Increasing Teacher Diversity

Even as diversity increases among the student population, many school districts struggle to hire diverse teachers. Most profiled districts implement both short-term and long-term strategies to increase teacher and staff diversity. Districts designed these strategies to alter the composition of the applicant pool in the short term. Each district is also promoting long-term increases in teacher and staff diversity by developing programs that strengthen the teacher pipeline of diverse students and community members.

We interviewed assistant superintendents and directors of human resources at five school districts to learn more about their approach to increasing teacher diversity.

Diversity goals and hiring strategies

For many districts, including diversity goals within public-facing documents such as strategic plans, equity plans, and diversity plans kick-starts larger efforts to increase teacher and staff diversity. Progressing toward this goal is also a large component of the hiring process. Districts can embed diversity into the interview process with questions such as, “Have you had experience with teaching in a different culture?” and “Do you speak another language?” to ground interview questions in cultural competency. Each hiring team individually determines what exact additional questions to ask the applicant. Be transparent about the district’s culture and expectations for cultural competency.

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Grow your own programs

Grow your own programs create a pathway for students from secondary school through placement as a teacher. The pathway will begin in secondary school, continue during participants’ higher education, and end after the district hires participants to teach within its schools. Contacts at each district note that it’s critical to create a pipeline that engages students at critical points in their education so that prospective teachers don’t fall through the cracks.

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Community pathway programs

Consider launching a community member recruitment program to increase teacher diversity. Districts can tailor their participant guidelines to focus on in-demand teaching positions. In addition to prioritizing these applicants, some districts grant a financial bonus to participants who meet the requirements or express an interest in teaching within the district’s hard-to-fill subjects. Both policies ensure that the program contributes to the district’s goals.

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