The Effects of Educator Diversity Plans on Teacher Workforce Composition: Evidence from Arkansas and Tennessee

• In Event: New Evidence on Teacher Recruitment and Workforce Diversity

Abstract

In recent years, several states have adopted teacher diversity plan policies that require school districts to submit annual plans with goals and strategies to recruit and retain teachers of color. These policies aim to close the gap between districts’ shares of teachers of color and students of color, but lack strong accountability mechanisms to ensure districts actually meet their plan goals. This study evaluates whether such policies in Arkansas and Tennessee produced meaningful changes in the racial and ethnic composition of their districts’ teacher workforces. Adopting a synthetic difference-in-differences design, I find estimates are close to zero in both Arkansas (0.04pp) and Tennessee (-0.02pp). Equivalence tests rule out pooled effects larger than roughly 0.66 percentage points. Even at this upper bound, the policies would have only closed roughly 4% of the average district’s teacher-student representation gap. I find little evidence that effects differed by district demographics, representation gaps, or locale. Findings indicate that regulations lacking strong accountability mechanisms are unlikely to meaningfully diversify the teacher workforce.

Author

• Jacob Rubin, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author