There has been a call for teachers of Color to meet the growing diversity of the student population in the United States. Research on teachers of Color, their identities, experiences, and the ways they leverage their identities in the work they do to support students of Color has largely omitted the perspectives of Asian American teachers. Through a sociocultural lens of identity and Asian Critical Race perspective, this study investigates the ways a group of Asian American teachers articulate their identities and the ways their identities shape and emerge in their practice with diverse students. Findings reveal Asian American teachers articulate their identity in oppositional ways to their ideas of “the other.” With respect to teaching, identities emerge in their practice in the ways they actively engage in conversations with students to dispel stereotypes, share their Asian American culture, and navigate a racial in-between space in having broader discussion around race. Implications from this study suggest a need for dedicated spaces for Asian American teachers to unpack and reflect on the range of identities and experiences they bring to teaching, as well as the ways identity and practice mutually shape each other.

There have been many calls for greater research into the connection between what is taught to pre-service teachers and how those teachings emerge in teacher practice (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Grossman, 2008). Understanding this connection and strengthening it is vital to the increased effectiveness of not just teacher education programs but of teachers and the increased learning of students. In order to strengthen this connection, researchers have been pushing for pre-service teacher learning to become more practice-based (Ball et. al, 2009, Windschitl et al., 2009).

The teacher education program in this study used a practice-based framework to design a math methods course which articulated critical aspects for teaching and learning mathematics (i.e., ensuring mathematical rigor, creating mathematical student discourse, and using equitable practices), and taught high-leverage strategies to meet these critical aspects.

This study investigated how these practice-based, high-leverage strategies emerged in pre-service teacher practice in their student teaching classrooms. Focusing on secondary math in a large urban school district, this study sought to answer the questions 1) How do the practice-based strategies taught in a math methods class emerge in pre-service teachers' student teaching practice? 2) What supports the emergence of these strategies in a pre-service teacher's student teaching practice and what impedes it? The study followed six pre-service teachers through a yearlong methods course and into their student teaching classrooms, and used classroom observations, interviews, artifact collection and logs of teacher practice to answer the questions. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers can use high-leverage practices in a way that is rigorous, creates student mathematical discourse, and equitable participation. The study proposes the following additions to the design of future math methods courses: 1) pre-service teachers enacting the practices in environments with increasingly more independence and less support before trying it in their own classrooms and, 2) sharing with their math methods course peers their findings after the enactment of the strategies in their student teaching classroom. These findings have implications for how we may more effectively teach methods to bring about change in classroom practices.

The purpose of this study was to analyze P-20 partnerships in order to learn the best practices they employ to increase college access and persistence for under-represented students. This study adds to the literature by reaching beyond the collaborators and decision-makers who serve on partnership committees and include the individuals at the local level who carry out the work. A qualitative study was designed to learn how all of the stakeholders involved address the challenges inherent in inter-segmental collaboration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cross-section of 29 participants from four partnerships in Southern California. The participants included teachers, professors, administrators, and counselors from the public PK-12 and higher education sectors. Additional data were collected from partnership meetings and site visits for each of the four partnerships. Findings from this study conclude that the three major challenges these P-20 partnerships face are: (1) a lack of trust within and across sectors, (2) a lack of time for partnership work, and (3) sustaining dynamic partnerships. Conversely, the three best practices uncovered were: (1) structure initiative-based committees with transparent reporting systems, (2) find champions for the work, and (3) focus on student needs.

This study employed a mixed-methods design to examine the implementation process and impact of a six-week number talk intervention during the advisory period with sixth-grade middle school students in a large urban school district. The sample consisted of 22 students in one sixth-grade advisory class. The quantitative portion of the study utilized a one-group pretest and posttest design to measure the effects of the intervention on the development of students’ number sense. The qualitative portion of the study, which included classroom videos, student work, and a teacher journal, examined process data on the implementation of number talks to determine in what ways number talks can be implemented with middle school students to support the development of number sense. There were three teacher practices identified as being important in implementing number talks in a way that supported student learning: 1) examining students’ written work during and after the number talks as a means of formative assessment, 2) using visual representations to support students’ understanding of mathematical concepts and relationships, and 3) focusing on one mathematical idea for a set of number talks. Results of the quantitative analysis showed that there were statistically significant increases in the overall mean score on the number sense assessment and the mean score on the equivalent expressions subtest of the assessment which was closely aligned to the content of the intervention.

Urban high schools seldom achieve turnaround status. Many variables have been studied in relation to effective school turnaround; however, distributed leadership is a theory of leadership that has seldom been linked in the literature to school turnaround and sustainability. This study investigated the phenomenon of distributed leadership at a southern California urban high school, where indicators revealed that the site achieved turnaround status by moving out of Program Improvement over a ten-year period and by increasing college admission rates, even with multiple principal successions. This study contributes to the field of educational leadership and school improvement by informing how distributed leadership functioned across settings and practices. This unique case study targeted the settings and practices used by multiple stakeholders during the turnaround period. Leadership was characterized by influence and activities, not by roles of site members. Data were collected via in-depth interviews, which were coded by themes of distributed leadership: collegiality, trust, efficacy, autonomy, ownership, collaboration, data-driven design, interaction, teacher talk, emotional support, teacher learning, and a culture of caring. The findings showed that members of a school site took on leadership activities in various settings, influencing one another's' practice. Interview data revealed that teachers, administrators and staff worked in formal and informal settings to influence one another's beliefs and practices. Participants highlighted the importance of conditions that exist when leadership was distributed: ownership, autonomy, trust, and efficacy. These findings suggest that teachers and administrators at urban turnaround schools need to be aware of the differences between formal and informal settings and their effects on distribute leadership practices; by utilizing the unique opportunities each setting offers, learning outcomes for students can be improved and sustained over time.

Even though algebraic ideas are addressed across a number of grades, algebra continues to serve as a gatekeeper to upper mathematics and degree attainment because of the high percentage of students that fail algebra classes and become halted in their educational progress. One reason for this is students not having the opportunity to build on their own thinking to connect mathematical ideas from elementary through middle school. The multiplicative field consists of major components of the mathematical ideas learned in these important years, but research within the multiplicative field has focused primarily on the mathematics and not enough on connections within student mathematical thinking. This study focuses on examining the connections in student strategies between whole number, fraction, and two-step rate problems, as well as, how students’ ideas of grouping connect to graphing their strategies. Findings add to previous research of student strategies with multiplication and division by detailing some of the nuance in students’ use of grouping. A focus on grouping strategies reveals students’ progression in understanding the mathematical properties from implicit to explicit to purposeful planning of use of the distributive and associative properties of multiplication. Progression within strategies occurs not as a trajectory, but as part of a constellation of ideas. Additionally, student grouping strategies provided a context to begin to connect solutions to graphing. Implications from this research indicate the need for researchers and teachers to uncover what students know and examine use of grouping to support connections across mathematical concepts within the multiplicative field.

The quality of science education in the United States has been progressively declining as shown through standardized test scores and postsecondary science degrees. K-12 science education relies on qualified science teachers. Although education policy has driven reform, such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), to combat this trend, these efforts must transfer from the page to everyday practice. While the development of science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge is influenced by many factors, one common denominator among teachers is their preparation in teacher education programs (TEP). Therefore, knowledge and introduction of new standards like NGSS can be established in TEPs by science teacher educators (STE). However, this relies on STEs keeping abreast of new standards.In the current dissertation, approximately 295 STEs across western states in the United States were surveyed regarding their own background and their knowledge of NGSS. Findings indicated no significant associations between STEs’ demographics and their survey responses. The overall findings support that STEs are not yet familiar with NGSS and that no specific background or institutional attributes predicted STEs' understanding of NGSS. This lack of mastery regarding NGSS by STEs makes it harder for NGSS to be incorporated by their pupils, the next generation of science teachers. Therefore, STEs need greater institutional and government support regarding introduction of new standards and ongoing development of policy. These supports would allow STEs to stay abreast of policy reforms, the introduction of new standards, and innovations in instructional practices. This could include a focus on STEs in policy development and implementation efforts, on-going professional development (PD), and coaching to support and facilitate STEs’ professional growth.

This study explored the unique issues that small school teachers face as school leaders and as teachers. Teachers and principals from three small public high schools participated in interviews and focus groups in which they discussed frustrating tensions (i.e., long hours, equity amongst teacher inputs, teacher buy-in) teachers experienced in their small schools and, by extension, potentially damaging forces to small school sustainability.

I found that many teachers valued the opportunities to be teacher leaders, to collaborate, and to make meaningful changes in their schools, but they felt overwhelmed and frustrated by aspects of their school culture and structures which interfered with their capacities to do so. Some teachers felt isolated in their professional communities. Some felt overwhelmed by the demands put upon them. And some felt a lack of support from school leaders.

This study is relevant to teachers and leaders in small schools as well as leaders of the small school movement. It recommends that small school leaders establish a leadership model that fits the vision of their school and their community of teachers at the same time. Small school leaders also need to bring teachers to the table for vision-forming conversations, even if it means revisiting the same conversations and re-crafting the school vision year after year. Just as small school teachers should be integral participants in their school leadership practices and in the development of school vision, their voices should also be heard when it comes to designing teacher supports. To that end, small school leaders need to make practices meaningful and honest for teachers when designing support programs.

The increased militarization of schools serving predominantly low-income, non-white students, post 9/11 and the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, has had significant implications for issues of educational access, equity and democracy. This dissertation is a yearlong qualitative case study of militarism and military recruitment within an urban school in Southern California, serving predominantly low-income, Latin@ students. Specifically, the study focuses on schooling policies and practices promoting military service, privileging military values and shaping the school-to-military pipeline. Also, the study is concerned with understanding the ways in which the meaning perspectives of the actors within this context inform their actions.

The methods employ approaches from grounded theory research, documentary research and critical research. Data sources used in the study include 112 formal and informal interviews, 17 qualitative fieldnotes and multiple artifacts including pamphlets, photographs, posters and newspaper articles. The analysis is situated within the larger socio-political and historical context of militarization in the United States and grounded in neo-Marxist and postcolonial theories.

Findings of the study posit that certain well-resourced institutionalized programs within the school, such as the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), the Police Academy Magnet and to some extent the Law Magnet were intended to shape and socialize students through militarized practices. These practices were justified through classed, raced and gendered discourses about what students needed and were capable of achieving. The aforementioned programs not only reified a pedagogy of enforcement but also promoted military service as a postsecondary path and a stepping stone to careers in "security" and law enforcement.

In addition to these institutionalized programs, military recruiters frequented the school campus and were given increased access to students through the actions of certain "gate-openers." Recruiters used their access to propagate half-truths and inaccurate narratives about military service to gain students' interest. Furthermore, the heightened focus on "discipline" and "safety" issues, high stakes accountability measures and the constant militarized spectacles within the school contributed to the normalization of "military values as collective common sense" (Mariscal, 2003, p.48).

All of these factors formed a web of militarism, giving military service unparalleled promotion in comparison to other postsecondary paths within this school. In this context students internalized, challenged and appropriated militarized values and practices as they negotiated their interests within the militarized terrain of their schooling.

Decolonizing pedagogy requires teachers and students challenge classical and present day colonial colonialism. Questions arise when examining the implementation of such practices in the elementary classroom, especially since the passing of the Common Core: Is it possible to implement such pedagogy in the midst of restrictive standards and dehumanizing testing? With the recent shift to the Common Core in California, few examples of transformative applications exist at the elementary level, and even less with decolonization as a central focus. The purpose of this study is to examine the practical realities of implementing a critical decolonizing pedagogy in a Common Core elementary classroom. The following questions guide this study:

1- What are the colonizing conditions facing an elementary decolonial educator?

a. How does a decolonial educator navigate, confront and address these conditions in her classroom?

2- How do the classroom, the youth, the community, and my experiences transform my pedagogy along the way?

3- How do I as an educator, develop the support you need to confront your own traumas of teaching under colonial conditions?

Using a mixed methods approach, blending autoethnography and portraiture, data was collected throughout the 2012-2014 school year, and consisted of observations, artifacts and field notes from a public school in Los Angeles. The fifth grade classroom was in a low-income urban community of color in South Central Los Angeles, comprised mostly of Latino and Black students.

Multiple examples of decolonial curriculum were possible within language arts and social studies common core standards. Despite limitations in the classroom schedule, activities addressing student trauma were imbedded throughout the year, in both academic and informal settings. Substantial constraints were found within standardized testing, both with the state-wide assessments online, as well as with the project-based assessment for the school district. Lastly, participation within a collective of decolonial educators was necessary to sustain such classroom practices and resist colonial practices being encouraged by the school and district.