College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Term of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

College of Education

Committee Chair

Sabrina Ross

Committee Member 1

Meca Williams-Johnson

Committee Member 2

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 3

Courtney Baker

Abstract

This dissertation examines the implementation of culturally relevant/responsive/sustaining mathematics using hip-hop pedagogy with special education students. The theoretical frameworks for this include with Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), Culturally Responsive Teaching (Gay, 2018), and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2014). Utilizing an autobiographical case study methodology, I examined the use of culturally relevant math tasks and hip-hop pedagogy with 3rd grade students with disabilities. From this study, the following findings emerged: (1). Learning environments characterized by hope, empathy, and critical agency can be cultivated through the use of community resources and structured classroom norms that promote support, collaboration, and inquiry among learners. (2). Incorporating youth cultural practices in the classroom enhances instruction. (3). Special education students are capable of completing culturally relevant math tasks that are rigorous and meaningful. (4). Students use their preferred learning styles when teaching peers. (5). Students can demonstrate math competencies when the learning experience is relatable.

OCLC Number

1588662463

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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