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Keeping Teachers

Black men and teachers in rural areas are in especially short supply

STORY: Emily Hanford

Black men and teachers in rural areas are in especially short supply
Keeping TeachersEmily Hanford | APM Reports

There may be nothing more important in the educational life of a child than having effective teachers. But the United States is struggling to attract and keep teachers.

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Keeping Teachers
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August 28, 2017

Listen to this audio documentary on the Educate podcast. Subscribe now.

Poor schools in urban and rural areas have something in common: Teachers are leaving, and it's having a big impact on kids.

"I don't know any math," said Cierra, a high school student in rural McDowell County, West Virginia. Last school year, when Cierra was a junior, her math teacher quit in the middle of the year, and a sub with no training in math education filled in. She had a string of subs in ninth and 10th grade math, too. "You can hand me like a freshman-year math and I'm like, 'Um, no, I don't know, I'm sorry.'"

In high-poverty schools, annual teacher turnover can top 20 percent.

For poor rural schools, the problem has a lot to do with larger forces tearing away at the economies of rural America, making it hard to both attract teachers, and hold on to them.

Poor schools both urban and rural have this in common: Teachers are leaving and it's having a big impact on kids. https://t.co/HmjHaWp4O8

— APM Reports (@apmreports) August 28, 2017

In cities, poor schools are having a particularly hard time holding on to African-American teachers. It's a big problem when it comes to black male teachers because there are so few of them to begin with. Only 2 percent of teachers are black men. Yet, there's lots of evidence that students benefit from having black teachers, and that more black men in a school building may be especially important for black boys.

"Our schools should look like our country," said Robert Parker, a teacher in Philadelphia. He's part of a group trying to recruit more black men into teaching, and to get them to stay.

This APM Reports documentary tells two stories about the challenges poor schools in both rural and urban areas face when it comes to finding and keeping the teachers they need.


Schools in poor, rural districts are the hardest hit by nation's growing teacher shortage

As in many parts of the country, remote McDowell County in West Virginia is having a hard time finding and keeping teachers.

Vacancies are often filled by substitutes unqualified for the roles they must assume, and the isolated location deters many new hires.

→ Read the whole story


Being a black man in education can be lonely. So a group of guys in Philadelphia started The Fellowship

When you're the black guy in the building, certain tasks fall to you.

"They would call me in to have talks with certain young men," said Robert Parker, a high school history teacher in Philadelphia. "Students who wouldn't do their work in class."

The same thing happened to Jovan Weaver.

"Teachers would just send them to my room because I built a connection with them," said Weaver, who taught sixth- and eighth-grade math. "Sometimes I wouldn't even know. I'd just get a note, and, like, I have kids sitting in my class."

Black men in schools across the country say they're admired for their way with tough kids — but they worry that often, they're seen as only that, and not as great teachers. The Fellowship is a nonprofit seeking to more than double the number of black male teachers in Philadelphia by 2025. Part of the idea is that if there are more black men in education, they'll be less likely to be stereotyped.

→ Read the whole story


Why are there so few black male teachers?

Teaching is not a top career choice for men of any race.

But more men are going into teaching. There was a 22 percent increase in the number of male teachers between 1988 and 2012. The increases were especially large among Hispanic and Asian men. The increases have been more modest among black men.

Increase in male teachers by race, 1988-2012

→ Read the whole story


Black teachers matter. Read the research

Here's what students and teachers in American public schools look like.

Why does this matter? There's lots of research that shows a school system where most of the teachers are white and most of the kids are not is bad for kids of color, especially African-American students.

→ Here are some highlights from that research


The 2017 season of four education documentaries can be heard via the Educate podcast.
Subscribe now: Apple Podcasts | RadioPublic

CORRESPONDENT/PRODUCER
Emily Hanford
EDITOR
Catherine Winter
RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION FELLOWS
Jeffrey Bissoy-Mattis
Lila Cherneff
Josh Marcus

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Suzanne Pekow
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Craig Thorson

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Chris Worthington
EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND HOST
Stephen Smith

WEB PRODUCER
Andy Kruse
SENIOR PRODUCER, EDUCATION PROJECTS
Emily Hanford
FACT CHECKER
Eva Dasher
SPECIAL THANKS
Liz Lyon

Support for this program comes from Lumina Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

Image at top: Teacher Christopher McFadden is a member of The Fellowship, a group in Philadelphia trying to recruit and retain black male teachers.Emily Hanford | APM Reports

Related documentaries

Teaching Teachers


What would it take to improve American teaching on a wide scale?
Testing Teachers


Are student test scores the right measuring stick for teachers?

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