Black Teachers Research Articles

School Desegregation and Black Teacher Employment

Abstract Before the racial integration of schools in the southern United States, predominantly African American schools were staffed almost exclusively by African American teachers as well, and teaching constituted an extraordinarily large share of professional employment among southern Blacks. The large-scale desegregation of southern schools that occurred after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act represented a potential threat to this employment base, and this paper estimates how student integration affected Black teacher employment. Using newly assembled archival data from 759 southern school districts observed between 1960 and 1972, I estimate that a school district transitioning from fully segregated to fully integrated education, which approximates the experience of the modal southern district in this period, led to a 41.7% reduction in Black teacher employment. Additional results, including event-study specifications and models with extensive controls for concurrent policy changes, strongly suggest that these employment reductions were a causal effect of integration and not due to school district self-selection into desegregation. To study the broader impacts of reduced teaching employment, I estimate race-specific changes in occupations and earnings in the decennial Censuses and find that displaced southern Black teachers either entered lower skill occupations within the South or migrated out of the region to continue teaching and that integration-induced displacement led to substantial earnings reductions.

Linking Teacher Quality and School Discipline Disproportionality

The racial disparities in school discipline and lack of teacher diversity represent two pressing issues facing educational equity. While traditional measures of teacher quality center on experience and credentials, little extant literature situates teacher diversity as an aspect of teacher quality. To fill this gap, we explore how both teacher experience and racial diversity are associated with school-level student discipline outcomes, and how they vary by schools’ contextual factors. We find that while teacher diversity and experience predict both reductions in disciplinary incidents and consequences, only changes in the share of Black teachers a school employs are associated with reductions in the Black–White racial school discipline gap. We position our findings in the Diversity Intelligence and People as Technology frameworks and discuss implications for policy and educational human resources practices.

‘Grant us the sun’: What Black teachers need

In a time of growing teacher shortages, Black teachers are rapidly and disproportionately leaving the profession. Drawing upon their interviews with 30 Black teachers in the California Bay Area, Jessica Lee Stovall and Tara R. Sullivan provide insight into what it will take to keep Black teachers in the profession. The interviews depict both the anti-Blackness that Black teachers face and their freedom dreams for a better tomorrow for their students. Ultimately, Black teachers want schools to be transformed into healing-centered spaces where they can show up authentically to create a world in which Blackness is centered and affirmed.

What I now know: a Black male educator’s story on success

ABSTRACT Black males leave the teaching profession higher than any other demographic. Additionally, there is a paucity of literature detailing what it will take for schools to retain and develop Black teachers according to Afrocentric epistemologies. Using Teacher Life Stories and Psychology of Black Success to ground the research, I explore my journey to success as a former elementary music teacher in an urban school educating high populations of Black and Brown students labeled incompetent. Findings from a 9-month autoethnographic study support the creation of a new critical autoethnographic (m)ode of research to story and analyze teachers’ positioned perspectives, (re)frame research and practice by attending to what is critical to researcher and participants through analysis of in-class interactions, and agentively (re)position lived experiences within broader historical and political contexts. If successful, critical autoethnographic (m)odes will foster much-needed wellbeing paths for writing and righting successful careers of teachers of color in education.

THE MANY LIVES OF CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY

THE MANY LIVES OF CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY

How retention and mobility rates differ for teachers of colour

ABSTRACT This paper examines factors associated with the retention and mobility of teachers of colour in one state in the USA, with a special focus on beginning and novice teachers. We examine year-by-year retention and mobility rates for four time periods, beginning in 2015–16. We use logistic regression models to investigate the relationship between retention and mobility status and a number of variables thought to influence teacher retention and mobility. We find that full-time status and years of teaching experience consistently predict retention and mobility, with large differences in predicted probabilities. We also find statistically significant differences in the retention and mobility rates of Latinx teachers compared to Black teachers. The paper concludes with policy implications for teacher education and induction, and a call for more complex analyses of the retention and mobility of teachers of colour, including the expanded use of disaggregated data by individual racial and ethnic groups.

Pedagogical Progressivism and Black Education: A Historiographical Review, 1880–1957

This article offers a critical review of the literature on how race played into the historical development of pedagogical progressivism in the late-19th and early-20th-century United States. While many historians have focused on the overt/covert racism inherent in much of progressive pedagogy as espoused by White educators, others have highlighted the ways in pedagogical progressivism supported movements toward liberation and social justice, especially when taken up by Black educators. Thus, the historical treatment of pedagogical progressivism is becoming more nuanced by incorporating the work of Black scholars, school leaders, curriculum designers, and teachers.

“If I can help somebody”: The civic-oriented thought and practices of Black male teacher-coaches

ABSTRACT Fostering a sense of civic engagement is considered an essential purpose of social studies education. However, given the ways in which formal civic curricula and standards decenter the impact of racial membership on civic status, Black teachers are turning to alternative, out-of-school sites to enact critical approaches to teaching civics. Interscholastic athletics serves as one locale for such revisionist practices. This multiple case study troubles the centrality of Whiteness and deficit notions within the teacher-coach discourse by explicating the civic practices of five Black male teacher-coaches who served in schools that were not predominantly Black. Drawing on a conceptual framework rooted in Black critical theories, their civic mindedness of coaching ideologies and civic-oriented activities fostered a sense of liberatory fantasy while immersed within an anti-Black milieu.

Integrity Despite Moral Nonrecognition: Why Black Teachers Are Called to Teach

Integrity Despite Moral Nonrecognition: Why Black Teachers Are Called to Teach

Introduction On the Histories and Futures of Black New England Studies

Introduction On the Histories and Futures of Black New England Studies

Understanding Teacher Self-Efficacy to Address Students’ Social-Emotional Needs in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Teachers are returning to schools during the COVID-19 pandemic under the weight of unprecedented stressors to engage a student body that has also experienced stress and trauma. In this study, we examined how confident 454 teachers (55% Black) from 41 charter schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, were in their ability to address students’ social-emotional needs upon their return to school. Results showed that Black teachers were more likely to report a greater sense of efficacy in addressing students’ needs. Both Black and White teachers identified the top three resources needed to assist students: mental health supports, trainings, and in-class resources.

Too Few Black Male Educators

In the United States, schools and universities have too few Black male teachers. Although many factors contribute to this significant problem, one primary factor is the existing lack of Black male educators to serve as role models for Black male students. This literature review captures information from peer-reviewed research, public scholarship sources, and empathy interviews. The purpose of this literature review was to understand the reasons why so few Black males are successful in school and why there are so few Black male students pursuing careers in education. Based on the literature review, the following themes were identified: a lack of financial resources, a lack of a sense of belonging, a lack of role models and mentors, and institutional racism. Colleges need to consider these issues and determine ways to support Black male students in school and encourage them to pursue a career in education. Increasing the number of Black male educators is one central way to increase opportunities among Black students. To change this narrative, one needs to acknowledge the deficit of representation is due to the system itself. Black males are not lacking in achievement. American schools are exclusive and racist in how they provide opportunities for Black males.

#SayHerName: Black Women Physical Education Teachers of the Year

Purpose: Black women are devalued in many aspects of American culture—physical education (PE) is no exception. Platforms to celebrate Black women’s excellence in PE are scarce. Drawing on Black feminist thought and critical race theory, the purpose of this article is to describe and explain the experiences of Black women physical educators who earned PE Teacher of the Year.Participants: Two Black women share their experiences as physical educators and PE Teachers of the Year.Methods: Qualitative narrative inquiry consisting of semistructured, virtual group interviews was employed.Results: Four core themes were identified: (a) invisibility, (b) superwoman syndrome, (c) affirming role models, and (d) culturally responsive pedagogies.Discussion/Conclusion: Elevating Black women’s voices in PE requires a deconstruction of limited exposure opportunities. Normalizing Black excellence in PE acknowledges that Black women’s intersectionalities create enormous challenges yet foster students’ success. Black women physical educators benefit students and society.

In Pursuit of “Equality of Opportunity”: Ernesto and Karla Galarza Challenge School Segregation, Washington, DC, 1947

Abstract This article examines the case of Karla Galarza v. Washington, DC Board of Education. On April 3, 1947, Karla Galarza refused to accept the board's directive to withdraw from the Black segregated Margaret Murray Washington Vocational School. Her father, Dr. Ernesto Galarza, supported her decision and worked to challenge the expulsion, and the system of segregation, as unconstitutional. The authors analyze materials from regional and national archives, oral accounts, legal documents, and personal collections, focusing on Dr. Galarza's voice in over one hundred pages of correspondence. Dr. Galarza brought together an interracial legal team, including Charles Hamilton Houston, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Jewish Congress, and the National Lawyers Guild. Dr. Galarza lauded the pedagogy of a Black teacher and the pluralism cultivated in a Black school community as evidence of democracy in action. The legal team proposed that Karla's expulsion constituted a violation of the Fifth Amendment, naming education as a property right. However, after extensive research and discussion across ten months, the organizations determined they should not pursue the case in court. The authors assert that this attempted legal intervention is an unnamed forerunner in the attack on Plessy v. Ferguson and complicates previous narratives of the long struggle to end school segregation.

The Teacher Experiences of Racialized Microaggression (TERM) Scale: Construction and Initial Validation

Black teachers experience racialized microaggressions at varying levels in their professional settings. Existing measures of these microaggressions are not context specific. We developed items following a critical quantitative research inquiry approach. Item response theory (IRT) provided validation evidence for the Teacher Experiences of Racialized Microaggressions (TERM) scale. Black U.S. teachers ( n = 526) participated. Results revealed a 15-item unidimensional factor structure. IRT analyses revealed the TERM scale measured racialized microaggression levels ranging across the continuum. Use of the TERM scale has implications for understanding the racialized experiences of Black and other underrepresented teachers across other subject areas.

Emoções racializadas no ensino de línguas: um estudo de caso com professoras negras

ABSTRACT In this text, we seek to discuss issues on a topic a little debated in Applied Linguistics - the emotions of black English teachers. Since the advent of the affective turn, studies on identity and emotions have increased exponentially, both in Brazil and abroad (ARAGÃO; BARCELOS, 2018). However, there is still a lot to investigate regarding studies between emotions, power relations, and race (AHMED, 2004, 2009; BOLER; ZEMBYLAS, 2003). In this sense, this work aims to investigate how the emotions of black English teachers are racialized in different contexts. Therefore, in this case study semi-structured interviews were used and the narratives of three black teachers were analyzed. We conclude that the emotions of these teachers are discursively constituted, influenced by the colonial heritage, producing emotional labor.

Racial Disparities Among the Physical and Mental Health of Head Start Staff

Racial disparities are known to exist in terms of health care; this paper investigated if such differences existed among Head Start staff in terms of health and wellness. The purpose of the study was to compare physical health indicators from a Louisiana HS sample to a previously published data set of Pennsylvania HS staff [4]. 
 We surveyed a predominately black (85.6%) group of HS teachers (n = 195) using a modified questionnaire developed by a Pennsylvania research team. The responses were compared to a national reference and Pennsylvania group of HS teachers [4].
 Results indicated that HS teachers have higher prevalence of health-related problems than the national sample. However, our sample of black teachers in HS start classrooms experienced worse physical health than white women with similar characteristics (age, marital status, etc.). These results have profound implications regarding health disparities as well as the physical well-being of HS teachers.

Comparing Louisana and Pennslyvania Head Start Teachers' Physical and Mental Health

Racial disparities have been found to exist within the health care setting; this paper investigates the existence of such differences among Head Start (HS) staff in terms of health and wellness. The purpose of the study was to compare physical health indicators from a Louisiana HS sample to a previously published data set of Pennsylvania HS staff (Whitaker et al., 2013). We surveyed a predominately Black (85.6%) group of HS teachers (N = 195) using a modified questionnaire developed by a Pennsylvania research team. The responses were analyzed against a national reference and Pennsylvania group of HS teachers (Whitaker et al., 2013). Results indicated that HS teachers have a higher prevalence of health-related problems than the national sample. However, our sample of Black teachers in HS start classrooms experienced worse physical health than White women with similar characteristics (age, marital status). These results have profound implications regarding health disparities and the physical well-being of HS teachers.

Black] Teachers Resisting Damaged-Centered Research: Community Listening Exchanges as a Reciprocal Research Tool in a Gentrifying City

Gentrification impacts many cities across the nation. Affordable housing task forces and legislation meant to address housing inequities are becoming more common, yet the authentic experiences of those affected are often unacknowledged. Absent from the discussion of gentrification are the voices of those deeply impacted, some who are at the center of the work to maintain communities: Black teachers, Black students, and Black families. In many school districts, teachers do not have the opportunity to address the systemic issues that impact their students and communities. Still, it is impossible to ignore the ways societal injustice seeps into the classroom. This article discusses our work as a teacher participatory action research collective exploring the intersection of housing and educational displacement in a rapidly gentrifying community in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. We highlight our roles as community-centered educators and detail how we intentionally and thoughtfully worked to create a reciprocal space to engage communities in Community Listening Exchanges. We present Community Listening Exchanges as a justice-centered innovation to community-engaged research and scholarship. Our critical and collaborative approach to generating and analyzing data allowed us to uncover how housing and educational displacement relies on deficit narratives to justify the removal of marginalized people. We offer CLEs as a reciprocal research tool that deviates from traditional qualitative research and resists anti-Black, damage-centered narratives.

Black Special Education Teacher Educators’ Practice of Resistance

Many special education teacher preparation programs emphasize equity and social justice when preparing future educators who are well equipped to address racial disparities in education. Black special education teacher educators have an impactful role to play in the visioning of racially equitable teacher preparation programs, despite often being one of only a few in their departments, colleges, and institutions. The challenge, however, for these educators is navigating the pernicious, insidious, and deeply rooted barriers associated with Whiteness within predominantly White institutions. Using a DisCrit lens and Whiteness theories, the authors explored how Black teacher educators in special education experienced and disrupted the existence of Whiteness through qualitative interviews with individuals across the United States. These teacher educators presented their definition of quality special educators, as well as their recommendations for increasing racial equity in K-12 settings through preparing racial justice-focused special education teachers.