Over the past decade, the achievement gap in New York City schools has remained almost constant, with Black and Latino males at the low end of that gap. While the City takes pride in a 2010 graduation rate of over 65%, less than 40% of Black and Latino males graduate with a Regents diploma in four years. This gap can be narrowed: researchers and practitioners have identified several strategies that do so. One of the most successful strategies involves bringing more Black, Latino, and other minority males into the classroom as teachers.
The federal Education Department has endorsed this strategy. Arne Duncan has called for increased recruitment and support of Black and Latino male teachers, concerned that less than 2% of the nation’s teachers currently are Black or Latino males. Research shows that matching the ethnicity and race of teachers and students can improve the effectiveness of teachers and raise cultural competency inside schools, helping teachers understand and relate successfully to students who come from different backgrounds. But, in many inner cities, the numbers are going the wrong way: a Chicago study recently found that the City’s teaching force has become whiter even as the student population increased in diversity.
New York City is in the vanguard of recognizing and addressing the problem of low numbers of Black and Latino male teachers. With foundation support, Brooklyn College developed a program to groom a new generation of Black male teachers who have a vested interest in pursuing long-term careers in their own communities. And in conjunction with the Mayor’s new Young Men’s Initiative, the Mayor’s Office has developed a pilot program to recruit Black males to work in early education programs.The program will highlight The Urban Community Teachers Program at CUNY-Brooklyn and programs that are part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative.
Explore
- Why does increasing the numbers of Black and Latino male teachers matter?
- How can it be done – and who is doing it here in NYC?
- How can your foundation support this work?
Part of Philanthropy New York's Back to School Series. A Philanthropy Connects program, sponsored by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, The Schott Foundation for Public Education, the Donors' Education Collaborative, the Black Male Donor Collaborative, and Increasing Diversity in Philanthropy Special Committee (IDP).
Presenters
- Noel Anderson, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, CUNY-Brooklyn College, director of the college’s Urban Community Teachers program.
- Gary Hattem, Managing Director, Community Development Finance Group, President, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.
- Krystal S. Reyes, Senior Advisor for Children and Family Services, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, City of New York.
- Anthony Simmons (Moderator), Program Manager, The Black Male Donor Collaborative, The Schott Foundation for Public Education.
Designed for
All interested funders.