An Analysis of the Southern Education Foundation’s Pathways to Teaching Careers Program

Haley B. Brickner, Terrence Murphy, Taylor M. Raymond, and Lynn Thach

Contesting Diversity/Equity Policies

The Southern Education Foundation

About the Southern Education Foundation (SEF)

The SEF is an education-oriented philanthropy based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Formed in 1867, the SEF is dedicated towards improving and broadening access to education.

Today, the SEF is primarily focused on promoting excellence and equity in the South, most directly for the Black community and other marginalized groups.

(SEF, 2001)

Development of the SEF’s Pathways to Teaching Careers Program

Over the last two decades, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recognized that there is an extreme shortage of thousands of teachers in schools across the U.S. due to fewer college graduates choosing teaching as a career, higher attrition rates for those who enter the field, and professionals entering retirement at the earliest eligible age.

In response to this shortage, a number of organizations are working on increasing the quality and quantity of teacher preparation programs . Additionally, a focus has been on developing a more diverse teaching force.

(SEF, 2001)

Development of the SEF’s Pathways to Teaching Careers Programs cont.

• The nation’s public school system is becoming increasingly diverse based on racial/ethnic, cultural, and linguistic categories.

• The student demographic is continuing to grow in terms of this diversity – but in relation, the teaching force is stagnant.

• The SEF believes an improvement in recruiting minority teachers is necessary to effectively meet the current needs of the student population.

(SEF, 2001)

The SEF’s Policy Recommendations for Increasing Teacher & School Leadership

Diversity1. Support involvement of HBCUs in teacher pipeline

2. Develop statewide strategy to eliminate racial disparities in pass rates of teacher licensure exams

3. Diversify ranks of those who participate in educational policy dialogue and formulation by engaging HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions

4. Support teacher pipeline programs built on university-school district collaboration

5. Institutions of higher education should use value-added philosophy to guide recruitment initiative and curricular changes in teacher preparation programs

6. Target nontraditional talent pools, especially teachers’ assistants and paraprofessionals, for acceptance into teacher education programs

7. Create more federal scholarships, fellowships, and loan forgiveness programs to encourage minority students to pursue teaching and/or graduate study in education

8. Invest in future teacher programs at the middle-school level rather than waiting for high school, and target middle schools with high minority student populations

(SEF, 2001)

Critical Analysis of the

Pathways to Teaching Careers Program

Theme #1:Privilege and oppression, as experienced by minority students in educational institutions

The Pathways to Teaching Careers Program assumes that a more diverse teaching force might help to alleviate this problem.

What are the reasons for systemic oppression?

“Globalization itself cannot be held responsible for

inequalities, but its current form, and the ideologies

and institutions to which is has given rise, certainly

can” (Rivizi & Lingard, 2010, p. 183)

Globalization has “reproduced or even

extended existing patterns of global inequalities and eliminated any potential

that education might have for socially just social

transformation”(Rivizi & Lingard, 2010, p.

183)

Systems organized around privilege are:

-Dominated by -Identified with -Centered on

privileged groups (Johnson, 2002)

What does this mean for students?

“It is in education that students learn to develop their sense of

self-worth and acceptable modes of social communication”

(Rivizi & Lingard, 2010, p. 160)

“The race and background of their teachers tell them something about authority and power in

contemporary America” (Fenwick, 2000, p. 15)

“Positive role models and removal of stereotypes are as important for White children as for children of color” (Fenwick, 2000, p. 13)

How do diverse teachers help?

Students are told they must assimilate if they want to be successful. They are

taught that their the experiences, language and culture embraced by

their families and communities, do not matter (Lipman, 2003)

“Teachers stand as models for what it is like to be an educated person…If

students are to believe that they may one day be educated people who can

make positive contributions to society, then they need to see diverse

examples” (Fenwick, 2000, p. 14)

Economic, social, and cultural process combined with racist ideology and

structures of power and privilege to promote a system of educational

policy that further oppresses communities of color (Lipman, 2003)

“Teachers of color can be pivotal in dispelling myths of racial

inferiority and incompetence and breaking down centuries of

misinformation” (Fenwick, 2000, p. 13)

Theme #2: The Positive Impact of Minority Teachers on Minority Students and the Teaching Force

Current Statistics and Trends:

An increasingly diverse public school population

In nation’s school’s, nearly 40% of students are minorities and

Demographers predict these percentages will continue to increase

But…

The teaching force is not racially or ethnically diverse

Only 13% of nation’s teaching force comprised of minorities and

The pool of minority teachers in the teaching force is still decreasing

(NCES, 2000; SEF, 2001)

As the nation’s public school population is growing racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically, the teaching force is not becoming more diverse.

WHY?

1. Inadequate pre-collegiate academic preparation due to systemic educational inequities (SEF, 2001; Lipman, 2003).

2. Institutional policies (e.g., diversity action plans) which reproduce dominant ideologies and unwittingly reinforce practices that support exclusion and inequity (Hu-Dehart, 2000; Iverson, 2010).

3. Certification barriers to the teaching profession which disproportionately affect minority teacher candidates (SEF, 2001).

4. Dwindling interest of minority students in the teaching profession. Comprise only 15% of students in teacher education (SEF, 2001).

5. Societal systems of privilege and oppression which provide advantages to majority groups while at the same time limiting the opportunities of minority groups

Why is diversity in the teaching profession essential?

Reasons for Lack of Diversity in the Teaching Profession

Theme #3: Standardization & Accountability,The Negative Effects on Minority Students

Color-coded Map Ranks State’s Standardized

Education 2012 Performance

“The main strategy to improve learning and ensure equity was tough new accountability measures, implemented primarily through standardized tests to measure student achievement and the success or failure of schools.” (Lipman, 2003, p. 3)

WHY STANDARDIZATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN SCHOOLS?

“There is an increasing diverse public school student population (40% of the nation’s students are members of minority groups – primarily African American and Hispanic)” which has caused inequities in education.

(SEF, 2001, p. 6)

AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE MARGINALIZATION IN SCHOOLS:

• Many students of color can go through 13 years of public education without meeting a single teacher from the same racial or ethnic group (SEF, 2001, p. 10)

• Standardized tests among other academic expectations are placed on minority students who haven’t been provided the tools or prepared academically for these educational settings.

WHAT DOES “SELECTIVE REGULATION” MEAN IN ACCOUNTABILITY?

In many schools, 90% of students are children of color and/or speak a first language other than English (Pathways Policy, p. 6)

Language barriers affect student learning which directly impact performance on standardized tests.

Accountability policies require students to take high-stakes tests in English after three years or less in bilingual education (Lipman, 2003, p. 14)

Inequities in Standardization & Accountability:

Accountability policies have generated an intense focus on preparing for standardized tests. (Lipman, 2003, p. 7)

Although some teachers privately voice opposition, ‘test-prep’ has become ataken-for-granted part of the curriculum. Taking, and passing, standardized tests isa publicly valorized objective of schooling. (Lipman, 2003, p. 8)

“There is system-wide evidence that the pattern of narrowed curricula and test-driven instruction” is replicated in schools across the country” (Lipman, 2003, p. 10)

HOW DOES STANDARDIZATION EFFECT STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, AND

COMMUNITIES?School probation, grade retention, the publication and discussion of test scores, andthe constant media monitoring of test results constitute a public display of the failureof low-income students, schools, and communities of color.(Lipman, 2003, p. 12)

Negative Effects of Standardization

Alarming trends in public education among minority students:

Students attending predominantly minority schools (90% of student population are minorities) and high poverty schools (75% or more on free/reduced lunch) are: 5 times more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers

(0-3 years of teaching) 10 times more likely to be taught by teachers to who don’t

respond to individual needs (NCES, 1991) More likely to be in schools with high rates of teacher

turnover (55% leave by third year)(SEF, 2001, p. 17)

WHAT IS THE “Demographic Mismatch” BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS?

17% of students are African Americans – only 8% of teachers 14% of students are Hispanic/Latinos – only 4% of teachers 5% are Asian/Pacific Islanders – less than 1% of teachers 1% are American Indian/Alaska Native – less than 1% of teachers

“If students are to believe that they may one day be educated people who can make positive contributions to society, then they need to see diverse examples” (Gordon, 2000)

Negative Effects for Minority Students:

Recommendations for Change and Support to the

Pathways to Teaching Careers Program

The Pathways to Teaching Careers Program recruits teachers from traditionally

marginalized groups, teachers who have their own challenges to overcome as they enter the profession. Providing as much

support as possible to these new teachers might help prevent them from leaving the

teaching profession.

Recent studies show that teachers of color have a higher turnover rate than their White peers. African-American and Latino/a teachers have the highest

turnover rate of all (Achinstein et al., 2010)

“Turnover among teachers of color threatens the nation’s capacity to increase the racial and cultural diversity of its teacher workforce and thus might contribute to the failure of schools

to serve the educational needs of students of color” (Achinstein et al., 2010, p. 95)

Recommendation #1:Include efforts to retain the new diverse teachers and keep them in the profession

What can the Pathways Program do?

Provide diverse teachers with…

Recommendation #2: Make the active recruitment, development, and retention of minority male teachers a critical policy priority

Male teachers – 24% of overall teaching force

Minority male teachers – only 2-3% of teaching force. See chart (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010; Ingersoll & May, 2011).

Even in the highly successful Pathways Program, minority males comprised only 11% of program participants, which was recognized as one of the program’s major shortcomings (SEF, 2001; Clewell & Villegas, 2001).

Minority male teachers also have significantly higher rates of turnover than their White or female counterparts (Ingersoll & May, 2011).

Give preference to minority male teachers in recruitment by the Pathways Program and in hiring by participating urban school districts

Provide financial incentives, such as tuition assistance and a lump-sum bonus upon successful completion of the program

Provide incentive bonuses for outstanding teaching performance and extending past the initial teacher contract

Provide opportunities for continuing professional development, including additional certifications and master’s degree programs

““Positive role models and removal Positive role models and removal of stereotypes are as important for of stereotypes are as important for White children as for children of White children as for children of color. Teachers of color can be color. Teachers of color can be pivotal in dispelling myths of racial pivotal in dispelling myths of racial inferiority and incompetence and inferiority and incompetence and breaking down centuries of breaking down centuries of misinformationmisinformation”” (SEF, 2001, p. 13) (SEF, 2001, p. 13)

Recommendation #2 cont.

Recommendation Specifics:

Recommendation #3: Create more federal scholarships, fellowships, and loan forgiveness programs to encourage minority students to pursue teaching and/or graduate study in education

Diversifying the nation’s teaching force is essential to racial and ethnic integration of American society

Schools with large numbers of African American teachers show that African American students are:

less likely to: be placed in special education, receive corporal punishment, be suspended or expelled

more likely to: be placed in gifted and talented programs, graduate from high-school

Data about the impact of educational programming aimed at sparking interest in the teaching profession is promising. (Frederick Patterson Research Institute, 2001; SEF, 2001)

Schools form student’s opinions about the larger society and their own futures

Race and background of teachers tell students about authority and power in contemporary America

Diversity messages influence children’s attitudes toward school, their academic accomplishments, and their view of their own and others intrinsic worth

Views they form in school about justice and fairness also influence citizenship

(SEF, 2001, p. 69)

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CREATE MORE AVENUES FOR MINORITY TEACHERS?

Community College as

an option:

“The community college is often the only viable educational option for members of marginalized communities, the structural outcomes of its mission are of great consequence to educators, policymakers, and citizens with social justice and participatory democracy.” (Ayers, Pg. 2)

Recommendation #3 cont.

ReferencesAchinstein, B., Ogawa, R.T., Sexton, D., & Freitas, C. (2010).  

Retaining Teachers of Color: A Pressing Problem and a Potential  Strategy for "Hard-to-Staff" Schools. Review of Educational Research,  80 (71), 72-107.

Ayers Article, slide 23Clewell, C. and Villegas, A. (2001). Evaluation of the Dewitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund’s

Pathways to Teaching Careers Program. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.Dwyer, Liz. (2011, September 29). Who’s on Top? Retrieved from

http://www.good.is/post/educational-performance-where-does-your-state-rank/Fenwick, 2000, slide 10Gordon, 2000, slide 16Hu-Dehart, E. (2000). The diversity project: Institutionalizing multiculturalism or managing

differences? Academe 86(5), 39-42.Ingersoll, R. and May, H. (2011). The minority teacher shortage: fact or fable? Kappan

kappanmagazine.org, 62-65.Iverson, S.V. (2010). Producing diversity: A policy discourse and analysis of diversity action plans. In Allan, Iverson, & Ropers-Huilman (Eds.). Reconstructing policy analysis in higher education: Feminist poststructural perspectives (pp. 193-213). New York: Routledge.Johnson, 2002, slide 8Lipman, P. (2003). Chicago school policy: Regulating Black and Latino youth in the global city. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 6(4), 331-355.

Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA). Retrieved fromhttp://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Evaluating-performance/PIRLS-of-wisdom-At-a-glance/PIRLS-of-wisdom-Full-report.html

Rizvi and Lingard (2010). Ch 7: Equity policies in education and Ch. 8: Mobility and policy dilemmas. In Globalizing education policy (pp. 140-183). New York: Routledge.