A Minority Voice: How to Attract and Sustain Minority Teachers in a Florida School System

The National Education Association (NEA) has determined that a critical factor in the vision of a great public school for every student is the need to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce (Tyler, 2011). The demographic disparity between the U.S. teaching force and the pre-kindergarten through grade 12 (P12) student populations is well known within the education community. In 200708, the most recent year for which we have both student and staff data from the National Center for Education Statistics, minority students made up 40.7% of the public school population, while minority teachers made up only 16.5% of the teaching force. Considering both the importance of role models for students and the importance of a teaching force that reflects the countrys diversity, this demographic gap needs attention (Tyler, 2011, p. 4). Rushern Baker, executive director of the Community Teachers Institute, participated in a study (2008) through the National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, a coalition of teaching and research groups including NEA. He asserted that the minority teachers he observed in urban settings did make a difference for minority students. Baker stated that when students of color were taught by teachers of color, especially teachers that were culturally connected and came from the same neighborhoods, there was an ability to get students more interested in learning and increase the attendance rate (Sack-Min, 2008, p.6). He elaborated further that the difference was the expectation of the children. They tended to take students on an

individual basis and move them along, and not teach everybody the same (Sack-Min, 2008, p.7). The Minority Teacher/Principal Student Gap The National Center for Education Statistics report provides the data to impel educators across the country to face one of the contributing factors in the achievement gap of minority children in public schools. In The Condition of Education 2012 report based on the U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2010, the percentage of students who are minorities has changed dramatically since 1990 resulting in statistics for all students in P -12 for 2010 as follows: non-whites 48%; whites 51.7% (Aud et al, 2012, p. 146). The change in the student population is occurring at a much faster rate than the change in the percentage of P-12 minority teachers and principals as reported in the latest national data based on the school year 2007-2008 as: teachers - non-whites 17.0%, whites 82.9%; principals - nonwhites 17.6%, whites 82.4% (Aud et al, 2012, p. 180, 188). The Condition of Education 2012 report stated that the racial breakdown for P-12 students in schools in Florida in 2010 was 43.7% white and 55.9% non-white (Aud et al, 2012, p. 146). From the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) Automated Staff Database, Survey 2 2011-12 (May 21, 2012) prepared by Education Information and Accountability Services in Tallahassee, the most recent racial breakdown for all P-12 classroom teachers in Florida was 71.6% whites and 28.3% non-whites (p. 1). In the Florida County selected for this research study, the FLDOE report stated that the racial breakdown for all P-12 classroom teachers was 90.1% white and 9.9% non-whites for 2011-2012 (p. 9). Neither the selected county nor the state of Florida nor the nation has

hired sufficient minority teachers or principals to offer the increasing number of minority students with adequate cultural and racial role models to help address the factors impacting the achievement gap for minorities in public schools. The research conducted by the authors in 2011-2012 studied a Florida County Schools System where the Superintendent and Director of Human Resources indicated the districts significant concern that minority teachers and principals were not represented in greater numbers in the Countys public schools. They collaborated with the authors (professors from a Historically Black University) to plan a research study to look at the factors that might be influencing the recruitment and retention of minority teachers and principals in the selected county. It was decided that the research would focus on gathering the perspectives of minority undergraduate education majors at an HBCU and minority teachers and principals in the selected county schools. Who better to inform future action than those minorities who had chosen to teach in Florida schools? Methodology and questions The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors that attract and sustain minority teachers and principals to work in the selected Florida County School system. The primary research question was: What factors attract minority teachers and principals to selected County? The following research sub-questions guided the development of the data collection instruments for this study: 1) Where might the selected County recruit minority teachers and principals? 2) What recruitment activities successfully recruit minority teachers and principals in selected County? 3) What factors sustain minority teachers and principals in selected County?

Action Research methodology was used for this research study. The definition of action research is a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldwide view which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concerns to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities (Reason & Bradbury, 2006, p. 1). The Cooperative Inquiry Action Research method was used to obtain a full, descriptive context of the perceptions of participants, using the philosophy of research with people rather than on them (Bray et al, 2000). The research participants included ten undergraduate students majoring in Education at an HBCU (22% of possible respondents); as well as, eight AfricanAmerican teachers and principals in the selected county (25.8% of possible respondents). Student participants were asked to volunteer from the education majors taking practicum and internship courses to respond to a survey. The education majors who responded to the survey had the following demographic characteristics: 90% female, 100% AfricanAmerican, ages 21-22, and 80% from Florida with 50% in the internship stage and 50% in the Practicum level. Also volunteers from the pool of African-American administrators and teachers in the selected county schools were asked to participate in interviews or a focus group. The administrators interviewed (80% of possible participants) included the following characteristics: 75% males, 100% African-American, worked 4-8 years in selected county schools as principal or assistant principal or district administrator, 75% lived in selected

county, 25% had doctorate (NOVA), 25% had Education Specialist degree (FSU), and 50% had masters degrees. Their undergraduate degrees were from FAMU, B-CU and UCF; while masters degrees were from FAMU, NOVA and Rutgers State University. Seventy-five percent had completed the Principals Academy training; while the other 25% were in the second year of the academy. The teacher participants in the focus group (15.3% of possible participants) were all African-American, 75% females, worked 2 to 30 years in selected county, and teaching assignments ranged from special areas to regular and special education in elementary, middle and high school. The minority voice shared by these participants was similar to the full population asked to participate, with high diversity based on gender, ages, college backgrounds, and years of service and work assignment. The first step was to conduct semi-structured interviews with four of the minority administrators, principals and assistant principals in the selected County Schools. The next step was to conduct one focus group with four volunteers from the minority teachers who work in the selected County Schools and a survey with minority teacher candidates who were enrolled in Practicum or internship at an HBCU in Spring 2011 semester. The Focus Group, survey, and interviews investigated factors that attract and sustain minority teachers and administrators in the selected Florida County School system. The findings from the data are shared in the next sections. RECRUITING MINORITY TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS The participants (student, teachers and administrators) painted a common picture of the recruitment issues and possible solutions to where and how the selected county

schools might recruit minority teachers and principals. In a nutshell, here is what the data indicated.

The selected county school system needs a visible, formal, and coordinated recruitment process that is funded adequately by the annual budget with a specific, strategic Board goal of hiring qualified minority teachers and principals. In this systematic recruitment process, the selected county schools need to focus within the district to nurture minority high school graduates into the teaching profession and attract them to return home to teach; as well as, create meaningful partnerships with local HBCUs to attract minority education majors in practicum and internship levels to their district, so they want to continue working in the county schools after graduation.

Local strategic recruitment initiatives The county school Board of Education and administrators must have a visible, strategic goal to hire more minority teachers and principals. The participants all agreed that there was no formal recruitment process currently, and that the district had limited funding for recruiting. All study participants initiated contact with the county schools to gain employment. There was no recruitment effort that attracted them to the county schools. All were initially told there were no jobs available; but they persisted and two knew a school employee. Now the county only uses the local district website and teacherteacher.com for advertising job openings. In the current informal hiring process the County office posts positions, and human resources staff filters applications for qualifications for the open positions. Principals can request an applicant seen on the website. Then qualified applications are sent to principals who make the hiring decisions. They have to interview internal applicants first and give veterans a preference. There are not many minority applicants about 0 out of 8 according to the director of Human Resources.

In the past, there had been specific recruitment funding and administrators used more formal strategies. They went to universities like FAMU, FSU, UF, UCF, and B-CU to recruit. Also administrators attended Job Fairs in the past, and had a formal relationship with an administrator in a neighboring county with more minorities who sent candidates. Another recruitment effort that had been used in the past when funding was available was to attend Florida Minority Fund events. The district sent an AfricanAmerican (AA) principal to a neighboring metro area for the Florida Minority Fund job fair (over 600 AA applicants) as an annual recruitment event. For a while, NEFEC hired an AA male recruiter to liaison with all school districts in the region. The salary of the AA recruiter was shared by all districts. Funds were eliminated from the school budget. Current minority principals need to take a strategic role in recruiting other minorities into teaching and principal roles and establishing a visible support system for minority employees. Universities can support principals in many of these efforts. The participants in the study suggested the following strategies to support principals in recruiting and hiring more minorities and reduce the tendencies to hire friends and relatives. 1. Send applicants to current minority administrators for mentoring to get them interested and place them strategically. 2. Minority applicants need interviewing coaching. They often do not present well due to lack of knowledge about how an interview is conducted. 3. Offer Mentoring in first 90 days of employment. 4. Applicants need to come with ESOL/Reading Certifications from university plus ESE Certification is highly desirable. 5. Need desire to do extra-curricular activities for school. Board needs to dictate percentages to be hired. 6. Principal Leadership Academy (PLA) could do more to train administrators in best strategies for selecting minority applicants. Increase diversity in leadership of PLA. The PLA curriculum might benefit by inclusion of diversity training and analysis of hiring practices used by principals. Require all current administrators to finish PLA.

7. Need to increase parent, community and school interactions like Local AA Group Forum Information sessions by County Schools staff for parents all filled to capacity (half were minorities). Minority teacher candidates see parents who look like me - a powerful recruiting strategy. A legitimate question raised by a few participants was whether the selected county really wants to hire more minority teachers and principals. Some participants felt that if so we would be more aggressive in recruiting. Minorities were observed to be increasing in the district, but not African Americans. Participants indicated that they thought the Board and the Superintendent did want to hire more minorities, but approving more adequate funds for recruiting will be the test. The Board has instituted a new policy impacting hiring practices. To select a new principal of an elementary school, there will be a committee of SACS Chair, Director of Human Resources, parent, teacher, etc. Then the Superintendent makes the final employment decision. Now Principals have a standard in their evaluation that states that their teacher population must match their student population. They will now be required to meet this standard. The student population is changing everywhere and the teaching population has to change too. The standard will be aided by attrition no shuffling across district to create better balance because not enough minorities to help. Where to recruit minority teachers and principals The study participants indicated that the county schools will need a person-toperson method to recruit minorities to the county from metropolitan communities, HBCUs in Florida and through a para-professional mentoring program. Current minority teachers and principals need to take a strategic role in recruiting other minorities into teaching and principal roles and establishing a visible support system for minority

employees. The participants recognized the challenges that face the county schools in a small, suburban community in trying to recruit and sustain minority teachers and principals. They stated that not getting African American interns reduces chances of getting minority applicants. Ive seen less than five AA interns in 30 years. The excuse I would get is that Blacks would not want to come to a small county; said it was hard to recruit AA college students to a small county. A graduate student researcher from an HBCU did a survey with high school seniors in the selected county and found there are some minority seniors at the high school who want to teach and some want to come back home; but they reported that they did not know anything about the districts employment practices or opportunities (Brown, 2012). There were specific suggestions shared to help the county schools locate and recruit minority candidates.

Build a partnership with the neighboring HBCU to increase the number of minority interns placed in the selected county schools. Explore transportation and lodging options to address university students obstacles to placement so far from campus. Develop a strategic internal recruiting program with high school students. Establish a Future Teachers Association and pin high school graduates who designate teacher education as a college major and agree to return for employment with the county schools. Mentor graduates throughout college experience to foster their return to teach. In the survey conducted with the HBCU education majors, intern and practicum

students indicated an interest in the selected county schools but had little knowledge about the community or the schools. Sixty percent had never visited the county, but indicated they would sign a contract to teach in the county schools in the areas of High School 2 (Psychology or Guidance Counselor), ESE K-12, English, Music K-12, Middle Grades Math, Business Education 6 -12, and Elementary Education gr. 4 and

K-2. When asked where they wanted to do an internship, 90% wanted to stay in Florida and 30% indicated the county selected for this study. Only 10% indicated they wanted to be hired to teach in the selected county. The majority wanted to go to metropolitan areas. When asked what factors might attract them to teach in the selected county the factors selected by the highest percentages of HBCU students were higher salary, benefits in employment package, continuing education in-service opportunities, and low living expenses, as indicated below.

Higher salary 60% High incidence of minority student population in schools 20% Substantial minority pop in selected county 20% Lower housing costs 40% entertainment activities in area 10% close proximity to HBCU 20% Religious support in area 20% Low living expenses 50% Opportunity to help develop newer community 30% Opportunity for administrative advancement 30% Benefits in employment package 60% Friends hired to teach there 30% Continuing education in-service opportunities 60% graduate programs in area 40%

Sustaining minority teachers and principals Communities and school systems which embrace diversity and build support teams sustain minority teachers and principals. Retention of minority teachers in predominantly white school districts is another issue. Researchers have found that relationships with school administrators can be the biggest factor in whether a minority teacher staysso its imperative for retention rates that the principal be supportive and understand the teachers approach (Sack-Min, 2008, p. 8).

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In the survey conducted with the HBCU education majors, intern and practicum students indicated what it would take to remain long term as a teacher in the selected county schools. When asked what factors might sustain them as teachers in the selected county the factors chosen by the highest percentage of the participants were higher salaries, lower housing costs, and opportunity for administrative advancement. The list of all factors is included in the following:

Higher salary 40% High incidence of minority students in population in schools 30% Substantial minority population in selected county 20% Lower housing costs 40% recreational activities in area 10% entertainment activities in area 10% Religious support in area 10% Low living expenses 10% Opportunity to help develop newer community 10% Opportunity for administrative advancement -40% Benefits in employment package 30% Friends hired to teach there 10% Continuing education in-service opportunities -30% graduate programs in area 2)%

When the current minority teachers and principals were asked what sustains them in the selected county, they emphasized family and personal relationships but noted obstacles existed in employment and social resources in the community to support their families. Factors that sustain Minorities and their families included:

Employment close to home County; Able to meet career ambitions; Friends at another school is a resource/motivation; Administrative team and colleagues support; Employment for family members; other jobs available for spouses; Pastor and religious community support; Community programs for minority children such as African American Mentoring program; Social environment for middle-age professionals;

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Ruby Payne Training supported by Union (http://www.lecturemanagement.com/speakers/ruby-payne.htm); Leadership role of retired African American community members is needed; PLA needs to use William Cecil Golden Professional Development Program (https://www.floridaschoolleaders.org/supportRes.aspx?onlineID=1114) and offer Diversity Training and balance skills of leadership team. Camaraderie, support; advancement; Level the playing field for equal opportunity for promotions; Mentoring (personal and professional) between administrators and recruits/young teachers. Community needs social activities that appeal to minority families sororities, churches, etc. Need to sell recruits on fact that county is centrally located to several Metro areas; Entertainment such as Singles activities and community events for wider age group needed. Hall of Fame for graduates who have done well. One of my issues at HS is that we dont bring back our AA graduates to speak to students. We have doctors, lawyers, and so forth who are graduates but no one brings them back. Need young mentors.

SUMMARY RECOMMENDATIONS The participants in this study gave a minority opinion but spoke loudly when they said, Personnel should mirror student enrollment. Professional role models, not just Para-professionals and custodians, are needed. In summary, the exploratory study revealed the following recommendations to where and how the selected county schools might recruit minority teachers and principals. The community leaders, university program leaders, Board of Education, Superintendent, Director of Human Resources and Principals will need to determine the practicality of implementing these suggestions.

The selected county school system needs a visible, formal, and coordinated recruitment process that is funded adequately by the annual budget with a specific, strategic Board goal of hiring qualified minority teachers and principals. In this systematic recruitment process, the selected county schools need to focus within the district to nurture minority high school graduates into the teaching profession and attract them to return home to teach; as well as, create meaningful

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partnerships with local HBCUs to attract minority education majors in practicum and internship levels to their district, so they want to continue working in the county schools after graduation. The county schools will need to use a person-to-person method to recruit minorities to the county from metropolitan communities, HBCUs in Florida and through a paraprofessional mentoring program. Current minority teachers and principals need to take a strategic role in recruiting other minorities into teaching and principal roles and establishing a visible support system for minority employees. In the survey conducted with the HBCU education majors, intern and practicum students indicated what it would take to attract them and retain them long term as a teacher in the selected county schools. When asked what factors might attract them to teach in the selected county the factors selected by the highest percentages of HBCU students were higher salary, benefits in employment package, continuing education in-service opportunities, and low living expenses. When asked what factors might sustain them as teachers in the selected county the factors chosen by the highest percentage of the participants were higher salaries, lower housing costs, and opportunity for administrative advancement. To attract interns from local HBCUs the selected county needs to communicate these benefits of county employment in recruitment efforts. Implement specific recruitment strategies within the formal process, such as: 1. Develop a partnership with local universities to exchange information sessions and hold career fairs on a quarterly basis. 2. Offer a signing bonus by considering need for minority teachers as a critical shortage area 3. Develop assertive, organized model for recruiting Minority Para-professionals for teacher education Professional Studies program in University 4. Counsel university students to see that the ratio of races in prospective schools should not be a factor in their decision. 5. University needs to help candidates become familiar with state Teacher Evaluation Tool. 6. Community needs to provide bus transportation, activities, jobs (for spouses), restaurants, and wider range of social activities. 7. Market openings in neighboring county. 8. Encourage minority teachers in county Schools to join Principal Academy to be administrators. 9. County needs to sell (make visible) minority teachers better by sending them to HS campuses, Future Teacher Association meetings, and colleges 10. Hold ceremony and pin students when they graduate from HS if they plan to major in education to show that county schools are guaranteeing them consideration for a job. Assign current teachers to mentor these education majors throughout college experience. 11. Ask current minority teachers and principals to be ambassadors for recruiting additional minorities. When the current minority teachers and principals were asked what sustains them in the selected county, they emphasized family and personal relationships but noted

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obstacles existed in employment and social resources in the community to support their families. The community needs to increase the following opportunities. 1. Employment options for family members; 2. Pastor and religious community support; 3. Community programs for minority children such as African American Mentoring program; 4. Social environment for middle-age professionals; 5. Leadership role of retired African American community members; 6. Social activities that appeal to minority families sororities, churches, etc. 7. Entertainment such as Singles activities and community events for wider age group needed. The observations above are supported by national strategic initiatives advocated by the National School Boards Association Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) and the National Education Association (NEA). The prevailing wisdom on recruiting more minority teachers is documented by Sack-Min (2008) for the National School Boards Association Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE). School systems are challenged in their efforts to recruit minority teachers to serve an increasingly diverse student population. The school board could put a higher priority (and more resources) behind the following strategies:

Build close relationships with historically black colleges. Partner with urban and minority teacher development programs at state universities. Implement a program to help classroom paraprofessionals earn an education degree. Develop teacher career programs for high school students. Recruit far and wideboth across the nation and overseas. Take full advantage of alternative certification programsand reach out to nontraditional sources for teachers, such as laid-off workers in high-tech industries. Finally, look at your retention rate for new teachers. Without adequate support, youll find hard-to-recruit teachers leaving your districtand undercutting your recruitment efforts. (Sack-Min, 2008, p. 6) The National Education Association has also expressed a focus on recruiting more

minority teachers. NEA will continue its long-standing commitment to equity, diversity and excellence in education and in the teaching profession. NEA is deeply committed to

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addressing the challenges of recruiting and retaining a highly qualified, culturally competent, diverse teaching force for our nations public schools. Toward that end, NEA has developed an aggressive advocacy agenda focused on teacher quality and diversity. The agenda includes:

Promoting the development of early intervention and minority pipeline programs for high school and college students, such as teacher career academies and future educator programs Advocating for high-quality teacher preparation and licensure programs, such as national accreditation and teacher residency programs Building partnerships and alliances, including expanding the work of an NEAinitiated National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force (Tyler, 2011, p. 27)

CLOSING THOUGHTS The impact of minority teachers and administrators on the academic and personal growth of minority and non-minority students is well-documented (Sack-Min, 2008). Observations made by the participants in this study confirmed the following benefits the county schools would reap if they could employ more minority teachers and principals.

Role models for students. Minority students need to see teachers who look like them. If I see my color in some professional role, I think I can be like that person. Immediate sense of trust with teachers of same race/ethnic background. It impacts students self-images; comfort level. Minority students dont feel they are being judged unfairly which increases learning. Understanding of diverse socio-economic levels is enhanced. Diversity in employees helps broaden general perspective of students. Culturally responsive teaching is a curriculum method that has been advocated

as a strategy for compensating for the low numbers of minority teachers and principals in public schools. The term culturally responsive teaching is used to label the strategies used by teachers to reach minority students. The City University of New York is one

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institution that incorporates culturally responsive strategies in teacher education courses to address the lack of minorities entering the teaching field. In CUNY classes, professors have included discussions of issues such as values, language, and home experiences, and encourage teaching interns to go to students homes and visit with their families. Its not enough to say were going to recruit more [minority] teachers, we have to get white teachers to be more successful, says Nicholas Michelli, a professor of education at CUNYs graduate school. It is so important that teachers understand the culture of kids; and teachers need to be acquainted with many diverse cultures (Sack-Min, 2008, p. 7).

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References Aud, S., Hussar, W., Johnson, F., Kena, G., Roth, E., Manning, E., Wang, X., and Zhang, J. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012-045). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC. Retrieved September 22, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. Bray, J., Lee, J., Smith, L., and Yorks, L. (2000). Collaborative inquiry in practice: Action, reflection, and making meaning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Brown, P. (2012). Factors influencing minority high school graduates into teaching in Florida. A masters thesis prepared for Bethune-Cookman University. Closing the Achievement Gap: Two Views from Current Research. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education at http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-3/gap.html on February 7, 2011. Demand and Supply of Minority Teachers. ERIC Digest 12-88. Retrieved from ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education Washington DC at http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9214/demand.htm on February 9, 2011. Department of Education. (2009-2010). Data about elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. Retrieved on September 16, 2012 from http://www.eddataexpress.ed.gov/index.cfm FLDOE Automated Staff Database, Survey 2 2011-12. (May 21, 2012). Prepared by Education Information and Accountability Services, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400. Retrieved on September 16, 2012 from http://www.fldoe.org/eias/. Lee, M. (2001). Minority recruitment: How can we attract minority educators to our district? Paper submitted to Human Resource Management Course at University of Kansas. Retrieved on March 20, 2011 from http://www.people.ku.edu/~howard/Courses/Tl953Hr National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (NCES 2009-324). National Education Association. (2011). Research Spotlight on Recruiting & Retaining Highly Qualified Teachers. Retrieved on February 9, 2011 from https://www.nea.org/tools/17054.htm. Reason, P.and Bradbury, H. (2006). Handbook of Action Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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Sack-Min, J. (January-February 2008). In search of minority teachers. Urban Advocate. Alexandria: National School Boards Association Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE). Stringer, E. (2007). Action research (3rd). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Tyler, L. (2011). Toward Increasing Teacher Diversity: Targeting Support and Intervention for Teacher Licensure Candidates. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Retrieved on September 22, 2012 from http://www.ets.org/s/education_topics/teaching_quality/pdf/support_intervention_ teacher_licensure.pdf. About the Authors: Cecily Ball, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies, Bethune-Cookman University

Sharon Piety-Nowell, Ed.D. - Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies, Bethune-Cookman University

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