The Instructional Practices of Five Experienced High School Teachers Who Successfully Teach Children of Color

Abstract

Too often, the educational achievements of students of color are examined from a deficit model. Repeatedly, research studies focus on the obstacles to learning. Throughout this Record of Study (ROS), I used the abundance model by emphasizing the instructional practices of five secondary school teachers who successfully taught children of color. Despite the reality of an achievement gap, teachers on struggling campuses are making a difference. The African American and Latino students of these teachers consistently, year after year, have performed at or above the academic levels of their White peers on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End of Course (EOC) assessment. By focusing on three chief components: teacher perception, culturally responsive teaching (CRT), and effective classroom instruction. The findings of addressing teacher perception and effective instruction were in line with previous studies; showing that positive teacher perception and effective classroom instruction improves student performance. The impact of CRT was inconclusive.