03/05/2026
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Everth Sotelo “Improving Novice Teachers’ Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy to Leverage Latinx Students’ ELA Achievement."

Candidate: Everth Sotelo
Degree: Doctoral- Ed.D. Leadership in Schooling
Defense Date: March 18, 2026
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Thesis/Dissertation Title: Improving Novice Teachers’ Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy to Leverage Latinx Students’ ELA Achievement

Dissertation Committee

  • Chair: William Goldsworthy, Ed.D., Adjunct Faculty, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Committee Member: John Hanron, Ed.D., Adjunct Faculty, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

ABSTRACT
Latinx students (in this study, Latinx refers to men and women of Latin American origin) consistently underperform in English Language Arts, as demonstrated by national, state, and local assessments. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and the I-Ready diagnostic, Latinx students are struggling to surpass the below-grade-level category in reading and writing. This achievement gap has led Latinx students to face cross-curricular struggles in K-12, leading to reduced preparation for higher education and ultimately stifling their socioeconomic mobility. Contemporary research demonstrates that a major root cause of this problem is the low culturally relevant teaching self-efficacy of novice teachers (teachers with less than five years of experience). Using a mixed-methods design, this study implemented a professional learning community (PLC) with two experienced English teachers and a literacy coach to support the culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy of five novice ELA teachers over six weeks. Each PLC session was framed within the Lesson Study cycle to facilitate feedback, observation, and improvement of the novice teachers’ practical application of culturally responsive education. The quantitative results were negligible: the mean score increased by 3.5%, well below the originally intended 10% increase. However, the qualitative findings revealed a substantial positive increase in their self-efficacy. The researcher determined that the PLC intervention increased the culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy of most novice teachers in the study, which generated three practical recommendations for curriculum improvement. School districts should include support systems, such as PLCs, to support novice ELA teachers. Greater self-efficacy in culturally responsive teaching among novice teachers may lead to higher ELA performance among Latinx students.