The Need for More Teachers of Color

A thought-provoking piece by Stephanie Rivera, "Advocacy in the Age of Color-blindness" has been making the rounds on social media lately. Rivera talks about the need to reflect on the whiteness of the teaching profession and the need for more teachers of color. I absolutely agree with her, and offer this research to support her argument:

Of the 3.5 full-time million teachers in the United States, 75% of them are White, and only 7% are Latina/o (NCES, 2012).  While the national enrollment of white students in K-12 public schools decreased from 61 to 56 percent, Latino student enrollment has increased from 17 to 21 percent (NCES, 2010). In California, 52.7% of enrolled K-12 students are Latina/o (CA Dept of Ed, 2013), yet only 17.7% of the state’s teachers are Latinas/os. The increasing number of Latina/o students in the nation’s schools has led some experts to call for greater diversity within the teaching force.

Although Latina/o students may be served well by teachers of different ethnic groups, the benefits of exposing students of color to teachers of color have been well-documented. Research has shown that teachers of color serve as role models to students of color, boosting their sense of self-worth, motivating students to succeed, and decreasing feelings of alienation in schools (Villegas & Irvine, 2010). White students also benefit from exposure to ethnically diverse teachers, helping to dispel internalized stereotypes about members of different ethnic groups (Waters, 1989). The benefits of Latino students’ exposure to Latino teachers extends to higher test scores, high school exit exam scores, lower dropout rates, and higher graduation and college-going rates (Fraga, 1986; Meire, 1993; Clewell et al., 2005; Pitts, 2007). When working with Latino students, Latino teachers “understand linguistic and cultural student codes, and often share the hopes, dreams, and expectations of their families” (Nieto, 1999). Given the numerous benefits of a diverse teaching force and the increasing numbers of Latino students in the K-12 education system, it is troubling, then that Latinos are underrepresented in the teaching field.

Entry into the teaching profession generally requires a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. Although alternative pathways to teaching exist, 89% of teaching candidates enroll in traditional teacher education programs (Department of Education, 2011). Only 11% of these teaching candidates identify as Latina/o, however, with 69% of teaching candidates identifying as White (Department of Education, 2011). The persistent lack of diversity within the teaching profession has led the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education to urge universities and policymakers to focus on “creating, elevating, and supporting initiatives to diversify the profession so that educators better reflect the demographics of the PK-12 student population” (AACTE, 2013).

In order to increase K-12 students’ access to teachers of color, the issues of Latino graduate students’ access to higher education and financial aid opportunities must be addressed. Latino students are a loan-averse population (Santiago, 2013) for whom “access to and perceptions about financial capital play a central role in college enrollment” (Nuñez & Kim, 2012). Approximately half of all Latino undergraduate students are the first in their family to enroll in college, and 25% of Latinos in college come from low-income households earning less than $40,000 annually (Santiago, 2013). Researchers have found low levels of awareness and understanding of college prices and financial aid among Latino students and parents (Immerwahr, 2003; Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, 2004). Understanding the financial aid decision-making processes of Latino teaching candidates may assist policymakers and institutions of higher education in their efforts to recruit and support a more diverse pool of teachers.