Diversifying the Teacher Workforce

Every school system should make diversifying its teacher workforce a priority. Research indicates all students benefit from having teachers of color, in the form of greater engagement, higher achievement and cross-cultural interactions that can work against harmful stereotypes and reduce unconscious biases, according to the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Students of color reap even more benefits. For Black students, having just one Black teacher in elementary school can improve their lives far into adulthood, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

So how can school systems make progress on this front?