this study.
Teachers exercising ownership over student success is supported by the research of Ladson-
Billings (1995). Teachers seeing the value in selecting culturally relevant texts for their students
in ELA classes are supported by Young (2010).

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Organization Influences
The cultural model influences represented in the conceptual framework are the need for a
willingness to change teaching practice and the creation of a new culture of collaboration; these
two influences meet Clark and Estes’ (2008) attributes of team-based organizations of motivation
and feedback. The cultural setting influences represented, academic director and teachers
planning time to collaborate and having outside expert guidance in the selection of texts, etc.,
meet the last requirement as outlined by Clark and Estes (2008), of access to expert knowledge.
Figure 1 illustrates the interactions between the organizational, knowledge, and motivational
influences at SVA.

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Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

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Knowledge, Motivation, and Organization Influencer Interactions
Each level in the framework above interacts with and influences each other to reach the
larger stakeholder goal of 100% of English Language Arts teachers implementing new, culturally
relevant curriculum as evident by whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2020-202 English
Language Arts units by August 2020. An example of a knowledge influence interacting with an
organizational influence is when teachers lack the conceptual knowledge required to implement
culturally relevant texts appropriately, they often lack the understanding of the primary cultural
influences of their given context. This directly influences the motivation influence of taking
ownership over student achievement instead of placing blame on certain student populations for
a supposed inability to learn. In practice, when teachers do not know the cultural context in
which they are teaching, for example, an American teaching in Honduras with very little
knowledge of Honduran customs and practices, the teacher may have implicit biases coming
from a lack of understanding of the culture, resulting in a lack of motivation to take ownership
over student success, instead of blaming students for a falsely labeled inability to learn.
An example of a motivation influence interacting with a knowledge influence is when
teachers do not see the value in using culturally relevant texts in their classes, the teachers will
not be motivated to increase their knowledge about improving their teaching and curricular
practices. In practice, when a teacher does not see the importance of teaching students in
Honduras using texts that are connected to their culture and heritage the teacher will not be
motivated to begin including culturally relevant texts in their classrooms and likely will not learn
the skills necessary to teach culturally relevant texts with success.
An example of an organization influence interacting with a knowledge influence is a
willingness to change the course of instruction and increase the use of culturally relevant texts

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directly influencing the factual knowledge of teachers in selecting texts for use in their
classrooms. Without the organizational pressure to change the way instruction is being delivered
and the texts that are being used, the teachers are unlikely to increase their knowledge of
culturally relevant texts. In practice, if an organization can encourage and foster a willingness to
change the course of instruction for the betterment of students, it seems likely that teachers will,
through the process of changing instruction, learn more about different culturally relevant texts
their students could read in class to increase their reading achievement scores.
Conclusion
Based on research, reading scores may improve by addressing gaps in understanding the
importance and implementation of culturally relevant curriculum. The literature review presented
in this chapter addresses the historical challenges of ELLs, reading achievement scores in
Honduras and international schools, among ELLs, and the historical connections between
culturally relevant curriculum and reading achievement in students. Using Clark and Estes'
(2008) Gap Analysis Model, the assumed knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences
of the ELA teachers at the Sunny Village Academy are also discussed and the conceptual
framework for the larger study was presented and described. Chapter three presents both the
methodology for the study and the validation for the assumed knowledge, motivation and
organization influences presented in Chapter two.

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
The following questions guided the gap analysis that addresses knowledge and skills,
motivation, and organization influences and solutions at Sunny Village Academy:
1. What are the knowledge influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA will
read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
2. What are the motivation influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA will
read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
3. What are the organizational influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA will
read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
This chapter discusses the sampling criteria and rationale for the survey and interview
participants, and introduces the methodology, instruments, and protocols used in the study. The
validity and reliability of the study are discussed. This chapter ends with a discussion of the
ethical considerations for the completion of this study at Sunny Village Academy.

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Participating Stakeholders
The primary stakeholders in this study are the ELA teachers at SVA for the 2019-2020
academic year. Many of the teachers started the year with Sunny Village Academy as first-year
teachers in Honduras, meaning they entered the school year with no prior formal study or
professional experience in the field of education. All teachers receive the same five-week
training over the summer, modeled after Teach For America's Institute program to prepare non-
teachers for the classroom as quickly and efficiently as possible. The training begins with a week
of behavior management instruction, organizational systems used in the school, and lesson
planning workshops. In the following three weeks, new teachers practice their instructional skills
while teaching summer school in the mornings to the students they will teach during the
academic year. ELA teachers then spend the afternoon in additional training sessions to hone
their instructional skills. The last week of training is spent setting up classrooms and lesson
planning for the first weeks of school. While the ELA teachers and director have little, if any,
experience in education, the Honduran instructional staff does have experience in education. The
range of years of lesson planning experience spans from zero years to 10 years. The average
number of years' experience planning instruction was 3.3 years among the 19 participants in the
survey.
The teachers working with Sunny Village Academy are typically diverse in
socioeconomic status, gender, race, and, as previously discussed, experience. The later sampling
includes fewer teachers, as the English-teaching staff is quite small. To maximize the sample, all
opinions are represented while examining the knowledge, motivation, and organization
influences of the stakeholders, this gap analysis used both quantitative and qualitative methods
with the population to best triangulate the data collected. Table 6 details the demographic

51

information of the SVA staff available to the researcher. Gender, nationality, first language, and
years of teaching experience are reported.
Table 6
Demographics of SVA Compared with the Survey and Interview Samples
Factor Organization Survey sample Interview sample
Gender

n 22 19 5

% Female
77%
79% 60%

% Male
18%
21% 40%
Race

n 22 19 5

% Honduran
68% 68% 0%

% North
American
27% 32% 100%
Primary Language

n 22 19 5

% Spanish
68% 68% 0%

% English
27% 32% 100%
Years Teaching Experience

Honduran Staff North American Staff

n

12 6

mean

4.75 0.5

minimum

1 0
maximum
10 3
Note. One Honduran staff respondent indicated "varios años" (many years) of teaching
experience in their response and was not included the data aggregation.

A convergent mixed-methods study was used to collect data from the sample population.
This type of research design is when quantitative data and qualitative data are collected at
approximately the same time (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). According to Johnson & Christensen,
2015, the two most important rules of research are to provide multiple sources of evidence and
rule out other explanations of phenomena. This convergent mixed-methods study followed those
guidelines for success. A survey was administered to all instructional staff and administrators
employed by Sunny Village Academy to determine the macro-scale knowledge, motivation, and

52

organization influences affecting the ability to reach the stakeholder goal of increasing reading
achievement scores using culturally relevant texts. Immediately post-survey, interviews were
conducted with a subset of the instructional staff that meets specific criteria based on
demographic information collected through the surveys, the ELA teachers. The convergent
mixed-methods design allows for the interview candidates to be selected specifically for the
information they can provide based on their own life and educational experience. The following
sections detail the choices, sampling criteria, and rationale for the convergent mixed-methods
design chosen for this gap analysis.
Survey Sampling Criteria and Rationale
There are 22 teachers, support staff members, and administrators who ensure Sunny
Village Academy is operating appropriately and is upholding high expectations for students and
teachers. As a result, and to aid in the determination of overall organizational culture and
knowledge, motivation, and organization influences existing within the larger structure, a survey
was administered to all 2019-2020 instructional staff members and their respective school
leaders, in both English and Spanish. The instructional and leadership staff includes the
kindergarten through ninth grade teachers, the social studies and Spanish teachers, the
instructional assistants in kindergarten and first grade, and the academic and administrative
directors, totaling 20 individuals. This type of sampling is nonprobability, procedural sampling,
as the participants in the survey are identified and selected based on their current position in
Sunny Village Academy. The school counselor was not surveyed as she is not instructional staff
and does not make classroom-based decisions for students, nor was the school nurse. The survey
of members of instructional and administrative staff allowed the researcher to also examine

53

trends between Honduran and non-Honduran staff members regarding their knowledge,
motivation, and organization influences impacting their meeting the organizational goal.
Survey Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The surveys administered assessed the knowledge, motivational, and organization
influences that determine a teacher’s ability to meet the stakeholder goal. Because the survey
was administered to all instructional staff and administrators, 20 individuals were invited to
provide their insight into the problem of practice being addressed with this study. The proxy
researcher administered the survey online. The surveys were administered in the middle of
November when all academic instructors had at least approximately three months of experience
planning their curricular units, text selections, and daily lesson plans. The survey was completed
by 19 of the 20 individuals invited to participate, a response rate of 90%.
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale
A subset of SVA instructional staff was selected for participation in interviews.
Participation was determined by the criteria below, again using a non-random, purposeful
sampling strategy. The criteria below were selected to focus the research on instructional staff
who differ from their students in culture and native language.
Criterion 1: Instructional Language
The instructional and administrative staff at Sunny Village Academy is comprised of both
English and Spanish speakers, but those who instruct primarily in English were selected for
interview. This narrowed the focus of the study to instructional staff whose instructional
language differs from Spanish.

54

Criterion 2: Country of Origin
While it is likely that the country of origin or staff at Sunny Village Academy could span
many countries, it is critical for this study that those teachers whose country of origin is different
from their students were identified and used as a criterion for determining participation in
interviews. This study attempts to focus on non-Honduran teachers attempting to infuse
culturally relevant texts in their teaching curriculums to ensure students are still achieving high
standards in reading, despite being taught by an individual who does not share the same cultural
background as them.
Criterion 3: Planning Responsibility
Candidates for interviews must have the responsibility of planning for reading classes.
This study focuses exclusively on reading achievement as measured by the Diagnostic Reading
Assessment 2, a test only given in English reading classes. The ownership of reading planning
and implementation must fall within the interview candidates' daily responsibilities. It was
anticipated that there would be great variation in the teachers' ability to and knowledge of lesson
planning, providing for diversity in interview response.
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The selection of five candidates for interviews whose native language is English, who
instruct in English, and whose responsibility it is to plan curriculum was important for the
success of this study of increasing reading achievement using culturally relevant texts. At the
time of this study, SVA employed one English teacher per two grade levels; only five individuals
met the criteria as listed above. The purposeful, non-random sample was selected to examine the
implementation of culturally relevant teaching strategies by individuals with a different cultural
background than the students receiving the instruction. This small focus allowed the researcher

55

to deeply examine the knowledge, motivation, and organization influences acting on each
stakeholder and their ability to achieve the larger stakeholder goal. There exists no exact ideal
number of interview candidates for data collection (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Thus, a realistic
number of five teachers was decided upon for the feasibility of research and the researcher's time
constraints.
The interview was conducted via Zoom, a video conferencing platform. The interview
was a standardized open-ended interview, as defined by Johnson and Christensen (2015). The
standardized open-ended interview is when all participants are asked the same set of open-ended
questions, allowing for variation in response. While this type of interview does limit the
respondent in their answers, it allows for streamlined organization and coding of the data and
information provided (Johnson & Christensen, 2015).
Quantitative Data Collection and Instrumentation
A survey was used to collect initial data on the knowledge, motivational, and organizational
influences of the stakeholders, who in this study are the third- through ninth-grade teachers at
Sunny Village Academy (SVA). According to Johnson & Christensen (2015), surveys can be
used to collect information on the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of participants, among
other qualities. Questions were designed to reflect the information being sought. The survey
acted as the preliminary data gathering tool to assess the broader trends in the knowledge,
motivational, and organizational influences that act on nearly every member of the SVA staff
community.

56

Survey
Survey Instrument
The survey used for this study was a questionnaire of self-reported information on the
knowledge, experience, and values of the staff members of SVA. Most demographic information
was collected using nominal questions. Nominal scales of measurement are categorical (Salkind,
2017). The rest of the survey used ordinal and interval scales of measurement, depending on the
question being asked. Salkind (2017) defines ordinal scales of measurement as ranked or ordered
scales where the participant and the researcher know which answer selection is more positive or
more negative, depending on the wording. Interval scales of measurement involve equivalent
units and indicate how much more positive or negative a response is (Salkind, 2017). Many of
the questions were designed using a Likert (ordinal) scale to measure the designated influences
in the research questions. Robinson and Firth (2019) argue that Likert scales are best for
measuring attitudes of participants towards the given topic. The Likert scale used in this survey
had an even number of answer choices. For example, there may be four answer choices for
individuals to choose: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree. This is to force the
participants to have an opinion, in one direction or another, instead of allowing the neutral
option. The midpoints on odd-numbered Likert scales do not always give the researcher the most
reliable information (Robinson & Firth, 2019).
As an example, a motivation influence was assessed through the survey, to align with
utility value. The influence is stated: Teachers need to see the value in using culturally relevant
texts for whole group reading instruction. A possible statement to determine the level of utility
value shown by the teachers would be: Teaching with culturally relevant texts is critical for

57

student success in whole group reading. This statement would be assessed on a Likert scale,
possible answer choices as strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree.
Survey Procedures
The Qualtrics survey was administered online before the interviews because all
respondents are located in Honduras and the researcher was in the United States. Because of this
geographical constraint and the time afforded to the researcher to be on-site, away from their
current profession, online surveys were determined to be the best option for administration. The
surveys were given in both English and Spanish, as the staff has differing levels of fluency in
each language; as a result, comprehension of the item did not impact the accuracy of response.
Forward and backward translation was used to ensure the comparability of the responses despite
the language of the survey.
Qualitative Data Collection and Instrumentation
To investigate the specific knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences of the
specified stakeholder group for this study, the third- through ninth-grade teachers at Sunny
Village Academy (SVA), the qualitative data collection method of interviews was used.
Interviews are used to collect data on concrete phenomena occurring, including the thoughts and
feelings of a participant (Weiss, 1994). Because of this, interviews are an appropriate choice to
collect data on all influences of this study: knowledge, motivation, and organization. According
to Bogdan and Biklen (2007), interviews allow for relationships to be built between the
respondent and the researcher. Interviews invite participants to respond openly with time to think
through their answers (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). Researchers can enter the private world of
respondents with specific lines of questioning (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). Only during
strong, well-planned interviews can participants feel safe enough to share their true perspectives

58

(Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). This is the ultimate goal of the interviews with stakeholders at SVA: a
view into their innermost thoughts around the reading achievement of students and the use of
culturally relevant texts in their courses.
Interviews
Interview Protocol
In this study, semi-structured interviews were used to collect information from stakeholders.
Semi-structured interviews allow for flexibility in questioning from the researcher (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). The researcher is more able to respond to what the participant says and does in a
semi-structured interview because while there is a list of questions to be asked, it is a guide for
the researcher and not a script (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). While a list of probes and follow-up
questions was written into the interview guide for the researcher, the semi-structured interview
gave flexibility to the researcher to inquire further about specific items the participant may
discuss. According to Weiss (1994) and Bogdan and Biklen (2007), interviews are strongest
when questions remain open-ended and bias has been removed from the wording of the question.
Thus, the questions used during the interview were open-ended, meaning no question can be
answered with a simple yes or no response. The interview questions were also non-leading
questions and were edited for potential researcher bias that may appear in wording or idea.
Interview Procedures
Interviews with the ELA teachers began in the middle of November. The reasoning
behind this choice is two-fold. First, because the researcher site is located in a country of non-
residence of the researcher, there are limitations due to other personal and professional
commitments. Second, and perhaps more critically, the interviews are occurring after teachers
have been instructing for approximately three months. This ensured that no matter the starting

59

experience of the newly hired teachers, all could respond to questions appropriately and
accurately. Five individuals were interviewed. The interviews were designed and scheduled to
take less than one hour each. According to Weiss (1994), interviewers gain the most insight
when interviews are between thirty minutes and one hour.
The interview took place online, in a Zoom online conference room. This allowed both
the researcher and the interview participants to choose the location most comfortable for
themselves. Interviews for research purposes must happen in a location free from interruption
(Patton, 2002) and in a space that is comfortable for the respondent (Weiss, 1994). Patton (2002)
advises researchers to always record their interviews with an audio recording device to allow the
researcher to take notes during the interview. These notes could include new questions, could
help the interview follow the direction of the interview, and could assist with later analysis of the
discussion (Patton, 2002). The interviews with the ELA teachers were recorded and transcribed
through the Zoom platform. All interviews planned were conducted in English.
Data Analysis
To analyze survey results, a variety of descriptive statistics can be calculated, dependent
on the question (Salkind, 2017). The researcher followed the recommendations for quantitative
data analysis as described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2018) and Salkind (2017). For nominal
(categorical) and ordinal (Likert scale) items, frequencies, and percentages were determined. The
mode was reported for nominal and ordinal questions when it differs from the most frequently
selected response. For ratio and interval survey items, frequencies and percentages were
calculated, as were mean, median, and range, as well as standard deviation when appropriate.
When ELA teachers answered notably differently from the Honduran teachers in their survey
responses, the results of the descriptive statistics were disaggregated between the two groups,

60

allowing for a more enriched understanding of the trends seen at SVA, especially in the
experience of ELA teachers.
Because a proxy researcher conducted the interviews, data examination could not begin
until after the transcripts of the interviews have been completed and received. The researcher
followed the recommendations for interview transcript coding as described by Creswell and
Plano Clark (2018) and Merriam and Tisdell (2016). Once interviews were transcribed, the
researcher proceeded with multiple iterations of coding responses. The first step was to open
code the interview transcripts. Then, using a priori codes predetermined from the interview
guide, the transcripts were coded a second time. The a priori codes were then aggregated into
axial codes. Finally, patterns and themes emerging from the interviews were coded in relation to
the conceptual framework and research questions. Patterns and themes were determined when
three or more interview participants shared similar language and responses to the interview
question(s) being examined.
Surveys and interviews were used in conjunction to create meaning in determining the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influence gaps at SVA. Survey results were examined
for potential identifiable gaps first using the previously mentioned descriptive statistics. Potential
gaps were identified by the researcher when 60% of survey respondents were aligned in
response. Coded interview responses were then examined for potential gap identification.
Potential gaps were identified by the researcher when at least three of five participants were in
alignment. The possible gaps identified after examination of the surveys and interviews were
then compared to determine if the data confirmed, disconfirmed, or, more frequently, provided
more insight on each other.

61

When data sets represent different numbers of participants, the confirmation process
between the qualitative and quantitative results may be limited (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018).
If discrepant results between the quantitative and qualitative responses are present in converged
mixed-methods data collection, the researcher may state they had more trust in one form of data
collection than another (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). Quantitative data often provides more
general information and trends about a larger population, while qualitative data develop a deeper
understanding of the participating group (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). For these reasons,
when discrepant results were discovered between the survey and interview responses, the
researcher placed more trust in the interview results, as these provided a more in-depth
inspection of the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences impacting the ELA
teachers. When the survey results disconfirmed the interview results, a possible gap was
identified by the researcher when at least three of the five interview participants' responses
indicated a lack of alignment with the previously stated influences of study.
Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability must be monitored throughout the research process of any
quantitative study (Salkind, 2017). Reliability refers to the replicability of the study, while
validity is whether the study tool accurately measures the research questions being proposed
(Salkind, 2017). Reliability and validity were ensured in this study through the use of multiple
scales of measurement allowing for peer review of the survey before administration and full
transparency in the methods and make-up of the study. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) share that
peer review of the study process and feedback on the survey instrument prior to administration,
as well as complete transparency of study methods written within the study increase the
reliability and validity of a study. For this study, a group of educators who are not from Sunny

62

Village Academy (SVA) participated in a pilot-survey, to allow the researcher to see whether the
questions elicit the required information from participants. Response rates of surveys are
increased when the survey is easy to complete and responses are kept confidential (Fink, 2013).
Because of this, the design of the survey is straight-forward with little complication, to allow
participants to navigate the platform and questions with ease.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Credibility and trustworthiness are related to reliability and validity but measure the
plausibility and trustworthiness of the qualitative research methods (Maxwell, 2013; Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Before the interview, a peer review of the interview guide occurred with
educators who are not a member of the SVA community. The researcher piloted the interview
questions with four teachers who do not teach at SVA and are located in the United States.
Piloting interview questions allows for the questions and prompts to be appropriately reviewed
with multiple people before implementation (Maxwell, 2013). Peer review of the interview guide
allows the researcher to pilot the questions to be asked and feedback to be given on the
instrument (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). During the interview process, member checks were used
to ensure the researcher understands what the participant is saying. Member checks can occur
during the interviews when the interviewer summarizes or restates the ideas the interviewee
shares to ensure comprehension of the thoughts and beliefs of the participant (Maxwell, 2013;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Member checking occurred throughout the interview, allowing the
researcher to confirm the most important statements from the participant in real-time.
Because an interview guide was used with scripted questions and probes, the researcher
minimized personal reactions during the interview. Minimizing reactivity is ensuring the
interviewer does not impact the response from the participant because of their own beliefs or

63

biases (Maxwell, 2013). To do this, the researcher must stay neutral and member-check during
the interview (Maxwell, 2013). Triangulation was used to ensure credibility and trustworthiness,
as the SVA population taking the survey overlapped with the individuals being interviewed.
Triangulation allows a researcher to confirm results with multiple sources of information. The
triangulation in this study, between the survey and interview, occurred at the end of the study
when data was analyzed.
Ethics
Ethical dilemmas often arise in qualitative studies concerning the collection of data and
the sharing of the findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). While it is the expectation that researchers
acted ethically in their studies, formal ethical codes are often written and followed to maintain
ethical accountability by the researcher (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). Because of this, it is critical that
the researcher maintains an ethical stance as a researcher while collecting data, reporting
findings, and beyond. Before administering any survey or completing any interview, participants
were given an informed consent form in their native language, English or Spanish. Informed
consent forms must be given to any participant in a study, so the individual knows their rights as
a participant and it is documented that their willingness to give information is voluntary, their
identities were kept confidential, and that they had the right to withdraw from the study (Glesne,
2011). The study was submitted to the University of Southern California Institutional Review
Board (IRB). Their rules and guidelines were followed exactly as directed to protect the
participants and the study itself. Participants must also permit to have their interview recorded by
audio, which allowed for transcripts and review of exact statements made. Cultural
considerations were made when collecting data with Honduran staff members of the school.
These considerations include respecting the rights of all people, proceeding through questioning

64

with caution, and conducting the research face-to-face when possible (Glesne, 2011). There were
no monetary incentives provided to the participants to ensure coercion was not a factor in their
participation.
The researcher must note and discuss their involvement with the organization, the Sunny
Village Academy, as it stands during this research phase. The Honduran bilingual school has an
organizational hierarchy that mirrors that of an American charter school, although the roles vary
slightly. It is because of this that the researcher wishes to ensure there is no ethical conflict as a
result of their role. The researcher currently serves as the Dean of School but holds absolutely no
supervisory power over the participants in the study. Their duties are to provide consultation to
the current academic director of the school and to assist in curriculum and program building in
the school. The only individuals in the school with supervisory power over instructional staff are
the school directors, under the direction of the CEO of the larger organization, Helping
Honduran Kids
3
. These individual perform observations, both formal and informal, make hiring
and staffing decisions, and make the majority of the school’s day-to-day decisions. The
researcher’s title as Dean of School is a way to formalize their continued involvement on the
macro-level of the decision-making in the school. Although the researcher does not have any
direct supervisory responsibilities toward the participants of this study, they employed the use of
a proxy researcher to distribute the online surveys and conduct the interviews with teachers.
While there would be no ethical breaches in the researcher's work with the research participants,
the researcher wants to ensure participants feel safe and willing to share their opinions. The
proxy researcher ensured confidentiality in the surveys and interviews by not recording names
with the data and ensured identifiable information, such as grade level taught, is not noted in the

3
A pseudonym.

65

study. Directors of the institution will not have access to the data as it exists only on the
researcher’s hard drive and will not be published with identifiable information from teachers.
Limitations and Delimitations
There are several anticipated limitations within the study that are out of the control of the
researcher. These limitations include the willingness to share freely, the truthfulness of the
participant, and possible unresponsiveness of the participant. Delimitations also exist as
boundaries exist for the study. This section addresses the limitations and delimitations for this
study as they affect the quality of the collected data.
Limitations
It was possible that participants would not willingly share their experiences freely or
indicate a lack of experience in their response (Weiss, 1994). This may occur because the proxy
researcher was unknown previously to the participant and previous trust has not been established.
Participants in interviews may also keep information to themselves because of an
unacknowledged norm that determines what opinions and thoughts may be spoken (Messner,
2009). Self-reporting surveys also create uncertainty of truthfulness for the researcher. This type
of survey allows for inherent bias to influence participant responses (Weiss, 1994). A limitation
of truthfulness also exists within this study because there was no guarantee that the participants
would share their experiences freely (Weiss, 1994). It was also possible that the participant
would be unresponsive to the survey or interview (Weiss, 1994). An unresponsiveness to the
survey was addressed with reminder emails, but in an interview, unresponsiveness was more
challenging to overcome. Probes were written into the interview protocol to assist the proxy
researcher if the participant is verbally unresponsive to a question.

66

The timeline of the study was also shifted from its original dates. Surveys were to be
distributed during summer teacher training and interviews were to be conducted near the end of
the five-week teacher training course, right before the start of the school year. Because the
researcher still has oversight over SVA, a proxy researcher was necessary to both distribute
surveys and conduct interviews. The first proxy researcher selected to assist the researcher in
data collection was unable to make the time commitments necessary for the study to be
completed within the bounds as decided by the researcher and a new course of action had to be
determined. This notification from the initial proxy researcher did not arrive until October 2019,
months after data collection was to have occurred. A second proxy researcher was asked to
support this study and agreed to collect data. The timeline of the study shifted to distribute
surveys in early November 2019 and conduct all interviews by December 1, 2019.
Delimitations
Delimitations exist in this study because of the parameters set by the researcher. The
stakeholders are mostly first-year teachers with limited experience, meaning a limited view was
to be shared. Because of the nature of the study, a limited number of interview and survey items
could be asked of the stakeholders. The delimitations of this study were intentional to give
boundaries to the study.
Chapter four discusses the results and responses from the survey and interview
participants. Potential gaps in knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences impacting
SVA’s ability to meet the organizational goal are discussed.

67

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The purpose of this project is to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organization
influences that impact the achievement of the organization meeting its goal of 85% of ninth
grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy reading on a level within one-grade band of
their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 by June 2021. A
convergent mixed-methods design was used to collect data using both surveys and interviews.
Data was collected approximately two and a half months after the start of the school year,
allowing for even inexperienced teachers to approach the survey and interview with some
knowledge of classroom instruction. This chapter details the participating stakeholders, the
results and responses of both the surveys and interviews, a synthesized summary of the results,
and validated influences. Clark and Estes' (2008) framework is used to organize the results and
responses by knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. The research questions used
to guide this study are as follows:
1. What are the knowledge influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?
2. What are the motivation influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of the
organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in
English?

68

3. What are the organizational influences of ELA teachers impacting the achievement of
the organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in
SVA will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according
to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom
teachers in English?
Data collected through surveys and interview responses was used to create meaning to
determine the potential knowledge, motivation, and organizational gaps at SVA. When
examining surveys, 60% of respondents needed to be in alignment to indicate a possible gap. In
the interview response investigation, three out of five ELA teachers needed to have similarly
aligned responses for the influence to be named as a potential gap. If the surveys and interviews
disconfirmed each other, the researcher placed more trust in the interview responses, as these
provided a closer examination of the ELA teachers' beliefs and experiences.
Participating Stakeholders
A total of 19 participants at SVA responded to the invitation to participate in the survey,
of the 20 invited to participate. While 22 individuals comprise the adult staff of SVA, the school
psychologist and school nurse were not included in the survey due to their lack of teaching
responsibilities in the school. Of the individuals who chose to participate in the survey, six
respondents are from the United States and thirteen are Honduran. Of the 19 total respondents
the mean, or average, number of years’ experience lesson planning was 3.3 years. Of the five
ELA teachers from the United States solicited for an interview, all five indicated a willingness to
participate. No Honduran teachers were asked to interview as they do not meet the sampling
criteria as discussed in Chapter 3, Survey Sampling Recruitment and Rationale. The participants
who responded to both the survey and interview request are the decision-makers regarding all

69

English instruction at the school, either in their respective classrooms or in whole-school
initiatives.
Results and Responses for Knowledge Causes
Research Question #1: What are the knowledge influences of ELA teachers impacting the
achievement of the organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled
in SVA will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in English?
Factual Knowledge
The first knowledge influence to be examined is factual knowledge. To meet the
organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA reading on a level within
one-grade band of their given grade level in English, teachers must be able to name culturally
relevant texts to use in their classroom instruction. Survey data indicates that nearly every
respondent believes they can name at least one text by a Latino or about a Latino protagonist, as
only one instructional staff member indicated they know zero books by or about Latinos.
However, the interview responses do not corroborate the conclusions drawn by the survey data
regarding factual knowledge of culturally relevant texts; only two interview participants were
able to name texts by or about Latinos. The responses of the questions associated with factual
knowledge on the survey and the analysis of corresponding interview questions are discussed
below and a summary of the results follows.
Knowledge of Culturally Relevant Texts
Survey Results. Stakeholders' knowledge of books with Latino protagonists or by Latino
authors was collected on the survey, asking for an approximation of how many books either by
or about Latinos they can name. The majority of ELA and Honduran instructional staff members

70

indicate an ability to name between one and six texts by or about Latinos. One ELA teaching
participant reported knowing zero books by or about Latinos and seven participants reported
knowing between one and three books by or about Latinos, two ELA teachers and five Honduran
teachers. Seven respondents reported knowledge of between four and six books by or about
Latinos, two ELA teachers and five Honduran teachers. One Honduran teacher reports being able
to name between seven and nine books by or about Latinos and three respondents reported
knowledge of ten or more books by or about Latinos, one ELA teacher and two Honduran
teachers. Figure 2 depicts the stakeholders’ knowledge of books by or about Latinos,
differentiated by ELA or Honduran teacher.
Figure 2
Descriptive statistics: Item #2 Number of Culturally Relevant Books Known to SVA Stakeholders

Interview Responses. ELA teachers' factual knowledge regarding culturally relevant
texts to include in lessons was assessed in the interviews. All ELA teachers were asked to name
culturally relevant texts they could include in their lessons. Responses to this question were
1
2 2
1
5 5
1
2
0 books 1-3 books 4-6 books 7-9 books 10+ books
Number of Respondents
How many books with Latino protagonists or by Latino authors can you
name?
ELA Teachers Honduran Teachers

71

analyzed and the interview data illuminated a lack of Latin American textual awareness found in
three of the five interview respondents.
When discussing the creation of a hypothetical culturally relevant curriculum for their
grade level, ELA teachers were asked which culturally relevant texts they could use in their
classes (see Appendix D). The task of naming culturally relevant texts appropriate for their given
grade bands proved challenging. Codified data analysis indicated three of the five interview
participants were unable to name a single text that could be used in their ELA class. One of the
teachers was able to name texts by or about Latinos, but in the interview acknowledged that the
texts and authors they named were appropriate for high school, not an elementary or middle
school; for example, Participant D said, “I studied Spanish in college, so I am thinking [of] the
author Miguel…and then there’s Jorge Luis Borges, but I would not give that to our kids to
discuss. It will go over their heads.” Participant A responded similarly to Participant D but was
unable to name the text or author without further research, “My mind immediately goes to high
school level or college level texts….I know that there’s a very famous poet…his name is
escaping me right now. But if I were teaching higher level classes I could use his works.” Table
7 indicates each interview participant’s response to the provided question and if their response
was classified as indicating a gap in factual knowledge as described by the influence.

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Table 7
Interview Responses: Knowledge of Culturally Relevant Texts to the Latino Community
Question: What are some culturally relevant texts that you could use in your lessons?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
ELA teachers
should have
knowledge of
culturally relevant
texts to incorporate
in curriculum.
Participant A “My mind immediately goes
to high school level or
college level texts…I know
that there’s a very famous
poet…his name is escaping
me right now."
Yes

Participant B Did not name text by or
about Latinos
Yes

Participant C Did not name text by or
about Latinos
Yes

Participant D “I studied Spanish in
college, so I am thinking
[of] the author Miguel…and
then there’s Jorge Luis
Borges, but I would not give
that to our kids to discuss. It
will go over their heads.”
Yes

Participant E Did not name text by or
about Latinos
Yes

Previous research has shown that selecting culturally relevant texts for students is critical for
student success (Gray, 2009; Lohfink, 2010; Souto-Manning, 2009). Research has shown that the
reading material being used in American schools is often irrelevant to the ELL’s culture (Davila & de
Bradley, 2010; Guiberson, 2009; Helfrich & Bosh, 2011; Yoon, 2007).
Summary
When the two data sets were examined, an incongruency emerged between the survey
data and the interview analysis. In the survey, four of the six ELA teachers stated that they could
name between one and six books by or about Latinos. Even removing the one respondent from
that count, to account for the academic director, three ELA teachers should have been able to

73

name texts by or about Latinos in their interview responses. Instead, only two participants named
culturally relevant texts. Contrary to expectation, the five interview participants did not present a
strong understanding of Latino texts, especially for students in grades kindergarten through ninth
grade.
The selection of culturally relevant texts is important in student success (Gray, 2009;
Lohfink, 2010; Souto-Manning, 2009). Thus, ELA teachers at SVA must know and teach with
culturally relevant texts in their classrooms. These results support the factual knowledge gap in
ELA teachers at SVA of not knowing appropriate grade level, culturally relevant texts for their
classes.
Procedural Knowledge
The second knowledge influence to be discussed in relation to data analysis is procedural
knowledge. To meet the organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
reading on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level in English, ELA teachers
must have the knowledge of planning and instructing using culturally relevant texts. Survey data
was disaggregated between the ELA teachers and Honduran teachers to reveal precise results for
analysis. Overall, Honduran teachers indicated more agreement with the questions regarding
their ability to plan and implement culturally relevant teaching comprehension strategies than
ELA teachers. The interview responses do not support the survey data, illustrating that ELA
teachers have little knowledge of culturally relevant teaching comprehension strategies to
implement in their classrooms. The responses of the questions associated with procedural
knowledge on the survey and the analysis of corresponding interview questions are discussed
below and a summary of the results follows.

74

Knowledge of Planning and Instruction
Survey Results. Survey questions corresponding with the procedural knowledge
influence related to knowledge of planning for and implementing comprehension strategies
during instruction using culturally relevant pedagogy were analyzed. Data were disaggregated to
better understand patterns between the ELA teachers’ knowledge of instructional practices and
the Honduran teachers’ knowledge of instructional practices. While the primary stakeholders for
this study are the ELA teachers of SVA, the difference in self-reported knowledge of culturally
relevant teaching practices between the ELA teachers and the Honduran teachers is noted below.
When asked to state the agreement or disagreement with the three statements, “I know
how to plan before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading comprehension strategies to enrich
student understanding of a culturally relevant text,” 50% of ELA teacher respondents agreed,
while 50% disagreed. When asked to state their agreement or disagreement with the three
statements, “I know how to implement before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student understanding of a culturally relevant text,” 67% of
ELA teachers disagreed with the statement, meaning only 33% of ELA teachers reported
knowing how to implement before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading strategies. Figure 3
depicts the questions analyzed of ELA teachers who responded at each level.

75

Figure 3
Descriptive statistics: Item #6-11 ELA Teachers’ Procedural Knowledge Influences

The Honduran instructional staff responded to the same set of ordinal questions as ELA
teachers. When asked to state their agreement or disagreement with the statement “I know how
to plan before-reading comprehension strategies to enrich student understanding of a culturally
relevant text;” 100% of Honduran instructional staff reports knowing how to plan before-reading
comprehension strategies. When asked if they know how to implement these before-reading
strategies, 100% either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement. The Honduran instructional
staff was then asked if they know how to plan during-reading comprehension strategies; 15%
strongly agreed with the statement, 69% agreed with the statement, and 15% disagreed with the
50%
33%
50%
33%
50%
33%
50%
67%
50%
67%
50%
67%
I know how to plan before-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement before-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to plan during-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement during-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to plan after-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement after-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

76

statement. Honduran instructional staff then were asked if they know how to implement during-
reading comprehension strategies to enrich student understanding of a culturally relevant text and
100% of Honduran teachers know how to implement during-reading comprehension strategies.
When asked to state their agreement or disagreement with the statement, “I know how to plan
after-reading comprehension strategies to enrich student understanding of a culturally relevant
text,” 100% of Honduran teachers feel they know how to plan after-reading comprehension
strategies. Lastly, when asked if they know how to implement these after-reading comprehension
strategies, 100% of Honduran teachers agree that they know how to implement after-reading
comprehension strategies using a culturally relevant text. Figure 4 depicts the questions selected
for analysis of the Honduran teachers who responded at each level.

77

Figure 4
Descriptive statistics: Item #6-11 Honduran Teachers’ Knowledge Influences

Interview Responses. English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ procedural knowledge
regarding the planning and implementation of a culturally relevant lesson was assessed through
the interviews. The five teachers interviewed were asked to describe their current planning
process for daily or weekly lessons. ELA teachers were also asked what explicitly they ask
students to do before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading a text. Reporting of ELA
teachers’ procedural knowledge occurs in two sections with respect to the relevant questions and
participant responses: (a) planning process and (b) reading comprehension strategies.
Planning Process. ELA teachers were asked to describe their planning process for daily
or weekly lessons (see Appendix D). Of the five ELA teachers who participated, four
23%
15%
15%
8%
8%
15%
77%
85%
69%
92%
92%
85%
15%
I know how to plan before-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement before-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to plan during-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement during-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to plan after-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
I know how to implement after-reading
comprehension strategies to enrich student
understanding of a culturally relevant text.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

78

participants discussed an attempt to use culturally relevant language and topics for their
Honduran students. Participant A prepares portions of their lesson in Spanish; “keywords that
[they] think [students] really need to know, [I] try to describe it in English. But if it’s still not
clicking then [I describe] it in Spanish.” Participant B attempts to plan culturally relevant topics
for free-writing topics, for example, baleadas, the typical food of Honduras. Participant B also
indicated that they avoid texts that are not relevant to Honduras, for example, texts about
Thanksgiving or American football. Participant C stated they can select relevant texts for their
students from "the things that [the students] bring in to show me and the things that they talk
about.” As a result, for example, Participant C has selected texts about soccer, because of its
popularity in Honduras. Participant D stated that they would replace “overly American”
examples in grammar lessons, for example, "hamburger" with a more culturally relevant word,
for example, "baleadas” or “Chicago” with “Tela,” a beach town in Honduras. Of the five ELA
teachers who responded to this interview question, Participant A is the only participant who
discussed a planning process for their lessons:
It takes a long time weekly and daily when I lesson plan. Obviously, I do the regular
thing where I script things, write down all of the activities, and break it down, [including]
what materials I need. The more particular things are trying to level it for my different
students. There are a lot of different English abilities [in my class]. I try to have an
activity where there is a basic thing that I want them to get done. Then there’s another
thing on top of it for the students that are going to finish quickly so that they can continue
to practice the skill and develop it…. That’s a big thing, scaffolding, often with tests and
quizzes as well. [I also plan] for behavior management and making sure that all of the

79

students are engaged because if they aren’t engaged some students will trail off very
quickly and start bothering other students or are out of their seats.
Participant A uses scaffolded instruction in her classes, allowing for students of differing
strengths to learn on their appropriate level. No demographic information is available about
Participant A to give the researcher insight into why they may have responded in a way that is
supported by the literature. The planning of this instructional strategy aligns with culturally
relevant pedagogy, as research states (Au, 2006; Gay, 2002a; Souto-Manning, 2006). Table 8
illustrates the responses provided by each ELA teacher in interviews when asked about their
planning process and if their response indicates a gap in the procedural knowledge influence as
provided.

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Table 8
Interview Responses: Daily or Weekly Planning Process
Question: Describe your process when planning daily or weekly lessons for your ELA
classes.
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
ELA
teachers
should have
knowledge
of basic
curricular
or lesson
planning.
Participant A "It takes a long time weekly and daily
when I lesson plan. Obviously, I do the
regular thing where I script things, write
down all of the activities, and break it
down, [including] what materials I need.
The more particular things are trying to
level it for my different students. There
are a lot of different English abilities [in
my class]. I try to have an activity where
there is a basic thing that I want them to
get done. Then there’s another thing on
top of it for the students that are going to
finish quickly so that they can continue
to practice the skill and develop it...[I
also plan] for behavior management and
making sure that all of the students are
engaged..."
No

Participant B Did not detail lesson planning process Yes

Participant C Did not detail lesson planning process Yes

Participant D Did not detail lesson planning process Yes

Participant E Did not detail lesson planning process Yes

Reading Comprehension Strategies. Participant responses to seven interview questions
were examined as they relate to the procedural knowledge of planning and implementing
culturally relevant lessons (see Appendix D). Each participant indicated that they “ask questions”
verbally of their students at some point throughout the lesson, either before-reading, during-
reading, or after-reading. When asked what they typically ask students to do before they read a
text, Participant B said
I’ll ask, ‘What do you predict is going to happen in this book or where are the characters
in this book?’ I will read the title and will say, ‘Does anybody know what this is?’”

81

Participant C gave another example from their classroom, “…two weeks ago we read a
book called Pets and I asked them, ‘Do you have pets? Do you have pets in your house?’
and all of them got so excited to tell me what they had as pets.
While three ELA teachers discussed other strategies in their before-reading instruction, including
book-walks, vocabulary review, and providing context for students, all teachers reported asking
questions before-reading a text.
Despite only one participant stating that they ask questions of students before reading a
text, when the ELA teachers were asked specifically, “How do you activate students’ prior
knowledge before reading a text?” four out of five interview participants indicated they ask
students questions. Participant A, Participant C, Participant D, and Participant E stated they ask
questions that are related to the topic of the text to activate students’ prior knowledge of texts.
Participant A discussed the reading of a text about Australia. They stated that when activating
students’ prior knowledge, they asked questions like “Who knows what Australia is?” and “Who
knows where it is on the map?” Participant D stated while reading Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, they may ask about types of candy the students like or other “general questions
[that]…lead into the meat of the story.” Participant E stated, “I try to fish in their mind, see if
they have any kind of inclination about what it is [that] we’re going to read.” Participant B was
the only ELA teacher who did not mention asking questions as the way they activate prior
knowledge before reading a text with students. Instead, they were only able to “use an example”
from their teaching, without naming a specific strategy. When discussing a text about two
students in a class who share the same name, Participant B connected those characters to two
students in their class who also share the same first name. Table 9 provides each interview

82

participant’s response to a question specifically asked about activating prior knowledge. An
indication is provided if the response illustrates a gap in the respondent’s procedural knowledge.
Table 9
Interview Responses: Activation of Prior Knowledge in Students
Question: How do you activate students' prior knowledge before beginning a text?
Influence Participant Quoted response
Identified Gap?
ELA teachers
should have
knowledge of
basic
curricular or
lesson
planning.
Participant A Asked questions like “Who knows what
Australia is?” and “Who knows where it
is on the map?”
No
Participant B Modeled making text connections for
class
Yes
Participant C “After I read [a] page, I ask them a
question and have them look at the
picture, activating their knowledge.”
Yes

Participant D May ask “general questions [that]…lead
into the meat of the story.”
No
Participant E “I try to fish in their mind, see if they
have any kind of inclination about what it
is [that] we’re going to read.”
No

According to research, the activation of students’ prior knowledge must occur before
reading a text (Au, 2006; Scott & Purdum-Cassidy, 2016, Grassi & Barker, 2010). This may
occur by asking open-ended questions that allow for discussion amongst students, rather than
having one prescribed response (Mestre, 2009; Souto-Manning, 2009).
Despite three out of five interview participants indicating that they attempt to activate
students’ prior knowledge before reading a text, when ELA teachers were asked, "What do you
ask students to do during the reading of a text?” Only Participant B and Participant C stated that
they ask questions of students while reading a whole-class text. Participant B said, "I ask the
types of questions that I think would make [the text] a little bit more relevant." No follow-up
examples of this type of question were given. Participant C discussed asking students to track the

83

words with their finger and then “After I read [a] page, I ask them a question and have them look
at the picture, activating their knowledge.” Participants A, D, and E did not indicate that they ask
any questions or employ any instructional strategies during the reading of a text.
Four participant responses indicated that students answer questions when asked what
teachers ask students to do after reading a text. Participant B said they use "a graphic organizer"
where the students, "wrote a sentence and drew a picture." Participant C gave example questions
they would ask the class, "I would ask, 'What did you learn?'" Participant D, "asks students to
reflect on [the text]." Participant E stated that they ask questions related to the more “complex”
portions of the text aloud after reading. Participant E also asks students “if there’s anything we
didn’t understand, and if not, they work individually on the questions that follow or I’ll get them
into groups so they will work on it.” Table 10 lists the named culturally relevant teaching
strategies discussed in Chapter Two and which interview participant named that they use that
teaching strategy in their classrooms, illustrating that the majority of SVA teachers are not using
many of the research-backed culturally relevant teaching and comprehension strategies in their
classrooms.

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Table 10
Interview Responses: Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies Employed at SVA
Culturally Relevant Teaching
Strategies
Participant
A
Participant
B
Participant
C
Participant
D
Participant
E
Facilitate conversation
(Mestre 2009)

Small group instruction (Au,
2006)

X

Student led groups (Au,
2006)

KWL charts (Grassi &
Barker, 2010)

Build background by reading
other texts (Au, 2006, Grassi
& Barker, 2010)

Activate prior knowledge
(Au, 2006; Scott & Purdum-
Cassidy, 2016, Grassi &
Barker, 2010).
X X X X X
Teach before-reading
comprehension strategies -
i.e. making predictions (Au,
2006, Grassi & Barker, 2010)
X X

X
Teach during-reading
comprehension strategies -
i.e. making inferences,
generating questions about
the text, monitoring
comprehension of the text
(Au, 2006, Grassi & Barker,
2010)

X X

Teach after-reading
comprehension strategies -
i.e. determining importance,
summarizing information
(Au, 2006, Grassi & Barker,
2010)

Previous research shows that school sites are not exhibiting strong ELL programs and
materials, including the use of culturally relevant teaching and high-quality multicultural

85

literature (Islam & Park, 2015). There is a lack of culturally relevant teaching strategies being
planned and executed in classrooms (Islam & Park, 2015; Shealey et al., 2011; Young, 2010).
Summary
Upon examination of the two data sets, the survey data specifically from the ELA
teachers support the responses from the interview. The majority of ELA teachers did not report
knowing how to implement before-, during-, or after-reading comprehension strategies to enrich
student understanding of a culturally relevant text, unless explicitly asked how they activate prior
knowledge. When discussing their planning and execution of ELA lessons, all ELA teachers
referred to asking questions of their students throughout the lesson. This supports a procedural
knowledge gap among ELA teachers, as only one comprehension strategy was shared amongst
the five individuals interviewed, asking students questions. The survey results also indicate a
discrepancy between the ELA teachers and Honduran teachers in their knowledge of before-,
during-, and after-reading strategies. ELA teachers are unable to name before-, during-, or after-
reading strategies to use with culturally relevant texts, while the survey indicates Honduran
teachers do know these teaching strategies. To support culturally relevant curriculum, teaching
practices must emphasize higher-level thinking skills of all students, providing students with
instructional scaffolding and remediation when necessary (Au, 2006; Gay, 2002a; Montgomery,
2001; Souto-Manning, 2009). Only one ELA teacher interviewed mentioned scaffolding material
for students.
Conceptual Knowledge
The third knowledge influence to be examined is conceptual knowledge. If SVA is going
to meet the organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA reading on a
level within one-grade band of their given grade level in English, ELA teachers must know the

86

cultural influences impacting student success in Honduras. Survey data was presented in overall
trends of all respondents, ELA teachers and Honduran instructional staff. Survey participants
self-reported an understanding of the cultural influences on EIL (English as an International
Language) student success. The interviews corroborated the more general survey question of
having an understanding of cultural influences, as all interviewees were able to respond. The
interview data did not corroborate with the second reported survey question, asking if
participants can name three cultural influences on education in Honduras.
Knowledge of Cultural Influences in Honduras
Survey Results. Survey questions related to the conceptual knowledge of SVA
instructional staff examined the knowledge of exterior influences on student success in school.
Both ELA and Honduran teachers were asked to respond with their agreement or disagreement
with the following statement, “I have an understanding of the cultural influences on education in
Honduras.” All instructional staff members, 100% of respondents, either strongly agree or agree
with the statement. Honduran and ELA teachers were then asked to respond with their agreement
or disagreement with the statement, “I can name more than three influences on English as an
International Language student success in Honduras.” Of the respondents, 95% of instructional
staff either strongly agrees or agrees with the statement, while 5% disagrees with the statement.
Responses between ELA and Honduran teachers were not disaggregated as there was no notable
difference in their responses, as seen in the percentages that strongly agree or agree with the
given statements. Figure 5 depicts the questions related to the instructional staff members of
SVA who responded at each level.

87

Figure 5
Descriptive statistics: Item #3-4 Knowledge of Influences on Student Success

Instructional staff members were then asked to select at least three items from nine that
they believe are the biggest influences on education in Honduras. The possible answer choices
were access to books, poverty, Spanish-only home life, unreasonable expectations, access to
special education, illiteracy of parents and siblings, and gangs/violence. The answer choices
came from both the researcher’s experience in Honduran schools and available literature
regarding influences on Honduran education. The four most frequently selected items were
poverty (74%), illiteracy of parents and siblings (74%), access to books (58%), and having a
Spanish-only home life (58%). Two respondents included information in a text box provided on
the survey to add “other” influences they believe are impacting education. One respondent wrote,
“tambien el hecho de que el maestro no maneje estrategias de enseñanza-aprendizaje…,” also,
the fact that the teacher does not use teaching and learning strategies…” This response was not
possible to categorize among the provided answer choices; as a result, the additional response
was not included in analysis. The second open-ended response was “Es muy fuerte la
21%
21%
79%
74% 5%
I have an understanding of the cultural
influences on education in Honduras.
I can name more than three influences on
English as an International Language
(EIL) student success in Honduras.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

88

violencia…en nuestro pais,” the violence is very intense in our country. This response was not
categorized under the category “gangs/violence,” as the respondent had already indicated they
believed this was a strong influence on education in Honduras. Figure 6 shows the percentage of
instructional staff members who selected each perceived influence on education in Honduras.
Figure 6
Descriptive statistics: Item #5 Perceived Influences on Education in Honduras

Interview Responses. Conceptual knowledge of cultural influences in Honduras was
assessed through interviews. The five ELA teachers at SVA were asked, based on their summer
training and personal experience, what they each believe are the primary cultural influences on
education in Honduras (see Appendix D). In their responses, two themes were repeated
throughout participant responses as strong influences on education in Honduras: (a) the student’s
parent or guardian’s value of education and (b) the socioeconomic status of the family.
Value of Education. Three out of the five ELA teachers who participated in the
interviews discussed whether parents and families value education as having a significant
influence on Honduran students’ education. Participant A named two trends they see in their
47%
74%
47%
26%
58%
74%
58%
Gangs/Violence
Illiteracy of parents/siblings
Access to special education
Unreasonable expectations
Spanish-only home life
Poverty
Access to books
What are the biggest influences on student success in Honduras?

89

classroom and the difference in students whose families value education and whose families do
not,
Some of my kids are really supported by their parents and [there is a] kind of pressure to
learn and their parents are checking in with me a lot…but then there are also students that
come from very broken families where there just is no support behind them in getting
their education… Some of [the parents] really value education of their children but in
other [parents], it is pretty absent.
Participant B also discussed the value of education in families, but made a more positive
generalization than Participant A,
I think [parents] place a huge importance on education and they want their kids to go to
school and they want their kids to keep learning. Our parents ask questions about
homework and they want their kids to do well.
Participant C stated the importance of a child’s education to parents and family but viewed the
value of education with a slightly different lens. Participant C said that parents and guardians
place importance on education for their children because of a need for the child to find a job and
provide for the family,
One [influence is] certainly providing for the family. A lot of their families live in the
same house, so there is this expectation and [and] pressure that you are going to grow up
and you’re going to look after your family…It’s needed, where you really can’t survive
unless me and my two brothers, all of our kids worth together.
Socioeconomic Status. When asked to name the cultural influences on education in
Honduras, four of the five participants named socioeconomic status as primary influences.
Participants used the words “socioeconomic status,” “wealth,” “economic instability,” and

90

“poverty” to describe the impact of family financial security on student success in Honduras.
While respondents did not elaborate on the response other than naming wealth as impacting
education in Honduras, Participant A connected socioeconomic status to education levels of
parents and guardians, “I’m going to say socio-economic status. In Sunny Village
4
, at least, there
are a lot of families who have not graduated and have not [received] a lot of education, who
cannot read or write.” Participant C and Participant D did not provide any narrative around the
named influence of poverty level as to why it may impact student success in Honduras. Table 11
illustrates the two themes determined through examination of the data (a) value of education and
(b) socioeconomic status and the interview participant responses aligned with each theme. An
indication is provided if the response illustrates a gap in the respondent’s conceptual knowledge.

4
A pseudonym.

91

Table 11
Interview Responses: Primary Cultural Influences on Education in Honduras
Question: What do you believe are the primary cultural influences on education in Honduras?
Influence Theme Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
ELA teachers
should
understand the
primary
cultural
influences of
the specific
country in
which they are
teaching.
Value of
education
Participant A "Some of my kids are really supported by
their parents and [there is a] kind of
pressure to learn and their parents are
checking in with me a lot…but then there
are also students that come from very
broken families where there just is no
support behind them in getting their
education… Some of [the parents] really
value education of their children but in
other [parents], it is pretty absent."
Yes

Participant B "I think [parents] place a huge importance
on education and they want their kids to
go to school and they want their kids to
keep learning. Our parents ask questions
about homework and they want their kids
to do well."
Yes

Participant C "One [influence is] certainly providing for
the family. A lot of their families live in
the same house, so there is this
expectation and [and] pressure that you
are going to grow up and you’re going to
look after your family…It’s needed,
where you really can’t survive unless me
and my two brothers, all of our kids worth
together. "
Yes

Participant D Did not name value of education as
influence on student success
Yes

Participant E Did not name value of education as
influence on student success
Yes

Socioeconomic
status
Participant A “I’m going to say socioeconomic status.
In Sunny Village, at least, there are a lot
of families who have not graduated and
have not [received] a lot of education,
who cannot read or write.”
Yes

Participant B Did not name socioeconomic status as
influence on student success
Yes

Participant C "wealth;" did not provide narrative around
named influence as influence on student
success
Yes

Participant D "poverty;" did not provide narrative
around named influence as influence on
student success
Yes
Participant E "economic instability;" did not provide
narrative around named influence as
influence on student success
Yes

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Knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds is critical to the correct implementation of
culturally relevant teaching (Byrd, 2016; Shealey et al., 2011). According to Crea et al., (2017),
two influences on student success in literacy in Honduras are the strength of community ties
between the parents and teachers, as well as violence and safe passage to and from school.
Summary
Upon comparison of the data, the survey data is only partly confirmed with the interview
analysis. First, survey respondents were asked if they have an understanding of cultural
influences on student success in Honduras, and 100% of participants indicated “strongly agree”
or “agree.” This is mirrored in the interview results, as all five ELA teachers were able to name
at least one influence they believe impacts student success in Honduras. The second survey
question asked if participants can name at least three of the factors they believe impact student
success, and 95% of respondents indicated “strongly agree” or “agree” to the statement. The
interview data does not support this survey result, as only two of the five ELA teachers were able
to name three influences on student success in Honduras. Research states that relationships
between parents and teachers and safe passage to school had the strongest impact on students’
literacy rates in Honduras (Crea et al., 2017). As no ELA teachers indicated a belief in these two
factors being influential on student success in their classrooms during the interview, the data
supports the identified conceptual knowledge gap of ELA teachers not having a strong
understanding of the cultural influences impacting student success in Honduras.
Results and Responses for Motivation Causes
Research Question #2: What are the motivation influences of ELA teachers impacting the
achievement of the organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled

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in SVA will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in English?
Utility Value
The first motivational influence to be examined is utility value. For SVA to meet its
organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA reading on a level within
one-grade band of their given grade level in English, teachers need to see the value in using
culturally relevant texts for whole group reading instruction. A motivational gap in value was not
found after examination of surveys and interviews, as all participants indicated an agreement
with the value of using culturally relevant texts in ELA classes.
Value in Use of Culturally Relevant Texts
Survey Results. A survey question related to the perceived value of using culturally
relevant texts in ELA classes was asked of all survey participants. When asked to indicate their
level of agreement or disagreement with the statement (see Appendix D), 100% of respondents
either indicated “strongly agree” or “agree.” This illustrates that all instructional staff members
believe there is value in using culturally relevant texts in ELA classes at SVA. Figure 7 shows
the percentage of instructional staff members who responded at each level to the corresponding
question.

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Figure 7
Descriptive statistics: Item #12 Perceived Value of Culturally Relevant Texts

Interview Responses. The motivational influence of ELA teachers seeing the value in
using culturally relevant texts in their classes was assessed through interview questions (see
Appendix D). In their responses, two primary themes were discovered throughout participant
responses as reasons they see value in culturally relevant texts in their classes: (a) student interest
and engagement in instructional materials and (b) student comprehension of the material.
Student Interest and Engagement. When responding to a series of questions regarding
the role and importance of using culturally relevant texts in classes, four of the five ELA teachers
interviewed discussed an increase in student interest in the lesson at hand (see Appendix D).
Participant A stated,
I try to connect my teaching to things that interest students, and a lot of those
[connections] come from culture…It helps to standardize [learning] around something
that they already know about. [Those connections] really get students engaged in the
class.
26%
74%
There is value in using texts that are culturally relevant to
my students in ELA classes.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
0% 0%
Percentage of Respondents

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Similarly, Participant E believes culturally relevant texts play a role in student interest,
These kids have American teachers all the time. This can be an issue. I have done it
before, where [the] information I pulled from is American centric. This website where I
get a lot of my stories from are…about the Civil War in America. [Students in Honduras]
don’t care about the Civil War in America. So [I try] to find texts that aren’t just about
Americans being great Americans. Having [texts] that are culturally relevant is just more
interesting. Some people love hearing about other nations…but not everyone’s like that.
Hearing about your own culture is interesting…. If I can give them [texts] that relate to
their culture, they’re not only more interested, but it can become more of an open
discussion.
Participant C indicated a belief that when the lesson material is culturally relevant, “[students]
will be so much more interested in it, so they will get excited about the material.” Participant B
discussed reading a book about soccer with their students and seeing increased engagement, "I
think [selecting culturally relevant texts] engages [students] a lot quicker…When you read a
book about soccer, [students] know words [in the text]. So then, they get excited about one thing
and they’ll be more engaged.”
Comprehension of Material. Three of the five interview participants named a benefit of
using culturally relevant texts is an increased understanding of student understanding of the
material (see Appendix D). Participant A says a benefit of using a culturally relevant text in ELA
classes is increased student understanding of the material. They stated,
A lot of our stories are from the United States and are by American authors, but there are
some stories that…[have] some connection to Latin American culture. [I select texts] that
I know they will understand. For example, a book about garage sales. I have not seen a

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garage sale here, so I’m not going to choose that book because I [would] have to explain
everything about a garage sale.
While Participant D acknowledged that with culturally relevant texts, students may “understand
the subject matter a little bit better or might be more personally involved in the story,” they also
stated that “I think that if [students] can relate on the basis of a child, there is something in the
story that they can connect to the book.” Participant D read both Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory and Hatchet with their students this year and stated,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is all about candy so that one is a little bit easier for
me [to foster student connections to], but…Hatchet was exciting [because it is] about
being a survivor in the wilderness. It is about a white boy from Canada, but [my students]
can [survive in the wilderness] too.
This shift in Participant D’s response does not change their original thinking of culturally
relevant texts being important for student comprehension, but they do expand the definition of
culturally relevant beyond what most believe, for example, books about children do not
constitute a culturally relevant text, alone. Participant C states, “If [students] are not
understanding [the text] because of their cultural difference, that means a world of difference
between learning and not learning because…if they don’t understand, they’re going to give up.”
This response from Participant C does acknowledge that culturally relevant curriculum allows
students to understand the text, but the continued implication that if students do not understand a
material, they will give up, may also reflect a bias this teacher holds against students who are
struggling with the material. Table 12 categorizes participant responses in relation to the
motivational influence listed by theme (a) student interest and engagement and (b) student

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comprehension of material as previously described. An indication is provided if the response
illustrates a gap in the respondent’s utility value of culturally relevant texts in their classes.

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Table 12
Interview Responses: Role and Benefit of Selection of Culturally Relevant Texts for Students
Questions: What role does culturally relevant teaching play in student success? What do you see as the purpose or
importance of selecting culturally relevant texts? How could the selection of culturally relevant texts benefit your
students?
Influence Theme Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
Teachers
need to see
the value
of using
culturally
relevant
texts for
whole-
group
reading
instruction.
Student interest
and engagement
Participant A "I try to connect my teaching to things that
interest students, and a lot of those
[connections] come from culture…It helps to
standardize [learning] around something that
they already know about. [Those connections]
really get students engaged in the class."
No
Participant B "I think [selecting culturally relevant texts]
engages [students] a lot quicker…When you
read a book about soccer, [students] know
words [in the text]. So then, they get excited
about one thing and they’ll be more engaged.”
No

Participant C “[Students] will be so much more interested in
it, so they will get excited about the material.”
No

Participant D Did not indicate student interest and
engagement in response to the interview
questions
Yes

Participant E "Having [texts] that are culturally relevant is
just more interesting. Some people love hearing
about other nations…but not everyone’s like
that. Hearing about your own culture is
interesting…. If I can give them [texts] that
relate to their culture, they’re not only more
interested, but it can become more of an open
discussion."
No

Student
comprehension
of material
Participant A "A lot of our stories are from the United States
and are by American authors, but there are some
stories that…[have] some connection to Latin
American culture. [I select texts] that I know
they will understand. For example, a book about
garage sales. I have not seen a garage sale here,
so I’m not going to choose that book because I
[would] have to explain everything about a
garage sale."
No

Participant B Did not discuss student comprehension of
material as impact of culturally relevant texts
Yes

Participant C “If [students] are not understanding [the text]
because of their cultural difference, that means a
world of difference between learning and not
learning because…if they don’t understand,
they’re going to give up.”
No

Participant D “I think that if [students] can relate on the basis
of a child, there is something in the story that
they can connect to the book.”
No
Participant E Did not discuss student comprehension of
material as impact of culturally relevant texts
Yes

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Previous research states that when a culturally relevant curriculum is implemented,
students can master skills because their prior knowledge of a topic can be used by the instructor
to teach the skill (Ladson-Billings, 1995). With the use of culturally relevant curriculum,
students can make connections and share the same depth of a discussion as their English fluent
peers (Iddings, 2005).
Summary
After examining the survey data and codified interviews, the survey responses of all
instructional staff are supported by the ELA teachers’ responses. All participants in the survey
indicated they believe there is value in using culturally relevant texts in ELA classes. All
interview respondents named at least one reason why culturally relevant texts are valuable in
their instruction. Two repeated reasons for the value of these texts in ELA classrooms were
increased student engagement and stronger student comprehension of the material. These results
do not support the identified motivation gap related to utility value in ELA teachers, as all
participants reported seeing the value in the use of culturally relevant texts.
Attribution Theory
The second motivational influence to be examined is attribution theory. ELA teachers at
SVA should take ownership over student success instead of placing blame on a child for their
ability to learn to meet the organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA
reading on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level in English. The survey results
indicated that overall, more Honduran teachers agree that student success in their courses is their
responsibility. While on the survey, the majority of ELA teachers stated they take personal
responsibility for student success, only one interview participant demonstrated a belief that full
responsibility for student success falls to the teacher. The remaining four interview participants

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believed several people are responsible for student success. Survey results and interview
responses are detailed below, illustrating the motivational gap found in ELA teachers as it
pertains to attribution theory.
Teacher Ownership over Student Success
Survey Results. Instructional staff members were asked to indicate their degree of
agreement with the statement, “I take personal responsibility for the success of every student I
teach.” Of the ELA teachers who responded to the survey, 67% either strongly agree or agree
with the statement, while 17% disagree and 17% strongly disagree. This is in comparison with
the Honduran instructional staff’s responses to the same statement. Of the Honduran teachers,
92% either strongly agree or agree, while 8% disagrees and no respondent strongly disagrees.
Survey responses were disaggregated between ELA and Honduran teachers as the ELA teachers’
responses indicated more disagreement with the given statement than Honduran teachers,
enriching the researcher’s understanding of ELA teachers’ experiences at SVA. Figure 8 shows
the percentage of instructional staff members, disaggregated by subject, who responded at each
level of the corresponding question.

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Figure 8
Descriptive statistics: Item #14 Personal Responsibility for Success of Students

Interview Responses. ELA teachers were asked whose responsibility it is to “own”
student success and achievement in their class and why they believe the responsibility falls to
that person or group of people (see Appendix D). Three groups emerged immediately upon
analyzing the five ELA teachers’ responses: the teacher, the parent, and the student. Three out of
five ELA teachers initially named teachers as the person responsible for owning student success
while the other two participants agreed that teachers share responsibility in student success but
are not primarily responsible. Of the three participants who named teachers as the first who are
responsible for student success and achievement, only Participant B believes all responsibility
falls on the teacher. Participant B stated,
I would say [the responsibility is] mine because regardless of [issues] at home, I feel like
it is my responsibility to be cognizant of that and give [students tasks] that I think will
challenge them, but also that they can learn and accomplish and actually understand…I
know I need to modify lesson plans because I’m not going to teach them second grade
level [material] when they’re all at a kindergarten reading level. So, I think it’s my
17%
23%
50%
69%
17%
8%
17% ELA Teachers
Honduran Teachers
I take personal responsibility for the success of every student I teach.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

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responsibility to modify the lessons so that they’re understanding. I think that’s my
responsibility. I know that things go on at home that I can’t control…but I need to be
cognizant of where they’re at.
Initially, Participant A and Participant C stated teachers are responsible for student
achievement and learning, but then shifted their responses to include students, and then include
parents and families. Each respondent had a different perspective on why all three groups of
individuals are responsible for student learning. Participant A responded,
It is the teachers’ [responsibility], the students, and depending on the circumstance, the
parents as well. The teachers are directly responsible for student success, but the students
as well are directly responsible…The effort of the teacher is very big. The knowledge of
the subjects that they’re teaching is huge. Not that this is the students’ fault, but some
children do have so many things going on at home or have emotional or behavior
problems where they cannot focus. You know, that’s something I can’t deal with and
change. That’s out of my hands when I have 29 other students that I’m trying to teach at
that very moment. So that’s where the student is involved, [related to] their effort and
willingness.
Participant C also believes that teachers, students, and families together share the responsibility
for student success, but for a different reason. Participant C believes the responsibility falls to
teachers and parents because “that’s who [students] are around must and who they’ve learned the
most from.” Participant C also stated that partial responsibility falls to students because "it's also
the kids' responsibility to pay attention in class and do the work that they're told."
Conversely, Participant D and Participant E initially began their responses by saying they
do not feel the responsibility falls to the teacher. Participant D initially stated,

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It could be that a lot of these kids are set up to fail. You’re one person babysitting twenty
to thirty to forty [students in] a classroom. So, you cannot give one on one time to every
single student in the way that they deserve it and be the most successful.
Participant D continued to say that “It’s not one factor and it wouldn’t be the teacher. It would be
the administration, it would be the school itself, it would be the supporting teachers, it would be
the family culture. It’s not just one person.” Participant E first states that responsibility for
student success falls on the student,
If a student actually cares to some extent about their grade, I’d say [the responsibility is]
on them…but most of the time with a good number of my students, they just don’t care
that they’re [at school]. In that case, I think it would come back to the teacher. It’s up to
us to not just make sure they get good grades, but to somehow find a way to motivate
these kids to at least want to be in school. So, if a student is already motivated, I find
that [students] get a bad grade and get sad, they try harder next time. But with my kids,
they get a bad grade [and think,] ‘OK, cool. I usually get a 30% so why should I care?’ I
tried to set a personal responsibility to…try to find a way to get these kids motivated
intrinsically about school, [and it] has been the biggest challenge. But [the]
responsibility is on [the students] and on us to make them realize that [school] is
important.
Participant D’s response both begins and ends with naming the student as the most responsible
party for their success, but they discuss the role teachers have to lead students to that
understanding. Table 13 illustrates ELA teachers’ responses when asked whose responsibility it
is to own student success and achievement in their classroom. An indication is provided if the

104

response illustrates a gap in the respondent’s attribution theory as described by the motivation
influence indicated.
Table 13
Interview Responses: Ownership of Student Success and Achievement
Question: Whose responsibility is it to "own" student success and achievement in your classroom?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
Teachers should
take ownership of
student success
and achievement
through culturally
relevant texts in
ELA classes
instead of placing
the blame on a
student's inability
to learn.
Participant A "It is the teachers’ [responsibility],
the students, and depending on the
circumstance, the parents as well.
The teachers are directly responsible
for student success, but the students
as well are directly responsible…"
No
Participant B "I would say [the responsibility is]
mine because regardless of [issues]
at home, I feel like it is my
responsibility to be cognizant of that
and give [students tasks] that I think
will challenge them, but also that
they can learn and accomplish and
actually understand…"
No

Participant C "[Parents because] that's who
[students] are around must and who
they’ve learned the most from...it's
also the kids' responsibility to pay
attention in class and do the work
that they're told."
Yes

Participant D “It’s not one factor and it wouldn’t
be the teacher. It would be the
administration, it would be the
school itself, it would be the
supporting teachers, it would be the
family culture. It’s not just one
person.”
Yes

Participant E "Student success falls on the student,
If a student actually cares to some
extent about their grade, I’d say [the
responsibility is] on them…but most
of the time with a good number of
my students, they just don’t care that
they’re [at school]. In that case, I
think it would come back to the
teacher..."
Yes

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Previous research states that responsibility for student success and achievement should
fall to teachers, instead of placing blame on a student’s inability to learn, for any reason (Gorski,
2012; Young, 2010). Ownership for poor performance is placed on students when teachers hold
negative beliefs about the students (Gorski, 2012). Teachers may resist taking ownership of
student success as a result of an implicit, negative bias towards culturally diverse students
(Shealey et al., 2011).
Summary
The majority of Honduran teachers, 92%, indicated that they take personal responsibility
for the students they teach, while fewer, only 67%, of ELA teachers indicated that they take
personal responsibility for their students on the survey, indicating a possible difference in
mindset between the Honduran and ELA teachers at SVA. After comparing the two data sources,
the interview responses allowed the participants to share more of their thinking around who is
responsible for student success. All ELA teachers did indicate some level of responsibility for
student achievement in their classes, but Participant A, Participant C, and Participant D included
students as responsible parties for student success in their interview responses to varying
degrees. The analysis of the interview shows a gap in teachers’ ability to take responsibility for
student success in their classrooms, without placing blame on the student.
Results and Responses for Organizational Causes
Research Question #3: What are the organizational influences of ELA teachers impacting the
achievement of the organizational performance goal, that 85% of ninth grade students enrolled
in SVA will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) as administered by classroom teachers in English?

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Cultural Models
The first organizational influence to be examined through survey and interview analysis
are the cultural models in effect at SVA. Cultural models, according to Rueda (2011), are the
shared schemas of an organization that often go unnoticed by those who believe the shared
understanding to be true. For the organization to meet its organizational goal of 85% of ninth
grade students enrolled in SVA reading on a level within one-grade band of their given grade
level in English, ELA teachers must be willing to change course in their instruction if necessary
and be transparent and collaborative in their planning of curriculum and daily lesson plans. There
was no organizational gap found in SVA instructional staff’s willingness to change the course of
their instruction. Similarly, there was no organizational gap found in SVA’s culture of
collaboration between teachers when planning curriculum and daily lessons.
Willingness to Change Course
Survey Results. All survey respondents were asked to what degree they agree that when
they see the need to change instructional methods in their classroom, they take responsibility for
the change. Survey results were disaggregated between ELA teachers and Honduran teachers to
enrich the researcher's understanding of the trends seen at SVA and to provide a closer
examination of the ELA teachers' experiences. Of the ELA teachers who responded, 100%
indicated that they either strongly agree or agree that they take responsibility for instructional
change when needed. Of the Honduran instructional staff who responded, 92% either strongly
agreed or agreed with the given statement, but 8% disagreed indicating that when they need to
change instructional methods, they do not take responsibility for that shift. Figure 9 shows the
percentage of instructional staff members, disaggregated by subject and nationality, who

107

responded at each level, indicating their willingness to take responsibility for the shift in
instruction in their classes, if necessary.
Figure 9
Descriptive statistics: Item #15 Instructional Staff’s Responsibility for Instructional Shifts

Interview Responses. The five ELA teachers at SVA were asked a series of hypothetical
questions during the interview to determine if they would take responsibility to shift instruction
if deemed necessary (see Appendix D). After describing their approach to the design of a new
curriculum, teachers were asked whose support they would need in the development of the said
program, and how they would feel if tasked with this responsibility. Responses to the last
question, "How would you feel if the academic director asked you to take on this task?" were
analyzed for signs of willingness, or a lack of, to stop their course of instruction and create a new
curriculum. Of the five teachers interviewed, four indicated a willingness to take on the creation
of a new program but noted they would need several supports to be successful.
Of the four ELA teachers who expressed a willingness to take on the creation of a new
culturally relevant curriculum, one teacher also expressed a negative feeling related to that ask
50%
8%
50%
85% 8%
ELA Teachers
Honduran Teachers
When I see the need to change instructional methods in
my classroom, I take responsibility for that change.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

108

and two teachers did not explicitly name a feeling. Participant A stated that they would feel
“overwhelmed…I’d be doing a lot of research, probably online, about how to create a
curriculum,” suggesting their willingness to do so. Participant C stated that they believe the
teachers “are doing it right now.” They went on to describe an example of lessons on the letters
of the alphabet, “So, we’re working on the alphabet and we’re really struggling with the phonics
[lessons]. I have the luxury of taking another week and [saying] ‘Okay, let’s work on those
phonics [skills] a little bit more because we are struggling.’” While Participant C did not relate
the change of instructional methods to something more culturally relevant, they did show a
willingness and personal responsibility for making the change in their response. Participant B
said, “Oh my God, I guess I could do it. I would need a lot of help.” Participant B then stated
steps they would take to create the program, indicating a willingness to create the new
curriculum. Participant D responded by detailing their proposed process for creating the
program, without indicating their feeling about it. Because they detailed their approach to
creating new curricular materials for students, their willingness to change the course of
instruction for students is evident.
Only Participant E stated they would be unwilling to create a culturally relevant
curriculum for SVA. When asked how they would approach the creation of the new program,
their initial response was, "I would hire somebody who knew more than me." To answer the
question, Participant E did go on to describe how they would approach the process, but it became
clear they do not have the willingness to take responsibility for changing course in instruction.
They stated that they would feel “overwhelmed” and “scared.” Participant E went on to say, "I
would tell her, 'No," because I'm not the person for the job. I'm not equipped to be a leader of
this organization. I would feel flattered but overwhelmed and scared. I wouldn't want to do it."

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Table 14 shows the interview responses from ELA teachers indicating their willingness to create
new culturally relevant curricula for SVA. An indication is provided if the response illustrates a
gap in the cultural model of a willingness to change the course of instruction if needed.
Table 14
Interview Responses: Willingness to Create New Culturally Relevant Curriculum
Question: How would you feel if the academic director asked you to create a new culturally
relevant curriculum for SVA?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
There needs to be a
willingness to change
the course of
instruction from pre-
written pacing guides
to re-creating a
culturally relevant
whole group reading
program.
Participant A "Overwhelmed…I’d be doing a
lot of research, probably online,
about how to create a
curriculum,”
No
Participant B “Oh my God, I guess I could do
it. I would need a lot of help.”
No
Participant C "We are doing it right now...
So, we’re working on the
alphabet and we’re really
struggling with the phonics
[lessons]. I have the luxury of
taking another week and
[saying] ‘Okay, let’s work on
those phonics [skills] a little bit
more because we are
struggling.’”
No

Participant D Did not name a feeling
associated with being asked to
create new curriculum
No
Participant E "I would tell her, 'No,' because
I'm not the person for the job.
I'm not equipped to be a leader
of this organization. I would
feel flattered but overwhelmed
and scared. I wouldn't want to
do it."
Yes

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Summary
Previous research indicates that a common barrier to implementing culturally relevant
teaching practices is a resistance to change, in mindset, materials, and practices (Gay, 2013).
After merging the survey data and the codified interviews, such resistance to new practices does
not seem to be impacting ELA teachers at SVA. These results do not support the assumed
organizational gap as related to cultural models at SVA, as nearly all teachers would take
responsibility for changing the course of instruction in their classroom if necessary.
Culture of Collaboration
Survey Results. To determine the organizational culture of collaboration at SVA,
questions were asked regarding the instructional staff's knowledge of who to ask for support in
planning and their comfort in discussing their curricular and lesson plans with the academic
director. When asked to indicate their agreement with the following statement, "I know who to
ask for help when I am feeling unsure about my plans," 100% of instructional staff at SVA either
strongly agreed or agreed with the statement. The instructional staff's comfort in going to the
academic director was also assessed on a Likert scale item, with 95% of the respondents either
strongly agreeing or agreeing with a statement showing comfort with discussing their plans and
materials with the academic director, leaving only 5% of the staff disagreeing with the statement.
Figure 10 shows the percentage of instructional staff members who responded at each level,
indicating their knowledge of who to ask for help when they feel unsure about lesson plans and if
they are comfortable speaking to the academic director about their curricular materials.

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Figure 10
Descriptive statistics: Item #18-19 Instructional Staff’s Knowledge and Comfort with
Instructional Support

Interview Responses. The five ELA teachers interviewed were asked how long they
typically problem-solve their lessons and plans independently before reaching out for support
(see Appendix D). Four of the participants provided two different responses; two participants
problem-solve for a named period of time, "about a half of an hour" and "a couple of days."
Participant E stated, “I usually don’t reach out for support. I usually just do it myself.” Similarly,
Participant D stated, "I wouldn't say I do much problem-solving, I wing it. And when there's a
problem, I figure it out in my classroom.” One participant did not address the question being
asked of them.
When ELA teachers were asked, if they experienced any challenges in planning a lesson,
how the organization provides guidance, three participants discussed speaking to current or
former teachers of their grade level, two participants mentioned the academic director as a
support, and one participant spoke of using an online resource at their disposal. Former SVA
37%
32%
58%
68%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
I am comfortable discussing
curricular plans/materials with
the academic director.
I know who to ask for help when
I am feeling unsure about my
plans.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

112

teachers were the most frequently cited provided guidance for problem-solving challenging
lessons. Participant E stated,
I think I’ve met four of five of the [former teachers]. The organization is not just the
teachers in the school, but it’s every teacher that’s ever worked here. Everybody joins this
organization for a powerful reason: to help these kids, and they believe in it, even after
they go. One of the best things about it is that I have not just my mind and the mind of
my co-workers, but twenty or thirty people [from] the past. I have talked to the teacher
that taught my kids in the past…I use her input more than anything else.
Participant B also mentioned they would ask a former teacher for support, “I would ask an old
teacher, the girl who taught before me.” Participant C spoke about using the current teachers as
supports when they encounter a challenge,
I definitely could go to the co-teacher and the other teachers and ask them, 'Hey, I'm
really stuck on this, what do you think would be [a good solution]?' Just because they
[teach] different grades than me doesn't mean their ideas down to a [different] level if
they have a really good game or activity that worked with their kids.
Two participants named the academic director as a support for guidance when they
encounter an unexpected challenge in planning a lesson. Participant A said that she “feels
comfortable reaching out” to the academic director. Participant C, although they said they would
go to other teachers first, also said they could go to the academic director for support in student
engagement, “[the problem] is getting those kids wanting to learn or getting them actively
engaged in the material. Rather than just reading a book every day, we’re actually hands-on.”
Participant D was the only respondent who did not mention speaking to another person to receive
guidance in planning a particularly challenging lesson. Instead, they mentioned using the

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database the school has of all former teachers’ lesson plans for ideas when they need additional
guidance for a specific lesson. Table 15 provides each ELA teacher’s response when asked about
the guidance provided at SVA for instructional material creation and lesson planning. An
indication is given if the response illustrates an identified gap in the cultural model regarding a
culture of collaboration at SVA.
Table 15
Interview Responses: Organizational Guidance Provided for Teaching Material Creation
Question: How does the organization provide guidance on creating materials or teaching a
specific lesson?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
There needs to be
a culture of
transparency and
collaboration in
creating the
curriculum and
daily lesson plans
between the
academic director
and the ELA level
teachers.
Participant A “[The academic director] can give me
advice or ideas. We can set up a
meeting as soon as she’s available to
talk about how we might plan.”
No
Participant B “I would ask an old teacher, the girl
who taught before me.”
No
Participant C "I definitely could go to the co-teacher
and the other teachers and ask them,
'Hey, I'm really stuck on this, what do
you think would be [a good
solution]?'"
No

Participant D Did not discuss collaboration with
staff member
Yes
Participant E "One of the best things about it is that
I have not just my mind and the mind
of my co-workers, but twenty or thirty
people [from] the past. I have talked to
the teacher that taught my kids in the
past…I use her input more than
anything else."
No

Summary
Previous research has found that teacher instruction can improve through the mentorship
of a teacher (Price-Dennis & Souto-Manning, 2011). In the case of SVA, organizational

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guidance and mentorship are provided in the form of the academic director. Although 95% of
survey respondents indicated comfort in speaking to the academic director of their plans, only
two ELA teachers mentioned the academic director in response to the question of what
organizational guidance is provided and of those two teachers, one teacher named former
teachers as the school provided support before they named the academic director. Despite the
split between current and former teachers and academic directors in the ELA teachers' responses
in the interview, it is clear that a majority of teachers do feel there are organizational guidance
and support provided when they face a challenge in lesson planning, indicating a culture of
collaboration. Thus, a gap is not found in the culture of collaboration between ELA teachers and
the academic director, as only one ELA teacher was seemingly unwilling to collaborate, even if
they encounter a problem.
Cultural Settings
The second organizational influence to be examined through analysis is the cultural
settings at SVA. According to Rueda (2011), cultural settings are the visible aspects of
organizational culture and can explain the stakeholders, location, purpose, and steps behind
routines that constitute a typical day in an organization. To meet the organizational goal of 85%
of ninth grade students enrolled in SVA reading on a level within one-grade band of their given
grade level in English, there must be adequate time for the academic director and ELA teachers
to plan their larger units of study and their daily instruction, as well as access to a model for
culturally relevant teaching practices. After examining both survey and interview data, there was
an organizational gap found in the cultural setting of having adequate time to plan for instruction.
Similarly, an organizational gap was found in the cultural setting of providing an exemplar
teaching model for the implementation of culturally relevant teaching practices at SVA.

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Adequate Time to Plan for Instruction
Survey Results. The instructional staff at SVA were asked approximately how many
times per month they meet with the academic director. The majority of instructional staff
members, 53%, meet with the academic director between one and three times per month. Of the
remaining respondents, 5% meet with the academic director between four and six times per
month, 5% meet with the academic director between seven and nine times per month, and 16%
report meeting with the academic director ten or more times per month. Figure 11 shows the
percentage of instructional staff members who reported meeting with the academic director
between one and three times per month, four and six times per month, seven and nine times per
month, and ten or more times per month.
Figure 11
Descriptive statistics: Item #17 Frequency of Meetings with academic director per Month

Interview Responses. The five ELA teachers were asked a series of questions as they
relate to a typical meeting of collaboration between themselves and other teachers, as well as
themselves and the academic director (see Appendix D). Participant C stated that they meet with
53%
5% 5%
16%
1-3 times 4-6 times 7-9 times 10+ times
Each month I meet with the academic director:

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the academic director and other teachers “almost every day.” Participant A reported meeting with
the academic director between two and three times a week “informally” and once “formally”
every two to three weeks, totaling approximately eight times per month. Participant B stated they
meet with the academic director approximately “once a month” for a “formal” check-in, but also
mentioned being able to generate ideas and work with the other ELA teachers. Participant E also
reportedly meets with the academic director approximately once a month. Participant D is the
only ELA teacher interviewed who does not appear to meet with the academic director
independently, outside of meetings for all staff members.
When asked to describe a typical meeting of collaboration between themselves and the
academic director, two of the five ELA teachers mentioned primarily discussing behavior
management, while the other three teachers primarily named assistance with lesson planning as
their main source of conversation during a meeting. Participant A discussed behavior
management as their main conversation point,
We talk about some observations that I have…that are pressing, issues like behavior. I
will bring them up and ask how to resolve those. And she will give me tips and tricks or
what she would do in that circumstance. What would be appropriate based on school
policy, offering options.
Participant B, similarly, indicated they feel they need more support with behavior management,
“I usually need more help with behavior management…so it’s more behavioral focus[ed].”
Participant C and Participant E report collaborations with the academic director focused on
lesson planning and support. Participant C states,
[With] teaching, aside from the kids and how we feel, [she asks] how it's going with
lesson planning, how our curriculum is coming along. Usually, I meet with her if I have

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specific questions or concerns and we will address those which is great. We will talk
about the problem…and then we collaborate and come up with a solution together.
Participant E discussed their collaborative meetings with the academic director as a way for them
to boost creativity in their lessons, “[The academic director] is very creative. I’m not creative,
but she has these ideas for posters and class activities and centers and all these things that didn’t
even occur to me.” While Participant D indicated they collaborate more with the other ELA
teachers than with the director, they did say, "If [the meeting] is with [the academic director,] she
will give me what she would do for the initial idea [pertaining to classroom instruction]. She's
hands-off." Table 16 provides each interview participant’s response when asked about a typical
meeting of collaboration between themselves and the academic director. An indication is
provided if the response supports the identification of an organizational gap in SVA’s cultural
setting as it relates to allocated planning and collaboration time between staff members.

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Table 16
Interview Responses: Typical Collaborative Meetings at SVA
Question: Describe a typical meeting of collaboration with the academic
director.
Influence Participant
Frequency of meetings
with academic director Quoted response
Identified
Gap?
The
academic
director and
teachers
must have
enough time
in their
weekly
planning
time to
select
culturally
relevant
texts, write
unit plans,
and create
daily lesson
plans.
Participant A Approximately eight
times a month,
including informal and
formal conversations
"We talk about some
observations that I
have…that are pressing,
issues like behavior. I
will bring them up and
ask how to resolve
those."
Yes
Participant B “once a month” “I usually need more help
with behavior
management…so it’s
more behavioral
focus[ed].”
Yes
Participant C “almost every day” Usually, I meet with her
if I have specific
questions or concerns
and we will address those
which is great. We will
talk about the
problem…and then we
collaborate and come up
with a solution together.
No

Participant D Did not indicate
scheduling meetings
with the academic
director outside of
whole-staff meetings
"If [the meeting] is with
[the academic director,]
she will give me what
she would do for the
initial idea [about
planning]. She's hands-
off."
Yes
Participant E Approximately once a
month
"[The academic director]
is very creative. I’m not
creative, but she has
these ideas for posters
and class activities and
centers and all these
things that didn’t even
occur to me.”
N

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ELA teachers were also asked to describe the feedback they receive on their lesson plans,
outside of a typical meeting. Participant E explained the process of delivering lesson plans to the
academic director online. When discussing the feedback received, they said,
When we give her a lesson plan, she looks over them and if she doesn’t see an issue, you
get a thumbs up… [The academic director] isn’t going to edit all of your lesson plans.
That usually doesn’t happen. She’s got her own job.
Four of the five interview participants indicated that they received more feedback on lesson plans
at the beginning of the year, in August, than they were receiving at the time of the interviews
(mid-November). Participant A stated,
[I received] a lot more feedback at the beginning of the year. She would look at our
lesson plans and give us comments like ‘I’d like to see more [behavior] narration’ or ‘I’d
like to see more use of materials,’ whatever it is.
Participant C said,
In the beginning of the year when she had more time, she would make comments [to]
help us make our lesson plans better. But since we’ve been doing it for three months, now
we’re pretty good at it…so she doesn’t comment as much. She will say something [if
there is] cause for alarm.
Participant D spoke with confidence when discussing the lack of feedback they receive,
To be quite honest with you, I do not receive much [feedback] much…. There are some
weeks where [lesson plans] are not even checked…and sometimes they are…I can’t even
remember feedback, other than the first piece of feedback I received. I’m not trying to be
too pompous, but I know how my class runs and I’m pretty much going to do what I’ve
been doing with my class. There’s not really much to change.

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Participant B was the only ELA teacher to say that they are inconsistent with the submission of
their lesson plans, "I do my lesson plans. I don't always send them in. Realistically, I check-in
more with my co-teacher than with my director." Table 17 provides each ELA teacher’s response
when asked what feedback they receive on their lesson plans outside of planned meeting times.
An indication is provided if the participant’s response supports the identification of an
organizational gap in SVA’s cultural setting of allocating planning and collaboration time
between staff members.

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Table 17
Interview Responses: Feedback on Lesson Planning from academic director
Question: What feedback on your lesson planning do you receive from the academic director,
outside of meeting times?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
The academic
director and
teachers must have
enough time in their
weekly planning
time to select
culturally relevant
texts, write unit
plans, and create
daily lesson plans.
Participant A "[I received] a lot more feedback at
the beginning of the year. She would
look at our lesson plans and give us
comments like ‘I’d like to see more
[behavior] narration’ or ‘I’d like to
see more use of materials,’ whatever
it is."
Yes
Participant B "I do my lesson plans. I don't always
send them in. Realistically, I check-
in more with my co-teacher than
with my director."
Yes
Participant C "In the beginning of the year when
she had more time, she would make
comments [to] help us make our
lesson plans better. But since we’ve
been doing it for three months, now
we’re pretty good at it…so she
doesn’t comment as much. She will
say something [if there is] cause for
alarm."
Yes

Participant D "To be quite honest with you, I do
not receive much [feedback]
much…. There are some weeks
where [lesson plans] are not even
checked…and sometimes they
are…I can’t even remember
feedback, other than the first piece
of feedback I received."
Yes
Participant E "When we give her a lesson plan,
she looks over them and if she
doesn’t see an issue, you get a
thumbs up… [The academic
director] isn’t going to edit all of
your lesson plans. That usually
doesn’t happen. She’s got her own
job."
Yes

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Summary
Prior research states a commonly cited struggle of schools attempting to implement
culturally relevant curriculum is finding the time to research, plan, and implement the new
materials (Freire & Valdez, 2017). The survey results and the interview analysis seem to suggest
that there is indeed time at SVA for collaborative planning between the academic director and
ELA teachers, but the time that they do have either is not used or is not used adequately.
Interview analysis revealed that two of the ELA teachers primarily discuss behavior management
and one of the ELA teachers opts to collaborate with other teachers, primarily. When asked to
explain the feedback process for lesson planning, four out of five teachers discussed a decline in
the amount of feedback they receive from the academic director. As a result, there is a found gap
in the organization in collaboration for planning purposes between the academic director and the
ELA teachers, because only two of the five teachers report consistently using meeting times to
discuss lesson planning and curriculum and the academic director is not giving feedback at the
same rate on completed lessons as prior.
Model for Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices
Survey Results. Instructional staff was asked to respond to two questions related to the
access and use of outside resources to assist the development and planning of daily lessons (see
Appendix D). First, the instructional staff was asked their degree of agreement with a statement
regarding their access to outside resources to guide the development of their lessons. In
responding, 89% of the instructional staff strongly agreed or agreed that they have access to
outside resources to assist them, while 11% of staff members disagreed, indicating that they do
not agree that they have access to outside resources. When instructional staff members were
asked if they use outside resources in the development of their lessons, 95% of staff members

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either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement, while 5% disagreed with the statement.
While 11% of instructional staff members say they do not have access to outside resources, only
5% say they do not use outside resources in their planning process. Figure 12 shows the
percentage of instructional staff members who reported having access to and using outside
resources in the planning and execution of lessons in their classes.
Figure 12
Descriptive statistics: Item #20-21 Access to and Use of Outside Resources in Planning

The instructional staff at SVA was also asked to what degree they agree with the
statement, "I have access to an exemplar teaching model to help me understand the use of
culturally relevant teaching practices in literacy instruction." The majority of instructional staff,
68%, responded that they agree with the statement, and 5% of the surveyed staff strongly agree
with the statement. All of the remaining respondents, 26% of the instructional staff, disagree
with the statement, indicating they do not agree that they have access to an exemplar teaching
model for the implementation and planning of culturally relevant teaching practices. Figure 13
21%
32%
68%
63%
11%
5%
I have access to outside resources to
guide my development of lessons for
my class.
I use outside resources to help me plan
daily lessons for my students.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

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shows, when asked their agreement with a statement regarding access to an exemplar teaching
model, the percentage of instructional staff members who agree at each level.
Figure 13
Descriptive statistics: Item #22 Access to an Exemplar Culturally Relevant Teaching Model

Interview Responses. When the five ELA teachers were asked how they select the
stories and texts they use in their ELA classes (see Appendix D), all interview participants
named outside resources they have accessed in the past. These resources included "Reading A-
Z," Teachers Pay Teachers," and "ReadWorks." The five ELA teachers were also posed a
hypothetical question regarding the creation of a culturally relevant curriculum to determine a
number of motivational and organizational influences impacting their work. To determine the
teachers' access to and familiarity with outside resources to guide their instruction, teachers were
asked where they would source materials if asked to create a new culturally relevant curriculum.
All five respondents indicated former SVA teachers. Three of the five ELA teachers also
discussed the use of different internet sources to assist, similar to where they locate texts for their
5%
68%
26%
0%
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Percentage of Respondents
I have access to an exemplar teaching model to help me
understand the use of culturally relevant teaching practices in
literacy instruction.

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classes now. Participant A uses both former teachers’ lesson plans and the internet to source her
classroom material,
The internet is a wonderful thing. If I’m not sure how to exactly teach a certain topic, I
will look for different websites that have interesting ways to teach [it]…We [also] have a
[database] within our organization with what past teachers have used, different lesson
plans they have created, so I look at that which is very, very helpful.
Participant E also named both the internet and former teachers’ lesson plans as resources they
use,
First…whenever I research or teach a lesson, I usually reteach myself. Now I’m teaching
myself how to teach it. So, I find all of these teacher websites…In our shared [database]
we have lesson plans from teachers past…but there is less information for my grade and I
think that’s why I mostly use [the internet].
Participant C spoke of using internet sources as primary places to find resources to guide the
creation of a hypothetical curriculum, saying they would use “just any education website.”
Participant B and Participant D both indicated they would use former teacher’s lesson plans to
create the new curriculum.
When interviewed, ELA teachers were asked, “Who is a model you can look to for
exemplar instructional practices using culturally relevant teaching strategies?” All interview
participants named individuals who currently or previously worked for SVA. Participant C and
Participant E both named the current academic director as their exemplar teaching model for
culturally relevant practices. Participant C responded, “Oh, probably our academic director…I
don’t have a Master’s in teaching or anything, but she does... If I’m struggling or have a
problem, she’s definitely the go-to.” Similarly, Participant E stated, “Our academic director. She

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currently teaches, as well as being the academic director, because she’s the boss.” Participant B
named a former SVA teacher as an exemplar teaching model, “because she taught second grade
for two years so she knows the expectations of what they should be getting, and she wrote the
lesson plans.” Participant D said models for exemplar teaching practices initially included the
academic director, but now they believe their teaching models come from former teachers,
I could say [the academic director] but in the last couple of weeks, there are suggestions
given by that person that in the classroom in real-time do not work. So, I'm at the point
where I just figure it out. We could talk to [the academic director] or the teachers from
years prior, and we have done that. A lot of us used them as a crutch in the first couple of
weeks. But then, we just figured it out….and we lean on other [teachers in the school].
Participant A named both the academic director and the Honduran teaching staff as exemplar
models for their teaching practice, "I would say the academic director [is a model for] teaching
strategies as a whole. Also, the Honduran teachers, the teachers from Honduras. Obviously, I like
to get advice from them as well. There's a lot of people." Table 18 shows each interview
participant’s response when asked who their model is for culturally relevant teaching strategies
at SVA. An indication is provided if their response supports the identification of an
organizational gap in SVA’s cultural settings as it relates to having guidance from a model or
outside professional consultant when implementing culturally relevant teaching strategies.

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Table 18
Interview Responses: Access to Model for Exemplar Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices
Question: Who is a model you can look to for exemplar instructional practices using culturally
relevant teaching strategies?
Influence Participant Quoted response Identified Gap?
The academic director
and teachers must
have guidance in the
research,
development, and
writing of the new
culturally relevant
curriculum from a role
model or outside
professional
consultant.
Participant A "I would say the academic
director [is a model for] teaching
strategies as a whole. Also, the
Honduran teachers, the teachers
from Honduras. Obviously, I like
to get advice from them as well.
There's a lot of people."
Yes
Participant B Named the former SVA teacher
for their grade level as an
exemplar teaching model
“because she taught second grade
for two years so she knows the
expectations of what they should
be getting and she wrote the
lesson plans.”
Yes

Participant C “Oh, probably our academic
director…I don’t have a Master’s
in teaching or anything, but she
does…if I’m struggling or have a
problem, she’s definitely the go-
to.”
Yes

Participant D "I could say [the academic
director] but in the last couple of
weeks, there are suggestions
given by that person that in the
classroom in real-time do not
work. So, I'm at the point where I
just figure it out."
Yes

Participant E “Our academic director. She
currently teaches, as well as being
the academic director, because
she’s the boss.”
Yes

Previous research states that helping teachers learn about and implement culturally
relevant teaching methods is critical in the successful use of those materials (Ullucci, 2011).
McKay (2002) believes that local teachers must be involved in the process of developing the

128

right pedagogy for their classrooms, thus acting as models for other international teachers in their
school.
Summary
The survey results and interview analysis seem to suggest that while teachers report
having access to outside resources to guide their instruction, these resources are not necessarily
measured against any specific standard, meaning they may not be exemplary or model lessons or
professionals. While nearly all teachers reported using outside resources to guide their lesson
planning choices, both in the survey and in the interview, regarding their plans or for the creation
of a new culturally relevant curriculum, no measure of success or excellence was discussed.
When asked in the survey if instructional staff agreed that they had an exemplar model for the
implementation of culturally relevant practices in the classroom, nearly every individual agreed,
but when asked in the interview to name exemplar teaching models, all teachers named
professionals within the organization.
It is critical to note that in the history of SVA, 77% of ELA teachers entered the position
with no teaching background or experience, 10% of ELA teachers studied education in college
but had no full-time teaching experience, and 13% of hired ELA teachers had between two and
three years prior experience. The current ELA teachers did not state any prior experience
studying or working in the field of education when examining the interview data. The academic
director studied education in college but had not held a full-time teaching position in a school
before their hiring at SVA. This limited scope of experience within the SVA structure does not
allow for many exemplar teaching models to exist. Thus, the interview data does not support the
survey data and a gap is noted in the organizational setting of providing exemplary teaching
models for culturally relevant teaching practices at SVA.

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Synthesized Summary and Gap Identification
The results of the survey and semi-structured interviews were analyzed using Clark and
Estes’ Gap Analytic Framework (2008) to determine the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational gaps impacting the achievement of SVA’s organizational goal. Of the gaps
described by the data sets, three knowledge gaps were found, one motivation gap was found, and
two organizational gaps were found. While each influence is organized by knowledge,
motivation, and organization, there is an interaction between the influences. These interactions
are discussed below.
Despite confidence in self-reporting the number of culturally relevant texts for Honduran
students they know in the surveys, ELA teachers struggled to name one book by a Latino or
featuring a Latino protagonist in their interviews. While the survey offered options for
instructional staff members to select as the primary cultural influences impacting student success
in Honduras, in interviews, teachers named socioeconomic status and family as the two largest
impacts on their students’ education. ELA teachers also struggled to recount and describe their
lesson planning process when asked directly. The three knowledge influence gaps as described
are directly related to an identified organizational gap. When asked who their model for
culturally relevant teaching practices is, ELA teachers only named other individuals in the
building – many of whom are not exemplars in using culturally relevant teaching practices, yet,
as previously described based on prior experience in education. If the ELA teachers do not have
a model to watch or ask for guidance in their work, it will be challenging for them to learn all of
the teaching skills necessary to close the English reading gaps to meet the organizational goal.
An organizational gap identified through data analysis indicates that the ELA teachers
and academic director do not have appropriate time to collaborate in the curricular and lesson

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planning process. While the majority of the teaching staff reported meeting with the academic
director between one and three times a month, interview analysis shows these meetings focused
more on behavior management than long-term or short-term instructional planning. This
organizational gap relates to the procedural knowledge gap identified as ELA teachers having
little knowledge of the lesson planning process. If these first-year teachers are not provided
guidance in the form of collaboration with the academic director on their plans, either in-person
in the form of meetings or virtually in the form of lesson plan submission and feedback, it is
unlikely the ELA teachers will learn appropriate, high-level, culturally relevant lesson planning
techniques and strategies.
While the majority of staff members reported on the survey that they take responsibility
for student success in their classroom, ELA teachers in their interviews were hesitant to name
themselves as being primarily responsible for student achievement without placing blame on
students, indicating a motivational gap. This may indicate a certain level of implicit bias held by
the ELA teachers, as they are placing blame for student achievement, or lack of achievement on
the students themselves and their families. Without an exemplar model for culturally relevant
teaching, also identified as a gap in the organization, teachers may not have been coached or
taught about their own biases impacting their ability to teach in the classroom. Table 19 shows
the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences for this study and if each influence was
identified as a gap for key stakeholders as evidenced by a 60% agreement or disagreement with a
survey question or at least three out of five interview participants illustrating a gap.

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Table 19
Summary Table of Influences

Influence Type Assumed Influence Identified Gap?
Knowledge
Factual ELA teachers should have knowledge of culturally
relevant texts to incorporate in curriculum.
Yes
Conceptual ELA teachers should have knowledge of basic
curricular or lesson planning.
Yes
Procedural ELA teachers should understand the primary
cultural influences of the specific country in which
they are teaching.
Yes
Motivation
Utility Value ELA teachers need to see the value of using
culturally relevant texts for whole group reading
instruction.
No
Attribution Theory Teachers should take ownership of student success
and achievement through culturally relevant texts in
ELA classes instead of placing the blame on a
student's inability to learn.
Yes
Organizational
Cultural Model 1 There needs to be a willingness to change the
course of instruction from pre-written pacing
guides to re-creating a culturally relevant whole
group reading program.
No
Cultural Model 2 There needs to be a culture of transparency and
collaboration in creating the curriculum and daily
lesson plans between the academic director and the
ELA level teachers.
No
Cultural Setting 1 The academic director and teachers must have
enough time in their weekly planning time to select
culturally relevant texts, write unit plans, and create
daily lesson plans.
Yes
Cultural Setting 2 The academic director and teachers must have
guidance in the research, development, and writing
of the new culturally relevant curriculum from a
role model or outside professional consultant.
Yes

Next, Chapter Five discusses the recommendations, implementation plans, and evaluation
systems for the suggested plans to address the identified gaps in ELA teachers' knowledge,
motivation, and organizational influences at SVA. To close the gaps as identified, The New

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World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) informs the implantation and
evaluation plans.

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CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS
Beginning with a literature review, identification of knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences that are impacting SVA’s organizational goal were identified and
classified using Clark and Estes’ (2008) Gap Analysis Framework. The results and responses
from a mixed-methods methodology, using a survey and semi-structured interviews to collect
data for later analysis were discussed in Chapter Four. The results of the study found three gaps
in knowledge, one gap in motivation, and two gaps in organizational influences impacting ELA
teachers’ ability to meet the organizational goal. This chapter will suggest recommendations to
address the potential gaps identified through the descriptive statistics and interviews. These
recommendations are based on various theories, including cognitive load theories and
sociocultural learning theories. The differing theoretical orientations were selected as they best
aligned to addressing the gap in each, previously designated influence. An implementation plan
and evaluation plan to guide SVA in applying the recommendations is provided.
The New World Kirkpatrick Model was used to plan, implement, and evaluate the
recommendations provided for SVA to optimize achievement of the stakeholder goal, by August
2020, 100% of ELA teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as evident by
whole-group text choices in 60% of the 2020-2021 school year’s ELA units. The New World
Kirkpatrick Model also addressed the organizational goal, by June 2021, 85% of ninth grade
students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a level within one-grade band of their
given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 as administered by
classroom teachers in English. Three recommendations are provided to close the identified
knowledge gaps in ELA teachers at SVA. One recommendation is provided to close the

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identified motivation gap and two recommendations are provided to address the identified
organizational gaps.
Using the New World Kirkpatrick Model allows the organization to implement
recommendations and solutions to the perceived problems of practice while evaluating the
recommended training’s results, both in the immediate sense and longer-term. A revised and
modified version of the five-week training program that already exists at SVA is suggested to
address the learning needs of the SVA stakeholders. The preexisting five-week training program
is discussed in Chapter 1, Description of Stakeholder Groups. Because the intervention plan as
described should provide long term benefits to SVA’s teacher training and support programs, it
is anticipated that the stakeholder, and thus the organizational, goals will be met as a result of the
recommendations provided here.
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences
Knowledge Recommendations
There are four distinct types of knowledge: factual knowledge, procedural knowledge,
conceptual knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002; Rueda, 2011). Factual
knowledge is defined by concrete elements of content that are indisputable and true (Krathwohl,
2002). Procedural knowledge is the “how-to” knowledge (Krathwohl, 2002). Conceptual
knowledge includes the interrelationships between elements of a larger system (Krathwohl,
2002). This study focuses on factual, procedural, and conceptual knowledge influence gaps at
SVA. Three knowledge gaps were identified during data analysis. These include a factual
knowledge gap in naming culturally relevant texts, a procedural knowledge gap in curricular and
lesson planning, and a conceptual knowledge gap of the cultural influences impacting student
success.

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To address the knowledge influence gaps impacting achievement of the organizational
goal, recommendations have been made to assist in closing those gaps. The recommendations
provided focus on increased and improved training and professional development opportunities
for ELA staff members to increase their factual knowledge of culturally relevant texts to teach in
Honduras and continue developing their lesson planning abilities with culturally relevant
curriculum. A third recommendation is provided to address the gap in procedural knowledge of
the ELA teachers, which is including opportunities for Honduran teachers and staff members to
lead professional development and training sessions for ELA teachers to increase their
knowledge of cultural influences on education in Honduras. Table 20 shows the identified
knowledge influence, the knowledge type, the principle related to each recommendation, and the
recommendations for these knowledge influence gaps.

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Table 20
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations

Identified Knowledge
Influence
Knowledge
Type Priority Principle
Context-Specific
Recommendation
ELA teachers should
have knowledge of
culturally relevant
texts to incorporate in
the curriculum.

Factual

Yes
To develop
mastery,
individuals must
acquire component
skills, practice
integrating them,
and know when to
apply what they
have learned.
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006)
Provide training
surrounding the
selection of culturally
relevant texts and the
significant impact
these texts can have
on students’ reading
levels during summer
teacher training.
ELA teachers should
have knowledge of
basic curricular or
lesson planning.

Procedural

Yes
Managing intrinsic
load by
segmenting
complex material
into simpler parts
and pre-training,
among other
strategies, enables
learning to be
enhanced
(Kirshner et al.,
2006)
Provide continuing
professional
development and
training on curricular
and lesson planning
for ELA throughout
the academic year.
ELA teachers should
understand the
primary cultural
influences of the
specific country in
which they are
teaching.

Conceptual

Yes

Social interaction,
cooperative
learning, and
cognitive
apprenticeships
(such as reciprocal
teaching) facilitate
the construction of
new knowledge.
(Scott & Palincsar,
2006)
Increase opportunities
for Honduran national
staff to engage and
lead training for
international staff
members.

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Factual Knowledge Recommendation
The results of this study indicate a declarative knowledge gap exists for ELA teachers
when selecting culturally relevant texts for their curriculum. A recommendation based on
information processing system theory was selected to address the knowledge gap as it exists. To
develop mastery of a subject or skill, individuals must acquire skills, practice using them, and
know when to apply what they have learned (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). This theory of
learning suggests that the ELA teachers would need training on the selection of culturally
relevant texts for their classrooms. The recommendation is to provide additional training
surrounding the selection of culturally relevant texts and the significant impact these texts can
have on students’ reading levels.
When trained on the selection of culturally relevant texts for students, teachers are more
successful in choosing books and stories that accurately represent the students in their
classrooms (Blachowicz et al., 2010; Muschell & Roberts, 2011). Blachowicz et al. (2010) used
a summer training program to investigate multicultural literacies with teachers to build out the
culturally relevant practices of their school system. Muschell and Roberts (2011) incorporated a
planning activity in their graduate-level teaching course, designed to coach future teachers in
instructing with the use of culturally relevant texts. These studies support the recommendation
that with sufficient training, teachers would be able to develop the skills necessary to select
culturally relevant texts for their own English Language Arts (ELA) courses.
Procedural Knowledge Recommendation
Findings from this study demonstrate a procedural knowledge gap of the ELA teachers in
planning with culturally relevant texts. A recommendation rooted in cognitive load theory was
chosen to address the stated knowledge gap. According to Kirshner et al. (2006), intrinsic load

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can be managed by segmenting complex material into simpler parts, while pre-training, among
other strategies, enables learning to be enhanced. This would suggest that shorter training
sessions, as well as providing pre-training readings and practice opportunities would lessen the
cognitive load of learning new culturally relevant teaching strategies. The recommendation is to
provide continual professional development and training on curricular and lesson planning for
ELA throughout the academic year, allowing for the sessions to be segmented in meaningful
ways.
According to Yoon (2007), extensive teacher preparedness and understanding of teaching
strategies to employ when instructing English Language Learners in a classroom made a
significant difference in student outcomes. Culturally relevant teaching practices must emphasize
higher-level thinking skills of all students and provide students with instructional scaffolding and
remediation when necessary (Au, 2006; Gay, 2002a; Montgomery, 2001; Souto-Manning, 2009),
but strong, structured professional development opportunities for teachers to engage in to
strengthen the skills necessary to build a different ELA program must exist (Islam & Park, 2015;
Shealey et al., 2011; Young, 2010). To close the procedural knowledge gap that prevents these
practices from occurring in classrooms, the SVA training program must be designed to support
the ELA teachers in their acquisition of these planning skills. These studies support the
recommendation of continual professional development and training in curricular and lesson
planning for SVA ELA teachers.
Conceptual Knowledge Recommendation
This study demonstrates a conceptual gap in ELA teachers’ understanding of the primary
cultural influences of Honduras. A recommendation based on sociocultural learning theory was
made to address the given knowledge gap. Social interaction, cooperative learning, and cognitive

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apprenticeships facilitate the construction of new knowledge (Scott & Palinscar, 2006). This
suggests ELA teachers should be provided a social learning environment, with Honduran mentor
teachers prepared to guide them in the first few months of teaching. As such, the
recommendation is to provide increased opportunities for Honduran national staff to engage and
lead training for international staff members.
According to McKay (2002), local educators of the teaching community must develop
curricular materials for their schools, so they align with the source culture of education and
learning. These same teachers also must help develop the right pedagogy for classrooms using
culturally relevant materials (McKay, 2002). As such, at SVA, Honduran educators should have
more input in the development, training, and use of curricular materials to illustrate in full what
cultural influences impact education the most in Honduras. This text supports the
recommendation of increased opportunities for Honduran national staff to engage and lead
training for international volunteers.
Motivation Recommendations
Clark and Estes' (2008) framework is used to guide the discussion of the motivational
influences as described. They suggest that there are three indicators of motivation in task
performance – mental effort, persistence, and choice. Choice is not a discussed indicator
motivation in this study because by the participants accepting the role of ELA teacher at SVA,
the researcher assumes the factor of active choice is the least critical, as each individual accepted
the job. Mental effort is learning and applying knowledge to solve a unique program or perform
a task and persistence is a continual effort to achieve a goal despite external distractors (Clark &
Estes, 2008). The two types of motivation that were evaluated in this study were utility value and
attribution theory. Utility value is defined as the value one puts on completing a task or goal

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(Rueda, 2011). Attribution theory is an individual’s beliefs about the underlying reasons a task or
goal is completed or failed to execute (Weiner, 1985). While no motivational gap was found
relating to utility value, a motivational gap was identified pertaining to attribution theory. A
recommendation based on motivational theory is made to address the identified gap: Provide
teachers with high expectations from administration through feedback and evaluation. Table 21
shows the identified motivation influence, the motivation type, the principle related to each
recommendation, and the recommendations for the motivation influence gaps.
Table 21
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations

Assumed
Motivation
Influence
Type of
Motivation Priority Principle
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Teachers should
take ownership of
student success
and achievement
through
culturally
relevant texts in
ELA classes
instead of placing
the blame on a
student's inability
to learn.

Attribution
Theory

Yes
Maintaining
relatively
accurate, but
high
expectations
and perceptions
of competence
and avoiding the
illusion of
incompetence,
helps individuals
develop realistic
expectancies for
success (APA,
2015).
Provide teachers
with high
expectations from
administration
throughout the
school year
through feedback
and evaluation to
encourage teacher
ownership of
student
achievement.

Attribution Theory Recommendation
A gap in the persistence of ELA teachers in their willingness to take ownership of student
success and achievement through culturally relevant texts in ELA classes instead of placing
blame on a student's inability to learn was identified through the gap analytic framework. A

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recommendation based on expectancy-value theory was written to address the named motivation
gap. Maintaining relatively accurate, but high expectations and perceptions of competence and
avoiding the illusion of incompetence, helps individuals develop realistic expectancies for
success (APA, 2015). From a theoretical perspective, this suggests that with high expectations of
teacher performance in ELA classes, teachers would learn to adopt reasonable expectations for
themselves. As such, the recommendation is to provide teachers with high expectations from
administration throughout the school year through feedback and evaluation to encourage teacher
ownership of student achievement.
A lack of race consciousness in teachers and cultural biases against students can be
attributes of teachers who place blame on students for their low achievement (Young, 2010).
According to Ladson-Billings (1995), using culturally relevant pedagogy in classrooms can shift
ownership of student success and achievement results from student-blaming to teacher-focused.
Teacher ownership over student success and achievement should occur through the use of
culturally relevant texts in ELA classes, to mitigate placing blame on students for an inability to
learn (Gorski, 2012; Young, 2010). From a theoretical perspective, this suggests that the use of
culturally relevant texts and high expectations for teacher development at SVA can shift
ownership over student success to teachers. These texts support the recommendation of
providing teachers with high expectations through feedback and evaluation.
Organization Recommendations
Gallimore and Goldenberg’s (2001) model of organization influences is used to guide the
discussion of the organization of the influences as described. They suggest that organizations are
comprised of cultural models and cultural settings; cultural models are the shared schemas of
organizations, while cultural settings are the visible aspects of the organization’s culture

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(Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). After analysis of the survey and interview data, no
organizational gaps were identified in SVA’s cultural models, but two gaps were identified in
SVA’s cultural settings: (a) the academic director and ELA teachers must have enough time to
plan culturally relevant instruction together and (b) the academic director and ELA teachers must
have exemplar models of culturally relevant teaching to guide their instruction. To address these
identified organizational gaps, two recommendations are made. First, SVA should provide staff
with structured schedules that include planning time between the ELA teachers and the academic
director. Second, the organization should provide opportunities for relationship building and
mentoring between ELA teachers and outside experts. Table 22 shows the identified organization
influence, the organization type, the principle related to each recommendation, and the
recommendations for the organizational influence gaps.

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Table 22
Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations

Assumed Organization
Influence Priority Principle
Context-Specific
Recommendation
Cultural Setting 1:
The academic director
and teachers must have
enough time in their
weekly planning time
to select culturally
relevant texts, write
unit plans, and create
daily lesson plans.

Yes Highly engaged employees are
less likely to leave for another
organization and are more
productive. (Berbary &
Malinchak, 2011)
Provide school staff
with structured
schedules that
include planning
time between ELA
teachers and the
academic director.
Cultural Setting 2:
The academic director
and teachers must have
guidance in the
research, development,
and writing of the new
culturally relevant
curriculum from a role
model or outside
professional consultant.
Yes Modeled behavior is more likely
to be adopted if the model is
credible, is similar (e.g. gender,
culturally appropriate), and the
behavior has functional value
(Denler et al., 2009).

Highly engaged employees are
less likely to leave for another
organization and are more
productive. (Berbary &
Malinchak, 2011)
Provide
opportunities for
relationship
building and
mentoring between
ELA teachers and
outside experts on
culturally relevant
teaching.

Cultural Setting 1 Recommendation
A gap in the organizational setting of teachers not having enough time in their weekly
planning time to select culturally relevant texts, write unit plans, and create daily lesson plans
was identified through analysis of survey and interview data. A recommendation based on
organizational theory was used to address the named organizational gap. Highly engaged
employees are less likely to leave for another organization and are more productive (Berbary &
Malinchak, 2011). As such, employees who feel they are an important part of the work culture

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are more likely to produce quality work. The recommendation is to provide school staff with
structured schedules that include planning time between ELA teachers and the academic director.
Effective leaders are knowledgeable in communication processes and how to use them
for organizational change (Denning, 2005; Lewis, 2011). These effective communication
strategies can engage all stakeholders in the change process and at SVA, shared meetings to
communicate about teaching plans must be effectively led by the academic director. These
communication strategies can be used to clarify expectations about the work, can provide room
for relationship building between leaders and employees, and can create a space for dialogue.
Thus, the literature appears to support the recommendation of providing school staff with
structured schedules that include planning time between ELA teachers and the academic director.
Cultural Setting 2 Recommendation
The study to be completed anticipates a gap in the organizational setting where academic
directors and teachers do not have guidance in the research, development, and writing of the new
culturally relevant curriculum from a role model or outside professional consultant. A
recommendation based on the same organizational theory previously mentioned was used to
address the named organizational gap. Highly engaged employees are less likely to leave for
another organization and are more productive (Berbary & Malinchak, 2011). As such, staff
members who have a mentor to model their work from are more likely to produce quality
materials. The recommendation is to provide opportunities for relationship building and
mentoring between ELA teachers and outside experts on culturally relevant teaching.
Mentoring should be a key component in an organization for career enrichment (Berbary
& Malinchak, 2011). This mentor or instructional model must be credible for the behavior and
actions to be adopted by the individual (Denler et al., 2009). These models should build self-

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efficacy and enhance motivation in individuals for the desired change to occur (Pajares, 2006).
With relationships built between mentors and teachers comes an increase in positive values
(Eccles, 2006) and allows individuals to acquire new behaviors through demonstration and
modeling (Denler et al., 2009). The literature seems to support the recommendation of providing
opportunities for relationship building and mentoring between ELA teachers and outside experts
on culturally relevant teaching.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The model informing this implementation and evaluation plan is the New World
Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). By beginning with the goals of the
organization and planning backward, the leading indicators, or observations and measurements
that indicate the plan is on track to positively impact the organizational goal are more closely
aligned with the desired outcome. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) discuss four levels of
evaluation that are used to create effective change. Development begins first at Level 4, which
are the ultimate results: successfully meeting the organizational goal while upholding the larger
mission and vision of the organization. Level 3 represents the behaviors of the members of an
organization after a new program has been implemented. Critical behaviors, the most important
behaviors to drive improvement, are monitored by required drivers who encourage and reward
those who perform the critical behaviors. Progress at Level 2 indicates the degree to which the
members of an organization gain the knowledge and skills desired by leaders of the organization
and Level 1 represents the reactions of the participants to the implementation of a new program
to create change. Designing the implementation and evaluation plan in this way, backwards,

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ensures all actions from beginning to end are aligned with the organizational goal and mission
(Kirkpatrick & Kirpatrick, 2016).

Figure 14. The New World Kirkpatrick Model. Reprinted from Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation (p.
11), by J. D. Kirkpatrick and W. K. Kirkpatrick, 2016, Alexandria, VA: ATD Publications. © 2016 by Kirkpatrick
Partners, LLC www.kirkpatrickpartners.com.
Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations
The purpose of SVA is to provide an education to students that leads to lifelong
employment and achievement. The performance goal of the organization is that by June 2021,
85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a level within one-
grade band of their given grade level according to the Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 as
administered by classroom teachers in English. The stakeholder group of focus for this study is
the English Language Arts teachers at SVA, whose goal is by August 2020, 100% of ELA
teachers will implement new, culturally relevant curriculum as evident by whole-group text

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choices in 60% of the 2020-2021 school year's ELA units. This stakeholder goal was determined
by examining current student achievement data and seeing a need for a push in improved
instruction and use of best practices due to low achievement in the upper elementary and middle
school grades. The stakeholder goal is related to the larger organizational goal because, through
the use of culturally relevant pedagogy, SVA hopes to increase students' reading scores. The
proposed solution, a newly designed professional training program, more support provided in
school, and a shift in organizational culture towards transparency and collaboration should
produce the desired outcome of 85% of students in third through ninth grade reading within one
grade level of their own.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
The outcomes of an evaluation plan to determine if the recommendations are closing the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational gaps as noted are both external to the school and
internal, within the school. The external outcomes are: (a) increased number of third through
ninth grade students reading on grade level, (b) increased student retention, (c) increased funding
for SVA programs, and (d) improved relationships with other bilingual schools in El Progreso.
The three internal outcomes are: (a) increased teacher retention, (b) increased strength in
curricular materials and delivery, and (c) increased employee confidence and satisfaction. If the
internal outcomes are met as expected as a result of the proposed solutions, then the external
outcomes should also be realized. Table 23 shows the proposed Level 4: Results and Leading
Indicators in the form of outcomes, metrics, and methods for assessing both external and internal
outcomes for SVA.

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Table 23
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes

Outcome Metric Method
External Outcomes
Increase the number of
third through ninth grade
students reading on grade
level

The Diagnostic Reading
Assessment 2
Solicit data from ELA
teachers
Increase in student
retention.
The number of students enrolled
at SVA throughout the academic
year

Solicit quarterly updates from
the academic director
Increase in funding for
SVA programs
The amount of external funds
raised to maintain and build
academic programs

Monthly review with the
board of SVA and the CFO of
the umbrella organization
Improved relationships
with other bilingual
schools in El Progreso,
Honduras
The number of partnerships built
over an academic year
Track frequency of event
attendance by SVA at other
schools; build partnerships
through academics and sports
Internal Outcomes
Increase in teacher
retention
The number of teachers who
fulfill their contract and/or
remain on staff for an additional
year

Aggregate data from the
academic director during
hiring season
Increase strength in
curricular materials and
delivery
An average rubric score based
on self-evaluation and a director
completed evaluation

Teacher evaluation rubrics
from the middle and end of
year
Increase in employee
confidence and
satisfaction
Positive/negative feedback from
immediate supervisors
Aside from weekly meetings,
the academic director holds
informal check-ins with staff

Level 3: Behavior
Critical Behaviors
The first critical behavior is that the ELA teachers must select the culturally relevant texts
they plan to use to represent at least 60% of their English curriculum. The second critical

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behavior is that teachers must plan and revise their curricular materials, both unit plans and
lesson plans, using feedback from the academic director. The third critical behavior is that the
ELA teachers’ meetings with the academic director to discuss planning and instructional
progress. The specific metrics, methods, and timing for each of these outcome behaviors appear
in Table 24.
Table 24
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation

Critical Behavior Metric Method Timing
Select culturally
relevant texts to
represent at least
60% of ELA
curriculum

The number of texts
selected that represent
Latino and Hispanic
heritage
ELA teachers must
research and discuss
with the academic
director the curricular
plans in development
Throughout the
academic school
year
Plan and revise
curricular materials
using feedback
from the academic
director
The number of edits
and revisions made by
teachers post-
feedback
The academic director
will review final
uploaded plans weekly
to determine the extent
to which plans were
revised based on
feedback

ELA teacher to
revise plans and
upload final
versions online
weekly
Attend bi-monthly
meetings with the
academic director
to discuss planning
and instructional
progress
Attendance record
from one-on-one
meetings
The academic director
will track attendance of
bi-weekly meetings with
thorough agendas and
extensive notes on the
meetings
ELA teacher to
report to the
academic director
once every two
weeks

Required Drivers
ELA teachers at SVA require the support of the academic director to reinforce what they
learn in professional development settings and additional training. The academic director also
encourages these teachers to use the instructional strategies learned and rewards the ELA
teachers for achieving their performance goal to ultimately succeed in reaching the

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organizational goal. Table 25 shows the recommended drivers to support the critical behaviors of
the ELA teachers.
Table 25
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors

Method(s) Timing Critical Behaviors Supported
Reinforcing
Team meetings to review
goals and data points in
reaching those goals
Weekly 1, 2, 3
Team meeting to troubleshoot
collaboratively and for
additional training
Weekly 1, 2, 3
Encouraging
Collaboration and peer
modeling during team
meetings
Weekly 1, 2, 3
Feedback and coaching from
the academic director
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
Rewarding
Recognize progress towards
the organizational goal in an
all-staff meeting
Weekly 1, 2, 3
Monitoring
In-class observations of
teachers instructing
Ongoing 1, 2, 3
General assessment of
teachers by the academic
director
Quarterly 1, 2, 3

Organizational Support
The organization should support the critical behaviors of the ELA teachers through the
recommended solutions to the organizational gaps indicated previously. By providing teachers
with appropriate supports to shift instruction, providing a work culture that honors collaboration
and transparency, and providing opportunities for relationship building between ELA teachers
and outside experts, the critical behaviors of selecting culturally relevant texts to represent at

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least 60% of ELA curriculum and revising curricular materials using feedback from the
academic director. By providing school staff with structured schedules to include planning time
between ELA teachers and the academic director, the critical behavior of teachers in attending
bi-monthly meetings with the academic director to discuss planning and instructional progress
can be addressed.
Level 2: Learning
Learning Goals
1. Identify culturally relevant texts featuring a Latino or Hispanic protagonist
or author.
2. Select grade level appropriate culturally relevant texts for ELA courses.
3. Create a scope and sequence for year-long ELA planning.
4. Create unit plans for each ELA trade book.
5. Create lesson plans for daily ELA instruction with culturally relevant
texts.
6. Implement feedback on planning documents.
7. Deliver instruction to students using culturally relevant teaching strategies.
8. Work collaboratively with ELA teachers and academic director.
9. Maintain a personal organizational system to uphold scheduled
commitments.
10. Assess student progress toward reading goals in ELA classes.
Program
The previously listed learning goals will be achieved with an extensive, five-week
training program that instructs new-to-teaching individuals how to use culturally relevant

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pedagogy in their courses. The learners, the ELA teachers at SVA, will read and reflect on a
variety of topics related to the field of teaching English as an international language and will
have the opportunity to practice their instruction for a three-week, half-day summer school
session. The program functions best when executed entirely in-person, although distance
learning can be offered if absolutely necessary.
During the training program, learners will be provided explicit instruction on backward
planning, with information and research on culturally relevant texts to begin. Exemplar scope
and sequence documents, as well as templates, will be provided to learners for ease of transfer of
learning. Exemplar unit plans and unit planning templates will also be given to learners; the first
unit of each grade level's ELA course will be provided by the academic director to allow learners
to focus on their lesson planning skill development. Additionally, culturally relevant teaching
strategies will be taught and practiced. The training sessions are built around a three-week
summer school session to allow the learners to practice their delivery of instruction to students
and to receive feedback from the academic director to improve their teaching the following day.
Learning sessions will be led through training groups, role-playing scenarios, discussions, and
peer modeling, supervised by both the academic director of SVA, former, highly trained SVA
teachers, and volunteering professors of education.
Components of Learning
Learners must demonstrate their declarative and procedural knowledge throughout the
training sessions as both are necessary to address the existing knowledge gaps. Thus, it is critical
to evaluate learning for both knowledge types. Learners must believe the training sessions are
valuable to successfully and confidently apply their newly learned skills and knowledge to the

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given tasks. Table 26 lists the evaluation methods and the timing for these components of
learning in the proposed training program at SVA.
Table 26
Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program
Method or Activity Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks through whole-group and
partner discussions
During training sessions
Teach-back After portions of the training program,
documented through observation notes
Demonstration In summer school courses
Action planning After portions of the training program,
documented and sent to academic
director
Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.”
Knowledge checks through whole-group and
partner discussions
During training sessions
Teach-back After portions of the training program,
documented through observation notes
Quality of peer feedback during discussion During training sessions
Application of skills in simulations During training sessions
Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Observations of learners by the academic
director
During training sessions
Discussions of learners on the value of the
training
During training sessions
Post-training assessment After the training program is completed
Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.”
Likert scale survey items End of week survey
Discussions following practice simulations During training sessions
Reflection after summer school courses Each day after summer school students
dismiss
Commitment “I will do it on the job.”
Individual action plans (scope and sequences,
unit plans, lesson plans)
During training sessions
Post-training assessment After the training program is completed

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Level 1: Reaction
The training program as described for SVA must be engaging and relevant to the
learners’ daily tasks and jobs. Thus, an evaluation of the learning program as proposed must
occur to ensure ELA teachers respond positively to the training sessions. Engagement, relevance,
and satisfaction of the learner are considered when developing a program. Table 27 names the
evaluation methods and timing of the components to be used before, during, and after the
training session to examine learners’ reactions to the training program.
Table 27
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program

Method or Tool Timing
Engagement
Completion of pre-work Prior to training sessions
Completion of assigned tasks During the training sessions
Observation by the session lead During the training session
Observation by the academic director During the training sessions
Training evaluation End of the first week of school
Relevance
End of week survey for participants and
discussion
After each training week, Friday afternoons,
before dismissing for the day
Training evaluation End of the first week of school
Customer Satisfaction
End of week survey for participants and
discussion
After each training week, Friday afternoons,
before dismissing for the day
Training evaluation End of the first week of school

Evaluation Tools
Immediately Following the Program Implementation
One week after the school year begins, a survey will be distributed to the ELA teachers.
This survey will address Level 2 categories of evaluation by examining teachers’ attitudes
towards and commitments to using the information from the training sessions with fidelity
throughout the year, as well as their declarative and procedural knowledge. This survey will also

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assess Level 1 categories of evaluation by determining the engagement the teachers had with the
session material, the relevance they believe the sessions had to their professional lives, and their
overall satisfaction with the training sessions. Appendix A contains the survey items to be
assessed immediately following the implemented training program.
Delayed for a Period after the Program Implementation
Approximately five months after the completion of the summer training program, school
leadership, either the school dean or academic director, will complete an evaluation of the ELA
teachers to evaluate Level 4 and Level 3 progress. This evaluation tool exists within SVA and
has been used in mid-year and end-of-year teacher evaluation meetings previously. The ELA
teachers will also complete a self-evaluation survey with both open-ended and Likert scale items
to determine, from the learner's perspective, the extent to which their progress is impacting the
larger organizational goals (Level 4), progress towards performing critical behaviors to meet the
organizational goal (Level 3), confidence in applying the training to their work-life (Level 2),
and satisfaction with and relevance of the training (Level 1). Because these evaluation methods
pre-exist, this report should be reviewed by school leadership for indicators to determine if the
training sessions were effective approximately five months after the start of the school year.
Data Analysis and Reporting
Findings from both the evaluation immediately following the training and the evaluation
five months after the training occurred will be shared in a textual and graphical report
organization wide. The report detailing the immediate instrument's results will focus on Level 1
and Level 2 findings and will be released within one month of the completion of the survey. The
report discussing the delayed instrument will spotlight Level 3 and Level 4 determinations and
will be released twice a year: once in January, following mid-year teacher evaluations and once

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in July, following end-of-year teacher evaluations. These reports will be designed for the non-
educator to read and determine the level of success the newly implemented training program had
on the larger organizational goal of 85% of ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village
Academy will read on a level within one-grade band of their given grade level according to the
Diagnostic Reading Assessment 2 as administered by classroom teachers in English by June
2021. Figure 15 shows an illustration of how a model immediate instrument’s results could be
depicted. Figure 16 illustrates how a model delayed instrument’s results could be shown.
Figure 15
Immediate Instrument Assessment Results – Level 1 and Level 2

36%
27%
27%
36%
45%
36%
18%
27%
18%
9%
I feel confident lesson planning using
culturally relevant teaching practices.
The material I learned and created for my
classroom during training will be useful for
the first week of school.
Summer training was a valuable way to
prepare for teaching at SVA.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

157

Figure 16
Delayed Instrument Assessment Results – Level 3 and Level 4

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach
Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis framework is designed to examine stakeholder
performance within an organization. Because this framework aids researchers in determining the
human-factors causing performance gaps within an organization, it is considered a strength in
this study. The Clark and Estes' (2008) gap analysis framework allowed for approaching the
perceived problems of practice at SVA in a logical way, identifying the knowledge, motivation,
and organizational influences impacting the organization's progress towards its goal. The gap
analysis framework also allowed for the identification of gaps in the previously named
influences, but the implementation and evaluation model for the recommendations may not
sufficiently evaluate all aspects of the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences.
Kirkpatrick's New World Evaluation Model is primarily designed to implement and evaluation
82%
73%
82%
18%
27%
18%
Over half of my reading curriculum is
composed of culturally relevant texts.
I receive valuable feedback on my lesson
plans from the academic director every
week.
From August to June, I have seen an
increase in students reading on or above
grade level in my class as evidenced by
their DRA2 scores.
Agree Disagree

158

training models (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). While it is possible to increase knowledge
through training, and assess that increased knowledge at training’s end, the model does not
address the motivation or organizational aspects of the Clark and Estes’ (2008) framework as
well. Even with the addition of motivation and organizational related questions on a post-training
survey, the self-reporting nature may impact the truth of the information received; with time and
observation, the motivation and organizational recommendations may be better assessed.
Without all identified gaps being addressed at the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
levels, SVA may not reach its organizational goal.
Limitations and Delimitations
There are several limitations and delimitations impacting this study. Limitations are the
factors that may impact the quality of research, but which are out of the control of the researcher.
Delimitations are the limits that fall within the control of the researcher and reflect a decision
made for the course of study. Both limitations and delimitations of this study are discussed
below.
Limitations
Before beginning data collection, SVA was structured the same way, year to year, with
one classroom teacher, often a native-English speaker, as the "lead teacher" in the room. When
this study was designed, it was believed that the teaching structure of the school would remain
the same, but fewer teacher applications impacted the number of native-English speaking
teachers SVA could hire for the 2019-2020 school year. Initially, the researcher was hoping to
interview at least seven individuals, perhaps more with the inclusion of native-English speaking
resource teachers. Unfortunately, only five native-English speaking teachers moved to Honduras
in July of 2019, meaning at most, five interviews could be conducted. Fortunately, all five

159

participants opted into the study. If the data collection had occurred only a few months later,
there is a possibility that the interview count could have been eight, instead of five, with the new
hire of a number of English teachers.
Another limitation of this study is the breadth, or lack thereof, of research on Honduras as
a nation, specifically education in Honduras and the influences that impact student success there.
It was challenging to find robust, peer-reviewed articles reflecting the state of the country,
beyond statistics collected by international foundations.
Delimitations
The delimitations of this study include the specific site and individual participants of the
study which the researcher selected. To narrow the scope of the study on using culturally
relevant teaching to increase English proficiency in international bilingual schools, the researcher
opted to use a familiar school site, which in turn limited the number of participants who could
participate. The researcher opted to focus the stakeholder group on ELA teachers because of
their responsibility to successfully instruct students in English and because of their presumed
lack of knowledge regarding culturally relevant teaching strategies. Because the ELA teachers
are native-English speakers of non-Honduran nationality, they are the highest priority teachers
who need to focus their efforts on culturally relevant curriculum at SVA.
Future Research
As a result of this study, several recommendations for future research can be made to
continue to grow the body of literature around culturally relevant teaching in international
bilingual schools. Future research could mirror this study at SVA, but include all teachers, not
just one specific, sub-set of teaching staff within the school. The researcher would be able to
examine whole-school trends in the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences

160

impacting the achievement of the organizational goal at SVA. Yet another direction for future
research could be to replicate this exact study, or one with a larger sample size, at another
bilingual school in El Progreso, Honduras. With two identical studies from different international
bilingual school sites, the researcher could compare results and determine if the same gaps exist
in both school sites, or if the knowledge, motivation, and organizational gaps are site-specific
increasing generalizability of the results.
This study focused on teachers, specifically ELA teachers, as the primary stakeholders
and data sources. A similar study could be repeated with international bilingual students as the
primary stakeholders, surveying their preferences in learning material and their comprehension
of two similarly leveled texts, one story based on American culture and one story based on
Honduran culture, both in English. This study would serve to corroborate other research
examining the impact of culturally relevant practices on student achievement and the importance
of using those teaching practices in schools in the future.
Academic and peer-reviewed research was difficult to locate to assist in determining the
most critical factors influencing student achievement for the literature review of this study. It is
recommended that future research survey teachers and educational professionals in multiple
school sites across Honduras, asking what they believe the biggest influences education in
Honduras are, to provide future educational researchers in Honduras with a wider scope of what
could be impacting student success. This research could be grouped by department, or region, of
Honduras, by school level, by grade band, or by source of funding. The possibilities for
disaggregation of that data are endless and the potential impact for a study of that magnitude is
tremendous given the lack of research on education in Honduras.

161

Conclusion
In Honduras, of the poorest quintile, 74% of children ages six through sixteen are not
enrolled in school (Education Policy and Data Center (EPDC), 2018). Sunny Village Academy
opened its doors in 2012, at the request of the Sunny Village community members who faced
challenges of poverty, illiteracy, drug abuse, violence and malnutrition even after their relocation
from one of the largest riverbed shantytowns in Honduras to Sunny Village (Organization
website, 2018). SVA has grown from a school serving kindergarten and first grades from the
immediate surrounding, low-income neighborhoods. In eight years, the school has grown to
serve prekindergarten-three classes to ninth grade and has plans to open both a high school (tenth
through twelfth grades in Honduras comprise high school) and an early childhood education
center by August 2020. Closely examining school practices is critical in achieving both the
global mission of SVA, to provide an education that leads to lifelong employment and
achievement (Organization website, 2019), and the organizational performance goal, 85% of
ninth grade students enrolled in Sunny Village Academy will read on a level within one-grade
band of their given grade level in English.
This study aimed to examine the influences and to identify the gaps in ELA teachers’
knowledge, motivation, and organizational practices that are impacting SVA’s ability to meet
their organizational goal. After a thorough literature review, a convergent mixed-methods study
was employed to examine the assumed influences impacting ELA teachers’ ability to meet the
organizational performance goal. Through analysis of survey responses from all instructional
staff at SVA and codified interview data from the ELA teachers of SVA, three knowledge gaps
were identified, one motivation gap was identified, and two organizational gaps were identified.
The three found knowledge gaps of ELA teachers were a lack of knowledge of: (a) culturally

162

relevant texts, (b) the curricular and lesson planning process, and (c) cultural influences in
student success in Honduras. A gap in motivation was identified as a lack of ELA teacher
ownership of student success and achievement in their ELA classes. Two organizational gaps
were found, including a lack of planning and collaboration time for ELA teachers and the
academic director and no access to or use of exemplar teaching models for culturally relevant
teaching practices.
When gaps were identified using Clark and Estes' Gap Analysis Framework (2008),
recommendations were made to address those gaps and an implementation and evaluation plan
was provided to assist in executing the recommendations and assess the plan's success in closing
the ELA teacher's identified gaps. A recommendation to revise training and professional
development plans at SVA was made to address the knowledge gaps. Providing high
expectations for ELA teachers from the administration in the execution of their classes was
recommended to address the motivation gap. To address the organizational gaps, structured
schedules to allow for increased collaborative time and greater opportunities for mentorship with
outside experts for the ELA teachers were recommended. An implementation and evaluation
plan was created to aid in the execution of the recommendations for addressing these gaps using
the Kirkpatrick New World Evaluation Model (2016), allowing for evaluation of the
implementation plan both immediately after and five months after the modified ELA teacher
training occurs.
As described in Chapter One, in February 2019, an average of 16% of Sunny Village
Academy’s third through ninth grade student population was reading within one level of their
grade in English. On average. 37.5% of eighth grade students are reading within between seventh
and eighth grade levels in English, far lower the organizational goal of 85% of students. It is

163

recommended to all stakeholders of SVA, that culturally relevant teaching practices be
implemented to close these gaps in student reading achievement. As principal and teacher Baruti
K. Kafele (2016) stated, “at the end of the day, the children have to be able to see themselves in
the lessons they are learning and see the relevance of what they have learned after the dismissal
bell rings at 3 o'clock (p. 3).”

164

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Weiss, R. (1994). Chapter 4: Interviewing. In Learning from strangers: The art and method of
qualitative interview studies. pp. 51-59, 61-81, and 141-150. The Free Press.
Woolley, G. (2010). Issues in the identification and ongoing assessment of ESL students with
reading difficulties for reading intervention. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties,
15(1), 81-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404150903524564
World Bank. (2016). Education statistics: Honduras. http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/
Yoon, B. (2007). Offering or limiting opportunities: Teachers' roles and approaches to English-
language learners' participation in literacy activities: Teachers can act as supports or
constraints on ELLs' active participation in the mainstream classroom, depending on their
teaching approaches. The Reading Teacher, 61(3), 216.
Young, E. (2010). Challenges to conceptualizing and actualizing culturally relevant pedagogy:
how viable is the theory in classroom practice? Journal of Teacher Education, 61(3),
248-260.

176

APPENDIX A
Survey Information Sheet: English
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

LACK OF CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING IN INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL
SCHOOLS: A GAP ANALYSIS

You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The researcher is interested in teachers’ understanding of culturally relevant teaching practices at
Sunny Village Academy (a pseudonym) in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
You will be presented with relevant information to teach and work at SVA and asked to answer
some questions about it. The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete and your
participation in this research is voluntary. You have the right to withdraw at any time during the
study, for any reason and without prejudice.

By beginning the survey, you acknowledge that your participation in the study is voluntary, that
you are 18 years of age, and that you are aware that you can terminate your participation in the
study at any time and for any reason.

Please note that this survey will be best displayed on a laptop of desktop computer. Some
features may be less compatible for use on a mobile device.

CONFIDENTIALITY
No identifiable demographic information will be collected by the researcher in the survey.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Principal Investigator: Caroline Gray via email at grayce@usc.edu
Proxy Researcher: Melissa Cunningham via email at macunnin@usc.edu
Faculty Advisor: Ekaterina Moore via email at ekaterim@usc.edu

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, 1640 Marengo Street, Suite 700,
Los Angeles, CA 90033-9269. Phone (323) 442-0114 or email irb@usc.edu.

177

APPENDIX B

Survey Information Sheet: Spanish

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089

HOJA DE INFORMACIÓN/HECHOS PARA LA INVESTIGACIÓN NO MÉDICA EXENTA

FALTA DE ENSEÑANZA CULTURALMENTE RELEVANTE EN LAS ESCUELAS
INTERNACIONALES BILINGUES: UN ANÁLISIS DE CARENCIAS

Se le invita a participar en un estudio de investigación. Los estudios de investigación incluyen
sólo a las personas que voluntariamente deciden participar. Este documento explica la
información sobre este estudio. Usted debe hacer preguntas sobre cualquier cosa que no esté
clara para usted.

FINALIDAD DEL ESTUDIO
El investigador está interesado en la comprensión de los maestros de las prácticas de enseñanza
culturalmente relevantes en Sunny Village Academy (un seudónimo) en El Progreso, Yoro,
Honduras.

PARTICIPACIÓN DE LOS PARTICIPANTES
Se le presentará información relevante para enseñar y trabajar en SVA y se le pedirá que
responda algunas preguntas al respecto. La encuesta debe tardar unos 15 minutos en completarse
y su participación en esta investigación es voluntaria. Usted tiene derecho a retirarse en cualquier
momento durante el estudio, por cualquier motivo y sin prejuicios.

Al comenzar la encuesta, usted reconoce que su participación en el estudio es voluntaria, que
tiene 18 años de edad y que es consciente de que puede terminar su participación en el estudio en
cualquier momento y por cualquier motivo.

Tenga en cuenta que esta encuesta se mostrará mejor en un ordenador portátil de un ordenador de
sobremesa. Algunas funciones pueden ser menos compatibles para su uso en un dispositivo
móvil.

Confidencialidad
El investigador no recopilará información demográfica identificable en la encuesta.

INFORMACIÓN DE CONTACTO DEL INVESTIGADOR
Investigadora Principal: Caroline Gray por correo electrónico a grayce@usc.edu
Investigadora Proxy: Melissa Cunningham por correo electrónico a macunnin@usc.edu
Asesor docente: Ekaterina Moore por correo electrónico a ekaterim@usc.edu

178

INFORMACIÓN DE CONTACTO DEL IRB
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, 1640 Marengo Street, Suite 700,
Los Angeles, CA 90033-9269. Phone (323) 442-0114 or email irb@usc.edu.

179

APPENDIX C
Alignment of Survey Instrument and KMO Framework
Research
Question/
Data Type
KMO
Construct
Survey Item (question
and response)
Scale of
Measuremen
t
Potential
Analyses
Visual
Representation
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?

K - F How many books with
Latino protagonists or by
Latino authors can you
name?

0
1-3
4-6
5-7
8-10
11+
Continuous
Ratio
Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
organizational
performance goal?
K - P How many years’
experience lesson
planning do you have?
__________
Continuous
Ratio
Minimum,
Maximum,
Range,
Mean
Table
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
organizational
performance goal?
K-P I know how to plan and
implement before-
reading comprehension
strategies to enrich
student understanding of
a culturally relevant text.
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
organizational
performance goal?
K-P I know how to plan and
implement during-
reading comprehension
strategies to enrich
student understanding of
a culturally relevant text.
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart

180

What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
organizational
performance goal?
K-P I know how to plan and
implement after-reading
comprehension strategies
to enrich student
understanding of a
culturally relevant text.
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
K - C I have an understanding
of the cultural influences
on education in
Honduras.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
K - C I can name more than
three influences on EIL
success in Honduras

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or Pie
Chart

181

What are the
knowledge
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
K - C What are the three
biggest influences on
EIL student success?
Gangs/
Violence
Illiteracy of
parents/
siblings
Access to special
education
Unreasonable
expectations
Spanish-only
homelife
Poverty
Access to books
Other:
____________________
__________________
Nominal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Bar Chart
What are the
motivation
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
M – UV There is value in using
texts that are culturally
relevant to my students
in ELA classes.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
motivation
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
M-UV There is value in
activating students’ prior
knowledge before
reading a text.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart

182

What are the
motivation
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
M – AT I take personal
responsibility for the
success and achievement
of every student I teach.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CM When I see the need to
change instructional
methods in my
classroom, I take
responsibility for that
change.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CM I use formative data
points to inform my
instruction each day.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS Each month I meet with
the academic director:

0 times
1-3 times
4-6 times
5-7 times
8-10 times
11+ times

Continuous
Ratio
Frequency,
Percentage,
Mean
Table

183

What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS I am comfortable
discussing curricular
plans and materials with
the academic director.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS I know who to ask for
help when I am feeling
unsure about my plans.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS I have access to outside
resources to guide my
development of lessons
for my class.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart
What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS I use outside resources to
help me plan daily
lessons for my students.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart

184

What are the
organizational
influences of ELA
teachers
impacting the
achievement of
the organizational
performance goal?
O – CS I have access to an
exemplar teaching model
to help me understand
the use of culturally
relevant teaching
practices in literacy
instruction.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Ordinal Frequency,
Percentage,
Mode
Table or
Stacked Bar
Chart

K = Knowledge M = Motivation O = Organization
F = Factual UV = Utility Value CM = Cultural Model
P = Procedural AT = Attribution Theory CM – Cultural Setting
C = Conceptual

185

APPENDIX D
Survey Items: English
How many years lesson planning
experience do you have?
_______________________________

How many books with Latino
protagonists or by Latino authors
can you name?

0 1-3 4-6 5-7 8-10 11+
I have an understanding of the
cultural influences on education
in Honduras.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I can name more than three
influences on EIL success in
Honduras.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
What are the three biggest
influences on EIL student success
in Honduras?
Gangs/Violence
Illiteracy of parents/siblings
Access to special education
Unreasonable expectations
Spanish-only homelife
Poverty
Access to books
Other: ___________________________
I know how to plan and
implement before-reading
comprehension strategies to
enrich student understanding of a
culturally relevant text.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I know how to plan and
implement during-reading
comprehension strategies to
enrich student understanding of a
culturally relevant text.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I know how to plan and
implement after-reading
comprehension strategies to
enrich student understanding of a
culturally relevant text.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
To what extent do you agree with
the following statement:

There is value in using texts that
are culturally relevant to my
students in ELA classes.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree

186

To what extent do you agree with
the following statement:

There is value in activating
students’ prior knowledge before
reading a text.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
To what extent do you agree with
the following statement:

I take personal responsibility for
the success and achievement of
every student I teach.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
When I see the need to change
instructional methods in my
classroom, I take responsibility
for that change.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I use formative data points to
inform my instruction each day.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
Each month I meet with the
academic director:

0 times 1-3 times 4-6 times 5-7 times 8-10 times
11+ times
To what extent do you agree with
the following statement:

I am comfortable discussing
curricular plans and materials
with the academic director.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I know who to ask for help when
I am feeling unsure about my
plans.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I have access to outside resources
to guide my development of
lessons for my class.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I use these resources to help me
plan daily lessons for my students.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree
I have access to an exemplar
teaching model to help me
understand the use of culturally
relevant teaching practices in
literacy instruction.

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Agree

187

APPENDIX E
Survey Items: Spanish
¿Cuántos años de experiencia en
la planificación de lecciones
tiene?
_______________________________

¿Cuántos libros con protagonistas
latinos o de autores latinos
puedes nombrar?

0 1-3 4-6 5-7 8-10 11+
Tengo una comprensión de las
influencias culturales en la
educación en Honduras.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Puedo nombrar más de tres
influencias sobre el éxito de EIL
en Honduras.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
¿Cuáles son las tres mayores
influencias en el éxito estudiantil
de EIL en Honduras?
Maras/Violencia
El analfabetismo de los padres/hermanos
Acceso a la educación especial
Expectativas irrazonables
Vida casera solo en España
Pobreza
Acceso a libros
Otro: _________________
Sé cómo planificar e implementar
estrategias de comprensión antes
de la lectura para enriquecer la
comprensión de los estudiantes
de un texto culturalmente
relevante.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Sé cómo planificar e implementar
estrategias de comprensión
durante la lectura para enriquecer
la comprensión de los estudiantes
de un texto culturalmente
relevante.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Sé cómo planificar e implementar
estrategias de comprensión
después de la lectura para
enriquecer la comprensión de los
estudiantes de un texto
culturalmente relevante.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo

188

¿En qué medida está de acuerdo
con la siguiente declaración:

Hay valor en el uso de textos que
son culturalmente relevantes para
mis estudiantes en las clases de
ELA.
Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo
Discrepar Acuerdo Firmemente
de Acuerdo
¿En qué medida está de acuerdo
con la siguiente declaración:

Hay valor en la activación de los
conocimientos previos de los
estudiantes antes de leer un texto.

Fuertemente
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
¿En qué medida está de acuerdo
con la siguiente declaración:

Asumo la responsabilidad
personal por el éxito y el logro de
cada estudiante que enseño.

Fuertemente
en Desacuerd

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Cuando veo la necesidad de
cambiar los métodos de
instrucción en mi salón de clases,
asuma la responsabilidad de ese
cambio.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Utilizo puntos de datos
formativos para informar mi
instrucción cada día.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Cada mes me encuentro con el
director académico:

0 veces 1-3 veces 4-6 veces 5-7 veces 8-10 veces
11+ veces
¿En qué medida está de acuerdo
con la siguiente declaración:

Me siento cómodo discutiendo
planes y materiales curriculares
con el director académico.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Sé a quién pedir ayuda cuando
me siento inseguro acerca de mis
planes.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Tengo acceso a recursos externos
para guiar mi desarrollo de
lecciones para mi clase.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo

189

Utilizo estos recursos para
ayudarme a planificar lecciones
diarias para mis alumnos.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo
Tengo acceso a un modelo de
enseñanza ejemplar para
ayudarme a entender el uso de
prácticas de enseñanza
culturalmente relevantes en la
enseñanza de lectura.

Fuertemente
en
Desacuerdo

Discrepar

Acuerdo

Firmemente
de Acuerdo

190

APPENDIX F
Alignment of Interview Questions and KMO Influence
KMO Influence Interview Question
Knowledge Influences
ELA teachers need to have knowledge of
culturally relevant texts to incorporate in
curriculum.
o How do you select the stories and texts
that you use in your English Language
Arts (ELA) classes?
o Where do you locate those texts?
ELA teachers need to have knowledge of basic
curricular or lesson planning.
o Describe your process (or proposed
process) when planning daily/weekly
lessons for your ELA classes.
o What do you typically ask students do
to before students read a text? During
reading of a text? After reading of a
text?
o How do you model for students how to
connect to a text?
ELA teachers need to understand the primary
cultural influences of the specific country in
which they are teaching.
o What do you believe are the primary
cultural influences on education in
Honduras?
o How did you determine these
influences to be significant?
Motivation Influences
Teachers need to see the value in using
culturally relevant texts for whole-group
reading instruction.
o While teaching as an American in
Honduras, how could the selection of
culturally relevant texts benefit your
students?
o How significant do you think the role
of culture is in learning to read?
o What role does culturally relevant
teaching play in student success?
o What do you see as the purpose or
importance of selecting culturally
relevant texts?
o How could the selection of culturally
relevant texts benefit your students?
o How significant is activating students’
prior knowledge before reading a text?

191

Organization Influences
There needs to be a willingness to change the
course of instruction from pre-written pacing
guides to re-creating a culturally relevant
whole-group reading program.
o Let’s say you were tasked with the
creation of a new ELA curriculum
using culturally relevant texts. How
would you approach the development
of that new program?
There needs to be a culture of transparency and
collaboration in creating the curriculum and
daily lesson plans between the academic
director and the ELA level teachers.
o Describe the academic director’s role in
relation to your curricular and lesson
plans.
o How often are you able to meet with
other teachers and the academic
director to speak exclusively about
planning?
o (Probe if necessary: Approximately
how many times a week? A month?)
o Describe a typical meeting of
collaboration.
The academic director and teachers must have
guidance in the research, development, and
writing of the new culturally relevant
curriculum from a role model or outside
professional consultant.
o How does the organization provide
guidance on creating materials or
teaching a specific lesson?
o If you were unsure of how to create
materials or teach a lesson, how would
you solve it?
o How long do you typically spend
problem solving independently about
your lesson plan before reaching out for
help?
o Who do you go to for guidance?
o Who is a model you can look to for
exemplar instructional practices using
culturally relevant teaching strategies?

192

APPENDIX G
Interview Protocol
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to sit down with me to talk
about the school and your thoughts about teaching English Language Arts at Sunny Village
Academy. I am studying the knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences of teachers
at SVA that impact reaching the goal of 85% of ninth grade students reading on at least an eighth
grade reading level by June 2021. Your participation in this interview is of great value and I want
to assure you that a pseudonym will be used to name the school and your identity will be
protected in any response reporting. While the session will be recorded for accuracy in reporting,
all data will be stored in a safe and secure location. You are also able to withdraw from the study
at any time. You may also refrain from answering any question that you don’t feel comfortable
with or don’t feel you have the information to answer. If you have any concerns that I cannot
address, please feel free to reach out to the University of Southern California’s IRB office. Are
you ready to begin?
1. First, tell me a little bit about your background. How did you prepare to become an
international teacher? (K, Behavioral)
2. How significant do you think the role of culture is in learning to read?
3. Thank you for sharing! And after four weeks of teacher training at SVA and using
your own knowledge and experience, what do you believe are the primary cultural
influences on education in Honduras? (K, Opinion)
a. How did you determine those influences to be significant?
b. Which of those influences may be at play with students at SVA?

193

4. Thinking about those influences on education, describe your process (or proposed
process) when planning daily/weekly lessons for your ELA classes. (K, Behavioral)
a. What do you typically ask students to do before they read a text?
i. What do you ask students to do during the reading of a text?
ii. What do you ask students to do after the reading of a text?
5. How do you select those stories and texts that you use in your English Language Arts
(ELA) classes? (K)
a. Where do you locate those texts?
6. How do you model for students how to connect to texts?
7. How significant do you believe activating students’ prior knowledge is before reading
a text?
a. Why do you believe that to be true?
8. How often are you able to meet with other teachers and the academic director to
speak exclusively about planning? (O, Background)
a. Approximately how many times a week/month?
b. What other feedback on your lesson planning do you receive from your
academic director, outside of meeting times?
9. Reflecting on some of those in-person interactions, describe a typical meeting of
collaboration. (O)
10. Even if you are typically confident while planning, if you are feeling particularly
stuck or challenged when planning, how does the organization provide guidance on
creating materials or teaching a specific lesson? (O, Devil’s Advocate)

194

11. If you were unsure of how to create materials or teach a lesson, how would you find
answers? (O)
12. How long do you typically spend independently problem solving about your lesson
plans before reaching out for support? (O)
13. Who is a model you can look to for exemplar instructional practices using culturally
relevant teaching strategies?
14. Given the structure of planning, in your opinion, whose responsibility is it to “own”
student success and achievement in your class? (M)
a. Why do you believe it falls to that person/group of people?
15. Thank you for your honesty and candor so far. I just have a couple of questions left.
We are changing direction a bit, away from reflection and focusing on possibilities
for student growth.
16. What role does culturally relevant teaching play in student success?
17. While teaching as an American in Honduras, what do you see as the purpose or
importance of selecting culturally relevant texts?
a. How could the selection of culturally relevant texts benefit your students? (M)
18. Let’s say you were tasked with the creation of a new ELA curriculum using
culturally relevant texts. How would you approach the development of that new
program? (O, Hypothetical)
a. Whose support would you need?
b. How would you feel if the academic director asked you to take on this task?
(O, Feeling)

195

c. What are some culturally relevant texts that you could use in your lessons?
(K)

196

APPENDIX H
Sunny Village Academy
End of Training Survey
Date: ______________
To what extent to do you agree with the following statements?

Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
I feel prepared to
lead student
instruction
1 2 4 5
I am confident
about entering the
classroom
1 2 4 5
I feel comfortable
lesson planning
1 2 4 5
I feel prepared to
manage student
behavior
1 2 4 5
I feel comfortable
with the workload
of my job
1 2 4 5
I feel supported
by organization
staff
1 2 4 5
I feel supported
by SVA Staff
1 2 4 5
I have been
provided with
adequate
materials
1 2 4 5
I know who to
reach out to for
assistance
1 2 4 5
I feel comfortable
asking for
assistance
1 2 4 5

197

How do you rate your knowledge regarding the following?

Very Low Low High Very High
Setting big goals for a
classroom
1 2 4 5
Creating a classroom vision 1 2 4 5
Investing students in
education
1 2 4 5
Using the Common Core
State Standards in
instruction
1 2 4 5
Purposeful lesson planning 1 2 4 5
Using pacing guides 1 2 4 5
Unit planning 1 2 4 5
Five step lesson plans 1 2 4 5
Executing effective lessons 1 2 4 5
Strategies for continuously
increasing teacher
effectiveness
1 2 4 5
Reading A-Z and other
outside resources
1 2 4 5
Leading a whole group
English Language Arts
lesson
1 2 4 5
Phonics instruction 1 2 4 5
Culturally relevant teaching
strategies
1 2 4 5
English Language Arts
centers
1 2 4 5
Differentiated instruction 1 2 4 5
Flexible grouping 1 2 4 5

What are your pronouns? He/His ________ She/Her ________ They/Them _______

Which best describes your comfort level with the home language of your students (Spanish)?
Very
Uncomfortable
Not Comfortable Comfortable
Very
Comfortable

198

What is the highest level of school you have completed? If currently enrolled, highest degree
received.
___No schooling completed
___Nursery school to 8
th
grade
___Some High School, no diploma
___High School graduate, diploma or equivalent (ex: GED)
___Some college credit, no degree
___Trade/technical/vocational training
___Associate degree
___Bachelor’s degree
___Master’s degree
___Professional degree
___Doctorate degree

Titles of degrees obtained:
_______________________________________________________________________

Which best describes your level of professional experience with teaching?
___ No prior professional experience
___ < 1 year of experience
___ 1 year of experience
___ 2 years’ experience
___ 3+ years’ experience

Thank you for completing this survey.
Your input is appreciated and will be used to help improve our training program.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of this project is to examine the influences that impact the achievement of Sunny Village Academy, in El Progreso, Honduras, meeting its organizational goal of all third through ninth grade students reading on or near grade-level in English. English Language Learners (ELLs) have historically underachieved in reading fluency in comparison with their English-fluent peers. Administrators and teachers may have a positive impact on ELLs with an appropriate adoption of culturally relevant pedagogy in their schools. Using Clark and Estes' (2008) Gap Analytic Framework, the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences impacting English Language Arts (ELA) teachers at Sunny Village Academy were named. A convergent mixed-methods study was used to investigate the given influences. Survey data from teachers and administrators (n=19) and interview responses from ELA teachers (n=5) were examined to determine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational gaps impacting the teachers' ability to adopt culturally relevant teaching practices to meet their goal. Three knowledge gaps, one motivation gap, and two organizational gaps were found to possibly impact SVA's ability to meet its organizational goal. The New World Kirkpatrick Model (2016) was used to offer recommendations to close the aforementioned gaps and an implementation guide is provided to support the execution of the given recommendations.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Gray, Caroline Elizabeth (author)

Core Title Lack of culturally relevant teaching in international bilingual schools: a gap analysis

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 07/25/2020

Defense Date 06/10/2020

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

Tag culturally relevant pedagogy,English as an international language,English language learners,Honduras,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Moore, Ekaterina (committee chair), Ferrario, Kimberly (committee member), Muraszewski, Alison (committee member)

Creator Email carolinegray45@gmail.com,grayce@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-343450

Unique identifier UC11665371

Identifier etd-GrayCaroli-8746.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-343450 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-GrayCaroli-8746.pdf

Dmrecord 343450

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Gray, Caroline Elizabeth

Type texts

Source 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 a...

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