US: Based on teacher workforce from 2018 to 2022, Washington, D.C. had the most diverse workforce

US: Teaching performance is positively correlated with instructor diversity, particularly for pupils from underrepresented ethnic groups. However, not every state is doing as well in terms of the diversity of its public school staff.

The states with the greatest and least diverse teacher workforces were included in a recent research published by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). With 72.6 percent of teachers identifying as persons of color, Washington, D.C., has the most diverse teaching workforce from 2018 to 2022.

Hawaii came next, with 71.2 percent of its teachers being members of racial minorities.

Texas, New Mexico, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, and Nevada were all included among the top ten most varied states. The percentage of teachers in each of the states who identify as persons of color ranged from 27.8% to 45.1%.

The diversity of the teaching workforce was much lower in several states. With only 1.8% of instructors being non-white between 2018 and 2022, West Virginia was determined to be the least diverse state. Less than 5.2 percent of the workforce in Vermont, Iowa, Idaho, and New Hampshire was made up of members of racial minority groups.

The diversity of college-educated persons is increasing more quickly than the diversity of teachers nationwide. This indicates that although more individuals of color are pursuing higher education, fewer of them are choosing to become educators.

According to a statement released by NCTQ President Heather Peske, “teachers of color have a positive impact on all students—especially students of color—but our teacher workforce continues to lack racial diversity.” “Addressing this issue begins with better data.”

Having taught in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and now Florida, Jennifer Lee Magas, a communications professor at Nova Southeastern and a first-generation teacher from Bridgeport, Connecticut, has seen first-generation educators’ possibilities and problems.

“My own journey has given me a deep appreciation for the importance of representation in the classroom and the need to create pathways for more individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to enter the teaching profession,” Magas said to Newsweek.

Despite their reputation for having educational policies that focus on what children learn in the classroom, states like Texas would be better able to target recruiting by collaborating with historically marginalized neighborhoods, according to Magas.

“I noticed during my time at Texas Tech University that the faculty often reflected greater diversity than the student body, which might be attributed to these proactive efforts,” Magas said.

According to her, more liberal governments may still have trouble keeping diverse teachers and implementing effective teacher preparation programs.

Texas is superior than California, for instance, in terms of teacher diversity. In 2022, members of historically underrepresented groups made up around 43% of Texas’ teaching workforce. It was around 33 percent in California.

“It’s not that surprising when you look at the data and think about it further,” HR expert Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek. “Despite its shortcomings, Texas boasts a varied and expanding population, which is represented in classrooms. California’s affordability dilemma is suffocating it in the meanwhile. How can a state recruit and keep a diverse workforce if educators cannot afford to live where they teach?

Despite their reputation for having excellent educational systems, northeastern states like Connecticut and Massachusetts still have low teacher diversity, with just around 10% of instructors in their classes being non-white.

“Connecticut, for instance, has a staggering 39.3 percentage point gap between teachers of color and students of color, which has grown by 7.2 percentage points since 2014,” Magas said. “These disparities point to the need for targeted policies that improve access to teacher preparation programs and address inequities in recruitment and retention.”