Recent studies show that the demographic characteristics of teachers can impact student achievement. These findings point to the need for more female teachers in science and mathematics, as well as more ethnic minority educators.
More than three-quarters of U.S. public school teachers are female. So it’s a bit surprising to hear an argument that there aren’t enough women in the profession. Two new research studies, however, claim that more female educators are needed to produce more female scientists and engineers in this country.
The studies suggest that if there were more female math and science teachers in middle and high school, more girls would study these subjects in college, and that providing female role models earlier in life — before students get to college — might be one of the more effective ways to encourage more girls to pursue higher level math and science. (“Science” broadly refers to all the hard sciences from computer science and physics, to chemistry and engineering).
Another recent study exposes the need for more teachers from ethnic minority groups. Following is an excerpt from a Real Clear Education article concerning the diversity gap:
In 2014, ethnic minorities constituted a majority of America’s public school students for the first time, with projections showing that the proportion of minority students will continue to grow for years to come. Yet minority student enrollment is not matched by similar demographic representation among teachers — nearly 82% of public school teachers are white. On average, Black and Hispanic students are two to three times more common than Black and Hispanic teachers. This so-called “diversity-gap” between students and teachers has been a persistent problem for schools. The gap tends to be wider in areas with high percentages of minority students. In California, for example, 73 percent of students identify as ethnic minorities, while only 29 percent of teachers are from a minority group.
Up until now, studies have not been able to isolate the role of minority teachers in helping minority students succeed. In a recently published study in Economics of Education Review, however, the trajectories of 2.9 million public school students in Florida were followed over a seven-year time period to examine changes in test scores correlated with their teacher assignment. Following is a brief overview of the results:
— Black, white, and Asian students benefit from being assigned to a teacher that looks like them. Their test scores go up in years when their teacher shares their ethnicity, compared to years when their teacher has a different ethnicity.
— Effects are generally largest for elementary-aged students and students who are lower-performing.
— Elementary-aged Black students seem to particularly benefit from demographically-similar teachers.
For more information on these studies, please visit:
http://hechingerreport.org/teaching-profession-isnt-pink-enough/
and
http://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2015/03/06/minority_teachers_in_the_classroom_1167.html
