Both Sides of the Desk: The Racial and Ethnic Diversity of Teachers and Students

• In Event: Students, Teachers, and Accountability

Abstract

This paper merges student enrollment data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) with EEO-5 data collected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on characteristics of teachers in school districts that employ 100+ individuals. These data provide a unique opportunity for examining the racial composition of teachers and students within school districts. We know that the teaching force is not nearly as diverse as the student body but the extent to which the relatively small percentage of minority teachers is distributed across districts is not known. Preliminary results show that teacher diversity does increase as student diversity increases, but at a much slower rate. This paper is particularly timely given projections that minorities will soon become the majority.

Authors

• Rita J. Kirshstein, American Institutes for Research

• Bliss Cartwright, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission