A Diverse Teacher Force

Event Overview

This session was conceptualized and organized by the Shanker Institute and is part of the 2015 Teaching & Learning Conference organized by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

There is concern that, as the U.S. population and student body is growing more racially and ethically diverse, the teacher workforce does yet reflect this diversity. In fact, diversity should go beyond having more black and brown teachers in front of students. Diversity is also about equipping all teachers (regardless of race) to work with heterogeneous classrooms and diverse schools. Although government and nongovernment organizations have funded a variety of minority teacher recruitment programs, recent research suggests that the main problem resides in the inability to retain these teachers. Panelists will discuss this issue as well as initiatives around the country that combine recruitment and retention elements, as well as other organizational strategies that may signal the importance of diversity.