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TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 184 Print image (89K) |
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TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN MARYLAND (Final Report) 1999/12/31 MdHR 991422 MdHR 991422, Image No: 184 Print image (89K) |
| learning.... We shouldn't confuse the failure of the educational system with the assessment instrument'* (p. 60). Issue: School Staffing and the Diversity Factor Teacher expertise may be the most significant, measurable factor in increasing student achievement. Sanders (1998), based on extensive research, asserts. "Differences in effectiveness of individual classroom teachers is the single largest factor affecting academic growth of student populations. Teacher effects are cumulative and additive with very little evidence of compensatory effects." At the national level, there is growing focus on how the quality of teaching and teacher qualifications affect students' education. Colleges and universities prepare teachers to teach certain subjects or in certain fields. Having majored or mmored at the undergraduate or graduate level or being certified in a certain field is an indication of a teacher's qualifications to teach that subject. Using the subjects science and mathematics as gauges. NCES (1997) found that in 1993-1994 students in secondary schools that had high poverty (40 percent or more students eligible for free and reduced lunch) or high minority enrollment (20 percent or more minority students) were less likely to be taught by teachers who had majored, minored. or were certified in those subjects. The above and other facers of teacher preparation have profound implications related to academic achievement, particularly for minority students. For example. African American students are too frequently over represented in least effective teachers' classrooms and under represented in ihe most effective teachers' classrooms (Sanders, 1998). Although this report does not largely address the issues of teacher preparation and course assignments as related to Maryland, it is important to point out that these aspects affect the education not just of minorities and the poor, but all students. School enrollment in Maryland is approximately 36 percent African American. 4 percent Asian. 4 percent Hispanic, and 55 percent White students. Teachers, on the other hand, approach 80 percent White. 20 percent African American, and 2 percent from other ethnic groups (see Table 1). The only staff category that resembles the racial/ethnic makeup of the student population is --"Principals/Vice-Principals." Females tend to predominate in school-based positions while males outnumber females in administration, except female African American central office personnel, who outnumber their African American male counterparts by a two to one ratio (15.5% vs. 6.7%). This report does not promote the premise that there is a relationship between staff ethnicity and f student achievement. Based on extensive study, Sanders (1998) found no correlation between the f ethnicity of students and the ethnicity of teachers. However, some educators believe that students are advantaged affectively when they have opportunities to relate to others similar to themselves. "A benefit of having more representational staff to work with minority students is apparent in that ethnic matching may enhance empathy between students and staff. These individuals also may be more likely to become effective role models and mentors to their young charges. Hiring teachers who are more proportionally representative of the ethnicity of students may be one approach to |