I was blessed to have only 1 - 3 White teachers all the way through high school. Apparently, non-White teachers try harder to help the kids.
www.brookings.edu
First, let’s briefly recap the book’s argument: We have a long history of race-based educational achievement and attainment gaps in the U.S., which continue to persist despite many efforts to remediate them. We know teachers matter a great deal to student learning and future outcomes, though we have a longstanding disconnect between teacher diversity and a rapidly diversifying student body. Our primary thesis is that promoting more racial diversity among teachers and more inclusive work environments in schools will be good for everyone and disproportionately benefit students of color, helping to narrow these longstanding educational gaps.
New studies in this area published over the last two years have supported this thesis, strengthening the case for why teacher diversity matters now more than ever. The book discusses the evidence that having a same-race teacher improves test scores, a student’s likelihood of being selected for gifted and talented programs, graduating high school, and intending to enroll in college. More recent evidence adds a variety of other student benefits to this list: Increased exposure to same-race teachers is also associated with improvements in course grades, students’ attendance, students’ grit and interpersonal self-management, their working memory, and the likelihood of taking an advanced math course.
Further, a remarkable new study from David Blazar uses randomized assignment for teachers in 4th and 5th grades to explore how teachers of color teach differently from white teachers. The randomized assignment design ensures that differences observed across classrooms are causal; and the usual standardized test scores are paired with rich data infrequently seen in education studies, including student socioemotional outcomes and teacher practices and beliefs.
Blazar finds teachers of color spend significantly more time preparing lessons and differentiating instruction for students. They were also more likely to hold growth mindset beliefs about students and spend more time developing relationships with students and families. If these differences sound like good teaching practices and beliefs overall, not those aimed specifically at helping students of color, you’re right. And this leads to one of the more notable findings from the study: Blazar finds white students’ test scores improve when taught by teachers of color, too.
It matters now more than ever: What new developments say about Teacher Diversity and Student Success
How do we push back against a long history of race-based educational achievement and attainment gaps in the U.S.?
www.brookings.edu
First, let’s briefly recap the book’s argument: We have a long history of race-based educational achievement and attainment gaps in the U.S., which continue to persist despite many efforts to remediate them. We know teachers matter a great deal to student learning and future outcomes, though we have a longstanding disconnect between teacher diversity and a rapidly diversifying student body. Our primary thesis is that promoting more racial diversity among teachers and more inclusive work environments in schools will be good for everyone and disproportionately benefit students of color, helping to narrow these longstanding educational gaps.
New studies in this area published over the last two years have supported this thesis, strengthening the case for why teacher diversity matters now more than ever. The book discusses the evidence that having a same-race teacher improves test scores, a student’s likelihood of being selected for gifted and talented programs, graduating high school, and intending to enroll in college. More recent evidence adds a variety of other student benefits to this list: Increased exposure to same-race teachers is also associated with improvements in course grades, students’ attendance, students’ grit and interpersonal self-management, their working memory, and the likelihood of taking an advanced math course.
EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM TEACHER DIVERSITY, AND EVERYONE CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
The book takes a full chapter to unpack how racial matching influences students in the classroom: namely, teachers’ differing expectations for students of diverse backgrounds, teachers as role models to impressionable students, and the use of culturally relevant pedagogy. Recent evidence adds important nuance here, showing that both stronger student-teacher relationships and more effective, tailored teaching practices are key mediators enabling the positive impacts teachers of color have on students of color. And interestingly, teacher experience appears to be a crucial factor narrowing teachers’ differing expectations of students by race over time.Further, a remarkable new study from David Blazar uses randomized assignment for teachers in 4th and 5th grades to explore how teachers of color teach differently from white teachers. The randomized assignment design ensures that differences observed across classrooms are causal; and the usual standardized test scores are paired with rich data infrequently seen in education studies, including student socioemotional outcomes and teacher practices and beliefs.
Blazar finds teachers of color spend significantly more time preparing lessons and differentiating instruction for students. They were also more likely to hold growth mindset beliefs about students and spend more time developing relationships with students and families. If these differences sound like good teaching practices and beliefs overall, not those aimed specifically at helping students of color, you’re right. And this leads to one of the more notable findings from the study: Blazar finds white students’ test scores improve when taught by teachers of color, too.