Recent data highlights a persistent “representation gap” in education, revealing that students of color continue to be taught by teachers who often do not reflect their racial and ethnic backgrounds. In the 2022-23 school year, students of color made up 52% of public school enrollment, yet only 21% of teachers identified as people of color, according to findings from the nonprofit organization TNTP (formerly known as The New Teacher Project).
Over the five-year period from the 2018-19 to the 2022-23 school years, the representation gap between students and teachers of color remained above 30 percentage points nationwide. TNTP’s recent analysis covers data from 94% of school districts and 64% of schools across 47 states and Washington, D.C., with 43 states providing information up to the 2022-23 school year.
This data serves as a vital resource for school districts and states seeking to enhance teacher diversity as the new school year begins. Leticia de la Vara, TNTP’s chief policy, engagements, and external affairs officer, emphasized the importance of self-reflection for districts to evaluate how representative their teaching workforce is compared to their student populations.
“It’s important for all districts to look at how representative is your teaching profession to the students that you serve and really taking that self-reflection,” de la Vara said, urging districts to analyze the data to identify growth opportunities in teacher diversity.
In addition to recruitment, de la Vara pointed out that retention strategies are crucial for ensuring that high-performing diverse teachers and school leaders enjoy sustainable careers. The TNTP data represents just one aspect of addressing the racial representation gap in education.
De la Vara also underscored the necessity of focusing on professional development and providing supportive environments to retain educators of color. Beyond simply analyzing data, districts must identify and address barriers that hinder the hiring of qualified teachers of color.
“It’s not about waving a magic wand and you grow in your ethnicity, diversity across different districts — and everything is solved,” de la Vara explained. “It is really making sure you’re looking at this holistically, you’re looking at this long term.”
Additionally, TNTP is part of the steering committee for the One Million Teachers of Color Campaign, an initiative aimed at promoting a more diverse workforce for teachers and school leaders.
Here are some key takeaways from the latest TNTP data on the representation of teachers and students of color, further highlighting the urgent need for action in addressing this gap.
