Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

11-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Organizational Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

John Kellmayer

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Amy Barrios

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Dan Bishop

Abstract

The academic achievement gap has been observed in the United States since the late 1960s. Despite the best efforts of lawmakers and educators, African American students continue to achieve lower academically than their Caucasian American peers. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate three schools that were successful at reducing the achievement gap between the African American students and Caucasian American students at their school in the area of mathematics and provide suggestions for other schools. Mathematics teachers at the selected schools were asked about their awareness of the factors that contributed to the achievement gap between African American and Caucasian American students and the strategies used on their campus to address the disparity. The study participants were also asked to share specific techniques that they used in their class to provide greater equity for all their students. The findings indicated that teachers from the selected schools were aware of many of the factors that contribute to the achievement gap, and they actively utilized research-based measures to mitigate the difference in achievement between their student groups. Communicating high expectations to all students, setting and modifying goals with students, and making sure parents understood how to partner with the school are just a few of the strategies used by the schools in this study to mitigate the achievement gap between African American and Caucasian American students. Sharing the strategies proven to be successful in reducing the achievement gap could result in more equitable learning environments at other schools.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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