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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
Citation
Camp, A. (2023). The Paraeducator to Teacher Pipeline: Addressing Staffing Challenges & Increasing Teacher Diversity (2023). Three-Minute Thesis Research Posters. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/mtsturpc/10
Comments
Faculty Advisor: Gema Zamarro