Further reduced access to experienced teachers is yet another way the pandemic is now disproportionately impacting Black, Latino and other historically underserved students.
COVID is driving teachers and administrators away from their professions in growing numbers, and districts are struggling to fill the vacancies. This gap may increase the already inequitable odds that students of color will find themselves in classrooms with novice and uncertified teachers.
And such high turnover makes it hard for schools to provide coherent instruction and introduce new innovations, warns a new analysis from The Education Trust. The nonprofit equity organization cites several reasons for why teachers of color quit, including ongoing segregation and resource inequity, lower salaries and staff shortages, poor leadership and working conditions, and the “invisible tax” that more often requires teachers of color to take on extra work without compensation.
In Florida schools that serve the highest numbers of Black students, for example, nearly 25% of the teachers are in their first or second year. That rate is less than 15% for schools where the fewest Black students are enrolled. The numbers are similar for Hispanic students, the analysis found. In three states—Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Washington—Latino students are two to three times more likely to attend schools with high percentages of inexperienced teachers.
“Right now, many students attend schools where they have a brand-new teacher year after year after year,” the analysis says. “This ‘revolving door’ of teachers can deeply affect student learning. To no surprise, inexperienced teachers and high teacher turnover disproportionately affect the achievement of students who are most underserved.”
In one model program, teachers of color in Connecticut can receive an annual grant to reimburse their federal or state education loans. This is part of a multipronged strategy to help districts attract, recruit, hire, and retain teachers of color. Here are five ways more key strategies for putting more experienced teachers and more educators of color in classrooms serving minority students:
1. Build data systems that track disparities. This will allow officials to spot districts that need intervention and those that can serve as models for diverse hiring. and which can be held up as bright spots. Officials must also commit to reporting teacher equity data that is disaggregated by race, retention, experience and access to professional development.
2. Determine the cause of disparities. Officials must seek input from teachers to determine the impact district policies are having on them in efforts to determine the root causes of inequities. Research shows disparities not only between districts but within districts: “Even in schools that look like they have a relatively experienced and qualified workforce, Black and Latino students may still be disproportionately assigned to courses taught by novice educators,” the analysis says.
More from DA: Stress of staff shortages may drive teachers away in huge numbers, survey shows
3. Set clear goals and interim measures of progress. Establishing a timeline for ambitious and achievable hiring goals sets expectations that education leaders at every level will
be held accountable for giving students have access to high-quality teachers. Under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, for example, districts are must submit a plan for reversing the disproportionate assignments of students from certain racial, ethnic, linguistic, or economic backgrounds and students with disabilities to novice teachers or “teachers providing instruction in fields in which they lack expertise.”
4. Let evidence and data drive policy solutions. Officials must implement initiatives to strengthen school leaders in high-need districts and schools, as satisfaction with school leaders is key to retaining teachers in high-poverty schools. States should:
- Ensure principal preparation programs prioritize the necessary skills to improve achievement in struggling schools and for historically underserved groups of students.
- Offer competitive grants for high-need districts to create principal pipelines and offer incentives to recruit strong school leaders to high-need schools.
- Invest specifically in developing and supporting leaders of color, given the research showing that principals of color are more likely to recruit and retain teachers of color.
- Invest in evidence-based “Grow Your Own” and high-quality residency programs.
- Pay teachers more to work in high-need districts, schools, and subjects.
- Support high-need districts in hiring early. In one recent study of a large urban district, nearly 20% of teachers were hired after the school year began, which often makes it hard to recruit strong teachers who have accepted positions in other districts. Teachers who start late have much less time to plan and may struggle to create a positive classroom culture.
5. Commit to ongoing data transparency, monitoring, and accountability. Officials must continuously collect and publish data to monitor for improvement and hold district and school leaders accountable. Oregon, for example, publishes an “Educator Equity Report” every year that covers current research on recruitment and retention for educator diversity and teacher preparation initiatives that create racially affirming and culturally sustaining environments.
