student-teacher parity gap is not due to a failure to recruit minority teachers. The gap has persisted in recent years largely because the number of nonminority students has decreased, while thenumber of minority students has increased –leading to an increase in the proportion of all students that are minority.

they typically tend to blame students’ families, cultures, and communities as primary causes of unequal educational outcomes

Low-income communities in California draw disproportionately on the global market to ensure an adequate supply of teachers to meet the highly qualified teacher policy require-ments (Bartlett, 2009). Schools in these communities have traded a historic reliance on underqualified teachers (emergency credentialed, out of field, intern, etc.) for professionally qualified teachers recruited from overseas. Yet by comparison with the high visibility of “alternative routes” into education, the hiring of overseas-trained teachers remains what Bartlett describes as a “hidden phenomenon” (Bartlett, 2009), as districts and schools are not required to report on the country of origin, education, or visa status of their workforce.

for experienced, professionally certified teachers

o see the use of cursive writing in French first-grade classrooms, judging 6-year-olds not “ready” for cursive; French teachers were surprised to see American 6-year-olds grouped together on a rug for reading time, viewing that as a practice to be left behind when children entered the “real work” of first grade

However, as a set, the studies do little to relieve concern for attrition or to settle debates about the worth of the “teach for the short term” remedy.

“Compared to what?

Programs recruit candidates from highly regarded colleges and universities, selecting and placing a relatively small proportion of those who apply. The programs appeal to the graduates’ political and social idealism while also positioning them to ben-efit socially and materially from their short-term experience in challenging schools

is that young, highly educated individuals will stimulate achievement and motivation in low-performing schools, even if they remain only a short period; a corollary but more implicit premise is that high turnover of such teachers will do no harm to students or schools, presuming that programs and schools are able to recruit a steady supply

appear to be shaped heavily by working condi-tions.

less than 4%, as against more than 10% in countries such as Sweden and the United States, where salaries (relative to GDP per capita) are low”

Unlike other nations with more developed social welfare or youth minis-tries, the United States traditionally has relied on school-based measures to ameliorate the effects of poverty

lower student test scores, schools with lower income students, or schools that have higher proportions of minority students”

eachers elect to teach in schools with rela-tively advantaged student enrollment and profiles of high achievement and to avoid schools in poverty-stricken areas, especially those with high minority enrollments

the teaching of subject matter, teaching diverse students, managing classrooms, and assessing learning

each group is divided as to the special preparation for teaching that teach-ers should require prior to taking on the responsibilities of a classroom.

acquire scientific and mathematical knowledge germane to the field of engineering, but only recently have engineering schools begun to consider various practical contingencies of successful engineering work

emphasize academic background versus other dimensions of teacher quality and to concentrate attention on individual qualifications and incen-tives rather than on employing organizations and the organizational conditions asso-ciated with teacher effectiveness and retention.

remain concentrated in urban and poor communities, one issue is where new and practicing teachers seek or accept employment

most have focused on the experience of White teachers in preparing to teach students of color; only recently have studies begun to emerge that chronicle the challenges that may confront teachers of color as well

Some progress appears evident, if hard-won, in cases where admission procedures screen candidates on the basis of demonstrated cultural sensitivity and commitments to social justice; where a multicultural, intercultural, or antiracist perspective per-vades the program

designated courses that may be elective rather than compulsory and that encapsulate issues of diversity rather than integrating them as a fundamen-tal feature of professional preparation

increased workforce diversity will demand more in the way of both pol-icy formulation and research than a singular focus on recruiting teachers of color.

he experience of being a “token” minor-ity forced the teachers to consider their personal and professional identity and their relationships with students and colleagues in ways unlikely to confront their White colleagues

(many Black teachers lost their jobs)

minority teacher turnover in the United States had become significantly greater than turnover among White teachers—although minority teachers were less likely than White teachers to exit schools in high-poverty areas or with large populations of minority students

impediments such as the reli-ance on standardized testing as a requirement of licensure

she observes that the percentage of high school students who become teachers from schools enrolling a large share of low-income and minority students is signifi-cantly less than the percentage of high school students who become teachers from more advantaged schools.

is also to join the shape of the prospective teacher workforce to the dynamics of higher education access.

In countries where teaching has high social status—such as Finland, Ireland and Korea—there is strong competition for entry into teacher education

women and minorities

more than half held a master’s degree

boasting the highest levels of academic achievement

homogeneous

ith a few exceptions, teaching is an occupation of women, especially in elementary schools; it employs the young and the graying, a bimodal age distribution that may reflect a reluctance of “Generation X” (born in the 1960s and 1970s), “Generation Y” (born after 1980), or the current “Millennium Generation” to commit to long-term careers in teaching;

last of them that appears most prominent in current discussions and debates regarding qualifications to teach and teaching effectiveness.

presumably emphasize the substantive knowledge, skills, and dispositions valued by labor markets.

Thus, different perspectives on the purposes of schooling orient one to different qualities, qualifications, practices, and accomplishments of teachers.

constructs education as a commodity or “private good”

he former two constitute goals focused on the “public good” of education

a mood of “hard-edged efficiency” dominated American education as well as a “growing emphasis on the schools as a direct instrument of social control”

global economic competitiveness.

what those desired outcomes might be.

obscure or overlook the role of institutional and organizational processes

nearly exclusive focus on teachers’ academic background and subject specialization as warrants of professional qualification and as anticipated predictors of student achievement and attainment

escalat-ing stakes attached to educational achievement and attainment.

which have come to appear inevitable in the United States, are not the norm in developed nations around the world

experience school spending about 10 times greater than our most poorly supported students.

we systematically under-resource those schools significantly

where universal health care, housing subsidies, and high-quality, universally available child care are the norm.

were reduced or eliminated, and federal aid to schools was cut from 12% to 6% of a shrinking total. Meanwhile, childhood poverty rates, homelessness, and lack of access to health care grew with cuts in other federal programs supporting housing subsidies, health care, and child welfare.

No society can thrive in a technological, knowledge-based economy by starving large segments of its population of learning

noticeable reduction in educational inequality in the decade after its release, due to desegregation and school finance reform efforts, along with increased investments in urban and poor rural schools through the Great Society’s War on Poverty

locking millions of students of color from low-income families out of today’s knowledge-based economy

faced a “system of apartheid” in its major cities.

moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.

shortages persist

has obvious cost and recruitment implications, given that teacher salaries are the largest item in school district budgets. How will districts sustain this growth?

45 percent of all public school teacher turnover takes place in just one-fourth of public schools, with high-poverty, high-minority, urban, and rural schools experiencing the highest rates of turnover.

have gone back up as the recession receded

40 to 50 percent of those who enter teaching leave teaching altogether within five years

increase in overall teacher turnover

by the turnover rates of minority teachers, which our research shows are much higher than those of white, non-Hispanic teachers, and have also increased in recent years

minority teacher recruitment efforts

that number has grown by 31 percent since 1987–88

raditionally been female-dominated,

a growing number of older career switchers)

has also become less experience

But by 2015–16 that number had decreased to about 1.1 million

public school teacher retirements increased

increasing demand for teachers in special education, math and science, and ESL/bilingual education