8.3.10 - AUSTIN Texas minority student enrollment continues to surge but the states teacher corps isnt keeping pace. Minority teacher rolls are not keeping pace with minority student enrollment.
That has left large numbers of black and Hispanic children without the role models experts believe would help them achieve more.
Hispanic students made up more than 48 percent of the enrollment in Texas schools in the 2008-09 school year the most recent figures available and the state projects theyll be more than half by the 2011-12 school year.
When black student enrollment increasing at a much slower pace is added more than 62 percent of students are minorities. A decade ago it was 53 percent.
Two out of three Texas teachers in the past school year were white a proportion that has changed only slightly in recent years. The teacher pool was 22 percent Hispanic and 9.6 percent black last year.
The research shows that if you can match the ethnicity and race of teachers and students teachers tend to be more effective said Ed Fuller an education consultant and associate director of the University Council for Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin.
It is important for role modeling and pushing those students to go to college. Of course you want to make sure teachers are well-qualified and not just thrown into a classroom because of race or ethnicity Fuller said. But if you have a predominantly Hispanic or black student body studies indicate it is wise to hire teachers who are the same in race or ethnicity.
Attracting teachers
The problem Fuller and others said is that Texas has not pushed hard to get more minority college graduates into the classroom.
Its hard to change the makeup of our teaching force very quickly he said. The state leadership hasnt paid much attention to this problem or even thought about it for years and thats why we are where we are.
Texas school districts hire about 30000 to 35000 new teachers every year but local officials say the pool of minorities interested in the profession is small.
Angela Davis a black teacher at Marcus Elementary School in Dallas for nine years and the new president of the labor group NEA-Dallas said minority college graduates typically receive more lucrative offers from the private sector so fewer seek teaching jobs.
The pay isnt very competitive in many cases she said. Many of them want to make more money so they choose other fields.
More Texas teachers are entering the classroom through alternative certification programs which allow people with a college degree but no teacher training or experience to become licensed teachers by taking classes and completing an internship. But even that has not put much of a dent in the under-representation of minorities in the profession.
Student success
A 2004 study published by the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government looked at achievement levels of white and black students in Tennessee schools. It concluded that both groups did better on state tests with teachers of their own race.
8.3.10 - AUSTIN Texas minority student enrollment continues to surge but the states teacher corps isnt keeping pace. Minority teacher rolls are not keeping pace with minority student enrollment.
That has left large numbers of black and Hispanic children without the role models experts believe would help them achieve more.
Hispanic students made up more than 48 percent of the enrollment in Texas schools in the 2008-09 school year the most recent figures available and the state projects theyll be more than half by the 2011-12 school year.
When black student enrollment increasing at a much slower pace is added more than 62 percent of students are minorities. A decade ago it was 53 percent.
Two out of three Texas teachers in the past school year were white a proportion that has changed only slightly in recent years. The teacher pool was 22 percent Hispanic and 9.6 percent black last year.
The research shows that if you can match the ethnicity and race of teachers and students teachers tend to be more effective said Ed Fuller an education consultant and associate director of the University Council for Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin.
It is important for role modeling and pushing those students to go to college. Of course you want to make sure teachers are well-qualified and not just thrown into a classroom because of race or ethnicity Fuller said. But if you have a predominantly Hispanic or black student body studies indicate it is wise to hire teachers who are the same in race or ethnicity.
Attracting teachers
The problem Fuller and others said is that Texas has not pushed hard to get more minority college graduates into the classroom.
Its hard to change the makeup of our teaching force very quickly he said. The state leadership hasnt paid much attention to this problem or even thought about it for years and thats why we are where we are.
Texas school districts hire about 30000 to 35000 new teachers every year but local officials say the pool of minorities interested in the profession is small.
Angela Davis a black teacher at Marcus Elementary School in Dallas for nine years and the new president of the labor group NEA-Dallas said minority college graduates typically receive more lucrative offers from the private sector so fewer seek teaching jobs.
The pay isnt very competitive in many cases she said. Many of them want to make more money so they choose other fields.
More Texas teachers are entering the classroom through alternative certification programs which allow people with a college degree but no teacher training or experience to become licensed teachers by taking classes and completing an internship. But even that has not put much of a dent in the under-representation of minorities in the profession.
Student success
A 2004 study published by the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government looked at achievement levels of white and black students in Tennessee schools. It concluded that both groups did better on state tests with teachers of their own race.
