Promoting Educators’ Use of Culturally Responsive Practices: A Systematic Review of Inservice Interventions

Abstract

Few educators are well-equipped to bridge cultural differences to ensure that all students have opportunities to learn and succeed. Existing frameworks for culturally responsive practices (CRP) suggest its potential for promoting equitable learning environments, yet the state of the science has not been assessed. This systematic review aimed to (a) describe the features of empirically examined inservice CRP interventions, (b) analyze the quality of the empirical studies, and (c) characterize study measures, outcomes, and conclusions regarding intervention impact. We found a total of just 10 empirical studies of the impact of CRP inservice training models (two quantitative and eight qualitative). Study methods universally failed to meet standards of evidence for efficacy, effectiveness, and dissemination; none employed rigorous design features to allow causal inference. Findings suggest that the research base is inadequate to draw conclusions regarding effectiveness and that more rigorous CRP inservice intervention research is needed.