Culturally responsive teaching is defined by Gay (2002) as the use of cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as channels for teaching them more effectively. It is based on the assumption that by presenting academic content and skills to diverse students as something they are likely to know or have experienced, the content will be more meaningful and easily memorable. Likewise, culturally responsive teaching helps students feel more welcome and is effective not only for diverse students and ELLs, but also for students who are of low socioeconomic status (SES). According to Gay (2002), there are five components to developing successful culturally responsive teachers: developing a knowledge base about cultural diversity, developing culturally relevant curricula, demonstrating cultural attentiveness and building a learning community, exhibiting intercultural communications, and providing congruence culture in classroom instruction. Culturally responsive teaching denotes that teachers must not only be experts in content knowledge and pedagogical skills, but with inadequate or incorrect knowledge, teachers cannot engage in classroom practices that are best suited to all students. Research suggests that educational experiences and levels can make or break teachers when it comes to being open and effective in reaching ELL students. Byrnes, Kigler, and Manning (1997) interviewed 191 teachers from Arizona, Utah, and Virginia to assess teachers' attitudes toward linguistic diversity. Thirteen items were measured and there were five independent variables assessing experiences with ELL students. The survey data were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. Four positive variables were found to be associated with positive language attitudes among the teachers interviewed, and a degree (held by 24% of respondents) was one of these