This "Fastback" presents an overview of the problem of recruiting minorities into teaching from a national perspective and describes the collaborative project in Louisville, Kentucky, that addresses the problem. This project involves close cooperation between the community, the school district, the university, and the teaching profession. The discussion concludes with a framework for recruiting minorities into teaching and offers recommendations for enhancing minority recruitment efforts in other school systems. (JD)

An explanation of the impending shortage of minority teachers and suggestions for increasing the supply of minority teachers compose the crux of this document. The following specific actions may be taken by local school districts, colleges of teacher education, teacher certification boards, and teacher recruitment and selection offices to ensure that a highly talented cadre of minorities will choose teaching over other professions: (1) gather information about gender and minority distribution of students enrolled in colleges of education, and of teachers; (2) organize task forces that focus uniquely on minority teacher recruitment; (3) develop strategies to expand the number of target groups from which to recruit teachers; (4) lobby for fiscal support to improve minority participation in the teacher recruitment effort and expand financial assistance packages; (5) increase financial support for schools that minorities attend; and (6) develop a pool of oncall minority professionals who can be quickly brought into teaching. An appendix lists suggested recruitment programs and practices with regard to policy review and constituency building, data-gathering activities, early recruitment/pipeline improvement, program-entry incentives, retention to successful licensure, and recruitment from alternative pools. (JAM)

This publication was developed to meet an apparent need for new and effective strategies to recruit greater numbers of racial and ethnic minorities to the field of education. It deals specifically with prospective candidates who are Black, Hispanic, and Asian. The guide is organized in three sections. Part I, "Getting to Know the Target Group", is based on a 1988 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education national survey of teacher education students and provides general background and preferences information on students by race and ethnicity. Part II, "Concern, Commitment, Collaboration, and Creativity: The Four Cs of Recruitment," describes strategies for recruiting individuals from various levels, namely precollege, college, and midcareer/nontraditional. Part III,"Recruitment Success Stories," describes programmatic and administrative elements of four university-based minority recruitment programs. (JD)

Presentations at this conference focused on the following topics: (1) the recruitment and retention of minorities in teacher education; (2) history and social psychology of the issue; (3) futuristic views and minority participation in the 1990s; (4) comparison of teacher education programs in traditionally black and white institutions; (5) profiles of existing programs; (6) recruitment/marketing strategies for minorities in teacher education; (7) group problem solving and the task before us; (8) a model for recruitment and retention of minority students in teacher education; and (9) planning for the future: a national perspective. A list of participants is included as well as summaries of work group discussions. (JD)

ABSTRACT: This study examined the recruitment programs and strategies that the personnel administrators are using to attract minority candidates into the field of education. Research has indicated that having a more representable number of minority teachers teaching will have a positive effect upon not only minority children, but also all children in public schools. Also examined are the challenges involving the recruitment issues and barriers that are encountered by those who recruit teachers. There were several conclusions resulting from this study. The state and national programs that were available to the personnel administrators are being used to recruit teachers. However, specific programs that target minority teachers were not being used to the fullest extent. The job fairs attended by school districts were deemed very effective, whereas the use of the minority media was not as widely used but was perceived to be effective by respondents. The non-participation in some programs causes a low perception of the effectiveness of such programs. Recruitment problems were found to be centered on the fact that there are a limited number of minority candidates available to select. The perception of personnel administrators is that local school districts are putting forth-substantial effort to recruit minorities. Local businesses, professional organizations, and universities have been, and will continue to be, a contributing factor as they lend their resources to the recruitment effort. Finally, there is both a minority teacher shortage and an overall teacher shortage in North Carolina as evidenced by the perceptions of the personnel administrators and the state of North Carolina taking steps to addressed the shortage by implementing various initiatives and programs to help resolve this issue.

The tools and resources in this book help school leaders seamlessly incorporate minority teacher recruitment and retention programs into current human-resources activities. With details about exemplary minority teacher recruitment and retention programs, this book also showcases strategies for how to replicate such programs in your own school or district. Contents include: A Critical Examination of Teacher Shortages: Thoughts on Needed Change; Identification of Recruitment Models Focused on Minority Teachers: A Theoretical; Concept and Survey; Pipeline Programs for Minority Teacher Recruitment; and Prepare for Action.