Teacher turnover is especially pronounced among teachers of color who play critically important roles in the success of students of color. A growing literature points to racial isolation as one factor that is associated with Black teacher job satisfaction in particular, which in turn could play a role in a teacher's decision to remain in a school.…

Over the last few years, much attention has been focused on the nationwide teacher shortage. As teachers begin to retire in record numbers, and the number of students entering teacher education majors continues to decline, concern around the teacher shortage heightens (US Dept. of Ed., 2016). The numbers are even more dire when looking at Teachers…

Research for Action (RFA) studied why Black teachers were leaving their jobs more than White teachers in Allegheny County from 2014 to 2020. RFA analyses found that the number of Black teachers in the area was consistently dropping, more than the decrease in the overall Black population. The data gathered from speaking directly with 38 current and…

The teacher workforce does not look much like the adult population or the students they serve. Across the country, only 21% of teachers are from historically disadvantaged racial groups compared to 35% of working-age adults and 49% of students. Simple math suggests that the diversity gap between students and teachers will only close when teachers…

Art educator Mary Godfrey was notably the first African American full-time faculty member hired at Penn State in 1957. In 2005, however, the extent of Penn State's archival records on Godfrey consisted of one index card in the Special Collections' card catalog that read "Godfrey, Mary E.: Retires after 22 yrs of service." In this…

Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Education provided new data for 2016-17 that include the race and gender of the 155,854 teachers in Pennsylvania's public schools. Research for Action (RFA) compiled and cleaned the raw data and is providing, for the first time, a public dataset with the race and gender demographics of each public school,…

This article examines the paradox of Teach For America's diversity gains and its support for policies that contribute to Black teacher decline in urban communities. TFA has countered claims that its expansion is connected to teacher displacement, but its two-pronged structure--as an alternative certification program and an influential policy actor…

The detrimental effects of high-stakes testing and accountability mandates are experienced disproportionately in high-poverty urban schools, which African American and Hispanic students are more likely to attend. However, the literature does not fully address how teachers experience the inequitable working and learning conditions in these…

This qualitative study explored African American teachers' perceived levels of support with regard to mentoring, internal supports, external supports, and other contributing variables to determine the extent to which they fostered sustained employment in suburban school districts . The research data included input from 61 African American teacher…

I came to this country with an open mind to pursue the American dream. It did not take me a long to recognize racial disparity as a student and even more so when I became a faculty member in various teacher preparation programs. While I try to evade discussion on race, it is inevitable to talk about it because it seems to be the criteria upon…

People'?s personal experiences shape their views based on lifelong behaviors and contributions to the society in which they find themselves. Foreign-born African American educators are no exceptions. In this article I share my voice as a foreign-born African American teacher educator.

Urban education is an interdisciplinary field, characterized by introducing many perspectives to research pertaining to educational policy and to the practice of educating youth whose lives unfold in densely populated urban metropolitan areas. This book celebrates Constance Clayton's eleven-year tenure as superintendent of the School District of…

This oral history study addressed the problem of under-representation of minority teachers through the voices and perspectives of five African American female paraprofessional teacher aides who entered the teaching profession through participation in the Career Opportunities Program in Erie, Pennsylvania from 1970 through 1974. Two theoretical…