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Description

Our work examines the paraeducator to teacher pipeline in Arkansas and addresses reforms that have the potential to solve two problems that the Arkansas education system faces. Firstly, there is strong evidence that minoritized students benefit from being taught by a teacher of the same race or ethnicity as them. While the mechanism behind these race match effects are not yet well understood, studies using strong causal identification have documented that having a teacher of the same race results in minoritized students being more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college, more likely to enroll in advanced courses, and less likely to be chronically absent or experience exclusionary discipline. However, the majority of teachers in Arkansas and other states are white. During the 2021-22 school year, almost 90% of Arkansas teachers were white as compared to nearly 60% of students.

Additionally, not only do districts face challenges recruiting and retaining minoritized teachers but many districts face significant staffing challenges. During the 2021-22 school year 1 in 10 Arkansas teachers were not fully licensed and instead relied upon an emergency teaching permit or other waiver.

Publication Date

2023

Publisher

Graduate School & International Education

City

Fayetteville

Keywords

Professional development; Elevator pitch; Research; Networking

Disciplines

Higher Education

Comments

Faculty Advisor: Gema Zamarro

The Paraeducator to Teacher Pipeline: Addressing Staffing Challenges & Increasing Teacher Diversity (2023)

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