Policies and practices for recruiting and retaining teachers of color

Abstract

Despite growing interest and investment in building a more racially and ethnically diverse teacher workforce, increases in the share of teachers of color nationally have stalled in recent years. Even with more new teachers of color entering the profession each year, about 80% of the teacher workforce has been white since 2015. This trend highlights the need for researchers and policymakers to view the recruitment and retention of teachers of color as interrelated and critically important to increase the diversity of the teacher workforce. This paper synthesizes what we know about policies and practices at the national, state, and local levels that support recruiting and retaining teachers of color: access to comprehensive teacher preparation, access to mentoring, and supportive teaching conditions. The paper also provides a series of policy recommendations that can improve recruitment and retention for teachers of color based upon the literature.