INEQUITABLE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN: STUDENT ACCESS TO CERTIFIED AND EXPERIENCED TEACHERS
I gave a keynote for the Tucson Urban League yesterday and one of the topics of discussion was the persisting inequality in teacher quality for low income and students of color. On cue, The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) has released Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers authored by Jessica Cardichon, Linda Darling-Hammond, Man Yang, Caitlin Scott, Patrick M. Shields and Dion Burns.
Access to fully certified and experienced teachers matters for student outcomes and achievement, yet many states have hired uncertified and inexperienced teachers to fill gaps created by persistent teacher shortages. These teachers are disproportionately found in schools with high enrollments of students of color, according to LPI analysis of the most recent U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection, which has proposed cutting key data collection questions related to school funding and educator experience.
Researchers examined the two most recent CRDCs (2014 and 2016) to assess the degree to which students of color (including African American, Asian, Latino/a, Native American, Pacific Islander, and students of two or more races) have access to certified and experienced teachers compared to their white peers. The report also provides key policy strategies for increasing student access to certified and experienced teachers.
Some state statistics:
- In 13 states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington), there are about twice as many inexperienced teachers in schools with high enrollment of students of color compared to the share of inexperienced teachers in schools with low enrollment of students of color.
- In five states (Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Tennessee), there are at least three times as many inexperienced teachers in schools with high enrollment of students of color compared to the share of inexperienced teachers in schools with low enrollments of students of color.
Another must read, check out the report Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers.
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