9 ways to increase teacher diversity in Arizona classrooms
There is a wide gap between the diversity of teachers in Arizona and the students they teach.
While people of color make up 64% of the state's 1.1 million K-12 students, just 26% of teachers are people of color.
Latinos make up the largest demographic share of students in Arizona at 47%, compared with 16% of teachers who are Hispanic, according to an analysis of state teacher and student data by The Arizona Republic.
Here are some solutions to help close the teacher diversity gap recommended by Daniel Liou and Stephanie Parra. Liou is an associate professor of educational leadership at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Parra is executive director of Arizona Latino Leaders in Education, a nonprofit focused on raising academic achievement for Latino students in Arizona.
Recruit more students of color to become teachers
Schools and school districts need to become more intentional about recruiting, hiring and retaining good teachers from diverse backgrounds. Universities, which serve as the main pipeline for new teachers, also need to become more intentional about recruiting students with diverse race, gender, class, linguistic and immigration backgrounds that reflect the student population of the state, Liou said. ASU recently created an early childhood education program that recruits indigenous students and students interested in teaching in indigenous communities, Liou said.
Increase teacher preparation programs at community colleges
Most schools of education are housed at four-year universities such as ASU, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. But there should be more teacher preparation programs at two-year community colleges. Students who complete teacher preparation programs at community colleges could then transfer to universities to complete their teaching degrees.
"One of the strategies to think about is having intensive recruitment and mentorship at the community colleges, because their (student) populations tend to be a lot more diverse, and then provide them with the opportunity to transfer to a four-year university with the intention of graduating with a teaching degree," Liou said.
Expand alternative pathways to teaching
A teacher shortage crisis has forced schools to recruit college graduates without teaching degrees to become classroom teachers. They then earn their teaching certification or teaching degree on the job. The alternative pathways provide an opportunity to recruit more people of color with college degrees to become teachers, Parra said. The Arizona Teachers Academy, which Gov. Doug Ducey created in 2017 to tackle the teacher shortage, waives the college tuition and fees of students who commit to teaching in Arizona schools. This opportunity needs to be widely promoted, including to people of color interested in becoming teachers, Parra said.
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'Grow your own' programs
Some school districts are creating programs to "grow their own teachers." The Phoenix Union High School District plans to open a new high school in 2023 to give students a head start for a career in education. Students who graduate from the Phoenix Educator Preparatory will have earned a high school diploma and a two-year associate degree, putting them on track to receive a four-year bachelor's degree in education in three years, cutting down on the cost of a teaching degree.
Pay teachers more
The average starting teacher salary in Arizona is $40,554, which ranks 27th among states, according to the National Education Association. The average teacher salary in Arizona, however, is $52,157, and ranks near the bottom at 44th among states. Teachers in Arizona earn 68 cents for every dollar earned by college-educated professionals with similar experience.
Some school districts have raised salaries to attract more teachers, including teachers of color. Mesa Public Schools' base starting salary is $53,500, among the highest starting teacher salaries in the state, according to school officials.
"We have to simultaneously continue to make sure that the teaching profession is earning a respectable wage and and that it is a field that remains competitive for the amount of certifications and degree requirements that we have for these professionals. They are consistently underpaid when you look at other college-required professions," Parra said.
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Diversify school leaders
The responsibility of recruiting, hiring and retaining more teachers of color rests in the hands of school leaders, which is why there also has to be more diversity among school administrators, principals, superintendents and school boards, Liou said. In Arizona, only about 10% of school superintendents are Latinos. "Diversification of our school leadership can further support teachers of color, providing that day-to-day mentoring," Liou said.
Better mentorship
Liou recommends schools create three- to five-year "induction academies" to provide coaching and mentorship to teachers, especially teachers and principals of color. Teachers of color are more likely to work in school districts with higher poverty and higher minority student populations than white teachers, which can lead to higher burnout and turnover.
"Many teachers of color are without appropriate mentorship that helps to keep them in the profession," Liou said.
Partner with Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities
When Liou was a faculty member at Iowa State University, he learned how a school district in Waterloo, Iowa, had partnered with Lincoln University, an HBCU in Pennsylvania, to recruit and hire Black teachers. ASU was designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 2022 after its Latino undergraduate student population surpassed the 25% threshold, joining the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, which already had achieved the milestone.
"That's one of the strategies to consider, is to actively partner with Hispanic-Serving Institutions and HBCUs around these issues" of teacher diversification, Liou said.
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Respect teachers and the profession
Teaching is not easy. The job is physically and emotionally demanding. Besides standing in front of a classroom of students all day, teachers also spend hours before and after school and on weekends preparing lesson plans. They often spend large sums of money on classroom supplies out of their own pocket. But teachers are often the targets of disparaging rhetoric by elected officials and political leaders, Parra said.
Teachers deserve the "utmost respect, and we need to treat these people as the professionals that they deserve to be treated as," Parra said. "Ultimately, a lot of people have left the profession because they don't feel respected by leaders. Whether you're leading a system or whether you're leading the state, it's important for people to be mindful of how their rhetoric will impact our ability to attract and retain educators in Arizona, and especially educators of color."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona teacher-student diversity: Nine ways schools can close the gap
