Does DCPS have a program to recruit/retain teachers of color?
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Anonymous
| I know nationally the trends are not great for the recruitment and retention of teachers of color, but am not sure how DC is doing. Does anyone know about the availability of data on this? And are there any DCPS programs aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color in schools? I'd like to see our schools have more diverse staffs and want to make sure that principals are taking advantage of any efforts that already exist. Thanks for any info. |
Anonymous
| I'm not aware of any. I think it's up to the Principal to find the most diverse staff (or not). |
Anonymous
| I know at one point in time (perhaps it still is) to recruit AA male teachers. I'm sure any school will select them if there was a large enough pool. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
What is DCPS doing to RETAIN teacher's of color, especially in Title I schools were the environment is tough? What supports does DCPS provide teachers working with students who are often years behind in core content areas and do not currently meet the standards that they are supposed to be teaching? If DCPS doesn't have a plan, they need one, this is the worse year yet at DCPS with LEAP 
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Anonymous
| Maybe teacher retention in general is a problem but my DCPS is 90-95% black teachers. I wish there was more diversity. |
Anonymous
Thanks, this is very helpful--although it sounds like they're not doing very much! |
Anonymous
Do they need to? As 8:44 says, it doesn't seem like DCPS has difficulty attracting teachers of color. You said you don't have any data, so what leads you to think DCPS has recruiting difficulty? They must have identified an issue attracting male teachers of color, since there is a recruiting initiative for that. If there was a problem, it seems like DCPS would be all over that. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
|
You have a school population that's 95% people of color. You have a school personnel population that's over 75% people of color. It's not the people of color who's leaving the system. Let's be honest if your emphasis for a high school is for boys of color...then the program to recruit/retain teachers of color is already in operation.
As for the wish there was more diversity is not what people really want they're hoping for more decision/division. |
Anonymous
I doubt this. Link? |
Anonymous
|
AA Male Here.
The joke in college was that the black men wouldn't even have to interview. Just show up. That's pretty much what my experience was. My interview lasted all of five minutes. I didn't have to present a demo lesson or do any of the things other teachers told me they had to do. Now there's a flip side to it. I definitely wasn't prepared to handle the behaviors. I think a demo lesson would've made that obvious. People always talk about "our" kids needing a strong male role model, because a lot of them don't have it at home. The problem is that a lot of the kids I taught had pent up anger and resentment, and they were extremely combative or dismissive with me. I feel like they were quicker to respect the women in the building as they had a motherly quality even when a lot of them were yelling, cursing, or berating them in front of their peers. In the end, I toed the line between effective and ineffective on every observation. I spent the entire year worrying about being fired and reached out for help. I went to PDs, I was assigned to an instructional coach who shadowed me twice a week, and my master educator took me to another school to see another "black man who went through what you went through last year." None of these things were official DCPS practices. They were just informal things that those in my support network came up with. I received a lot of praise at the end of the year for all of the progress I'd made. I needed an IMPACT score of 200 in order to come back. I scored 209 but DCPS deducted ten points due to me having more than one unscheduled absence in the first half of the year, so my final score was 199. I emailed the chancellor and told her that while I respected the rules, I was hoping there was some exception that could be made given my progress as a first year teacher and the odds of success at my school. She was very sincere in her response and made a good point that sometimes wanting to do a good job just isn't enough. I say all of that to say that there is definitely a bias toward hiring black males. There is a lot of support (albeit informal) to keep black males in the profession, but there are no extra points when it comes to retention. |
Anonymous
I don't know about that high of a percentage, but I would put it at least 75% for our school. If they have a diversity problem it's that there isn't much outside of black teachers. |
Anonymous
The real problem is that the best teachers, black or white, avoid the worst schools. |
Anonymous
Some of the best educators work in low performing schools. They work there for a variety of reasons and enjoy supporting both students and staff. |