Successful Minority Teacher Education Recruitment Programs. ERIC Digest.

The critical shortage of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American teachers is well documented and has prompted the development of a number of recruitment programs and activities. Presently, minorities make up only 10.3 percent of the current 2.3 million public school teachers (Gerald, D.E. 1989), moreover, it is projected that by the 1990s, minorities will constitute about 30 percent of the population, but only 5 percent of the K-12 teaching force. In addition, very few minorities are in the teacher education pipeline. The average school of education has approximately 400 undergraduate and graduate students. Of this number, only 22 are likely to be Black, 7 Hispanic, 3 Asian, and 2 Native American (AACTE 1989). Further, research indicates that minority teachers are much more likely to leave the teaching profession than are majority teachers (Metropolitan Life Foundation 1988). This situation is particularly devastating given the aging of the teaching force. Approximately 37 percent of Black and Hispanic teachers have 20 or more years of teaching experience and will retire earlier than their White counterparts, of whom only 30 percent have that much experience (Metropolitan Life Foundation 1988). These and other factors will continue to drain the supply of minority teachers. Consequently, action to remedy this situation is necessary.

A review of the literature indicates that all components of the educational culture have to initiate and participate in recruitment and retention programs (Kuh and Whitt 1988). Schools, colleges, and departments of education have been challenged to recruit and retain minority teachers (Willard 1987, Zimpher and Yessayan 1987), as have public schools, some of which have implemented professional teaching programs to "grow" their own teachers (Spuck 1987).

KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS

A successful recruitment initiative requires: concern and preparation to tackle the critical shortage; commitment to the recruitment effort (i.e., capable leadership, sufficient allocation of resources); collaboration among all parties involved in the effort (faculty, students, parents, others); and creativity in developing the recruitment effort. Whereas there is no perfect model, there are many strategies that different institutions/agencies can effectively combine (AACTE 1989).

NATIONAL ACTIVITIES

For several years, Norfolk State University and the University of Kentucky have been sites for educational conferences (Middleton, Mason, Barnard, and Bickel 1989). Educators and administrators have convened there to discuss and exchange ideas about alleviating the critical shortage of minority teachers. Representatives from national education, community, and governmental agencies and organizations participating in a 1987 Wingspread Conference issued a national action plan calling for state and federal scholarship programs, early incentive programs, support programs for reentry and career change, articulation programs between two-year and four-year colleges, and induction programs (AACTE 1987 and Earley 1987).

SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS

The following sample of programs illustrates effective recruitment efforts that target various pools of potential teacher candidates. The sample includes: secondary education programs targeting junior and senior high school students; teaching profession magnet programs; articulation programs between four- and two-year colleges for community college students; and nontraditional programs preparing nonprofessionals, retirees, and/or career changers to become teachers. (AACTE, 1988)

These successful recruitment programs represent different activities that various institutions and agencies have employed in their minority teacher recruitment efforts. Each institution and agency is concerned about the minority teacher shortage and is committed to creating an effective recruitment effort. All programs have been successful in recruiting and retaining minority persons in the teaching profession.

SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Kean College of New Jersey implemented the "Bridge Program," which recruits senior high school students, who have an interest in a teaching career, from local public schools. During their senior year, the students take ten transferable credits at the university. Kean College provides financial aid, free tuition, books, and counseling in college life. (For more information about this program, call 201-527-2136.)

California State University at Dominguez Hills operates "Saturday Program," an on-campus program introducing junior and senior high school students to classroom teaching experiences. The students, who receive an hourly wage for their work as teachers, enroll in a ten-week program that includes three weeks of preparation and seven weeks of teaching elementary school students. (For more information about this program, call 213-516-3519.)

TEACHING PROFESSION MAGNET PROGRAMS

Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., developed a college preparatory program for students interested in an educational profession. The four-year program includes specially designed education courses (District of Columbia Public Schools 1989). The Crenshaw Training Academy in Los Angeles, California, and the Austin High School for the Teaching Professions in Houston, Texas, also implemented teaching magnet programs that provide core curricula emphasizing pedagogy, teaching methodology, and practice. (For more information about these programs, call Coolidge High School, 202-722-1656; Crenshaw Training Academy, 213-296-5370; and Austin High School for the Teaching Professions, 713-923-7751.)

ARTICULATION PROGRAMS

In addressing the role of two-year colleges to attract students into the teaching profession (Woods and Williams 1987), Eastern Michigan University (EMU) recruits community college students and prepares them to become teachers in urban schools. The two-year college students receive credit for education courses taken at EMU and complete their education at the university once they have met its admissions criteria. (For more information about this program, call 313-487-1414.)

NONTRADITIONAL PROGRAMS

Faced with a shortage of teachers who speak Spanish and English, Heritage College in Toppenish, Washington, and the local school district established a career ladder program, "Project Future," for the district's teacher aides. To become certified professionals, the teacher aides combine practical experience during the day with academic course work at night. The aides take professional education classes with the conventional education students. In addition, special classes are provided to meet other training needs. The teacher aides continue to receive their salaries from the school district, and the college provides reduced tuition rates. "Project Future" teachers are assured employment in their school district when the program is completed. (For more information about this program call 509-865-2244.)

To alleviate the shortage of secondary science and mathematics teachers, the National Executive Service Corps (NESC), a nonprofit organization, recruits and prepares retired military and professional personnel to become teachers in schools in New York City. NESC identifies qualified candidates interested in science and mathematics by contacting various professional organizations' membership lists of retirees. Program participants take a sequence of education and content courses tailored to their individual needs at SUNY-Brooklyn College. The courses satisfy certification requirements for New York State that enable the program participants to teach once the program is completed. (For more information about this program, call 212-529-6660.)

REFERENCES

Many of the following references--those identified with an EJ or ED number--have been abstracted and are in the ERIC data base. The journal articles should be available at most research libraries. The documents (citations with an ED number) are available on microfiche in ERIC microfiche collections at more than 700 locations. Documents can also be ordered through the ERIC Document Reproduction Service. Call (800) 227-3472 for additional information. For a list of ERIC collections in your area or for information on submitting documents to ERIC, contact the ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 610, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 293-2450.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (1989) Teacher Education Pipeline: SCDE Enrollments by Race/Ethnicity. Washington, DC:

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (1988) Minority Recruitment and Retention: A Public Policy Issue. AACTE Wingspread Proceedings 1987. Washington, DC: AACTE.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (1989) How To Recruit Minority Teachers: A Practical Guide. Washington, DC: AACTE.

Dilworth, M. (1987-88, Sum.-Win.) Black Teachers: A Vanishing Tradition. Urban League Review 11(1-2) 54-8. EJ 377 099.

District of Columbia Public Schools. The Coolidge High School for the Teaching Professions Program. Washington, DC: D.C. Public Schools.

Dorsey-Gaines, C. and Lewis, B.J (1987, Sum.) How to Start a Minority Program: A Case Study. Journal of College Admissions 116, 3-6. EJ 362 084.

Earley, P. (1987, Fall) State and Federal Report. Recruiting Minorities into Teaching Careers. Teacher Education Quarterly 14 (4) 107-09. EJ 366 861.

Gerald, D.E., et al. (1989) State projections to 1993 for Public Elementary and Secondary Enrollment, Graduates and Teachers. Washington, DC: NCES.

Kuh, G.D. and Whitt, E.J. (1988) The Invisible Tapestry: Culture in American Colleges and Universities. ASHE--ERIC Higher Education Report 1988. HE 021 960.

Metropolitan Life Foundation. (1988) The American Teacher. New York, NY: Metropolitan Life Foundation.

Middleton, E.J., Mason, E.J., Barnard, H.V., and Bickel, F. (1989) Building Collaborative Relationships for the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Students in Teacher Education (Third National Conference). Lexington, KY: Univ. of Kentucky.

Rodman, B. (1988, May 1) In Houston Magnet, District "Grows" Its Own Teachers. Education Week. 1.

Spuck, J. (1987, Oct.) This High School Grows Its Own Teachers. American School Board Journal 174 (10) 39, 47.

Willard, J., and Gordon, B. (1986-87, Win.) New Challenges for Teacher Preparation Institutions: Recruitment and Retention. Action in Teacher Education 8,(4) 19-24. EJ 348 326.

Woods, J.E., and Williams, R.A. (1987, Aug. 5-7) Articulating with Two-Year Colleges to Create a Multiethnic Teaching Force. Paper commissioned for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education's Wingspread Policy Forum. (Racine, WI) ED 295 932.

Zimpher, N., and Yessayan, S. (1987, Fall) Recruitment and Selection of Minority Populations into Teaching. Metropolitan Education 5, 57-71. EJ 372 836.