Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 4-1-2020
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Education
First Advisor
Susan McClelland
Second Advisor
Ethel Scurlock
Third Advisor
Brian Foster
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
As the amount of students in the classroom continues to grow, the achievement gap becomes increasingly larger between white students and students of color across the United States of America. This literature review explores the current literature on how culturally responsive teaching impacts the achievement gap. The achievement gap is defined as the gap in academic performance between white students and students of color. Throughout history, the achievement gap has been enforced and widened by racism, stereotypes, low student engagement, and a lack of critical thinking skills. The literature proves that culturally responsive teaching can increase engagement and critical thinking skills, leading to a reduction in the achievement gap’s effect on students of color. Culturally responsive pedagogy is the concept that recognizing and incorporating all students’ culture and backgrounds into teaching practices leads to increased engagement as well as increased critical thinking skills. This thesis provides evidence for the use of unique activities, multicultural literature, and other research-based practices that lead to increased engagement and critical thinking skills. Finally, a unit is provided that is an accumulation of the literature on the achievement gap, culturally responsive pedagogy and practice, and the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards.
Recommended Citation
Kern, Kendall, "Teaching Leaders: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Achievement Gap" (2020). Honors Theses. 1583.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1583
Accessibility Status
Searchable text
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.