There’s a Surprising Reason Why Many Schools Don’t Have a Single Black Teacher
An analysis of state-by-state data from The New Teacher Project, a nonprofit organization working to redesign education to meet the needs of students of color and students living in poverty, shows that across a majority of U.S. campuses, nearly one-fourth of public schools did not have an educator of color on staff. Meanwhile, students of color were the majority at public schools.
Teacher representation hasn’t kept up: about one-fourth of the nation’s teachers identified as people of color, according to the nonprofit’s analysis. Research conducted by scholars has shown the imbalance impedes learning, since students across the board and especially students of color, do better academically when they have teachers from diverse backgrounds.
While the reasons for the disparities are varied, education experts told USA TODAY the imbalance is part of a legacy, an unintended consequence, of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Read the full article at USA Today.
Stay in the Know
Sign up for updates on our latest research, insights, and high-impact work.
"*" indicates required fields
Imali Ariyarathne, seventh-grade teacher at Langston Hughes Academy, introduces her students to the captivating world of science.
About TNTP
TNTP is the nation’s leading research, policy, and consulting organization dedicated to transforming America’s public education system, so that every generation thrives.
Today, we work side-by-side with educators, system leaders, and communities across 39 states and over 6,000 districts nationwide to reach ambitious goals for student success.
Yet the possibilities we imagine push far beyond the walls of school and the education field alone. We are catalyzing a movement across sectors to create multiple pathways for young people to achieve academic, economic, and social mobility.