Educators of Color Leadership Community

The Road Map Superintendents are committed to increasing the number of teachers of color in our region and to supporting their long-term success as educators. Supporting and retaining our teachers of color is a crucial strategy for eliminating the Opportunity Gap in the PSESD region as well as across the state and the nation, and is aligned with the goals of HB 1541 (the Opportunity Gap Bill). A diverse teacher workforce will improve educational outcomes for all our students, particularly for students of color, who are most adversely impacted by the lack of teacher diversity. PSESD serves a student population that is 47% students of color (and growing increasingly diverse every year) while our teaching force is almost 90 % white.

A diverse teaching pool is critical to our mission of eliminating the opportunity gap :

• Having teachers of color leads to strong educational outcomes for all students, particularly students of color.
• Teachers of color serve as positive role models that encourage persistence, resilience and the possibility of attaining college education or professional careers to students of color; and challenge stereotypes about the potential of people of color for all students, thereby better preparing them to succeed in a diverse world. (http://m.cedr.us/papers/working/CEDR%20WP%202015-9.pdf)

 

• All students benefit from having teachers of color, leading to better academic outcomes, regardless of race.

 

• Research tells us that retention for teachers of color is lower than it is for their white counterparts, due to a variety of factors. Research also tells us that teachers of color benefit from supports that value their “cultural resources” (their life experiences and connections to communities of color), from mentoring and professional development that honors their unique perspectives, and from having connections to colleagues that share their experiences and motivations to teach. (Achinstein, Ogawa & Sexton, 2010)

As a participant in the ECLC, you will have the opportunity to participate in an experience that combines culturally responsive mentoring and coaching with professional development and leadership opportunities relevant to your needs and interests. We will intentionally support the relationship you have with your principal so that as a team, we can foster and cultivate a school environment that will allow teachers of color to thrive. We have received input from teachers of color across the PSESD region to help us design the ECLC as a pilot program, and we look forward to creating an experience that connects teachers of color to one another, to their principals, and to other sources of support and growth opportunities.

Each ECLC Participant will attend five in-person meetings:

Sept. 28: 8:30-12:30: Half-day orientation for Teacher and Principals

October 19: 8:30-12:30: Half-day orientation for Teacher and Principals

NOTE: You only need to attend ONE half-day orientation session!
Oct. 31: 8:30-3
Jan. 23 : 8:30-3
March 1 8:30-3
May 15: 8:30-3

Teachers will be expected to:

• Obtain the support of their principal and district
• Attend all ECLC sessions
• Develop a plan to interact with Mentors as recommended in the orientation session
• Develop a plan to share their experiences with ECLC with their principal
• Provide feedback about their experiences to PSESD in order to share with district leadership about needs of teachers of color in our region.

Principals will be expected to :

• Attend a half-day orientation session on Sept. 28 to learn about the goals of the program and participate in professional learning about supporting teachers of color
• Meet with their participant as requested to learn about their experiences and to strategize for their continued growth and support.
• Provide feedback about their experiences to PSESD in order to share with district leadership about needs of teachers of color in our region.

Achinstein, Betty, Rodney T. Ogawa, and Sexton Dena. “Retaining Teachers of Color: A Pressing Problem and a Potential Strategy for “Hard-to-Staff” Schools.” Review of Educational Research80.1 (2010): 71-107. Web. Cherng, H.-Y. S., and P. F. Halpin. “The Importance of Minority Teachers: Student Perceptions of Minority Versus White Teachers.” Educational Researcher 45.7 (2016): 407-20. Web. Simon, Nicole S., Susan Moore Johnson, and Stefanie K. Reinhorn. “The Challenge of Recruiting and Hiring Teachers of Color: Lessons from Six High-Performing, High-Poverty, Urban Schools.” The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers. Harvard Graduate School of Education, July 2015. Web. U.S. Department of education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce, Washington, D.C. 2016. “Washington State Report Card.” Washington State Report Card. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.