Improved Minority Teacher Recruitment Tied to Increasing Alternative Certification Programs

Improved Minority Teacher Recruitment Tied to Increasing Alternative Certification Programs: A Center for American Progress panel discussion on Wednesday sought to elevate the discussion on the merits of making America’s teaching force more diverse, but it sometimes got snagged by questions about the need to make the case for diversity itself.

“If we are embracing diversity in all aspects, then we need to stop wondering why we need to have diverse teachers,” said Rachelle Rogers-Ard, program manager at Teach Tomorrow Oakland, an alternative teacher certification program, in response to an audience member who asked her and the other panelists to elaborate on the “why” behind the argument for greater teacher diversity.

“That should no longer be a part of the conversation,” Rogers-Ard said during the discussion, held at the Washington-based Center for American Progress and titled “Diverse Schools Need Diverse Teachers: Strategies to Increase Diversity in the Teacher Workforce.”