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Home Products Actionable district strategies to build a diverse teacher workforce and foster educational equity
A diverse teacher workforce can help promote culturally responsive instruction, equitable opportunities, and academic gains for all students. To increase educator diversity and realize these benefits, districts must take intentional and strategic action to recruit and develop the conditions to retain teachers of different races/ethnicities and backgrounds (Pitts, 2005 [440 KB ]; Van Roekel, 2008 [202 KB ]; Villegas & Davis, 2008).
Since July 2020, Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest has provided Racine Unified School District in Wisconsin with in-depth coaching on the essential components to foster educational equity through a diverse teacher workforce. The project, which is part of the work of the Midwest Achievement Gap Research Alliance (MAGRA), leverages REL Midwest’s partnership with the Wisconsin Urban Leadership Institute [3,079 KB ] and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to promote strategies that can improve a district’s capacity to hire and retain Black teachers.
Benefits of a Black teacher
13% increased likelihood of going to college when Black students have a Black teacher in grades K–3
39% decreased high school dropout rate when the most underserved Black male students have a Black teacher in grades 3–5 (Gershenson, et al., 2018 [549 KB ])
REL Midwest researchers Tammie Causey-Konaté, Ph.D., and Etai Mizrav are leading this work. So far, they have held three coaching sessions, along with a series of meetings, to guide Racine district leaders in the development of a culture of continuous improvement to support the recruitment and retention of Black teachers. This process includes identifying problems of practice and conducting root-cause analyses. In addition, the REL Midwest team has shared MAGRA’s recent webinar on cultivating inclusive environments for Black teachers and the related video on how retaining Black teachers improves student outcomes to boost the opportunity for adult learning and development.
REL Midwest’s coaching sessions have focused on helping Racine district staff build a more comprehensive approach to their work on the School-Based Teacher Academies of Racine (STAR) Residency Program. This program supports the recruitment of diverse teachers through a partnership between the Racine Unified School District and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The initiative serves as a vehicle through which Dr. Causey-Konaté and Mizrav have conducted coaching sessions on developing strategies to improve the district’s recruitment practices and engagement with teachers of color.
The following describes three best practices for embarking on a journey of continuous improvement, whether to build a diverse teacher workforce or address another problem of practice:
Although initially the work was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, REL Midwest coaches have used the available time to prioritize the quality and sustainability of the continuous improvement work taking place in Racine. Dr. Causey-Konaté and Mizrav noted that practitioners and leaders in the district exude an urgency and eagerness to continue the work in 2021, which involves mapping out an action plan, selecting strategies to improve the STAR Residency Program, and integrating those strategies into the initiative’s current practices.
>> For more on teacher workforce diversification, read this blog post on creating antiracist environments for Black teachers.
Author(s)
Maggi Ibis
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