Improving SOL Scores for Minority Students in Urban Elementary School (Virginia)

Executive Summary

The problem discussed in this report is the low academic achievement of minority students at an urban elementary school as measured by Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores. The purpose of the applied research study conducted was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at the urban elementary school possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students at the school. At the time of the study, the urban elementary school in Norfolk, Virginia, provided education to 581 students, 77.3% of whom were minority students. There was a significant gap in reading, writing, and mathematics achievement between the minority students and their White counterparts. The rationale for the study was the urgent need to reduce this achievement gap to improve the self-efficacy of minority students, boost workplace satisfaction of teachers, and increase funding of the school. A single question guided the study, “How can the problem of low SOL scores of minority students at an urban elementary school be solved?” Three types of data were collected to answer the central research question. First, five interviews were conducted with teachers and the instructional coach at the urban elementary school with experience working with minority students. Second, a focus group was conducted with a purposeful sample of eight teachers. Third, a survey was administered with twenty-five teachers. After data samples were analyzed, five recommendations to solve the problem included conduct diversity training among the instructional staff, provide extra-curricular reading courses, conduct instructional training among teachers, collaborate with teachers and the community, and actively advocate for changing the curriculum.

Permission to Conduct Research

Permission

Permission to conduct this study was obtained from the principal of the elementary School, Kathy Verhappen and the district research office. The permission also allowed use of information available about Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores. The permission letter appears in Appendix A.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical practice for applied research requires minimizing risks to participants. The researcher therefore ensured that participants did not have to endure more than minimal risks. Pseudonyms were used in the focus group and interviews to protect the privacy of the participants by assuring confidentiality of the teachers and administrators participating. Although the interviews and the focus group were conducted on campus, the researcher ensured that no outside person could overhear discussion. The survey was conducted anonymously by not collecting names of participants. All participants were solicited through email that provided details of the research, assurances for privacy, and the optional nature of participation. Participants were instructed that their participation in the research was voluntary, and they may withdraw at any time without fear of repercussions. SOL scores were taken from publicly accessed sources and were devoid of any personally identifiable information. All information concerning the study was stored on a password-protected laptop with installed antivirus software. This laptop, and any non-electronic data were stored in a secure file cabinet which the researcher has the only access. The researcher aimed to solve a specific problem at a specific location. The resulting information will not be shared or distributed outside of the elementary School. Institutional review board approval was therefore unnecessary.

Introduction

Overview

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Smith Elementary School possible solutions to the problem of low Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) scores of minority students at the school. This section provides background information about the organization, introduces the problem, discusses its significance, and declares the purpose of the study. This section also states the central research question and defines key terms used throughout the study.

Organization Profile

To preserve the ethical considerations of the study, the organization will be referred to by the pseudonym, Smith Elementary School. Smith Elementary School, a public educational entity located in Norfolk, Virginia, was the educational site for this study. The stated mission of the elementary school was to “ensure that all families and students are engaged in purposeful learning, students are using metacognition and comprehension strategies across all curriculum areas to ensure life-long learning” (Smith Elementary School, n.d., para. 1). At the time of the study, the school had 581 students: 59.2% were African American, 22.7% were White, and 8.1% were Hispanic (Virginia Department of Education [VDoE], 2020a). Almost 97% of the students qualified for free or discounted lunch, which indicated that many students were from financially disadvantaged families (VDoE, 2020a). Regarding student success and quality of education provided, School Digger (2021) ranked the school 996th out of 1,105 elementary schools in Virginia. The student–teacher ratio had dropped for 3 consecutive years since 2017, reaching 13.5 in 2020 (VDoE, 2020a). In 2019, the school’s SOL scores in both mathematics and English reading were below the averages for both the county and state (VDoE, 2020a).

The school currently has 43 teachers, which is considered sufficient for an elementary school of a medium size. However, it should be noticed that 81.4% of the teachers are Caucasian, while the majority of students are African American. This may mean that teachers may have little knowledge about the difficulties that African American students face. In other words, teachers may be unable to relate to the cultural, social, and economic background of students.

The school has a very low rating in terms of test results, academic progress, and equity. According to a school rating website Great Schools (2021), the school scored 2/10 in all the three spheres of assessment. The analysis of test scores revealed that Black students had significantly lower results than the White students, which is a sign of a significant achievement gap (Great Schools, 2021). Moreover, the analysis of academic progress of minority students revealed that after they come to this school, they fall significantly behind the students of the same age from other schools (Great Schools, 2021). The school also experiences problems with a discipline gap, as minority students have significantly higher rates of non-attendance and suspension due to discipline issues (Great Schools, 2021). Even though Great Schools (2021) recommends parents to look for other schools in the area that are more successful, the reviews of the parents are positive. The school’s score in terms of parent reviews is 4.6/5, which demonstrates high satisfaction rates of parents that had the opportunity to leave a review of the school.

Introduction to the Problem

The problem was that African American students at the urban elementary school historically had lower academic achievement than other students, as measured by SOL scores. The achievement gap in education has remained a considerable issue in the United States since it came to the attention of educators and policy makers in the 1960s (King, 2017). Gilar et al. (2019) reported that academic achievement as the extent to which a student achieves short- or long-term educational goals. The typical way to quantify academic achievement is to use test scores or grade point averages, depending on the situation. The achievement gap is dangerous not only for African Americans but also for the well-being of the entire nation because it spreads inequality (King, 2017).

SOL scores indicate that the achievement gap has been present in Virginia for a long time. African American students have had lower average scores on achievement tests than those of other students at least for the past decade (VDoE, 2020b). In particular, the average SOL scores of White students were 86 in reading, 85 in writing, 91 in history and social sciences, 86 in mathematics, and 89 in science (VDoE, 2020b). During the same period, the average SOL scores of African American students were 67 in reading, 65 in writing, 75 in history and social sciences, 68 in mathematics, and 69 in science (VDoE, 2020b). The average scores of African American students were approximately 20 points lower than those of Caucasian students in all subject areas.

The SOL scores at the elementary school also indicate a significant gap in academic achievement between minority students and their White counterparts. In 2019, the average SOL reading score of White students was 79, while the corresponding average scores for African American and Hispanic students were 56 and 67, respectively (VDoE, 2020a). In mathematics, the average score for White students was 74, compared with 60 for Hispanic students and 61 for African American students (VDoE, 2020a).

In summary, the school faces significant issues with the achievement gap between the minority students and their White counterparts.

Significance of the Problem

Solving the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at the school has become crucial because 77.3% of the students at the school at the time of the study belonged to an ethnic minority (VDoE, 2020a), underachievement of minority students was significantly impacting the average achievement of all students at the school. According to Lanese (2018), teachers and schools are evaluated by government authorities based on the results of standardized test scores, such as SOL scores. Standardized test scores are correlated with increased government funding (Lanese, 2018). The leaders of schools that receive funding increases can hire new teachers and teacher assistants, which can further increase student achievement. According to Hemelt et al. (2021), teacher assistants have a positive influence on math and reading test scores in elementary schools. Improving minority students’ SOL scores can thus increase the achievement of a school and improve the workplace satisfaction of teachers. This, in turn, can improve teacher retention. Improving test scores can also increase the self-efficacy of minority students, which promotes positive relationships within classrooms.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at the Urban elementary school possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students at the school. The researcher used a multimethod approach that included both qualitative and quantitative methods. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators who had knowledge relevant to the topic. Second, a focus group was created to further develop the understanding of how the SOL scores can be improved. The results of the analysis were evaluated considering the findings of other researchers. Third, a Likert-scale survey was developed to help understand how, based on the perceptions of the stakeholders, the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at this school can be solved. A sample of teachers completed the survey in Google Forms. Descriptive statistics, including mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and frequency of responses were used to analyze the data.

This applied study offers several benefits to staff, students, and teachers. The study gave teachers an anonymous opportunity to provide feedback and recommendations regarding curriculum, its implementation, and its effect or influence on student learning. Participation in this can promote positive changes in workplace satisfaction of teachers and improve academic achievement of students. Subsequently, it may also have a positive impact on teacher retention within both the individual school and the district.

Results of the case study can drive changes and initiatives that would benefit students. For instance, utilizing teacher feedback to improve the curriculum and instruction practices can provide an opportunity to improve student engagement and motivation. As each level of positive change builds, hope exists that the changes would also manifest in improved test scores for students, specifically, for minority students. Improved test scores validate student effort and create a baseline for building student self-efficacy. Each aspect of the research was designed to establish a foundation for student-teacher relations within classrooms through targeted change based on research and data collection.

Central Research Question

How can the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at an urban elementary school be solved?

Definitions

This section defines key terms used throughout this report:

• Academic achievement — “the communicative (oral, reading, writing), mathematical, science, social science, and thinking skills and competencies that enable a student to succeed in school and society” (Lindholm-Leary & Borsato, 2006, p. 176).
• Achievement gap — “academic performance difference between Whites and minorities” (Carpenter et al., 2006, p. 116).
• Assessment —The term “assessment” has a broad range of meanings, including the process faculty use to grade student course assignments, standardized testing imposed on institutions as part of increased pressure for external accountability, an any activity designed to collect information on the success of a program, course, or university curriculum (Lteef, 2019, p. 2).
• High-stakes testing — “tests that carry serious consequences for students or educators” (Marchant, 2004, p. 2).
• Intervention — a set of steps a teacher takes to help a child improve in their area of need by removing educational barriers (Lynch, 2019, para. 2).
• Minority students — “those who do not belong to a region’s or nation’s majority racial or ethnic group—may be subject to discrimination, whether sanctioned or passive, that can affect their educational achievement” (RAND, n.d., para. 1).
• Standardized testing — tests that require students to answer questions from a question pool. The questions are consistently graded to inform teachers about each student’s achievement level (Herman & Golan, 1993).

Literature Review

Overview

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Smith Elementary School possible solutions to the problem of low Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) scores of minority students at the school. This section of the report provides a review of existing literature concerning the research problem. First, the section discusses the significance of standardized testing. Second, the section provides a review of the historical background of the educational achievement gap in the United States. Third, the section discusses reasons for the emergence of the achievement gap in standardized test scores. Fourth, the section provides an overview of strategies that can reduce the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts in public schools.

Narrative Review

Educators in the modern United States have faced a considerable problem in the form of underachievement of African American students relative to their White counterparts (Bowman et al., 2018). The problem spurred many researchers to attempt to understand the factors affecting achievement of students in school (Bowman et al., 2018). Some researchers have argued that cultural and racial differences do not matter because only social, familial, school, and economic factors affect academic achievement (Gilar et al., 2019). However, others have found significant correlations between racial identity and academic achievement using rigorous research methods (Wang et al., 2020). Those working at the frontiers of education and curriculum development have claimed that the central reason for underachievement of African American students is inadequacy of existing curricula (Johnson, 2018; King, 2017). When African American students do not see themselves represented in literature, they cannot relate to the experiences and facts discussed in class (Bowman et al., 2018). Curriculum change thus appears necessary to addressing the problem of underachievement of African American students (Bowman et al., 2018). The subsections that follow review existing literature regarding the problem of the achievement gap in American schools and how to address that problem using various strategies.

Standardized Testing

Standardized testing has become a crucial part of both educators’ and students’ lives (Gray, 2019). Rapposelli (2021) defined standardized testing as any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way, and that is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students. (p. 3) In other words, standardized testing is a measure of the academic achievement of students, which allows comparison of test results. The use of standardized testing brings with it numerous advantages. Standardized testing is the most reliable and objective way to measure academic achievement (Gray, 2019). Federal funding and grant distribution have become directly tied to standardized testing, and high standardized test results can attract additional money (Gray, 2019). In other words, standardized testing provides teachers and school leaders with a way to measure attainment of their goals if they want to attract more funding.

However, scholars and educators have also discussed numerous drawbacks of standardized testing. One of the most mentioned disadvantages is increased stress and tension associated with testing (Gray, 2019; Pietromonaco, 2021; Rapposelli, 2021). Trauma associated with standardized testing can negatively affect the mental health of students (Rapposelli, 2021). Standardized testing often shifts the priorities of students from learning to studying for tests (Gray, 2019). Such a priority shift limits the long-term effects of education, which is a significant flaw of standardized testing (Pietromonaco, 2021). Standardized testing may also lead students and teachers to cheat, because these stakeholders have a shared interest in obtaining better test results rather than superior education (Rapposelli, 2021). Standardized testing may also be responsible for the growing achievement gap (Gray, 2019). Because standardized testing does not take into consideration differences among students based on gender, culture, socioeconomic status, and language, educators within schools subject to standardized testing cannot vary their curricula according to the abilities and needs of students, which limits the ability of those educators to improve learning outcomes (Rapposelli, 2021). However, despite numerous drawbacks of standardized testing, the lack of well-established alternatives has allowed it to remain the most realizable measure of academic success.

Factors Affecting Academic Achievement

Many factors—social, economic, personal, familial, and school-related—act in a complicated way to affect the academic achievement of students in schools (Gilar et al., 2019). Additionally, researchers support the idea that racial and cultural background have a significant impact on academic achievement of students (Miller-Cotto & Byrnes, 2016).

Personal Factors

Personal factors that affect academic achievement include application of self-regulation strategies, learning strategies, and study techniques that directly impact the level of achievement of students in kindergarten through Grade 12 (K–12) (Gilar et al., 2019). Motivation and attitude toward studies also have a significant impact on the academic achievement of students (Preckel & Brunner, 2016). For example, positive attitudes toward teachers, curriculum, and school, in general, are associated with improved achievement (Preckel & Brunner, 2016).

Castejón et al. (2016) concluded that overachieving students appreciate their academic self-concept, personal self-concept, and learning goals better than other students. Overachieving students are also more honest and emotionally stable than underachieving students (Castejón et al., 2016). However, Gilar et al. (2019) states that the role of self-concept in underachieving students is unclear. The literature review revealed that some studies report poorer academic self-concept in underachieving students, while other studies demonstrated that underachievers have lower general self-concept by not academic self-concept (Gilar et al., 2019). Heyder et al. (2017) found that general self-concept was one of the crucial variables affecting boys’ language skills.

Familial Factors

Familial factors are also crucial for improving the academic performance of students. Gilar et al. (2019) mentioned that the expectations of a student’s family members and the education level of the student’s parents directly impact the student’s academic achievement. Relationships with parents also correlate with test results and grade point average (Castejón et al., 2016). Chew (2018) conducted a study and identified family income as a considerable factor contributing to the academic achievement of students. The effect was particularly strong for families with income below the poverty level. Family composition also influenced student academic performance: Students from single-parent families and multigenerational households had lower grades than students from husband-and-wife families.

Parental involvement is another factor mentioned in several recent studies. After analyzing the data from 1,400 Spanish students, Gilar et al. (2019) concluded that perceived lack of familial support and interest in the learning process of their child decrease academic achievement of students. Al-Fadley et al. (2018) also suggested that parental involvement in forms of communication, learning at home, and collaboration with the community had a positive impact on students’ learning outcomes.

Social Factors

Recent research demonstrates that several social factors affect academic achievement of K-12 students. Gilar et al. (2019) pointed out that peer acceptance can positively influence academic achievement of students, as they become more involved in the learning process and feel part of the class. Guo et al. (2018) examined a sample of 456 primary school students in China to understand the relationship between pro-social behavior and children’s academic achievement of students. The results revealed that pro-social behavior had a positive impact on academic achievement of student and peer acceptance promoted pro-social behavior. Thus, peer acceptance is one of the crucial social aspects that affect academic achievement of K-12 students.

Recent research demonstrates that peers’ attitudes also have a crucial effect on academic achievement of students (Wang et al., 2018). Peers are important socializing agents for academic behaviors. After studying the effect of peer behavior on students’ achievement, Wang et al. (2018) revealed that peers have a significant impact on engagement in school activities. Peers have a direct impact on school-related burnout, flow of schoolwork, and school value. Additionally, peers affected truancy and school effort, which had an impact on their academic achievement. Golsteyn et al. (2021) examined the effect of peer persistence on students’ academic achievement. The results revealed that when exposed to persistent peers, university students were more likely to achieve higher grades in their studies. The effect of was long-lasting, as even if students were exposed to persistent peers only in the beginning of the studies, they continued to demonstrate higher academic achievement throughout their time in the university.

Negative attitude of peers created additional pressure on students, which resulted in decreased academic achievement of students (Gilar et al., 2018). At the same time, peer support had a positive impact on the academic achievement of students (Cheng, 2020). Moreover, the length of exposure to positive attitude was also crucial for predicating academic achievement. Finally, popularity had a positive impact on academic achievement of students, as it promoted engagement in school activities (Gilar et al., 2018).

Economic Factors

Socio-economic status is one of the most cited factors affecting academic achievement (Gilar et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018; Pant, 2020). Liu et al. (2018) stated that socio-economic status is the main factor influencing academic achievement; however, its effect differs for different cultures. Additionally, Liu et al. (2018) reported that the influence of socio-economic status on academic performance had been declining for several years. After conducting a qualitative study, Pant (2020) concluded that many economically disadvantaged students had low academic achievement. Parents from such families had less time and demonstrated less interest in students’ activities. Additionally, students with low socio-economic status prioritized employment before continuation of studies, which decreased their motivation in achieving high grades.

Food insecurity is another factor that affected academic achievement of students (Faught et al., 2019). The reason for such correlation can be explained by close association between food insecurity, poverty, and health. Students experiencing food insecurity often have poor health status, which leads to missing classes. Moreover, food insecure students are often depressed, which leads to decreased academic achievement.

School-Related Factors

School-related factors mostly focus on qualifications of teachers, school equipment, and leadership. Kieti (2018) stated that teachers’ qualifications and education levels had a direct impact on academic achievement of students. Sember et al. (2020) also stated that the effectiveness of interventions conducted by teachers to improve academic achievement of students was directly affected by the qualifications of teachers. Eickelmann et al. (2017) studied the role of several school factors on academic achievement of students. The researchers concluded that school leadership, IT equipment of schools, school goals, and teachers’ attitudes had a significant impact on academic achievement of students. Alhosani et al. (2017) concluded that school leadership and climate within schools had a direct influence of academic achievement.

Cultural and Racial Background

Researchers have not reached a consensus regarding whether cultural and racial differences constitute an essential factor that contributes to the academic achievement of students (Isik et al., 2018). Miller-Cotto and Byrnes (2016) conducted a meta-analysis and found at least 46 articles published between 1996 and 2016 that discussed the matter, indicating it has been a popular subject for scholars. The results reported varied considerably: Some scholars claimed that cultural and racial background was a central determinant of academic performance, but others argued that the effect of this background was insignificant (Miller-Cotto & Byrnes, 2016). Miller-Cotto and Byrnes concluded that the effect of racial and cultural identity was significant but small, because the achievement gaps between students of different backgrounds were due to other covariates, such as family economic status, self-efficacy problems, and school underfinancing. However, Johnson (2018) claimed that researchers who conduct qualitative and quantitative studies have often been disconnected from the real lives of African American students. Based on the existence of a significant achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts, Johnson argued that race and culture are crucial determinants of academic achievement.

Achievement Gap in K–12

The problem of the achievement gap between African American students and their White counterparts has been a matter of heated discussion among scholars, policy makers, and educators. Anderson (2016) stated that African American students in the United States were in an educational crisis. In 2016, the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 32% of White Americans performed at or above the proficient level at their 12^th-grade exam, however, only 7% of Americans overall could reach the proficient level (Anderson, 2016). This implies that African Americans were less likely to achieve sufficient ACT scores than White students (Anderson, 2016). Bowman et al. (2018) reported that African American students were also more likely to drop out of school than students belonging to any other racial group. Quantitative researchers have confirmed significant differences in students’ test results based on cultural identity at all educational levels (Wang et al., 2020; Allen, 2008). For instance, Wang et al. (2020) found that African American students had lower performance in math and reading when compared with White students. The achievement gap is dangerous not only for African Americans but also for the well-being of the entire nation, because it spreads inequality (Allen, 2008).

The achievement gap first emerged in the United States in the 17th century (Allen, 2008). For instance, the Massachusetts Act of 1647 established public schooling in the cities, but not for everyone (Allen, 2008). Those belonging to racial or cultural minority groups were not the targets of this and many later education reforms, which led to the achievement gap (Allen, 2008). In the late 20th century, the achievement gap narrowed because of multiple civil rights reforms that allowed minority students to receive education like that of their White counterparts (Allen, 2008). However, years of segregation, racism, discrimination, slavery, Black codes, and social disfranchisement have had long-lasting effects on the achievement of minority students in the United States (Bowman et al., 2018). The achievement gap has thus remained an issue of concern.

Reasons for the Achievement Gap

Numerous researchers have aimed to assess the reasons for the gap in academic achievement of students. Bowman et al. (2018) addressed the problem systematically by assessing several factors simultaneously. Their results indicated that developmental differences, poverty, racism, curriculum, cultural differences, and insufficient teacher training have led to the appearance of the achievement gap (Bowman et al., 2018). The researchers suggested that all stakeholders need to change their perceptions of education. Everyone needs to understand that education starts before school and extends beyond good test scores (Bowman et al., 2018). Policy makers need to ensure that the education system takes into consideration the learning experiences of minority students and fosters partnerships among students, families, teachers, and school authorities (Bowman et al., 2018). Curricular change is also required to accommodate the cultural and developmental differences of children (Bowman et al., 2018). The reasons for the achievement gap are diverse and must be addressed systematically.

Racism and Poverty

One of the central suggestions made by Bowman et al. (2018) is that racism is one of the central factors contributing to the achievement gap. The researchers claimed that illegal deprivation of human rights lasting generations has affected the relationship between White and African American students (Bowman et al., 2018). Poverty has also had a tremendous impact on African American students, who have been more likely to have low-income backgrounds (Anderson, 2016). African American students living in poverty have had to deal with toxic stress caused by violence, neglect, inconsistent care, and unloving adults (Bowman et al., 2018). This has often resulted in intellectual development problems (Bowman et al., 2018). However, according to Johnson (2018), being poor and being African American are not the same thing. Despite correlations between racial identity and income, racial identity is not itself characterizable by socioeconomic factors (Johnson, 2018). Trying to describe African Americans as a sum of demographic, social, and economic factors ignore the history of oppression of African Americans and blames families for their financial problems, their low levels of education, and the academic underperformance of their children (Johnson, 2018). Both poverty and racism are crucial factors that explain the achievement gap between African American and White students.

Culture

The concept of cultural identity is crucial to understanding differences in academic achievement among various racial groups. For instance, many teachers and students perceive the dialect of English that African Americans speak as “bad English” (Bowman et al., 2018). However, development of this dialect began during the transatlantic slave trade, when African slaves—who spoke a variety of languages—had to develop a common language for communication (Bowman et al., 2018). As another example, consider that many parents and grandparents of African American students were taught to agree with those in authority and suppress their own opinions (Bowman et al., 2018). However, teachers of students who inherited this behavior have often interpreted the students’ failure to express their opinions as an academic problem (Bowman et al., 2018). This interpretation indicates a significant gap in the education of teachers who fail to acknowledge cultural differences.

Teachers encounter problems with cultural differences when they cannot adapt their teaching models based on student culture. Modern urban classrooms have become increasingly diverse in terms of culture, language, and race, a situation that requires culturally competent teachers (Kieran & Anderson, 2019). However, there is a significant gap in existing research regarding which approaches best help teachers meet the individual needs of culturally diverse students (Kumar et al., 2018). Interdisciplinary research is needed to create a framework for the promotion of culturally responsive education (Kumar et al., 2018). One promising such framework is the universal design for learning approach, a collection of principles that teachers can use to provide culturally responsive education without understanding the specifics of every culture (Kieran & Anderson, 2019). However, additional research is needed to evaluate the utility of the framework.

Another cultural issue applies to African American students in particular: African Americans may dislike their cultural identity and wish they were White (Anderson, 2016). This phenomenon has often led to low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with the learning process (Anderson, 2016). Another issue has been that many teachers in public schools in the United States have been White women, and many principals have been White men (Johnson, 2018). This implies that neither teachers nor principals have been able to appreciate the cultural differences of African American students, unless they have undergone systematic training (Johnson, 2018).

Access to Education

Existing disparities in access to education have also led to emergence of the achievement gap. According to Johnson (2018), leaders of school districts have failed to provide equal opportunities for African American students for a wide variety of reasons. Johnson stated that such leaders have tended to view the integration of African American students as an onerous duty rather than a foundation to build upon. Access to high-quality education has thus remained a factor contributing to the growth of the achievement gap.

Although minority students have gained access to education like that of White students, access to education has continued to impact minority students indirectly. Assari et al. (2021) claimed that the education level of a student’s parents has a direct impact on the academic achievement of the student. The average level of education of the parents of minority students has remained lower than that of the parents of White students (Assari et al., 2021). One reason for this disparity is lack of access to education in the past (Assari et al., 2021). Parents of minority students who lacked access to education also earned less than White parents, which meant they were also less able than White parents to support the education of their children.

Discipline

Many researchers have discussed the link between discipline and academic achievement. Pearman et al. (2019) conducted a large-scale quantitative study using nationwide data to assess correlations between discipline and achievement gaps. The researchers did find a significant correlation between the discipline gap and the achievement gap separating Hispanic students and White students (Pearman et al., 2019). They also found a correlation between the discipline gap and the achievement gap separating Black students and White students (Pearman et al., 2019). However, the researchers did not identify causal relationships corresponding to these correlations, as it was not the purpose of the study.

Gregory and Roberts (2017) assessed how discipline of Black students affects their academic achievement. They found that Black students are at greater risk of suspension (Gregory & Roberts, 2017). This leads to lost instruction time, which in turn hurts their test scores (Gregory & Roberts, 2017). The discipline gap emerges as early as prekindergarten and grows wider throughout high school (Gopalan & Nelson, 2019). Black and Hispanic students are more likely than other students to socialize in unfavorable discipline environments, which often interferes with their ability to participate in academic activities.

Ratcliff et al. (2017) confirmed the correlation between student behavior and achievement gaps with an observational study. The researchers aimed to compare the behaviors of teachers and students in classes with achievement gaps and without achievement gaps. Student rebellion and student off-task behavior were more common in classes with achievement gaps (Ratcliff et al., 2017). Students with discipline problems in a class may therefore have impacted the achievement gap in that class; however, Ratcliff et al. did not test for causality.

Psychological Factors

Researchers have been challenging the widely believed idea that psychological factors affect the achievement of students; however, the evidence regarding the importance of these factors has remained mixed. Dixson et al. (2017) conducted a quantitative study of the influence of several psychological factors on the achievement of African American students. The researchers demonstrated that psychological constructs, including grit, growth mindset, ethnic identity, and other group orientation had no significant effect on academic achievement of high-performing African American high school students after controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status (Dixson et al., 2017).

Dixson et al.’s (2017) results are inconsistent with the findings of other researchers. Jordt et al. (2017) conducted an experimental study by providing psychological training interventions to students. The interventions positively impacted the participants’ academic achievement (Jordt et al., 2017). This implies that psychological and emotional factors affect the gap in achievement between minority students and their White counterparts; however, affirmation intervention can mitigate the effects of these factors.

Inadequate Curriculum

Curricular problems have also contributed to the achievement gap. Those working at the frontiers of curriculum development have acknowledged that existing curricula are predominantly White, which implies that educators often overlook history and literature (Childs, 2017; Johnson, 2018; King, 2017). What is important for White students may not be important for African American students, because their cultural identities differ. For instance, July 4, 1776, means less for African Americans than June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth (Rainone, 2020). School curricula have often misrepresented the history of African Americans. One of the most vivid cases of such misrepresentation was the picturing of slaves as content with their position (King, 2017). Although such racist descriptions have left curricula, many textbooks have continued to adopt the point of view of White people (Anderson, 2016). This has often led to a Eurocentric emphasis in narration of the history of the United States and reduction of the teaching of African American history to slavery and the civil rights movement (Childs, 2017).

Inadequate curriculum has contributed in at least two ways to the gap in achievement between African American and White K–12 students. First, African American students cannot relate to stories told in history classes and writing studied during literature classes (Dahir, 2019). Inadequate curriculum thus leads to loss of interest in school and, eventually, decreased academic performance (Dahir, 2019). Second, African American students start to picture their cultural identity as based on vulnerability or misfortune (Anderson, 2016). Even in predominantly African American schools, teachers have failed to take opportunities to narrate the history of the United States from the perspective of the lived experiences of African Americans.

Overview of Strategies for Addressing the Achievement Gap

Scholars, educators, and policy makers have developed numerous strategies to address the problem of the achievement gap among minority students. For instance, Bowman et al. (2018) listed recommendations including training teachers in cultural literacy, working in partnership with families, setting high expectations while acknowledging cultural differences, and planning for the prevention of difficult behavior. Hill (2020) explored the opinions of family members of minority students and concluded that staff members should genuinely care for all students, use a variety of instructional methods to meet individual needs of students, and create healthy and inclusive environments for integration of cultural diversity. Wang et al. (2020) mentioned the importance of cultural diversity as a critical success factor. Dahir (2019) offered a strategic approach to the problem by promoting the pragmatic cultural model, which allows African American students to develop their identities while attaining the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in society. The sections that follow discuss these in greater detail.

Improving Instruction

Authors have frequently cited improving instruction practices as a strategy that can affect achievement gaps at the school level. Tailoring instruction to the audience is crucial for closing the achievement gap (Atlay et al., 2019; Bowman et al., 2018; Yue et al., 2018). Instruction that activates student participation is not necessarily the answer because applying universal instruction for all students in a class may negatively affect the achievement of disadvantaged students (Atlay et al., 2019). For instance, Atlay et al. (2019) found that the impact of cognitive activation was correlated with student socioeconomic status. Cognitive activation implies using new information to activate information they have already had in mind. This implies that some methods of instruction that improve the overall achievement of students may nevertheless increase the achievement gap.

In today’s classroom, cognitive activation is becoming a more prominent form of learning. With the ever-changing world of knowledge, teachers work hard to incorporate background knowledge into their everyday instruction in order to connect student passion with learning. According to Harris (2016): Today’s educators are under great pressure to provide 21st century students with a quality education based on 21st century standards. Those standards include providing students with the technological and informational skills needed to compete in an ever-changing, technology-driven world (p. 27).

Flipped classroom instruction influenced the achievement gap like that of cognitive activation. Flipped classroom intrusions imply that students learn new material at home and discuss it during the class. Setren et al. (2021) conducted a randomized controlled trial in which students received flipped classroom instructions. The intervention had a positive effect on the short-term academic achievement of students; however, it also widened the achievement gap (Setren et al., 2021). Flipped classroom instruction favored White students, male students, and high-achieving students over other students (Setren et al., 2021). In other words, flipped classroom instruction harmed underachieving students. The benefits of flipped classroom instruction faded over time, but its effects on the achievement gap persisted (Setren et al., 2021).

However, He et al. (2018) also conducted a randomized controlled trial and found that partially flipped classroom instruction had a positive effect on all students. Partially flipped instructions also had a greater effect on underachieving students than on other students, which led He et al. to the conclusion that flipped classroom instruction has the potential to narrow the achievement gap. One difficulty interpreting the conflicting findings of He et al. and Setren et al. (2021) is that He et al. used a sample of college students, but Setren et al. recruited participants from public schools. The conflict may therefore reflect a difference in the effects of flipped classroom instruction between public school and college students.

Yue et al. (2018) aimed to determine how supplemental instruction affects the academic achievement of students. Supplemental instruction implies using additional individual instruction for students that may need it. The researchers revealed that the more disadvantaged students were, the more they benefited from supplemental instruction (Yue et al., 2018). This implies that supplemental instruction can reduce achievement in K–12 students (Yue et al., 2018). Because Yue et al.’s definition of disadvantaged students included belonging to a racial minority group, their findings suggest that supplemental instruction can reduce the academic achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts.

Technological instructional interventions can also address the achievement gap. For instance, Lou and Jaeggi (2020) created a technology-assisted approach that can eliminate an achievement gap between students with low prior knowledge and students with high prior knowledge. The method of instructions uses technology to convey new information to students, such as multimedia-presentation and virtual reality. The intervention relies on a technique of prior knowledge activation, which proved especially beneficial for students with low prior knowledge (Lou & Jaeggi, 2020). The researchers concluded that those interventions using the latest technology can narrow the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts.

Teacher Training

Teacher training is another crucial strategy which can lower the achievement gap in public schools. Teachers who know about a wide range of instruction methods can still fail to narrow the achievement gap if they do not know how to use those methods appropriately (Bo et al., 2018). Teachers need the ability to differentiate among reasons for insufficient academic achievement and use appropriate methods to improve students’ outcomes (Bowman et al., 2018). Some students have special needs because of acquired physical and mental conditions, which implies that teachers need special skills to help such students learn according to their level (Bowman et al., 2018). Students can also require more attention and individualized treatment because of teacher–student cultural differences. Although some teachers have acknowledged the cultural differences of minority students, they have often lacked the knowledge needed to satisfy the special needs of these students (King, 2017). Without adequate training, teachers cannot account for the cultural differences of their students (Bowman et al., 2018).

Another problem that teacher training can solve is educator bias. Numerous researchers have found that teachers often have lower expectations of minority students (Gregory & Roberts, 2017). Teachers often believe that minority students cannot perform well, which deprives those students of the chance to improve (Bowman et al., 2018). Students internalize their teachers’ low expectations and start to believe that they cannot perform well, which leads to lower academic achievement (Brown et al., 2018). Teachers may also discriminate based on gender, which has similar long-lasting negative effects on the academic achievement of students and widens the achievement gap (Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2018). However, educators are often unaware of the presence of such biases (Bowman et al., 2018). By making teachers aware of their biases, improved teacher education can narrow the achievement gap.

Empirical evidence indicates that teacher training interventions can narrow the achievement gap and increase the overall academic achievement of students. For instance, Walk et al. (2018) evaluated a training program for preschool teachers and found that the carefully developed 28.5-hr training program positively impacted the academic achievement of students. Moreover, implementation of the program narrowed the achievement gap in the preschool students studied. Walk et al.’s findings indicate that even on-the-job training can improve academic achievement and narrow the achievement gap.

Inclusive Environment

Numerous researchers have found that developing an inclusive classroom environment is crucial to the success of minority students. Kizilcec et al. (2017) stated that minority students may have psychological issues that prevent them from succeeding. They may fear mockery based on their background, which prevents them from actively participating in class (Kizilcec et al., 2017). One of the main ways to address this problem is to create an inclusive environment. Dewsbury and Brame (2019) suggested that teachers need to develop deep self-awareness and empathy for minority students. Teachers then need to project this empathy to the classroom environment to develop within student’s feelings of belonging, competence, and interest in the course material (Dewsbury & Brame, 2019). Teachers should also effectively use local and national networks to maximize student learning and inclusion (Dewsbury & Brame, 2019). Dewsbury and Brame expected implementation of these strategies to narrow the achievement gap and improve relationships in class.

The environment of a classroom needs structure, which implies planning with predictable results. A teacher should write down clear expectations for the classroom environment and promote them to everybody in their classroom (Penner, 2018). Teachers should also consider using discussion to generate class norms appropriate for meeting the outlined expectations (Penner, 2018). Teachers should then always refer to these norms to ensure that students follow them (Penner, 2018). Another recommendation is the use of classroom affirmations of minority students (Kizilcec et al., 2017). School leaders should also consider hiring demographically diverse teachers to promote inclusion at a higher level (Wang et al., 2020). A teacher can translate an inclusive environment in their school into their classroom (Wang et al., 2020).

Curriculum Change

Curriculum change integrates all the strategies mentioned above and addresses many of the reasons for the achievement gap. Although though progressive educators started to build cultural identity in African American students, their efforts were not systematic, which led to inappropriate practices. For instance, teachers encouraged students to participate in mock slave auctions, play games in which some students acted like slaves and others like slave catchers, and make fun of slavery poems (King, 2017). The desire to teach African American history and develop cultural identity therefore requires regulation to prevent inappropriate practices.

Anderson (2016) promoted five central principles of curriculum change to address the problem of the underachievement of African American students. First, a curriculum should promote sound racial identity, which helps realize the strengths of cultural background. Second, the curriculum should help students to use critical consciousness and identify issues of inequity. Third, the curriculum should cultivate critical academic achievement because this helps link academic performance with navigation and transformation of society. Fourth, the curriculum should develop a sense of collective responsibility within students. Fifth, the curriculum should aid the teaching of activism and encourage the ability to initiate and sustain changes in society. Anderson argued that building a curriculum around these principles would ensure that African American students both thrive and transform the racist society around them.

Curriculum change requires alterations in the areas of history and language arts. Rainone (2020) claimed that history classes should include the history of African Americans beyond the contexts of the civil rights movement and slavery. History classes should convey the history of African Americans before their enslavement to foster appreciation of the depth of their cultural background (Rainone, 2020). The curriculum needs to aid understanding that current differences in perceptions of the world, behavior, and language are a result of a long developmental process no worse than that followed by White Americans (Johnson, 2018; Rainone, 2020). Educators can provide the necessary cultural affirmation in literature classes by introducing complex African American characters to whom modern African American students can relate (Johnson, 2018). The curriculum should also acknowledge linguistic differences between African Americans and White American to ensure adequate evaluation of all students (Rainone, 2020).

Curriculum change needs a basis in solid theory. “Curriculum theory” is a term that refers to how a school’s leaders decide what students should learn. Beauchamp (1982) said that a theory is a set of constructs, definitions, and propositions that explain a phenomenon systematically. The primary constructs in a curriculum theory are the subjects that students should learn, the methods teachers should use to teach those subjects, and the assessment strategies used to evaluate the outcomes (Beauchamp, 1982). Curriculum change needs an adequate theoretical framework to guide the process of change and guide evaluation of the outcomes. There are four central theoretical approaches to curriculum: academic, pragmatic, individualistic, and idealistic (Beauchamp, 1982). The pragmatic approach is perhaps the most appropriate for guiding curriculum change (Dahir, 2019). The primary advantage of this approach is that pragmatists want all students to achieve the desired competencies, just high-achieving students (Enache & Crisan, 2016). The pragmatic approach rests on the assumption that students gain the skills needed to succeed and change reality while they develop cultural competencies.

Summary

The significant education gap between African American students and their White counterparts has been a focus of heated discussion among policy makers, educators, and scholars. Numerous familial, social, economic, personal, and school-related factors affect the academic achievement of students. Although cultural background also has a significant effect on academic performance, some scholars have tried to attribute this effect to socioeconomic disadvantages associated with African American students. However, those making such claims have often been culturally incompetent and have tended to use quantitative methods. Approaches that can help address the problem of the achievement gap include improving instruction, enhancing teacher training, building inclusive environments, and curriculum change. However, curriculum change seems to be the most appropriate approach for the purpose of the present study. Curriculum change should help African American students relate to the stories told in literature and history classes and enable them to transform society.

Procedures

Overview

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Smith Elementary School possible solutions to the problem of low Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) scores of minority students at the school. The school under analysis was a small-scale educational entity in Norfolk County, Virginia, where almost 60% of the students at the school were African American (Smith Elementary School, n.d.). This section provides a detailed description of the procedures used to collect data for further analysis, including the procedures and questions for each of the three forms of data collected: interviews, focus groups, and surveys.

Interview Procedures

The first data collection method consisted of five semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers and administrators who had knowledge relevant to the topic. The interview questions helped the researcher learn about the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the reasons for low SOL scores among minority students and strategies that could be employed to improve these scores. A total of five interviews were conducted to explore the issue from different angles. The participants included teachers from grades levels 3-5 in the school (Third through Fifth grade) and the school’s instructional coach. Purposeful sampling was used to select information-rich participants, which is crucial for mixed methods research (Palinkas et al., 2015). Participants were selected based on their knowledge of the SOL assessment and working with minority students, at this school.

Each interview followed the standard protocol of a semi-structured interview described by Creswell (2012). All the interviews were conducted on the school campus, after classes, and each lasted approximately 1 hr. Each participant was asked 10 interview questions, and the provided answers were audio recorded and carefully transcribed for further analysis. Additional clarification questions were asked during the interviews when needed. To help answer the research question, all the interview participants were asked the same 10 interview questions in a consecutive manner. All the questions derived from existing literature. Even though variations in the ordering of questions was considered acceptable, the order of the questions was followed to ensure the reliability of findings.

All the interviews were audio-recorded to be transcribed and analyzed in the future. The researcher was aware that recording the interviews was associated with two central issues that needed consideration. First, the investigator needed to inform the participants about the interview being recorded and they had to give a verbal permission to the interview being recorded. The ethical standards of the University require such a consent to ensure ethicality of data collection process. Second, the researcher should ensure that the recordings are protected from unwanted access. Therefore, the researcher stored all the data on a laptop protected by a password and antivirus software. The investigator also ensured that the participants that all the collected data was for the use of research, and no third parties would receive access to it. Such assortment was done to ensure that the participants felt relaxed during the data collection process and could express their deep ideas and concerns without the fear of being penalized by the administrators. During the interviews, the researcher also made notes to capture subtle thoughts and ideas that were expressed using non-verbal language.

After the interviews were completed, they were transcribed for further analysis. Before being analyzed, the transcripts were sent to the participants to ensure that untrue or inappropriate information was deleted from the transcripts. After that, a standard thematic analysis was conducted to extract the central ideas from the responses that could help to address the problem of achievement gap in the urban elementary school in Norfolk, Virginia. The data analysis process followed the standard procedure recommended by Creswell (2012). The data analysis procedure is described below.

1. Familiarization. This stage was associated with reading the transcripts to gain a general idea about the collected data. During this stage, no notes were made to avoid destruction from the process.
2. Coding. The second step was highlighting the parts of the transcripts that focus on the same general ideas using different colors. All the colors were assigned with a code word that appeared most appropriate for the matter.
3. Theme searching. During this phase, several codes were combined into groups to identify common themes. Some codes were excluded during this step as they are too broad, vague, or not frequent enough.
4. Reviewing patterns and themes. This stage was associated with reviewing the identified themes and uniting some of them with similar wording. Some themes were excluded from the analysis at this stage as they were of low value to the purpose of the research.
5. Naming themes. This phase was associated with giving short names to the themes.
6. Producing results. The final step of the process was explaining the results in paragraph form so that they could be comprehended by the reader.

Interview Questions

Why do you think standardized test scores are helpful for measuring the achievements of elementary school students?

This question was used to aid understanding of the attitudes of teachers towards standardized tests as a measure of achievement. Williams (2005) noted that many teachers believe that standardized tests do not measure academic achievement accurately because they promote studying for the test rather than studying for knowledge. The answers to this question helped to understand the level of bias regarding standardized testing. The answers to this question also helped to determine if the tests were in accord with the curriculum and the abilities of the students in the elementary school.

Why do you think SOL test results are important for students?

This question aimed at helping the interviewees think about the importance of SOL test results for the school in general and for every individual student. This question was a utility question that helped participants to take the research and the problem seriously. The question also helped the participants to consider if the benefits associated with the test are comparable to the effort of the students.

Why do you think the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts exists in this school?

The question helps to identify the reasons for the existence of the achievement gap in this school. Numerous studies aimed at assessing the reasons for the gap in the academic achievements of students. A recent article by Bowman et al. (2018) addressed the problem systematically by assessing several factors simultaneously. Developmental differences, poverty, racism, curriculum, cultural differences, and insufficient teacher training lead to the appearance of the achievement gap (Bowman et al., 2018). Those at the frontiers of curriculum development have acknowledge that the current curriculum is predominantly White, which implies that history and literature are often overlooked (King, 2017; Johnson, 2018). In this study, the researcher expected the interviewees to name all these reasons. However, could also have mentioned other reasons, which would value to the research. Even if interviewees did not provide additional reasons, their insights would be crucial they would help to establish consistency of existing knowledge.

What issues do you feel contributed to the achievement gap which may be addressed by the faculty and administration?

This question helped to narrow down the list of the problems that were feasible to address. Research indicated that developmental differences, poverty, racism, inadequate curriculum, cultural differences, and insufficient teacher training have led to the appearance of the achievement gap (Bowman et al., 2018). For instance, socioeconomic status often has a negative impact on a student’s academic achievement (Bowman, 2018). However, this problem can hardly be addressed by the faculty and administration of this school. This question focused the attention of the participants on how they can personally participate in making a better life for their students and themselves, which allowed the participants to escape from demanding mood to the position of an active builder of their students’ future.

How do you think the curriculum accommodates for diverse student backgrounds?

This question starts a series of questions that help to focus on specific factors that contribute to low SOL test scores in this school. Dahir (2019) reported that African American students could not relate to the stories told in the history classes and writing studied during literature lessons. This leads to a loss of interest in studies, which eventually leads to decreased academic performance (Dahir, 2019). The question is designed to gather the opinions of the participants concerning the influence of curriculum on the achievement gap between Whites and minority students. The participants were also encouraged to state how they could change the curriculum on the local or state level to help the minority students improve their test scores.

How do you think psychological factors affect SOL scores in this school?

This question continues the series of questions that help to focus on the factor that can be addressed using the school’s resources to improve the SOL test scores of minority students. Dixson et al. (2017) found that the effect of psychological factors, such as grit, growth mindset, ethnic identity, and other group orientation, had no significant effect on the academic achievement of students, which was inconsistent with previous research. This question helps to clarify the matter.

How do you think discipline affects SOL test results in this school?

Pearman et al. (2019) found that there was a significant correlation between the achievement gap and the discipline gap among minority students. Gregory and Roberts (2017) found that Black students are at greater risk of suspension, which leads to lost instruction time and decreased test scores. The reviews about the school demonstrated that it has significant issues with discipline among the minority students. The question helps to understand if discipline is a significant factor that affects SOL scores of minority students in this school. In other words, this question seeks to answer the question if the achievement gap was associated with the discipline gap.

What instructional strategies do you think are most effective for improving minority students’ SOL scores in this school?

This question helps to gather general information about the possible strategies that can be used for solving the problem of low-test scores of minority students in this school. The literature review suggested several strategies for closing the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts, including improving instruction, teacher training, creation of including environment, and curriculum change. This question helped to understand if these strategies were viable for improving the test scores of the minority students in the Urban elementary school.

How do you think the school can improve minority students’ SOL scores through instruction?

The question helps to focus more on the instructional practices that can be changed to improve the test scores of minority students. Bowman (2018) states that aside from improving the curriculum, instruction perfection is crucial for closing the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts. The purpose of this question was to understand the peculiarities about how instruction can be improved to accommodate for the needs of minority students.

How do you think the school can improve minority students’ SOL scores through collective efficacy?

This question is aimed to look closely at the problem of low collective efficacy in this school and find strategies to address it to improve the SOL test results of minority students. Goddard et al. (2017) concluded that the promotion of collective efficacy among teachers could help to close the achievement gap; however, no specific strategies were offered to improve collective efficacy.

Focus Group Procedures

The second method of data collection consisted of a focus group created to further develop the understanding of how the SOL scores can be improved. A focus group with eight participants was conducted. The focus group was structured as a discussion of strategies in general followed by concentration on different grade levels. Purposeful sampling was used to include eight most experienced teachers of specific grades in corresponding focus groups. The focus group discussion was conducted on the school campus; 90 min was allocated for the discussion. The audio was recorded and then transcribed immediately afterward. All participants were informed about the ongoing recording, and they provided informed consent. The transcript was coded. The frequencies of the codes were evaluated, and the codes were arranged into themes.

Before the start of the focus group session, all participants were informed of the purpose of the focus group, and they had access to a printed list of questions so that they could get an idea of the spectrum of discussion. The researcher, who acted as a group moderator, was in charge of generating as many ideas as possible and helping the participants move from one question to another.

The focus group session was also recorded to ensure that all the information was preserved and analyzed. The participants were informed about the meeting being recorded. Moreover, the researcher explained that the privacy of the participants would be protected be storing the raw data safely on laptop protected by anti-virus software and a password. After the session was over, the recording was transcribed using pseudonyms instead of the real names to protect the privacy of the participants. The transcript was sent out to the participants before the analysis to avoid including any false or unethical information. The transcript was corrected where it was needed. The data analysis process followed the standard procedure recommended by Creswell (2012) described earlier in this chapter. The 10 questions for the focus groups are provided in the following section. All the questions were grounded in current literature.

Focus Group Questions

What is the attitude of teachers in this school toward standardized tests?

The question aimed at understanding whether teachers believed that standardized testing was a proper measure of achievement of students. Teachers may believe that improving student achievement and improving stargazed test scores are weakly correlated since people are forced to study for tests instead of learning material (Williams, 2005). Thus, the question aimed at establishing a baseline for further discussion.

How do you think ethnicity affects the academic achievements of students in this school?

The question helped determine how the focus group participants felt about ethnicity affecting academic achievement. Some teachers may believe that other factors, such socioeconomic status, is the reason minority students underperform in schools (Liu et al., 2020). Group participants may therefore have believed that it would be improper to discuss strategies for improving the SOL scores of minority students. However, it was highly suspected that academic achievement of minority students was a significant problem acknowledged by all teachers.

Why do test results of minority students need to be improved?

The question encouraged participants to consider the benefits of improving test scores for different stakeholders. The group moderator helped the participants to touch upon benefits for students, teachers, school administration, and the community. The researcher expected the responses to motivate the participants to become involved in later discussions.

What do you think are the major reasons for the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts in this school?

Bowman et al. (2018) described at least four major factors that affect the academic achievement of minority students, including the curriculum, cultural differences, poverty, and racism. This question invited participants to offer other factors that may affect the academic achievement of minority students. The logic behind the question was that the strategies for improving the SOL scores for minority students would be associated with addressing the reasons for achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts (Johnson 2018). Thus, it was a preparatory question for further discussion about the strategies for improving SOL scores among the minority students in the Urban elementary school.

What factors do you believe have the most significant effect on all grade level students in this school?

Research indicates that many factors affect academic achievement. Social, economic, personal, familiar, and school-related act in a complicated way to affect academic achievement of students in school (Gilar et al., 2019). Additionally, researchers support the idea that cultural and racial background have a significant impact on academic achievement of students (Miller-Cotto & Byrnes, 2016). This question aimed to narrow down the list pf problem to the most important ones.

What strategies do you believe have the most significant effect on the SOL scores among minority students in this elementary school?

Oakes et al. (2017) claimed that some of the most effective strategies for improving academic achievement among elementary school students are the promotion of integrated student support, expanded learning time and opportunities, family and community engagement, and collaboration and effective leadership practices. The participants received an opportunity to discuss these four strategies in more detail. Moreover, the question asked the teachers for adding new strategies for improving SOL scores among the minority students in the Urban elementary school.

Which of the strategies discussed today are most appropriate for improving SOL scores of students from grade levels three through five in the school?

This question helped participants focus on the specific grade levels and single out the most appropriate methods for addressing the problem of low academic achievement of minority students at that level.

How can instructions be improved in all the grade levels in this school to improve minority students’ test scores?

This question further narrowed down the topic to aid understanding of how instruction can address the problem. Shamir et al. (2019) claimed that modifying instruction can improve the academic achievements of students. However, different schools may have different problems, which means that there are no universal methods. This question helped the participants provide school and grade-specific recommendations from the professionals.

How can the curriculum be modified for each grade level to improve the test results of minority students?

The question helped participants focus on the changes in the curriculum implemented in this Elementary School. King (2017) stated that curriculum may be the central issue for minority students because they have been unable to relate to the stories they have been reading and studying. However, only limited curricular changes are possible at the school level. The focus group helped to single out the alternatives with the aid of this question. The moderator of the group also asked to single out how every teacher could contribute to changing the curriculum. The teachers understand that the curriculum is approved by the state, and no significant alterations could be made on the local level. However, there may be strategies that every teacher can use, such as signing petitions or supporting candidates that could improve school curriculum.

What can the school do to increase parental involvement for minority students?

Oakes et al. (2017) provide significant evidence that parental involvement has a positive impact on student’ achievement. Since the majority of students in the Urban elementary school are economically disadvantaged, it was expected that they experience less parental involvement in their studies in comparison with their white counterparts (Bowman et al., 2018). This question is designed to help identify strategies for increasing parental involvement, which could potentially improve SOL test scores of minority students in this school.

Survey Procedures

The third and final method of data collection was a Likert-scale survey. The Likert-scale survey was developed to help understand how, based on perceptions of the stakeholders, the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at the Urban elementary school can be solved. The survey was made up of 14 questions: four demographic questions and 10 content questions. The survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey because this service provided basic statistical analysis and its use did not require much experience. A purposeful sample of 25 teachers from this school were invited to complete the survey. The invitations were sent via email with a link to the survey questions. The email also included a brief description of the study, including its purpose and methods. Participants were given details of the research and instructions for the survey along with a consent form as the first section within the electronic survey. Purposeful sampling was used because it helped the researcher generalize based on a relatively small sample (Etikan & Bala, 2017). The survey data were analyzed using frequencies of responses and measures of central tendency (mean, median, and modes of responses) to provide insight into participant experiences. Such analysis allowed the researcher to correlate quantitative responses with the themes derived in the qualitative analysis. These data will then guide the potential solutions.

Survey Questions

Demographic Questions

What category best describes you in terms of age?

• 21–29 years
• 30–39 years
• 40–49 years
• 50–59 years
• 60 years or older

What is your biological gender?

• Male
• Female
• Prefer not to say

What is your race?

• White
• African American
• Latino
• Asian
• Other

What is your highest degree?

• Bachelor’s degree

1. Master’s degree
2. Specialist degree
3. PhD/MD/other professional degree
4. Other

Content Questions

In general, how do you think your students in this school perform in terms of academic achievement?

This question was designed to establish a baseline for further inferential analysis. It helped with comparison of the perceived academic achievement of all students with the perceived academic achievement of minority students.

How do you think minority students in this school perform in terms of academic achievement?

This question was closely connected to Survey Question 1, and it aided comparison of the overall perceived performance of students at this school with the perceived performance of minority students. Ratcliff et al. (2017) stated that teachers’ awareness of an existing problem can modify the academic achievement of students.

Please state how much you agree with the following statement: “I believe that academic underachievement of minority students in this school is a significant problem that should be addressed in the near future.”

Please state how much you agree with the following statement: “I believe that instruction practices in this school are of the highest quality.”

This question helped the researcher to examine the level of instructional practices at this school. According to Bowman et al. (2018), instruction is key to improving the academic performance of minority students.

What is the effect of curriculum on the academic achievement of minority students in this school?

This question was designed to measure the effect of curriculum on the academic achievement of minority students. King (2017) claimed that inadequate curriculum is key to low academic performance of minority students.

What is the effect of parental involvement on the academic achievement of minority students in this school?

In general, how involved are parents in the academic lives of their children in this school?

This question helped the researcher to examine the level of instructional practices at this school. According to Bowman et al. (2018), instruction is key to improving the academic performance of minority students.

How involved are parents of minority students in the academic lives of their children in this school?

This question measures parental involvement of minority students in the school to compare it to the overall involvement of students.

Do you like working in this school?

This question was designed to measure the level of teacher satisfaction, an important predictor of level of instruction and academic achievement (Oakes et al., 2017).

Please state how much you agree with the following statement: “Teachers acknowledge cultural differences of all students in their classroom.”

This question was meant to measure the level of racism in the school. Johnson (2018) claimed that race and culture are crucial determinants impacting underachievement of minority students.

Summary

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Smith Elementary School possible solutions to the problem of low Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) scores of minority students at the school. The problem that this research addressed was that African American students at the urban elementary school historically had lower academic achievement than other students, as measured by SOL scores. This chapter focused on description of the methods used by the researcher to solve the described problem. First, the chapter described the interview procedures along with interview questions. Second, the chapter focused on focus group procedures and questions. Finally, the chapter was concluded with a description of the focus group procedures and questions. The discussion of the methods established their relevancy, effectiveness, and ethicality.

Findings

Overview

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Smith Elementary School possible solutions to the problem of low Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) scores of minority students at the school. The school under analysis was a small-scale educational entity in Norfolk County, Virginia, where almost 60% of the students at the school were African American (Smith Elementary School, n.d.). This section of the report includes interview findings, focus group findings, and survey findings.

Interview Findings

The first approach utilized by this research to obtain relevant data concerning methods for improving SOL scores in the Urban elementary school in Virginia was semi-structured interviews. During the interviews, each participant was asked ten consecutive questions privately so that they could freely express their thoughts and ideas without feeling pressured. The purpose of the interviews was to focus the attention of the participants on factors that affected the achievement gap between minority students and their white counterparts. The assessment of these factors was expected to help the participants understand which strategies would be most effective for improving the SOL scores of minority students in the urban elementary school. A total of five interviews were conducted among teachers of 3-5 grades. Participants were selected based on their knowledge of the SOL assessment and working with minority students at this school. All the participants had more than five years of teaching experience and more than two years of teaching in the urban school. It was crucial that the teachers were from the urban school in Virginia to increase the relevance of the results. All the participants were explained the purpose of the study and the rationale behind each question. The interviewer made notes during the interview sessions to ensure the correct understanding of the remarks by the participants.

Interview Descriptions of Participants

This section provides description of the participants recruited for the interviews. The section uses pseudonyms for protecting the participants’ privacy.

The first interview participant was Ms. Bradley, one of the building instructional coaches, with 22 years of experience in education, five of which have been spent as an instructional coach at Smith Elementary School. Prior to becoming an instructional coach, she was an elementary teacher, in grades Pre-K, Kindergarten, 2nd and 5th grade. At the middle school level, she taught 6th grade history. As an instructional coach, Ms. Bradley brought insight on how to help teachers improve the quality of their lessons.

Ms. Bright is currently in her fifth year as a third-grade teacher and has been teaching at Smith Elementary School for 5 years, with 4 years as a teacher elsewhere prior. Her students take their SOL assessment for the first time at the end of the school year. Ms. Bright’s experience with preparing students for the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment was brought to the study.

Ms. Hayes is in her tenth year as a fourth-grade teacher at Smith Elementary School, all of which have been spent at Smith Elementary Smith. She has taught second and third grade. What students learn in second grade ultimately impacts how successful they will be in third grade when they take the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment.

Mrs. Jordan has 18 years of experience in education, 4 of which have been at Smith Elementary School. Mrs. Jordan has taught 6^th and 7^th grade English. Mrs. Jordan is currently teaching 5^th grade students that will be taking the SOL while they are in her class; all the students have taken the test preceding entering in Mrs. Jordan’s class.

Ms. Christy has 21 years of experience in education, 16 of which have been at Smith Elementary School. Ms. Christy has taught Kindergarten, 1^st grade, 2^nd grade and 4^th elsewhere. Ms. Christy’s current teaching assignment is third grade. Students in Ms. Christy’s class have not taken the SOL assessment prior to entering her class. Due to Ms. Christy’s experience teaching at the early childhood level, Ms. Christy was able to give insight on students learning experiences before they are in a testing grade level.

Interview Results

Five interviews were conducted to determine the best strategies for improving SOL scores among minority students in the urban school. The researcher created a transcript of all the interviews, and thematic analysis was used to extract the central ideas. The data analysis process followed the standard procedure recommended by Creswell (2012). Thematic analysis was performed after the data were collected to identify valuable ideas. Interview transcript responses were coded based on related content. The frequencies of the codes were evaluated across all the interviews. These codes were then categorized into main themes.

A total of seven codes were identified, which were united into three central themes. The themes included individualization, curriculum, and human factor. The individualization theme united three codes, including individualized instruction, sensitivity to knowledge, and individualized needs. All of the codes were united by the idea that the teachers used the same instructions and approach with all students based on the differences in the students’ needs and knowledge levels. The theme of curriculum united to codes, which were SOL test and adaptation for minorities. The codes were united on the basis that the current curriculum at the urban school was inadequate, as it does not prepare students for long tests and fails to acknowledge the different experiences and backgrounds of cultural minorities. The theme of human factor united the codes of teacher bias and stress. This theme explained that the students may have low SOL scores due to increased stress during the test, as the school fails to prepare the students for such tests due to the curriculum. Additionally, teachers may have preconceived opinions of the academic abilities of minority students, which affects the SOL scores of students.

The themes extracted from qualitative data analysis are provided in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Codes and themes from the interview data

The researcher conducted a word search to determine the frequency of codes. The distribution of frequency of these codes is provided in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Table of themes, codes, and frequency

Discussion of Interview Findings

A total of three central themes were discovered during the thematic analysis. These themes were divided into a total of seven sub-themes associated with different codes, as presented in Table 1. These codes were extracted from the analysis of transcripts. Codes with frequencies of four and more were included in the analysis. This section provides an in-depth discussion of these themes and sub-themes.

Individualization

All the participants mentioned that the school lacked an individualized approach to students. Participants reiterated that the lack of focus on the individual needs of the students were an issue that could be addressed by the faculty and administration. Students require support to address one objective at a time. All students do not start at the same point or level in the first weeks of school however in roughly 150 days are all expected to learn the same content and to become test ready, a participant stated. One of participants summarized the opinions of others in the following phrase, “Lack of instruction with equity, and lack of sensitivity and knowledge of the students being served at this school are issues that could be addressed by the faculty and administration.” This demonstrates the overall opinion of the participants. The central problem of the school led to the achievement gap between the minority students and their white counterparts. One of the participants stated, “Cultural responsiveness is important. Teachers do not diversify their instruction according to the needs of the students. One of the aspects of student learning.” Another participant added when teachers incorporate cultural responsiveness, students can link the instruction to their background knowledge and experiences. The theme of lack of diversified instruction was mentioned 11 times, making it the second most frequent code. The code of individualized needs was mentioned four times. Teachers fail to understand that minority students have different experiences and different background knowledge. The lack of sensitivity to knowledge was mentioned five times during the interviews. As a result, teachers fail to diversify their instruction so that students can relate to them. Thus, teacher training could improve the teachers’ ability to diversify their approach to students.

Curriculum

All the participants stated that the core of the achievement gap lay in the curriculum, as it was oriented toward an average white student. Minority students cannot relate to the stories told during the classes, which leads to a lack of interest. In other words, the curriculum isn’t adapted for minority students. The code adaptation of the curriculum for minorities was the most frequent among participants with a total of 12 mentions. The participants stated “The curriculum doesn’t accommodate diverse backgrounds. Students don’t get the opportunity to read about things they can relate to.” This may mean that the central reason for the achievement gap lies in the inadequate curriculum.

Moreover, the participants mentioned that the curriculum was not tailored for passing the SOL tests. The code of ‘SOL Tests’ was mentioned 5 times during the interview. One of the participants stated that “Nowhere in the curriculum does it require a student to sit and read for hours at a time.” As a result, students were not prepared to sit for an exam for long hours. Therefore, the success rate highly depends on the students’ discipline. One of the participants mentioned that the discipline of white students is usually higher, as their parents usually have more time to spend with their children. Thus, if the school changed the curriculum to help the students practice for SOL tests or changed the SOL test, the achievements of minority students would be higher. It is also crucial to mention that four out of five participants stated that the SOL test was a poor way to measure student achievement and it is inadequate to change the curriculum to fit the test.

Human Factor

The theme of the human factor was the least frequent among the three. The participants stated that one of the reasons for the achievement gap was the difference in the ability to work under stress. One of the participants stated, “No matter how it is displayed, education was generated with the end in mind. The result is not a whole rounded, confident, critically thinking student, but a test score.” The participants stated that the SOL test was a stressful event, and students could handle stress differently. The ‘stress’ code was mentioned nine times by the participants. Another human factor that affected the achievement gap was teacher bias. The code of teacher bias was found six times in the interviews. In particular, one of the participants stated, “these teachers sometimes have preconceived opinions of the academic abilities of minority students.” Participants mentioned that addressing teacher bias in the school could improve SOL test scores in the future.

The idea of teacher bias was only indirectly mentioned in previous research. In particular, Bowman et al. (2018) stated that racism was a significant factor that contributed to the achievement gap. Bowman et al. (2018) stated that predisposition of teachers towards intellectual abilities of Black students was a part of the theme of racism. The theme being physically and emotionally not prepared for the test was mentioned in the observed literature. The results of the interviews were not confirmed by analysis of data acquired from surveys and focus groups. Therefore, it may be beneficial to explore this theme in future research to improve the curriculum or test designs for the elementary school students.

Focus Group Findings

The second approach used by this research to discover the methods for improving SOL scores among minority students in the Urban elementary schools in Virginia was a focus group. The focus group session lasted for one hour, during which the participants were asked ten questions. The focus group aimed to discuss the underlying reasons for the underachievement of minority students and define strategies that could help to mitigate the problem of minority students’ underachievement. Before asking the questions, the researcher explained to the participants the procedures of the focus group. In particular, the researcher explained that the participants were not expected to know the answers to the questions, and there were no right or wrong answers. Before the focus group, the researcher also gave out forms to the participants that were used to collect information about the participants. The focus group was moderated by two persons, including the researcher and an assistant. A total of eight teachers participated in the focus group. They were warned that the discussion would be audiotaped for future transcription and analysis. The researcher also explained to the participants that the names of the participants would be changed during the transcribing process to protect the participants’ privacy.

Focus Group Description of the Participants

Ms. Sky is a 28-year old African American teacher with 4 years of experience in the urban elementary school. She has taught mathematics in third through fifth grades in the urban elementary school and another school in Texas. She is now valuable teacher of the school that supports rights of African American students. She is an expert in math instructions and loved by her students and parents.

Ms. Cousar is a Caucasian reading teacher with 18 years of experience. Ms. Coursar spent 7 years in the urban elementary school. She has taught all grade levels in elementary schools, which confirms her high qualifications. She has been teaching third grade for the past three years.

Ms. Braines is a white reading teacher with seven years of experience in different school in the south of the US. She has been a part of the urban elementary school for two years. She demonstrated her high flexibility to the quickly changing learning environment during the pandemic. Her classes had the highest grades, which makes her an expert in the implementing new initiative.

Ms. Braxton is a veteran of the urban elementary school with 29 years of experience, 21 of which were devoted to the urban elementary school. She has been a long promoter of African American rights and equal opportunities in schools. She has experience of teaching science in all grade levels.

Ms. Sunny is in her tenth year as a fourth-grade teacher at elementary schools, all of which have been spent at the urban elementary school. She has taught second and third grade. What students learn in second grade ultimately impacts how successful they will be in third grade when they take the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment.

Ms. Macado is a young specialist who joined the urban elementary school in 2021 teaching reading in the second grade. She graduated with honors in 2020 and her work in the urban elementary school. She was invited to help the discussion find some fresh ideas. She is currently teaching first grade.

Ms. Raymond is a mathematics teacher with 14 years of experience teaching in elementary and middle schools in the Northern stated of the US. She joined the school five years prior to this investigation. She currently teachers fifth grade.

Ms. Oliver is a highly valued professional who spent 11 years in the urban elementary school. She has 17 years of experience teaching science in elementary school. She is currently teaching third grade students.

Focus Group Results

The focus group discussion was transcribed, and a thematic analysis was conducted. The process of data analysis had the same six steps as thematic analysis for the interviews. These steps included familiarization, coding, theme searching, reviewing patterns and themes, naming themes, and producing the results.

The analysis of the transcript revealed a total of three themes represented by six codes. The first theme was named ‘curriculum’ and included three central codes, including white curriculum, studying for tests, and reading. The analysis demonstrated the current curriculum in the school failed to acknowledge the differences in students’ cultural backgrounds and their reading ability. Additionally, the fact that students need to take a test at the end of the year forces teachers to help the students study for the test instead of helping them to enjoy learning. The second theme was named ‘differences’, which included the codes of socio-economic problems and cultural differences. This theme explained that both teachers and school authorities fail to understand the different backgrounds of students and act in accordance with the differences in needs and experiences. The theme of ‘building communities’ included the only code of community, which explained that African Americans can help each other by uniting in the communities.

The themes extracted from qualitative data analysis are provided in Table 3 below.

Table 3: Codes and themes from the interview data

The researcher conducted a word search to determine the frequency of codes. The distribution of frequency of these codes is provided in Table 4 below.

Table 4: Table of themes, codes, and frequency

Discussion of the Focus Group Findings

The thematic analysis of the focus group discussion revealed a total of three themes from six codes. These themes are discussed in detail below.

Curriculum

The discussion of the focus group was centered around the idea that the curriculum was the major problem for the achievement gap. First, children were always on the run to study for tests instead of learning what they needed to learn. Teachers mentioned numerous times that they are forced to teach for the test instead of addressing the needs of students. One of the participants wondered, “How can I put a fourth-grade book in front of my fourth-graders when three-fourths of them are reading on 1st and 2nd grade level?” seven out of eight participants agreed that SOL tests were not a correct way to measure students’ success. Thus, the best way to improve the scores of the minority students was to either change SOL tests or to retract from using SOL tests to track students’ success and incentivize teachers. One of the participants stated that the curriculum is meant for white people and does take into consideration the special needs of minority students. Moreover, the curriculum also appears boring to the minority students, which makes them uninterested in participating in-class work. Students rarely understand how they can apply the skills they learn at school to real life. Thus, a new curriculum should be introduced that takes into consideration the special needs and interests of minority students.

The participants also insisted that reading was one of the crucial problems in the curriculum. Minority students fail to gain enough reading skills to understand the test and be able to sit through it. One of the participants stated, “Most students can’t read and therefore just click through the test.” While white students are exposed to reading due to their families, minority students’ families do not have enough time to spend with their children to expose them to reading. As a result, minority students often need additional time spent on reading practice to be able to understand the requirements of curriculum and tests. Since the wide majority of students in the urban elementary school are non-white, the school needs to change the curriculum or introduce extra-curriculum activities that would help the students to improve their reading skills.

Differences

This theme explains that one of the major reasons for the achievement gap between minority students and their white counterparts is the inability to acknowledge the differences between these two groups of students. In particular, the code of socio-economic differences was encountered 7 times during the focus group, while the code of cultural differences was met six times during the focus group discussion. Minority students often face immense struggles due to economic problems in their families. One of the participants stated that “I definitely think socio-economic factors go hand in hand with achievement.” Additionally, minority students often face social injustice, such as discrimination and racism. Teachers are often prejudicial about the abilities of minorities, which influences relationships and expectations. However, White teachers are often unaware of the struggles their students go through. One of the participants said “I believe that is a start because a lot of teachers in this school have no knowledge of the struggles minority students are facing when they enter the classroom.” Neither do the teachers have the training to understand the cultural differences between the minority students and their white counterparts. Thus, it is crucial that the teacher receive culture sensitivity training to be able to personalize their approach to minority students. Additionally, the students may need mental health counseling to be able to deal with the hardships they face at a young age.

Building Communities

Another crucial problem that affects the achievement gap of students is the lack of ‘Black community in the area. The theme was mentioned eight times during the focus group. The participants stated that even though the curriculum was the central reason for the achievement gap, it is unlikely that the authorities will change it. Therefore, the minorities should help themselves to address the problem of low achievement of minority students. Participants stated “For the therapist that realizes the generational curse will not end until we end it, should partner with schools and churches in an effort to help heal the black mind and heart. Blacks do not have a community.” The code of community was mentioned 8 times during the discussion. Additionally, the theme of building community included the idea of schools using community services to help the children and their parents overcome the financial and psychological difficulties they experience. Thus, the school needs to take an active position in building the community to ensure strong support from various stakeholders.

Survey Findings

The third and final method of data collection was a Likert-scale survey. The Likert-scale survey was developed to help understand how, based on perceptions of the stakeholders, the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at the urban school can be solved. The survey was made up of 14 questions: four demographic questions and 10 content questions. The survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey because this service provided basic statistical analysis and its use did not require much experience. A purposeful sample of 25 teachers from this school were invited to complete the survey. The invitations were sent via email with a link to the survey questions. The email also included a brief description of the study, including its purpose and methods. Participants were given details of the research and instructions for the survey along with a notice of consent as the first section within the electronic survey. Purposeful sampling was used because it helped the researcher generalize based on a relatively small sample (Etikan & Bala, 2017). The survey data were analyzed using frequencies of responses and measures of central tendency (mean, median, and modes of responses) to provide insight into participant experiences. Such analysis will allow the researcher to correlate quantitative responses with the themes derived in the qualitative analysis. These data will then guide the potential solutions.

Survey Description of Participants

Survey participants included 22 teachers at the Urban elementary school, as well as two special education teachers, and one instructional coach who works directly with learning specialists. Of the 25 participants, 12 participants are in the 30-39 age range, 8 are in the 40-49 range, 5 are in the 50-59 range, 0 were in the 60 or older range. One instructional coach participated, along with 2 special education teachers, and 22 general education teachers. The instructional coach has spent 8 years in the current role, while teachers, had an average of 18 years in education. Twenty-four of the participants were female, while one was male.

Survey Results

The survey results provided valuable insights concerning the situation with the achievement gap in the school under analysis and the teachers’ opinions about how the achievement gap can be addressed.

The results identified five themes that could be extracted from the survey. First, the survey revealed that the academic achievement of students and general and minority students in particular was a significant concern in the Urban Elementary school. Second, it was revealed that the instruction practices contributed to the achievement gap among students in the school. Third, the survey demonstrated that teacher satisfaction had little to now effect on the academic achievement of minority students. Fourth, parental involvement was found to have a negative impact on the academic achievement of students. Finally, curriculum was found to contribute to the achievement gap of students.

The results of the survey are summarized in Table 5 below.

Table 5: Survey results summary

Discussion of the Survey Findings

Several themes were identified concerning the academic achievements of minority students.

Academic Achievement

First, the teachers stated that academic achievement in the school was a matter of increased concern for teachers. Question 1 determined that the academic achievement was below average, with a mean score of 2.12 and a median of 2. However, it should be mentioned that the mode for Question 1 was 3, which implied that most teachers believed that the academic achievement of students in the school was average. Question 2 revealed that minority students perform below-average academic achievement, according to the opinions of teachers, with a mean value of 1.72 and mean and median values of 2. Question 3 confirmed that the problem of academic underachievement of minority students in the school was a significant problem in the school under analysis with a high degree of certainty, as the mean value was 4.8 and the median and mode values were 5. In summary, Questions 1-3 confirmed that academic underachievement of minority students was a significant problem in the school under analysis. The opinion of the teachers was in accord with the rating by Great Schools (2021), which stated that the school had poor performance in terms of test scores, academic development, and equity. This implies that the teachers have no illusions concerning the academic performance of students.

Instruction Practices

Second, the survey revealed that instruction practices may have had a negative impact on the academic achievement of minority students. Question 4 teachers were highly uncertain about the quality of the instructional practices in the school. Even though most teachers more disagreed than agreed with the statement that instruction practices were of high quality (median and mode values were 2), the mean value was 2.57, which demonstrated that teachers were uncertain about the instruction practices. However, Question 10 revealed that teachers did not acknowledge cultural differences in their instructional practices, as the mean value was 1.88, while the median and the mode were 2. The qualitative results further explained on the reasons for instructional practices being inadequate. The problem is that instructional practices are not tailored to meet the individual needs of minority students. In other words, the teachers fail to acknowledge that minority students live in a different reality and the examples and stories told during the classes fail to capture the interest of the minority students. Thus, it is crucial for the school to help the teachers learn how to diversify their instructional practices to meet the needs of the minority students.

Teacher Satisfaction

Third, the survey revealed that teachers’ satisfaction was unlikely to have an effect on the underachievement of students. Question 9 revealed that teachers were satisfied with their jobs with a mean value of 3.84, while the academic achievement of students was low. Even though studying the effect of teacher satisfaction on the academic achievement of students was not a part of this research, it may be of interest for future studies. The finding is consistent with a study by Iqbal et al. (2016), which found no statistically significant correlation between teachers’ job satisfaction and academic achievement of students. This implies that improving teachers’ job satisfaction is not an adequate strategy for improving the academic achievement of students.

Parental Involvement

Fourth, the results for Questions 6-8 demonstrated that parental involvement had a negative effect on the academic achievement of students. However, the contribution of parental involvement to the achievement gap was uncertain. While Question 6 revealed that parental involvement had a negative impact on the academic achievement of students (Mean = 2.2), the level of parental involvement of minority students was similar to the level of parental involvement of all the students, as the means for Question 7 and 8 were similar. However, this similarity may be attributed to the demographic composition of the school, as only 22.7% of students were White. These results are in accord with previous research, as Gilar et al. (2019) concluded that perceived lack of familial support and interest in the learning process of their child decrease academic achievement of students. However, it should be mentioned that the theme of parental involvement was not mentioned during the interviews and focus groups.

Curriculum

Finally, the survey revealed that curriculum was a significant contribution to the underachievement of minority students. The mean value for Question 5 was 1.96, which demonstrated that the effect of the curriculum on the academic achievement of minority students was more negative than positive. Thus, it may be concluded that the curriculum in the school under analysis was a significant contributor to the achievement gap between the minority students and their White counterparts. The qualitative data received from interviews and the focus group, which stated that there are two major problems associated with curriculum. First, the curriculum is predominantly ‘white’, which implies that it fails to relate to the differences in social, economic, and cultural background. Second, the curriculum requires additional reading classes, as minority students cannot learn at the pace of their white counterparts. Therefore, improving current curriculum is crucial to improve the SOL score of minority students in the Urban elementary school.

Discussion of Findings

This section provides analysis of findings against the current body of knowledge and compares the results of three different types of analyses utilized in this research. The themes which emerged from the analysis of all combined research data included the effect of curriculum on achievement gap, lack of individualization according to the needs, abilities, and background of students, human factor such as teacher bias, and community and parental engagement.

Effect of Curriculum on Achievement Gap

In examining all of the participant data through the interviews, focus group, and surveys, the curriculum was a main source of concern towards the achievement gap. In the focus group, participants commented that there should be an adaption to the curriculum for minority students (f=12). A focus group participant echoes this sentiment by commenting, “When schools were created, there were separate schools for blacks… curriculum and instruction was geared towards the whites….” The effect of curriculum on academic achievement for minority students was viewed by survey participants as “more negative than positive” (m=1.96). This data reflects all participants’ experiences with the curriculum needing to be improved for a more diverse student population.

The concerns about the curriculum were confirmed by previous research. The literature review demonstrated that curriculum development authorities have acknowledged that existing curricula are predominantly White, which implies that educators often overlook history and literature (Childs, 2017; Johnson, 2018; King, 2017). First, African American students cannot relate to stories told in history classes and writing studied during literature classes, which leads to decreased interest among them (Dahir, 2019). Second, African American students start to picture their cultural identity as based on vulnerability or misfortune, which negatively affect their cognitive abilities and promotes the mentality of a minority (Anderson, 2016).

While the theme of the curriculum was mentioned both in previous research and in analysis interview and survey results (Anderson, 2016; Childs, 2017; Dahir, 2019; Johnson, 2018; King, 2017), the sub-theme of reading was not mentioned in previous research and analysis of other types of data for this study. Even though the problem of minority students with reading was mentioned during the interviews, the code was not frequent enough to be included in the discussion of interview results. However, focus group dynamics allowed to develop the theme of insufficient reading skills of minority students. The problem of low reading skills among minority students was found to be connected with other problems, such as low interest in learning activities and inability to sit for the standardized tests due to low reading skills. Thus, addressing this problem can affect SOL scores of minority students both directly and indirectly.

This finding is crucial, as the problem of insufficient reading abilities can be addressed on the local level, while other problems, such as predominantly “white” curriculum cannot be addressed on the local level. In particular, the school can organize extra-curricular reading classes for children struggling with reading. Even though this innovation may be associated with significant financial investments, it can improve the financial well-being of the school due to increased achievement of students.

Lack of Individualizations

The lack of individualization according to the needs, abilities, and background of students was also a theme which emerged from the culmination of the data collected. The survey demonstrated that the mean value for the questions concerning the quality of the instruction practices was 2.56 out of 5, which demonstrated that teachers believed the instruction practices were of somewhat poor quality. Further, the interview explained that poor level of instructional practices was due to teacher’s inability to individualize instructions for minority students. In particular, the theme of individualization was mentioned 20 times among three subthemes, including individualized instruction (f=11), sensitivity to knowledge (f=5), and individualized needs (f=4). During the focus group discussion, one of the participants mentioned that “a lot of teachers in this school have no knowledge of the struggles minority students are facing when they enter the classroom”, which leads to their inability to adapt their teaching strategies for the individual needs of students.

The results of this research are in accord with the previous findings. In particular, Bowman et al. (2018) stated that teachers often fail acknowledge the cultural differences between minority students and their White counterparts. They do not understand the hardships associated with socio-economic difficulties and racism that minority students experience (Bowman et al., 2018). Kieran and Anderson (2019) stated that modern urban classrooms have become increasingly diverse in terms of culture, language, and race, a situation that requires culturally competent teachers. The results of the interviews demonstrated that the teachers in the Urban elementary school are often culturally incompetent, which leads to culture-based bias and inability to diversify the instructions to meet the individualized needs of students.

Human Factors

The data acquired for this study demonstrated that human factors play a significant role in the problem of low achievement of minority students. The theme of human factor was mentioned 15 times during the interviews with the sub-themes of teacher bias (f=6) and stress (f=9). One of the interviewees mentioned that “teachers sometimes have preconceived opinions of the academic abilities of minority students.” Moreover, the focus group discussion revealed that teachers fail to understand the struggle the minority students go through, such socio-economic differences (f=7). Thus, the problem that Caucasian instructors teach minority students often leads to biased opinions.

The idea of teacher bias was only indirectly mentioned in previous research. In particular, Bowman et al. (2018) stated that racism was a significant factor that contributed to the achievement gap. Bowman et al. (2018) stated that predisposition of teachers towards intellectual abilities of Black students was a part of the theme of racism. The theme being physically and emotionally not prepared for the test was mentioned in the observed literature. The results of the interviews were not confirmed by surveys. Therefore, it may be beneficial to explore this theme in future research to improve the curriculum or test designs for the elementary school students.

Community and Parental Engagement

Community and parental engagement was also have to have a significant contribution to the achievement gap between minority students and their White counterparts. Question 6 revealed that parental involvement had a negative impact on the academic achievement of students (Mean = 2.2). This finding was in accord with previous research, as Gilar et al. (2019) stated that lack of familial support often leads to decreased academic achievement. Additionally, the results of this study mentioned that the minorities can help themselves to improve the academic achievement of their children by organizing a community. One of the participants of the focus group discussion stated that “Blacks do not have a community.” Community building was a frequent theme during the focus group discussion (f=8).

The theme of the lack of Black community was unique, as neither previous research no results of other analysis acknowledged that strengthening the Black community can affect SOL scores of minority students. The essence of this idea is that African American people should build strong communities using the resources of the community centers, schools, and churches. The members of the community can help each other with problems, such as looking after the children, caring for disadvantages members of the society, and uniting their efforts to be heard. In other words, African Americans can achieve a greater success if they work together to fight for their rights. The school can support such endeavors by connecting parents to the local community services and providing informational support.

Summary

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at the Urban elementary school in possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students in this school. The problem that this research addressed was that African American students at the urban elementary school historically had lower academic achievement than other students, as measured by SOL scores. This chapter provided an overview and discussion of the research results. First, the results of the interviews were described. The interview revealed three central themes, including individualization, curriculum, and human factor. Second, the chapter focused on the results of the focus group discussion. The thematic analysis revealed three central themes, including curriculum, differences, and building communities. Third, the chapter focused on the survey results, which confirmed the results of the qualitative analysis. All the results were in accord with each other and previous research. However, two unique findings were revealed by the applied research that were not mentioned in the reviewed literature. In particular, the analysis demonstrated that improving reading skills and helping to build African American communities can improve the SOL scores of the minority students in the urban elementary school.

Recommendations

Overview

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at Urban elementary school possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students in this school. The problem that this research addressed was that African American students at the urban elementary school historically had lower academic achievement than other students, as measured by SOL scores. This section provides a list of five recommendations for the administrators of the urban elementary school in Norfolk County, Virginia, and justifies the recommendations based on the results of this research and the findings of previous studies. Second, the section discusses roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in implementing these recommendations. Third, the section discusses resources needed to implement the recommendations in the school. Fourth, the section provides a timeline for implementing the recommendations with specific dates and supporting details. The section is concluded with a summary of findings.

Specific Recommendations

The purpose of the study was to provide recommendations to the administrators and teachers at Urban elementary school in possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students in this school. The research question this paper aimed at answering was “How can the problem of low SOL scores among minority students at an urban elementary school be solved?” A list of five recommendations was created to answer the research question. These recommendations were developed based on the central themes identified during the analysis, including the effect of curriculum on achievement gap, lack of individualization according to the needs, abilities, and background of students, human factor such as teacher bias, and community and parental engagement.

1. Conduct diversity training among the instructional staff to decrease teacher bias and help them understand the differences in situations that minority students face in their lives.
2. Provide extra-curricular reading courses for the minority students to improve their reading skills.
3. Conduct instructional training among teachers to embrace a new instructional philosophy and help teachers develop culture-sensitive instructional practices for the minority students.
4. Collaborate with teachers and the community to address the needs of minority students outside school.
5. Actively advocate for changing the curriculum for elementary school to accommodate for the needs of minority students.

Diversity Training

The need for diversity training among teachers was suggested by both literature review and the results of this study. The interviews revealed that teacher bias was one of the most frequent themes among the participants concerning the reasons for low achievement among minority students. In particular, the participants stated that since the majority of instructional staff are Caucasians, they have preconceived opinions about the abilities of minority students due to the inability to understand the socio-economic and cultural differences between the minority students and their White counterparts. Bowman et al. (2018) stated that the problem of race-related bias among teachers and people in general was the key to low achievement of minority students. For instance, many teachers and students perceive the dialect of English that African Americans speak as “bad English” (Bowman et al., 2018). King (2017) also stated that bias among teachers and lack of the ability to acknowledge the cultural differences is one of the central reasons for minority students’ underachievement. One participant discussed an example of a teacher correcting a student’s bad English. After an African American student completed an assignment and asked the teacher if he received a one hunnid? The teacher who was Caucasian, responded, One hundred. Correcting the student showed the inability of the teacher to recognize the students’ cultural differences. Eventually, the student will learn how to code switch. Code switching is the ability to adjust speech, behavior etc. to fit into sociocultural standards. Thus, it is crucial to address this problem through diversity training among instructional staff.

Research on the effectiveness of diversity training on teachers and their attitudes is scarce. However, numerous recent studies focus on the effectiveness of diversity training courses on attitudes of employees (Devine et al., 2022). Even though Chang et al. (2019) that diversity training cannot be a stand-along solution for the problem of employees’ gender and race bias, it contributes to the solution of the problem. Devine et al. (2022) suggest that administrators conduct cultural change together with diversity training, and make diversity training the starting point part of the change.

This research suggests that online diversity training is conducted with the aim to improve the ability of teachers to provide diversified instruction for students with varying cultural backgrounds. Bowman et al. (2018) suggest that teachers should be given practical solutions and tools to support lesson planning. Moreover, the courses should aim at acknowledging and confronting personal stereotypes (Bowman et al., 2018). Thus, it is recommended that administrators provide teachers with diversity training courses. The courses should take up to 4 weeks with no more than three hours a day, as recommended by Future Learn (n.d.). These courses should serve as the basis for future culture change to embrace diversified teaching in the Urban elementary school.

Extra-Curricular Reading

The suggestion of extra-curricular reading couching is associated with the concern that the current curriculum is not adapted for cultural minorities. The analysis of data received from all three data collection methods suggests that the current curriculum is meant for Whites only. It does not accommodate for the cultural differences of the minorities. The findings of this research suggest that minority students at the Urban elementary school experience significant social-economic pressures that reduce their ability to learn, which is supported by findings of previous research for other schools (Gilar et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018; Pant, 2020; Wang et al., 2018). Moreover, the findings of this research suggest that the minority students often lack parental support, which is also supported by previous studies (Bowman et al., 2018; Castejón et al., 2016; Gilar et al., 2019). Since administrators cannot change the core curriculum on the local level, it can help the minority students by providing extra-curricular courses. Reading skills was mentioned as one of the major problems associated with the underachievement of the minority students. Students in low socioeconomic environments usually benefit from extracurricular activities. The reading programs offer the chance for students to learn real-world concepts while helping to reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom. As a result, this could increase student engagement and participation in the instruction. Thus, organizing extra-curricular reading courses is expected to improve the current situation with the SOL scores of minority students in the Urban elementary school.

Reading coaching is becoming increasingly popular among instructors to improve the students’ reading skills (Davis et al., 2018). However, little research is available concerning the effects of reading coaching on the reading skills of elementary school students (Davis et al., 2018). However, recent research demonstrates that reading coaching has a large effect on students’ phonemic awareness, decoding, comprehension, fluency, writing, and spelling (Weiser et al., 2019). Data supports conducting reading coaching to students twice a week for 90 minutes with the following plan after Davis et al. (2018):

1. Reading showcase. The teacher models different reading strategies to students (20 minutes).
2. Focus lesson. Teacher selects the specific skill that requires training and utilizes appropriate strategies for training it (20 minutes).
3. Group reading. Teacher circulates among groups to help with reading the same piece of literature in different groups (30 minutes).
4. Individual reading. Teacher allows students to read what students want to read and walks around asking about the impressions from individual reading (20 minutes).

Instructional Training

The problem with instructional training was also cited as one of the central issues associated with achievement gap between the minority students and their White counterparts. In particular, the results of the survey demonstrated that instructional practices in school may have been the central reason for low achievement among minority students. The interviews also suggested that the instructional practices are not tailored for the needs of the minority students. Previous research also suggests that improving instructional practices among teachers is the key for addressing the achievement gap (Atlay et al., 2019; Bowman et al., 2018; Yue et al., 2018). Thus, conducting instructional training among teachers to help them learn to diversify instructional practices to meet the special needs of cultural minorities is expected to reduce the achievement gap among the minority students and their white counterparts.

This research suggests embracing the ASSURE model for instructional practices to ensure that teachers utilize the most suitable instructional practices (Bajracharya, 2019). The model is an acronym for Analyzing learners, stating standards and objectives, Selecting strategies, technology, media, and materials, Utilizing technology, Requiring student participation, and Evaluating and revising the instructional practices. The method was first developed by Heinich et al. (1996) for corporate training. However, it soon became adopted by the education system successfully to perfect the instructional practices (Bajracharya, 2019). Thus, this paper suggests that a planned change is conducted to adopt the ASSURE framework, which includes training the teachers to use this model.

Collaboration

This study suggests that it is crucial to use the resources available in the community to improve the academic achievement of minority students. This study suggests that current lack of parental support affects the academic achievement of students negatively. Moreover, this study suggests that the lack of African American community in the area is one of the reasons for the lack of support for the families. These findings are coherent with the results of previous research that emphasize the importance of family and community resources in helping the minority students improve their academic achievement (Gilar et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2018). Therefore, administrators should try to involve parents in their children’s learning process. Moreover, administrators should try to use all the community resources to help the families overcome any social, economic, or health problems they face to improve the achievement of minority students.

Collaboration should be divided into two parts, including school-parent collaboration and school-community collaboration. Zuckerman (2022) suggests that there should be five aspects for school-community collaboration to be successful. In particular, the community and schools need to have “a common agenda with shared goals and strategies; shared measures; mutually reinforcing activities that eliminate redundancy and align to the common agenda; constant communication; and a backbone organization” (Zuckerman, 2022, p. 100). The school is recommended to create a workgroup together with the representative of the community health center, government representatives, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and local school district (Zuckerman, 2022). The fiscal support is to be provided by the non-profits or government organizations to support the common goal. The work group is to meet on a monthly basis to develop and implement a strategy for developing the community to be able to support the needs of minority students (Zuckerman, 2022).

School-parent collaboration should be based on quarterly meetings with the parents and constant communication about the students’ academic success and their needs. The communication may be conducted through email or messengers, such as WhatsApp or Viber. The goal of the communication is to be to learn about the needs of students and their parents, share the common agenda developed with the community representatives, academic achievement of students, and physical and emotional health of students (Adams et al., 2018).

Advocating for Curriculum Change

It has been mentioned above that this study along with previous research demonstrated that the curriculum is currently not adapted for the minority students (Gilar et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018; Pant, 2020; Wang et al., 2018). Therefore, administrators should actively propagate curriculum change to help the minority students improve achievement. This study suggests that the curriculum should be changed to acknowledge the socio-economic difficulties of the minority students and help the related to the material the study at school. Moreover, this study suggests that administrators should advocate for reducing the importance of SOL testing and changing the test’s format, as many students are not prepared for taking long tests from the physical, emotional, and psychological viewpoints.

Previous research suggests that advocating for curriculum change should be based on proactive teacher agency (Jenkins, 2020). In other words, advocating for curriculum change with the initiative, which implies active search for better curriculum solutions to improve students’ outcomes (Jenkins, 2020). Administrators are advised to conduct a planned culture change that includes the concept of proactive teacher agency in terms of curriculum change, as this concept is associated with improved ability of teachers to influence curriculum change that affects students’ outcomes (Jenkins, 2020). Proactive teacher agency implies that the teachers should seek to suggest changes in the curriculum after discussing them in a created initiative group. This group that will collaborate with the authorities to conduct curriculum change. The advised responsibilities of the group are discussed below.

Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders

This section focuses on the discussion of roles and responsibilities of two central stakeholders, including administrators and teachers. The section is divided into five subsections according to the number of recommendations described above.

Diversity Training

Diversity training implies selecting the most appropriate online program for teachers to complete at the convenient time. The online program is expected to take up to four weeks with two meetings every week, as advised by Devine et al. (2022). However, different online programs may have a different time frame.

Administrators

The role of administrators in organizing the diversity training programs will be to select the courses among the available courses in the area provided by third parties and create a schedule so that all the teachers can attend the courses in time. Divine et al. (2022) suggests that the administrators may also choose to take the courses together with the teachers to set the example for the teachers. Polat et al. (2017) suggests that administrator should not only act as facilitators of the process, but also role models and active participants of inclusion training. Such an approach will help the school staff see that diversity and inclusion is one of the key organizational values (Polat et al., 2017). Such involvement in the training process can become the first step towards a culture change towards embracing diversity of students.

Teachers

The role of teachers will be to attend these courses and use the knowledge they receive during their classes. The teachers need to acknowledge their personal biases they may have toward minority students, learn how they affect their everyday practice, and try to transform these practices and attitudes in the best interest of the minority students (Bowman et al., 2018). Another role of teachers in diversity training is using the new concepts of diversity and inclusion in their everyday practice. The teachers are often encouraged to share and discuss the difficulties they faced while trying to use the principles of the cultural diversity, which implies that they should try using the learned material between the training sessions (Erasmus Training, 2022). Thus, teachers will be the key benefiters of the training program.

Extra-Curricular Reading

Extra-curricular reading is associated with providing reading couching two times a week for all grade levels in the Urban elementary school. The roles of teachers and administrators are described below.

Administrators

The role of administrator in organizing the extra-curricular reading classes it to ensure there are enough teachers for these activities. Introduction of additional courses may involve hiring instructional staff to ensure that the teachers are not overwhelmed with new responsibilities, which will be associated with HR-related costs (Davies, 2018). Additionally, the administrators should schedule these courses so that it is convenient for all the stakeholders and advertise the courses to the children and their parents to maximize the benefits from the endeavor (Davies, 2018). Weiser (2019) suggests that administrators act as facilitators of reading coaching, which includes advertising the courses to the parents to increase enrollment.

Teachers

The teachers will be the key implementors of the coaching program. The roles of teachers will be to identify the students that are in most need of the additional reading practice (Davies, 2018). The instructional staff will also be responsible for teaching the reading classes and assessing their effectiveness. Weiser (2019) states that evaluating the effectiveness of coaching is crucial, as the effectiveness of coaching strategies may vary for different audiences. Therefore, teachers need to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the program for different grade levels and alter the program according to the results of the assessment.

Instructional Training

Instructional training will be associated with implementing the ASSURE model for instructional practices to ensure that teachers utilize the most suitable instructional practices (Bajracharya, 2019). The roles of administrators and teachers are discussed below.

Administrators

The role of administrators in organizing the instructional training programs will be to select the courses among the available courses in the area provided by third parties and create a schedule so that all the teachers can attend the courses in time. The administrators may also choose develop unique instructional training courses to tailor them for the local peculiarities. One of the possibilities may be contacting Virginia Department of Education to assist the school in instructional training with methodological support. Virginia Department of Education (2022) provide a wide variety of courses for improving the instructional practices for teachers. According to Bajracharya (2019), such courses can be the foundation of the transformation of the organizational culture to embrace the ASSURE philosophy.

While instructional practices training is the first step to implementing the culture change, administrators will to become the central change agents. According to Nooruddin and Bhamani (2019), administrators should act as change agents to ensure that the educational organizations adopt desirable workplace cultures. This implies, the administrators will need to select an appropriate change model, develop a change plan, and implement the plan to include the ASSURE model for instructional practices.

Teachers

The role of teachers will be to attend these courses and use the knowledge they receive during their classes. The teachers need to learn how to tailor their instructional practices for the minorities students and ensure that they use this knowledge to help the students improve their academic achievements (Bajracharya, 2021). Moreover, the teachers will need to use the learned material to help their students achieve academic success. Additionally, teachers also take an active part in the culture change process (Nooruddin & Bhamani, 2019).

Collaboration

Administrators

The administrator will be responsible for elaborating a plan for collaboration with the local authorities and instructing the teachers about the goals and methods for collaborating with teachers. In particular, the administrators will determine what community resources are available for families with different social and economic problems and disseminate the knowledge about it among all the families of children studying at the Urban elementary school in need of such support. The dissemination strategies may include sending emails, notes with children, phone calls, or meetings (Epstein, 2018).

Administrators will be responsible for organizing the workgroup that will include stakeholders from community health center, government representatives, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and local school district. The administrator can also take the responsibilities of the leaders of the workgroup (Zuckerman, 2022).

Teachers

The role of teachers will be collaborating with the parents to improve the academic achievement of students. In particular, the teachers will be responsible for assessing the needs of students and parents and helping them to overcome their problems in communication or external problems by referring the parents to the relevant community services (Zuckerman, 2022). The teachers will also be responsible for helping the administrators in disseminating the knowledge about the community services available for families in difficult life situations. In other words, teachers will act as the connectors between the community workgroup and parents (Zuckerman, 2022). In other words, teachers will pass the information from parents about the needs of families to the workgroup.

Advocating for Curriculum Change

The role of the administrators and teachers in this endeavor will be similar, as they have a similar influence on the decision-makers concerning the curriculum. The suggested advocating strategies are listed below. The plan was developed in accord with recommendations of Virginia Department of Education (2022) and non-profit organizations defending the rights of minorities at schools (Dignity in Schools, 2017).

• Determine who are the curriculum decision-makers and build relationships with them;
• Conduct an official curriculum review to determine how culturally responsive the current curriculum is;
• Explore best practices concerning the lessons plans that promote diversity practices;
• Participate in curriculum meetings and promote books and materials that can be recommended in the new curriculum;
• Create presentations that explain the reasons for the curriculum changes;
• Create and sign petitions for curriculum and SOL changes in the area.

Required Resources

This section focuses on the description of the financial and non-financial resources that will be needed to implement the recommendations. The purpose of the section is to provide an estimation of implementation cost.

Diversity Training

Diversity training will require financial resources. In particular, the central cost will eb associated with paying for the online diversity training courses. Coursera (2022) provides a wide variety of such courses with a cost between $29.99 per person to $49.99 per person. Erasmus training (2022) provides similar training for $39.99 per person with group discounts for 30 and more people to $32.99. After first contact, Coach Diversity (2022) offered similar courses for $27.99 per participant. Thus, on average, the school will need to spend around $35 per person. The school currently employs 43 teachers and seven administrators who would also be recommended to take the course; therefore, the expected cost is approximately $1,750. There may also be implicit costs associated with teachers taking time off work to complete the courses paying for time associated with selecting the courses and negotiation time spent by the administrators.

Extra-Curricular Reading

Extra-curricular reading classes will be conducted for all grades (1-5) two times a week in two groups. This implies that a total 20 classes will need to be conducted. Since each class takes two academic hours, the school will need to cover the cost for additional 40 hours of teaching work, which is a workload of a full-time teacher. According to recent statistics, the median public-school teacher salary in Virginia is $55,000 (Salary.com, 2022). Thus, the initiative will cost the school $55,000 plus any recruitment costs.

Instructional Training

The cost of instructional training varies depending on the provider. For instance, the courses provided by the Virginia Department of Education are free of charge and available to all schools. While there are some third-party courses provided by Coursera (2022) and other online education providers they are scarce and underexplored. Therefore, it is considered more reliable to utilize the instructional training courses provided by the Virginia Department of Education, as the effects of other courses are not assessed properly by education authorities. Thus, there are no explicit costs associated with the instructional training of teachers. However, implicit costs should be considered, such as the time off the teachers may take to complete the courses.

While instructional training is an essential part of the proposed solution, a culture change is required to embrace the diversified instruction as the core value in school. Such an organizational culture change may require significant human and financial resources. In particular, culture change may require a change team of three to seven administrators that may need to be paid additional wages for managing the change (Hasibuan, 2021). Moreover, the management team may require additional office supplies for the change project.

Collaboration

The collaboration initiative is not expected to have explicit financial costs. However, the school will need to appoint members of the workgroup, that will have to take some time off their duties to participate in the group meetings (Zuckerman, 2022). Additionally, the school will need to conduct meetings with the stakeholders to explain the new community-based initiative, which will require space and time of teachers and administrators.

Advocating for Curriculum Change

Advocating for curriculum change will not require any explicit financial resources. However, the administrators and teacher may want to use some materials, like posters and brochures to promote the idea of curriculum change among colleagues and decision-makers. However, overall cost of such material is unlikely to be significant.

Timeline

The project associated with the diversity training for teachers will start on September 1 with a staff meeting that will explain the initiative. The online courses will start on September 26 and end on October 17. The program will be closed on October 24 after its evaluation. The timeline of the project is summarized in Table 6 below.

Table 6: Timeline for Diversity Training

The extra-curricular reding coaching will start on September 1 with a staff meeting. The coaching will begin in September 19, 2022 and end on May 2023 after the final evaluation of the initiative. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation will be conducted on December 19. The timeline for the initiative is provided in Table 7 below.

Table 7: Timeline for Extra-Curricular Reading

Instructional training initiative will start on September 1, 2022 with a staff meeting that will introduce the initiative to the stakeholders. The training program and the change initiative will start on September 19 and end on November 8 with a final evaluation of the program. The timeline for the initiative is provided in Table 8 below.

Table 8: Timeline for Instructional Training

The collaboration initiative is expected to last for almost entire school year starting on October 1 and ending on June 1. The proposed timeline for the initiative is provided in Table 9 below.

Table 9: Timeline for Collaboration

The initiative group for the curriculum change will work starting on September 24, 2022 and ending on My 24, 2023. The program will end on June 15 after a final evaluation. The proposed timeline for the initiative is provided in Table 10 below.

Table 10: Timeline for Advocating for Curriculum

Summary

The purpose of this applied research study was to recommend to the administrators and teachers at the Urban elementary school in possible solutions to the problem of low SOL scores of minority students in this school. The problem that this research addressed was that African American students at the urban elementary school historically had lower academic achievement than other students, as measured by SOL scores. First, the paper provided five recommendations for the administrators of the Urban elementary school and provided detailed justification for them. Second, the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders were described for every recommendation. Third, the required resources for every initiative was described. Finally, the paper provided timelines for the implementation of all the recommendations. The research established the importance of diversity training, extra-curricular reading classes, additional culture-sensitive instructional training, collaboration with parents and the community, and advocating for the curriculum change for improving the SOL scores of the minority students in the Urban elementary school.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Permission Letter