Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Applied Behavior Analysis: Addressing Educational Disparities in PK-12 Schools
You can keep your favorite ABA procedures—just add a cultural relevance check before you teach.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hugh-Pennie et al. (2022) wrote a how-to paper, not an experiment. They asked: how can everyday ABA tactics make lessons fair for Black and Brown kids in regular public schools? The authors mapped common procedures—like Behavioral Skills Training, discrete trials, and group contingencies—onto the three pillars of culturally relevant pedagogy: high expectations, cultural identity, and critical thinking. They gave concrete examples, such as teaching students to use BST steps to ask for help without breaking class rules.
What they found
Because the paper is theoretical, there are no new data. Instead, the team shows that ABA can operationalize what good teachers already do: weave students’ culture into instruction while keeping clear contingencies. The payoff, they argue, is fewer office referrals and more learning time for kids who now see school as “their place.”
How this fits with other research
Dennison et al. (2019) started the conversation in homes. Their narrative review told clinicians to ask immigrant families what goals matter most and to print materials in home languages. Hugh-Pennie moves the same idea into classrooms—culture first, behavior second.
Sherman et al. (2021) and Mulder et al. (2020) give the method teeth. Both used BST to lift teacher accuracy in mere hours. Hugh-Pennie says: use that speedy BST to teach students self-advocacy scripts that fit their cultural style—no extra staff needed.
McComas et al. (2025) widen the lens to ableism. Where Hugh-Pennie fights racial bias with culturally relevant pedagogy, McComas attacks bias against autistic clients. Together they form a two-front war: check your cultural assumptions and your disability assumptions.
Why it matters
You already run GBG, token boards, or direct instruction. This paper says layer culture on top. Start Monday: ask each learner what “respect” looks like at home, then practice those behaviors during your regular BST routine. You keep the data, but now the behavior is culturally owned. Expect fewer power struggles and more buy-in within a week.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this article is to describe the theory of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and its application to PK–12 education for behavior analysts working in schools. CRP is an educational framework that asserts that successful teachers of African American students help their students gain three repertoires: (1) sociopolitical awareness, (2) cultural competence, and (3) academic excellence. The CRP framework was designed to counter the effects that racial bias has on the academic and disciplinary experiences of some students of color. This article suggests that applied behavior analysis and CRP, when used together, may strengthen educators’ efforts to reduce the effects of racism that some students of color experience. The authors first explain the tenets of CRP based on the work of Ladson-Billings (1995a, 1995b). Next, points of convergence between ABA and CRP are described. Finally, the authors offer recommendations for behavior analysts to consider when applying CRP in schools through the provision of examples of strategies and tactics derived from the behavioral literature that align with the CRP framework. The framework presented in this article has implications for behavior analysts interested in applying culturally relevant practices to their work as educators.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s40617-021-00655-8