This research was conducted to determine elementary teachers' perception of professional development pertaining to cultural competency and its effects in the classroom. Elementary educators are the first line of formal schooling most students encounter. Currently, United States classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse while educators are…

This study was conducted in a middle-class area where school districts are largely average. The purpose of this study was to better understand how families choose among the options available to their child for entering kindergarten. These options include the neighborhood public school, open enrollment into another public school, homeschooling, or…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to explore how novice middle-class White female elementary school teachers' implement affective and instructional strategies in teaching in a culturally diverse public school district in a Southwestern state in the United States. The theoretical foundation was Campinha-Bacote Cultural…

I set out to explore the question: How do middle-class, working-class and low-income mothers experience their children's out of school summer time? Using qualitative basic interpretive approach, study findings draw from interview data, journal entries and participant observations from a study completed with 22 mothers of varying socioeconomic…

This qualitative study explored the reasons why suburban district leaders opted for full-day or half-day kindergarten programming in a sample of four local suburban districts operating such programs in Southeastern, Pennsylvania. The primary data source was interviews with key district leaders including school board members, superintendents,…

This dissertation investigates how the intersections of race, class, and gender operate in the everyday teaching and professional norms of middle-class White women teachers--particularly in schools such as the one in this study, where a majority of middle-class, White women teachers serve predominantly low-income, racially and ethnically diverse…

The purpose of this study was to (a) understand foster parents' perceptions of their parental roles and their involvement in their foster children's academic work; (b) understand their perceptions of their experiences in interacting with their foster children's public school; and (c) provide suggestions to enhance the parent-school collaboration…

This mixed-methods study compared the outcomes of 5 general education teachers in a suburban, upper-middle-class elementary school engaged in transcript analysis during small-group reading strategies instruction to those obtained when engaged in audio analysis. Over a 5-month period, the teachers recorded one lesson per week and debriefed with the…

Despite popular beliefs about social mobility in American society, research consistently shows that inequalities are reproduced across generations. And yet, while social reproduction hinges on the transmission of advantages from parents to children, scholars take for granted children's role in this process. We do not know whether children…

This study provides two perspectives on the various character traits provided by character education programs by comparing the voices of minority and lower-lower middle class stakeholders with those of upper middle class stakeholders. The literature on the values and virtues based approaches to moral development and character education were…

Many parents work more hours outside of the home and their lives are crowded with more obligations than ever before; many children spend their evenings and weekends trying out for all-star teams, travelling to regional and national tournaments, and eating dinner in the car while being shuttled between activities. What explains the increase in…