How Do We Get More Teachers of Color into our Classroom?

On Saturday, May 1st, 2021, a group of teachers, teacher educators, administrators, and others from around the state of Minnesota and three other states met for conversation. The purpose was to address the problem related to the lack of teachers of color in our classrooms in Minnesota and around the country. The Mankato NAACP Education Committee was also consulted. Three questions were used to initiate this conversation:

1. What are the filters that keep students of color from entering teacher preparation programs? 

2. What are the filters that keep students of color from completing teacher preparation programs? 

3. What can we do? 

FILTERS

The filters below were identified:

? Students’ own K-12 experiences. Most people who go into education have had positive experiences in the educational system. However, this is often not the case with many students of color. Preparing preservice and in-service teachers to teach in culturally responsive ways, as well as recognizing systemic racism within the educational system can be one part of reducing this impactful first filter.

? College entrance exams. The original purpose of SAT, ACT and other college entrance exams was to act as a filter, to determine those students who would be best able to succeed in a college setting and who would not. These instruments were never very valid predictors of students’ success. As such, they have far outlived their usefulness. As well, the cultural bias of these exams has been well documented. There are other more predictive and culturally responsive ways for students to demonstrate their ability to succeed higher education. 

? The double application process. Students must apply and be accepted into a college or university, then they must apply and be accepted into a college of education or teacher preparation program. Here, high GPA requirements are used as the primary determinant of entrance. If they do not make the cut for this second application, students have already spent two years and tuition dollars at an institution.

? Inflexible course offerings. In most teacher education programs students are required to move in lockstep through a predetermined sequence of courses. This may be most efficient for the management of the system, but it does not reflect how humans best learn. As well, cohort-only models requiring 12 to 16 credits to be taken each semester do not provide the flexibility that students with very busy lives need to be able to learn at their best. 

Limited teacher-preparation models. There will always be a need for traditional campus-based teacher preparation programs; however, there is also a need for practical alternatives. These could include post-bac programs, online or hybrid post-bac programs, summer/Saturday programs, school immersion programs, teacher apprenticeship models, and others.

? Inflexible student teaching and field experiences. The reality of today’s world is that many students are working 20 to 40 hours a week. It is a financial burden to have to take off work for a two-week practicum field experience or a 15-week student teaching experience.  As well, the geographic location of placements can add stress for students who do not have vehicles. There are a variety of creative and flexible options that can be considered here.

? Culturally unresponsive teacher-education programs. Teacher education curriculum, approaches, methods, assessment, and evaluation tend to reflect white, Eurocentric norms, values, and perspectives. Recognizing this is the first step in changing it. Preservice teachers are expected to use uniform ways of planning and teaching. Their performances are quantified and compared using rubrics that are based on a singular view of teaching and learning that too often reflects a restrictive teacher-directed approach. 

? Parochialism and cultural superiority. Parochialism and cultural superiority are evidenced in the use of Danielson model, “high leverage” practices, predefined dispositions, and other models and practices that reflect a singular and very narrow view of teaching and learning. 

? Invalid “assessments”. Assessments such as the edTPA and state exams such as the Minnesota Teacher Licensure Exam (MTLE) are invalid indicators of one’s ability to teach. They are time-consuming and expensive. They get in the way of learning to teach. They are culturally biased. And they prevent other more accurate methods of evaluating preservice teachers. They may be mandated by state regulations, but for our colleges and universities to stay silent is to be complicit. 

? Parochial research paradigms. Controlled experimental research has become the exclusive and epistemologically privileged way of determining causality and making claims as to what constitutes knowledge. Measuring is equated with knowing, by which the illusion of certainty is constructed. When people are reduced to numbers, we lose the voices and experiences of people. Excluding qualitative research methods to determine “evidence-based” practices creates a distorted and limited view of teaching and learning.

? The cost of higher education and low teaching wages. Preservice teachers are asked to assume years of student loan debt for a job that has low pay and high stress. Also, students from low SES backgrounds often avoid teacher education programs because of their familial needs and a desire to remove their families from unfavorable economic situations. Thus, they choose majors they believe to be more lucrative.

? Lack of empowerment. Creative, intelligent teachers are not allowed to be creative and intelligent. They are not allowed to adopt or design curriculum to meet the needs of their students. Too often they are expected to implement district-mandated, one-size-fits-all programs. One size does not fit all teachers or students. Teachers must be empowered to make the curriculum changes that are best for their students. This means that curriculum design courses must be a part of teacher preparation and teacher professional development programs.

? Lack of diversity. If we are to recruit and retain more students of color to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the teaching profession, there needs to be more professors, TOSAs, and mentor teachers who reflect these students.

ACTIONABLE ITEMS

Not all the items above are directly actionable. Some call for continued advocacy and strong responses from our colleges and universities. The items below can be addressed within teacher preparation programs:

? Partner with schools serving diverse populations to develop flexible online post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs.

? Design flexible, creative alternatives to field experiences and student teaching. 

? Make teacher preparation curriculum and programs more inclusive and culturally sustaining.

? Use culturally responsive teaching in teacher education programs.

? Incorporate valid and culturally relevant methods for preservice and in-service teacher evaluation.

? Provide resources for rigorous professional development for teachers and professors that includes critical race theory and culturally responsive teaching.

? Create alternatives to the double application process.

? Eliminate GPAs as the primary determinant of entry into teacher education programs.

? Create culturally responsive alternatives to college entrance exam requirements.

? Include instruction related to curriculum design in all teacher preparation programs.

? Actively recruit, develop, and hire professors, TOSAs, and mentor teachers who reflect the students we are trying to get into our teacher preparation programs.

? Advocate strongly for higher teacher wages, better working conditions, and rigorous and continued professional development for teachers.

Think about it: "Can't" is often another word for "won't". We can do better and we must do better.