Innovation can address teacher shortage, diversity
For many K-12 public school students, teachers serve as a first introduction to a world outside their homes. But Connecticut continues to face a teacher shortage that impacts public school students throughout the state.
It is critical to foster learning environments where students feel secure. This happens not only from having enough teachers so that they can provide nurturing learning environments and not burn out, but also from having racially diverse educators that reflect the student populations they serve. A diverse teaching workforce provides tangible, relatable role models and positive outcomes for students, such as improved reading and math test scores, higher graduation rates and increased aspirations to attend college.
While research shows that teachers of color help close race-based achievement gaps and are highly rated by students of all ethnicities, data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that racial and ethnic minorities accounted for just 21 percent of all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States during the 2017-18 school year. In contrast, the latest data show more than 50 percent of all public elementary and secondary school students in the U.S. are non-white minorities.
In Connecticut’s 2020-21 school year, only 9.7 percent of the state’s teachers were educators of color, while more than 47 percent of students identified as people of color, according to the state Department of Education. The statewide and national analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center paints a concerning picture — America’s public school teachers are far less racially and ethnically diverse than their students.
Barriers to recruitment and retention for teachers are many, including inadequate teacher preparation and support, teacher licensure exams that disproportionately exclude teacher candidates of color, poor working conditions and low salaries. As Connecticut is also facing declining enrollments in teacher preparation programs, the time is now to address both the teacher shortage and the teacher diversity shortage by reimagining education to better recruit, retain and support K-12 teachers.
Competency-based education, which measures skills and subject knowledge rather than time spent in a classroom, is one relatively new approach that has proven successful. When delivered online, the competency-based model gives students freedom to progress at their pace, on their time, wherever they are, which is especially helpful for career-changers or people with significant caregiving responsibilities.
As the largest nonprofit accredited School of Education in the U.S., the Western Governors University School of Education is providing education access to people who have a passion to become a teacher but who might not otherwise have the time, resources and support to do so. The school includes the Teachers College, which is in the top 1 percent for granting degrees for Black and Hispanic/Latinx educators at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. It is second in the nation for combined graduate and undergraduate degrees and credentials for students of color, according to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Higher education providers, policy makers and students must recognize the benefits of models that value skills-based mastery while addressing affordability. The key is flexibility — offering options that provide access regardless of childcare status, location or wherever the hands happen to be on the clock so that more prospective teachers can achieve a dream to make a real difference in their local communities.