Teacher Diversity

Teacher Diversity

Education has a diversity problem. The teachers don’t match the students. In 2015–16, about 80 percent of public school teachers were White, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were Black, 2 percent were Asian, and 1 percent were of two or more races (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). By comparison, 51% of all public elementary and secondary school students in the U.S. were nonwhite in 2015-16 (Geiger, 2018). The lack of diversity among teachers is a problem. Research shows students tend to benefit from having teachers who look like them, especially nonwhite students (Miller, 2018). There are many reasons for the mismatch between teacher and student demographics. Some barriers to recruiting and retaining teachers of color include 

• Teacher licensure exams that disproportionately exclude teacher candidates of color despite little evidence that these exams predict teacher effectiveness (Learning Policy Institute, 2018).

• Poor working conditions and low salaries discourage teachers from staying in their schools and professions (Learning Policy Institute, 2018).

• Inadequate teacher preparation when teachers enter through alternative routes and teach while they are in training and lack of ongoing support for new teachers drive high teacher turnover rates (Learning Policy Institute, 2018).

Being a teacher of color, I can relate to some of the issues presented above. Passing the RICA was very difficult for me. I failed it three times before paying for a training course and finally passing; I ended up having to be a sub in my classroom because my failure to pass the test prevented me from getting my preliminary credential. The failure rates for African-American and Latino teaching candidates taking the RICA are about 45 percent for first-time test takers (Lambert, 2020). The test did absolutely nothing to help me to teach reading better. It was just a requirement that needed to be done. I feel like a lot of the requirements to become a teacher are not helpful and don’t determine if you will be an effective teacher or not. I think poor working conditions prevent most people from becoming teachers, not just people of color. With everything going on during covid and the hate that the public is spewing at teachers, I think it will be even more challenging to attract and retain teachers of color. One issue that was not mentioned above is how difficult it is to be the only teacher of color at a school site. I am the only black teacher at my school site, and it is challenging to be the only one. Our staff school site is focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion, and it isn’t an easy topic to approach. It sometimes feels like I should be leading and explaining the impacts of racism to my co-workers, but at the same time, I feel like that is not my place, and I shouldn’t have to do that just because I’m black. 

Something needs to be done to encourage more teachers of color to join the profession and stay in the profession. Teacher pay and benefits are a great place to start. The requirements to become a teacher should be retooled to account for the disparities faced by people of color to pass some of the requirements. The education commission needs to look into why people of color fail tests such as the RICA at higher rates than white people and figure out a way to make the test more balanced. It will take time for the teaching population to match the student population. Still, if all students can benefit from more teachers of color, policies need to be enacted quickly to help them do better. 

Geiger, A. W. (2018, August 27). America’s public school teachers are far less racially and ethnically diverse than their students. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/27/americas-public-school-teachers-are-far-less-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-than-their-students/

Lambert, D. (2020, April 17). California considers overhauling test of reading instruction for teachers in training. EdSource. https://edsource.org/2019/california-considers-overhaul-of-test-assessing-teacher-preparedness-for-reading-instruction/612847

Learning Policy Institute. (2018). Teachers of Color: In High Demand and Short Supply. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/press-release/teachers-color-high-demand-and-short-supply

Miller, C. C. (2018, September 10). Does Teacher Diversity Matter in Student Learning? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/upshot/teacher-diversity-effect-students-learning.html

National Center for Education Statistics. (2020, May). The Condition of Education – Preprimary, Elementary, and Secondary Education – Teachers and Staff – Characteristics of Public School Teachers – Indicator May (2020). The Condition Of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_clr.asp