Black and brown college graduates are less likely to choose a teaching career and more likely to leave the classroom for other jobs, reports the National Council on Teacher Quality. As America becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the K-12 teacher workforce is not keeping pace.
Only 21 percent of teachers -- and 49 percent of students -- are black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander or multi-racial, reports the NCTQ's Teacher Diversity Dashboard. (Asian Americans are excluded as not "historically disadvantaged.")
While 35 percent of working-age adults are "of color" (but not Asian), that falls to 22.6 percent of working-age adults with college degrees. The 1.5 point gap is small, but it's growing.
In the past, teachers have been "slightly more diverse than the population of college-educated working adults, reports Amanda Geldud on The 74. That changed around 2020, The 2.5-point gap is a "troubling trend," says Heather Peske, president of the NCTQ. "Increasingly people of color are either choosing other professions or are leaving the classroom."
Encouraging people of color to become teachers is only the first step, says Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. It's also important to keep them in the profession.
"Teacher turnover is higher for teachers of color (22%) than white teachers (15%)," writes Geldud. Black teachers often have more student loan debt, says El-Mekki.
Many complain they're asked to take on mentoring and discipline duties, in addition to teaching. It's called "the invisible tax."
A diverse teacher workforce benefits students, says Constance Lindsay, a University of North Carolina education professor. It's "super important" for black boys to have access to a teacher of color.
“We know that of all of the different things that we’ve tried to do to get rid of achievement gaps," Lindsay says, "having diverse teachers is … a very efficient and effective intervention.”
On the flip side, states are modifying certification exams and other requirements for new teachers in hope of qualifying more "diverse" teachers. I wonder if the trade-off is worth it.
Missouri requires new middle and high school teachers to earn a 3.0 (B) average in the subject in which they're seeking certification. The state board of education plans to lower that to a 2.5 GPA.
Grades aren't a significant indicator of teacher quality, according to the state education department, reports Jillian Schneider for The Lion.
However, Cory Koedel, a University of Missouri economics professor, warns that education majors receive higher grades than students in other disciplines. Academic standards are “astonishingly low.”
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