May Board of Ed from the Malden Public Library: teacher diversification

back up is here, but there is a PowerPoint
I actually can't see who is speaking, so IDs are going to be missing, mostly
"have a lot to be proud about, but as we celebrate what we've done well, we have to recognize that we're only number one for some"

if you look at graduation rates, for example, there are disparities in how groups are doing
"see gaps between groups"
"educator diversification that we can really specifically work on"
has been working going on in DESE
"not enough to say we're going to" use only these strategies
40% of students are non-white; 90% of our educators are white
"lot of room for growth"
roughly 86% of candidates in pipeline are white
not only attracting candidates but retaining them
"now have a growing body of evidence...we're able to see some evidence base for positive impacts" for students of color having a teacher of color
diversifying educator workforce is a solid strategy for meeting students' needs
not only recruitment of teachers of color, but retention "as recruitment is only half the battle"
ensure that all adminstrators and school committee members are provided with the training they need to support educators of color
(they are?)
Teacher diversification pilot program: grant for MTEL preparation and support for district graduates, provisionally licensed teachers, paraprofessionals, and local grow-your-own efforts
also for individuals who might not yet have a bachelors who are paras
includes culturally responsive training and anti-bias initiatives for administrators and others
14 districts received funds this spring: all doing different things
Commissioner's college visits to speak directly with students about teaching and the need foa racilaly and ethnically diverse teacher workforce
met with 300 students and faculty members at Bridgewater State, UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, Umass Dartmouth, Holyoke Community College
have heard from students who have said that before the presentation they hadn't considered becoming teachers
InSPIRED (in-service professionals committed to increasing the racila and tehnic diversity of the Commonwealth's teacher workforce) fellowship now doing targeted presentations focused on diversifying the teacher workforce
"which of your students do you think would make really great teachers?"
fellowship has run from January to June; 1000 students engaged, 600 have expressed interest
cultural responsiveness has a lot to do with teachers of color deciding to come back
teachers who are new but also teachers who have taught for decades involved
Influence 100: 4% of superintendents in Massachusetts are educators of color; work to increase
Influence 100 fellows will engage in monthly leadership meetings
training to school committees and district leadership teams in culturally responsive practice

Q from Hills: were there only 14 districts interested? likely the districts that could respond the quickest
focus on districts with existing programs
part of it was the funding source which was limited
were only with districts requiring support or assistance
pilot "because we're trying to study and learn alongside districts"

Q from Morton: one of our greatest challenges is that our children don't see themselves in teaching
college educations are expensive: have we given thought to loan forgiveness or payoff?
transition from one career to next?
Rodriguez: have talked to hundreds of teachers, are some common themes around barriers
"hard to tap current students in K-12[to become teachers] if they aren't having a positive experiences in K-12"
getting into college, staying in college, paying off college
parents who direct students towards other careers
"help our school districts right now think about...the context in which our students are educators"
"how do we provide real incentives" as well
transition programs

Q from West: nope not a question
"we might want to think of it from a student's perspective: what share of students of color would have a teacher of color over the course of the year"
erm, no that isn't enough...

Fernández: fact of demography; we'll be running out of talent if we don't diversify
equity must be at the center of all of these, too
would like to see a demographic breakdown; are we talking about Black teachers and Latinx teachers and students
challenges are in those two demographic groups
ecosystem of many non-profits doing similar work or trying to support this work; have a larger assessment of the overall ecosystem at some point

McKenna: great effort
"a lot of things you've talked about many of us have talked about for many decades"
residency did not work; "spent a lot of money and a lot of time and it stopped producing teachers of color"
a lot of transition programs: a lot of second career people don't want to teach full time; they want to teach part time
"a lot of schools of education are demoralized...DESE has put rule after rule after rule on schools of education"
"it has been very hard for those who are committed to creating very good teachers"
"and that's why you seem the numbers diminish almost every year"
"some of this I lay at DESE's feet...we have made it difficult for schools of education"
we have to find those who want to do this as a profession and do it well
main group in the schools should want that
Rodriguez: our goal is to build on and learn lessons from the past
policies and practices of the department in supporting achievement of all students "with an eye towards equity"
doing a landscape analysis this summer
pockets of cultural responsive practice both in colleges and universities and in districts; commitment to sharing out

Mathews: I do think we lose people as they go through the application and licensure process
I think she urged skepticism?

Stewart: students and families of color need to be included at that table
lots of different sorts of diversity; who is represented particularly during educator evaulation
discipline
reviewing practices and procedures for reviewing data

Moriarty: met a teacher in Holyoke who is working on a waiver, came from Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria
"we shouldn't wait for the next natural disaster to poach teachers from Puerto Rico"
don't think we have considered this since the 1970's
(not the case: Framingham and others were down there this year)
urges recruiting from other states