The use of a Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens may help shape a pedagogy that is culturally relevant for students of color as well as affirm healthier racial and ethnic identities in the classroom. CRT creates pedagogical spaces to discuss the ways in which systemic racism affects individuals and reproduces itself. My goal is to explain how students of color's identities are shaped in a predominantly white, K-12 public education system. I interrogate the ways in which a multicultural pedagogy that acknowledges systemic racism in the US may positively impact their intellectual growth and academic achievement. The data is collected through surveys to high school students as well as through interviews and prompted short narratives written by selected students of color. Surveys provide information about the universe of students in a Midwest school district. The narratives and interviews provide nuanced information about lived experiences from selected students of color within the same district. The narrative analysis follows a narrative inquity methodology. Both surveys and interviews include questions about students' experiences and ability to voice and express their racial/ethnic identities in the classroom, culturally relevant content developed in the classroom, perceived cultural competence of teachers, and perceived signs of racism. The purppose of this research is is to understand how a CRT lens could help create an equal and more equitable educational opportuity for all students of color.
