Promoting Teacher Diversity by Strengthening Latinx Teacher Pathways

As the student population in public schools grows more diverse, the educator workforce is not keeping pace. Despite the rise in teacher diversity, the rate of growth is still not quick enough to narrow the wide gap between student and teacher demographics. The largest student/teacher demographic mismatch exists between Latinx students (more than a quarter of students) and teachers (only 9 percent of the teacher workforce). Part of ensuring Latinx student success is closing this demographic mismatch, as research demonstrates that students benefit academically, socially, and emotionally from having teachers that reflect their cultural, racial, and linguistic background.

New America is exploring recruitment, preparation, and retention strategies that educator preparation programs, districts, and states can use to strengthen Latinx teacher pathways. See below for our body of work on this issue.