Susan Frey/EdSource Today

Instructional coach Tamrya Walker teaches Common Core math at Westlake Middle School in Oakland.

Susan Frey/EdSource Today

Instructional autobus Tamrya Walker teaches Common Cadre math at Westlake Middle School in Oakland.

A new report on teacher diversity is urging urban school districts to put more than energy into ensuring that educators reflect the racial and ethnic backgrounds of their students.

The study released Midweek by the Albert Shanker Institute shows a large diverseness gap exists nationwide betwixt students and teachers, with 44.i percentage of all students identified equally minorities in 2012, compared to merely 17.3 percent of teachers. The gap is most dramatic for African-American and Latinos, the report found.

It traced the changing demographics of teacher and pupil populations over several years in ix cities – including Los Angeles and San Francisco – and found a driblet in the number of African-American teachers and a growing Latino pupil population that is outpacing the growth in the number of Latino teachers.

"Diversity is a central component to equality and opportunity," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the institute'south board of directors. "Where there'due south a diverse pedagogy workforce, all kids thrive."

The report found:

• The percent of African­-American teachers has declined dramatically and teachers of color overall – especially men – are under­-represented in urban schools.

• The percentage of Latino teachers is not keeping pace with the fast-­growing Latino student population, although it is increasing in some areas.

• The teacher-­student multifariousness gap is greater in charter schools than in traditional district schools.

• The biggest obstacle to teacher multifariousness nationwide is attrition, with teachers of color leaving considering they do not feel they take a voice in school decisions and they experience that they lack autonomy.

• All students benefit when taught past educators from diverse backgrounds considering that helps set up them for success in a various world and can help to reduce stereotypes.

Los Angeles stood out in the report for its loftier rate of growth in the number of Hispanic teachers between 2002 and 2022 when compared to the other eight cities: San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. However, the study said more Hispanic teachers are needed to shut the diversity gap in Los Angeles.

The study recommends:

• The U.S. Department of Education collect and report on the race and ethnicity of teachers in all public schools as office of its Civil Rights Information Collection.

• States collect data from all public schools on the race and ethnicity of teachers, and brand information technology bachelor to the public.

• States review education-­related laws and policies related to their impacts on teacher diversity, with amendments equally needed to promote a more than diverse instruction forcefulness.

• State and federal officials invest in loftier quality teacher pedagogy programs at historically black colleges and universities.

• Federal and state officials provide incentives for partnerships between colleges of teaching, schoolhouse districts and charter networks to provide mentoring, support and training in culturally responsive practices to all new teachers working in high­-poverty schools.

• Support for "grow your own" teacher grooming programs and "career ladder" programs for teachers' aides seeking to go educators.

• Collaboration between teachers' unions and schoolhouse communities to develop strategic plans for teacher diversification.

• The inclusion of instructor diverseness programs such equally career ladders in union negotiations.

• The inclusion of teacher diversity in district accountability measures.

• Partnerships between districts and colleges of education to increase the supply of well­-qualified African-American and Hispanic teachers prepared to work in metropolis schools.

• The creation of programs to recruit and back up African-­American and Hispanic teachers past districts, schools and charter networks.

The report highlighted several recruitment and retention programs that could serve as models for others, including the Boston Teacher Residency, Grow Your Own Teachers, and Teach Tomorrow in Oakland. Both the Los Angeles and San Francisco unified school districts offer programs similar to the Boston program. That program consists of teacher residents working with mentors in public schools for i year while completing master's degrees at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and so becoming full-time teachers after graduating and making a delivery to stay for at to the lowest degree three years.

According to the report, the Los Angeles district'due south pupil population in 2022 was 70.seven percent Hispanic, 11 percentage white, ten.2 percent African-American, 6.2 percentage Asian, 0.5 percent Native American and one.4 per centum multiracial or "other." Meanwhile, its teachers were 42.ix percent white, 33.5 percentage Hispanic, 10.5 percent African-­American and 12.3 percent Asian.

Justo Avila, chief human resources officer for Los Angeles Unified, said minorities at present contain almost 60 percent of the district'southward teaching force. And although the Latino student population has grown to 74 percent this year, he said the commune does not believe its percentage of Latino teachers should be that high, because its students demand exposure to educators from a wide diversity of backgrounds.

"They demand to see and hear perspectives that are not just from Latino teachers," he said. "They need to learn tolerance and how to work with others across the nation and I remember having multifariousness helps you get there."

Los Angeles Unified's career ladder program is helping to increment teacher diversity by supporting teachers' assistants who desire to become educators with tuition assistance and training for prerequisite exams, said Debi Ignani, deputy chief human resources officeholder. The commune continues its support for them while they are getting their instruction and so hires them when they graduate, she said.

"When yous look at information technology over time, these individuals have the best memory in our district," Ignani said. "They grew up in our district. They work in our district. They're going to stay in our district."

The district likewise offers its ain accredited two­-yr teacher preparation program largely for people who alive in the community. In addition, it provides an urban teacher residency program in partnership with UCLA, and the California State University campuses of Domingo Hills, Northridge and Los Angeles. The program offers specialized instructor's credential pathways in math, science and special education through an apprenticeship model that gives teacher residents the opportunity to "co-teach" with mentors for a twelvemonth while earning main'south degrees.

"They are our pipeline," Avila said. "We brand certain that they're supported. We offer a weeklong summertime institute where nosotros deal with issues they're going to be facing in the classroom. If people are having trouble, we become out and help them in their outset year through a diverseness of strategies. Last year'due south memory of first-year teachers was 92 pct."

San Francisco's Teacher Residency program supports new educators throughout their get-go two years on the job after they earn a master's degree from the Academy of San Francisco or Stanford University at a reduced price. The district also has 1 staff member on its recruitment team focused on outreach to potential African­-American teachers, said district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe.

San Francisco'southward educatee population in 2022 was forty.8 percent Asian, 25.ix percent Hispanic, ten.eight percent white, 9.5 percent African­-American, 0.4 percent Native American and 12.v percent multiracial or "other," co-ordinate to the report. However, its teachers were 52.2 percentage white, 27.one per centum Asian, xiv.2 percent Hispanic and vi percent African-­American.

"Information technology is a priority to hire various, skilled teachers to serve our students," Blythe said. "Our proactive recruitment strategies include hosting more of our ain recruitment events, partnering more deeply with local universities, and issuing Early Offers of Employment to our meridian candidates, including candidates of color."

Although the study did non analyze diversity in the Oakland district, it highlighted the Teach Tomorrow in Oakland program for its success in recruiting teachers who reverberate students' diversity. The programme was created to fill commune vacancies with teachers who would be probable to stay, especially targeting those who grew up in the area, said commune spokesman Troy Flint.

"We do want to take a faculty that'due south more than reflective of the experiences that our students accept and a person's ethnic identity is ofttimes a big part of their personal experience," he said. "But, nosotros simply don't accept enough teachers period. So, it'south really difficult to get one level deeper and focus on recruiting teachers of a specific ethnicity or background when you can't get teachers of any kind."

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