PHOENIX (AP) - White teachers account for three of every four Arizona public school teachers, a level significantly higher than the student population. It matters because experts say a diverse teacher pool can have an impact on student achievement.
Over half of all Arizona students aren’t white, with Hispanics accounting for 46%, blacks 5 % and Native Americans 5%, the Arizona Republic reported.
Francesca Lopez, associate dean at the University of Arizona’s teaching college, said it’s important for students to see parts of their identity reflected in the people at the front of the classroom.
Students of color who have a teacher of color “perform better across the board in all content areas because it informs their identity,” she said.
Erica Maxwell, associate superintendent of equity, diversity and inclusion for the state Department of Education, said a diverse teaching workforce is needed “to improve outcomes for all of our student.”
Maxwell, an ex-teacher and former school administrator, said a school with diverse teachers gives students “a different experience.”
Research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research indicated that having teachers of color may impact whether a student of color enrolls in college, and Vanderbilt University researchers found that black teachers were more likely to refer black students to gifted programs.
Lopez, Chandler history teacher John Prothro and Kyle Nunn, a school behavioral specialist and parent in Phoenix, all pointed to the state’s broader struggle in recruiting and retaining teachers as part of the reason why Arizona doesn’t have more teachers of color.
“We don’t pay very well. Our class sizes are enormous,” Lopez said. “There’s just a lot of factors that are driving out teachers.”
In data collected by the Arizona Department of Education, more than a dozen school districts and charter schools reported having just one teacher of color.
Districts varied in the percentage of teachers of color.
While inner-city Phoenix Union High School District reported that nearly half of its teachers are not white, Deer Valley Unified in north Phoenix reported that 9% of its teachers are teachers of color.
Many rural Arizona districts did not report any non-white teachers.
About 32% of the University of Arizona students enrolled at the College of Education are Hispanic, 5% are black, 3% are Native American and 48% are white, according to data from the college.
Lopez said the college’s philosophy is “grow your own” by finding prospective teachers within a community in need of them.
UA has partnered with the Sunnyside Unified School District in the Tucson area to identify people working in the district - like instructional assistants - or other community members with associate’s degrees interested in teaching.
Full tuition is covered through forgivable loans and scholarships. Classes are held at Sunnyside. At the end of the 17-month program, graduates earn a degree in elementary education.
Nearly 90% of Sunnyside’s students are Hispanic and 46% of Sunnyside teachers are Hispanic, which is a higher percentage than that of most Arizona districts.
“If we want teachers to reflect the students they’re teaching, then they should come from the communities that they’re teaching,” Lopez said. “And so to do that, you reduce barriers in terms of access and cost.”
At Arizona State University, 53% of on-campus students in the teacher prep program are white, while 32% are Hispanic and 3% are black, according to spokesman Paul Gediman.
Recruitment goes hand-in-hand with retention, Maxwell said.
“If we recruit and they stay for two or three years, you know, we’re still back at the same place because then we don’t have teachers of color in the classroom,” she said.
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