Over the past 20 years there has been a major focus on increasing educational opportunities for African American students. As part of efforts to increase these opportunities, high schools across the country have focused initiatives on increasing the number of African American students enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. While the number of African American students taking AP courses has continued to rise, large gaps exist between the percentage of African American students taking an AP exam and the percentage scoring at least a 3 on an AP exam. In 2017, African American students made up 14.4% of all test takers and 4.3% of test takers scoring 3 or above on an AP exam (College Board, 2018). The primary purpose of this research was to explore how teachers perceive their experiences creating validating spaces for African American students in their Advanced Placement classrooms. This study also explored in what ways the pedagogical decisions used to create validating spaces were consistent with culturally responsive teaching (CRT) and to what extent these decisions impacted the educational outcomes for African American students taking AP courses. Ladson-Billings' three propositions of culturally relevant pedagogy, (a) conceptions of self and others, (b) social relations, and (c) conceptions of knowledge, served as a framework for data analysis and were used to examine how participants demonstrated culturally responsible teaching practices. Key findings revealed the following: many culturally responsive strategies were part of participants' pedagogical approaches, participants articulated having a mindset that regarded the significance of race and equity in creating learning environments that encourage and support the achievement of African American students, and participants revealed an understanding about the need to balance academic support and rigor. The findings support that teachers using CRT reflect on their own culture as well as their students' culture and use this knowledge to respond to the needs of students in the AP classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]