A mixed methods examination of teachers' use of bias‐reduction strategies to increase relational equity and the role of the implementation context

Abstract

Teachers' racial biases can impact disparities in their perceptions and expectations of students and contribute to inequitable student outcomes. Therefore, interventions that train teachers on strategies for reducing racial biases may hold promise for mitigating inequities. However, research on bias‐reduction interventions in applied contexts is limited and has not focused on examining the implementation of specific strategies or the implementation context. In this study, we used mixed methodology to examine the extent to which teachers (n = 43) use four bias‐reduction strategies, called equity levers (i.e., seeking commonalities, gaining perspective, gathering facts to disprove assumptions, and knowing your vulnerabilities), which are embedded into a student–teacher relationship intervention called Equity‐Explicit Establish‐Maintain‐Restore. In addition, we explored whether any features of the school context support or hinder their implementation of these strategies. We found that teachers implemented the four equity levers and reported increased implementation of these strategies over time. We found quantitative and qualitative evidence of the importance of a strong implementation climate for supporting teachers' use of the equity levers, where teachers collectively value implementing the program and collaborating with one another. This study has implications for both the promise of four specific strategies that can be incorporated into other teacher training to reduce racial bias as well as the importance of establishing strong contextual supports to ensure the successful implementation of equity‐focused strategies.