Since 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) have been working collaboratively to support teacher candidates in preparing for "The Praxis Series"[TM] of teacher licensure assessments, currently used in 41 states and territories. Their focus has been particularly targeted to assisting minority candidates. This work is foundational to the mission of both organizations. As they embarked upon this work, they realized that they needed stronger research into specific areas of performance gaps on teacher assessments between minority and nonminority candidates. They then jointly conducted research into this issue. The research involved both statistical analyses of "Praxis"[TM] data and field research, collecting information from faculty and candidates. The purpose of this research was to form a solid foundation of understanding to inform their efforts to support candidates. In this report, the author and her colleagues share the findings of that research, as well as a summary of their efforts, to date, to support teacher candidates. In the report, they focus on the disparate performance between minority and nonminority teacher candidates on licensure tests. The data show that minority teacher candidates score lower on average on their licensure tests. The data also show that minority teacher candidates take licensure tests later in their academic and professional careers, and that the delay correlates with lower test scores and passing rates. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures and 11 footnotes.) [This paper was written with Brooke Whiting, Sarah Ferguson, Segun Eubanks, Jonathan Steinberg, Linda Scatton and Katherine Bassett.].

Teacher Diversity and Student Success makes a powerful case for diversifying the teaching force as an important policy lever for closing achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. Written by three leading scholars, the book provides nuanced solutions on how to diversify the teaching force, increase student exposures to same-race teachers, and improve teacher training for a culturally diverse student body. They argue that teacher diversity should be seen as one element of teacher quality, and policies focused on improving teacher quality should take race explicitly into consideration. The authors also address the historic and contemporary factors that have kept people of color out of teaching and highlight emerging research showing the significant, long-lasting impact of same-race teacher exposures, particularly for Black and Latino students. This timely book is a call to action for building teacher diversity to ensure student success.

Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers are underrepresented in public schools across the United States of America, with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color making up roughly 37% of the adult population and 50% of children, but just 19% of the teaching force. Yet research over decades has indicated their positive impact on student learning and social and emotional development, particularly for Students of Color and Indigenous Students. A first of its kind, the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers addresses key issues and obstacles to ethnoracial diversity across the life course of teachers’ careers, such as recruitment and retention, professional development, and the role of minority-serving institutions. Including chapters from leading researchers and policy makers, the Handbook is designed to be an important resource to help bridge the gap between scholars, practitioners, and policy makers. In doing so, this research will serve as a launching pad for discussion and change at this critical moment in our country’s history. The volume’s goal is to drive conversations around the issue of ethnoracial teacher diversity and to provide concrete practices for policy makers and practitioners to enable them to make evidence-based decisions for supporting an ethnoracially diverse educator workforce, now and in the future.

The lack of diversity in the teaching force is troubling for several reasons. Fewer minority teachers may indicate that few minorities are interested in pursuing a career in teaching. The low number of minority teachers also may indicate that there are fewer minority candidates with the skills and qualifications to enter the field. The inability to retain highly effective minority teachers, like all teachers, is also a challenge for many schools and districts and may indicate high turnover of certain teachers. Increasing the number of teachers of color is not only a matter of a philosophical commitment to diversity in career opportunities. Teachers of color provide real-life examples to minority students of future career paths. In this way, increasing the number of current teachers of color may be instrumental to increasing the number of future teachers of color. And while there are effective teachers of many races, teachers of color have demonstrated success in increasing academic achievement for engaging students of similar backgrounds. However, recruitment alone will not solve the minority teacher shortage, but highly effective strategies may increase the number of entering teachers to a rate that outpaces turnover. Finely tuned recruitment efforts that seek teachers who are likely to succeed and provide support while in the classroom, even in challenging schools, can help in increasing retention. This paper highlights elements of these innovative recruitment strategies, presents brief case studies of programs, and suggests recommendations for state and local policy to support such programs and strategies. (Contains 38 endnotes.).

2019 Outstanding Book Award, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Millennial Teachers of Color explores the opportunities and challenges for creating and sustaining a healthy teaching force in the United States. Millennials are the largest generational cohort in American history, with approximately ninety million members and, of these, roughly 43 percent are people of color. This book, edited by prominent teacher educator Mary E. Dilworth, considers the unique qualities, challenges, and opportunities posed by that large population for the teaching field. Noting that a diverse teaching and learning community enhances student achievement, particularly for the underserved and underachieving preK–12 student population, Dilworth argues that efforts to recruit, groom, and retain teachers of color are out-of-date and inadequate. She and the contributors offer fresh looks at these millennials and explore their views of the teaching profession; focus attention on their relation to schools and teaching; and consider how these young teachers feel about teaching for social justice. The book is intended to disrupt the current line of inquiry that suggests that by simply increasing the number of teachers of color equity has been established. Readers will gain insights on this unique and valuable group of prospective and practicing preK–12 educators and understanding of the need for more contemporary approaches to recruitment, preparation, hiring, and placement. Contributors Keffrelyn D. Brown Keith C. Catone Genesis A. Chavez Marcus J. Coleman Hollee R. Freeman Michael Hansen Socorro G. Herrera Sarah Ishmael Sabrina Hope King Adam T. Kuranishi Lindsay A. Miller Amanda R. Morales Janice Hamilton Outtz Zollie Stevenson Jr. Dulari Tahbildar Angela M. Ward

Sponsored by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education This book explains the steps that teacher educators and policymakers must take in order to prepare a teaching force that is both culturally diverse and culturally aware.

This book explores the effects of the REACH program (Recruiting and Enlightening through Access to and Communication with High-need schools), a seven-year initiative devised to help find, attract, and prepare diverse teacher candidates interested in working with young children. The book analyzes how the program, set at a national liberal arts college in the US, used the three R’s: recruitment, retention, and recognition, to successfully draw in diverse educators for young children who then go on to became leaders and role models in their schools and communities. Chapters examine ways to provide the academic, social, and enrichment supports necessary for diverse teacher candidates and identify current teacher education practices that are effective as well as opportunities for change.