Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between middle school teachers’ perceptions of dispositional and experiential factors received during their teaching preparations and their perceptions of their implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This quantitative study employed descriptive statistics to examine correlations between teachers’ perceptions about whether their teacher education programs embraced the dispositional and experiential factors identified by Garmon (2004), and how these factors may be associated with teachers’ perceptions of their implementation of the five essential elements of culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2002). Data for this study were collected using a modified version of the Framework for the Development and Validation of Diversity Dispositions Index (Schulte, Edwards, and Edick, 2008). Data were collected using an electronic survey with three sections to collect demographic information, data on teachers’ perceptions of their education programs and their professional practices. Data suggested very high correlations between some dispositional and experiential factors associated with culturally responsive teaching. These findings provide preliminary information regarding teachers’ perceptions about their culturally responsive teaching practices.