Texas higher education institutions serve some of the most diverse student populations in U.S. institutions. However, graduation rates remain among the lowest in the United States, particularly for underrepresented minority students. Diverse faculty members who act as mentors have the potential to increase underrepresented minority students'…

This qualitative case study with added autoethnography investigated how White women literacy instructors conceptualized their professional roles, responsibilities, and identities while teaching in Texas postsecondary institutions near the U.S. southern international border. Postsecondary institutions in Texas continually serve a growing number of…

American students are far more diverse than their teachers. Some 79 percent of U.S. teachers are white compared to 44 percent of students. As a result, students of color are far less likely to have a same-race teacher than are white students, a phenomenon that has attracted the attention of philanthropists and policymakers alike. Foundations have…

The aim of this study is to understand how African American students perceive the impact of diversity on their education's success. The research explored African American student's perspective of having a diverse faculty, administrative staff, and peers in higher education and how this influences their chances of completing their program of study…

The superintendent is one of the most important positions within public school districts because they have the capacity to influence policies, practices, and perceptions among school staff while simultaneously holding sway over the public. Yet, few Latinx administrators are hired into the superintendency -- even fewer are Latinas. Consequently,…

Texas higher education institutions serve some of the most diverse student populations in higher education. However, graduation rates remain among the lowest in the United States, particularly for underrepresented minority students. Diverse faculty who act as mentors have the potential to increase underrepresented minority students' sense of…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to assess if and to what extent differences exist in traditionally and alternatively certified STEM teachers' perceived teacher collaboration and teacher self-efficacy, among teachers in Texas. The sample consisted of 202 participants (Alternative n = 202; Traditional n = 89). Results from…

In the final month of 2024, a Newsweek article celebrated an apparent victory in the Lone Star State: "Texas' Teachers Are More Diverse Than California's." In Washington, D.C., the press was slightly more subdued, but still proud: "Teacher diversity is slowing down, but D.C, offers a bright spot." These and many other headlines…

While the majority of U.S students are children of color, only 20% of teachers are people of color. What's more, 40% of the nation's public schools do not have a single teacher of color on record. Research shows that all students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit socially, emotionally, and academically from a diverse teacher workforce.…

In Texas, Black women educators are underrepresented among teachers relative to students. Thus, reminding us that there are opportunities available for improving the challenges around racial and ethnic diversity within the teacher workforce (Raise Your Hand Texas Report, 2021) at both the recruitment and retention phases. While in recent years,…

This study explored the cultural knowledge (CK) and cultural skills (CS) levels of Texas school leaders to determine if there was a relationship between cultural knowledge and cultural skill as well as between principals' CK and CS levels and school academic outcomes. In comparing within-group scores, the results indicated CK scores were higher…

This article presents a mixed method study utilizing teacher and student demographic and student attendance data from seven hundred and two public schools in central Texas along with follow-up qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with the top 1% of principals identified as having the most diverse group of faculty…

Increasing the racial and gender diversity of the teacher and school leader workforce in public schools has been the focus of policy efforts in dozens of states. Using administrative longitudinal data for all Texas public schools over a 20-year period, this dissertation consists of three chapters examining the role of relational demography and…

For years, policymakers, districts, and scholars have pushed for the inclusion of more Black male teachers in US public schools; however, their even smaller subset--Black male special education teachers--has been ignored, particularly by scholars. The results of this study provide insight into the recruitment and retention of Black male special…

This study investigates whether a principal's likelihood of hiring a teacher of color is sensitive to the racial composition of students in the school. We used an administrative dataset from Texas including 59,157 principal observations and 662,997 teacher observations spanning 2000 to 2017 in order to consider whether or not the disappearing…