Educator diversity and student accomplishment
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2020-06-18
DOI
Authors
Coleman, Hardin L.K.
Griffith, Katherine A.
Coleman, Aaron T.K.
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Hardin Coleman, Katherine A Griffith, Aaron TK Coleman. 2020. "Educator Diversity and Student Accomplishment." Conference proceedings: Future of Education (10th Ed.). Future of Education. Florence, Itlay, 2020-06-18 - 2020-06-19.
Abstract
There are many factors that contribute to a student’s academic and personal performance within the context of their PK-12 Education. Independent of atypical developmental abilities, family wealth is a significant factor in student performance. Other factors, endogenous to what happens within school, include community resources, with a particular focus on sustained financial support for schools. Although the overall performance of a particular school is driven by the relative wealth of the students in the school, the level of language proficiency among students within the school, and the percentage of special needs students in the classroom and building, the variation of performance between schools with similar populations is driven by the effectiveness of the educators in the building (Opper, 2019). If we are going to close the various achievement gaps that plague our educational systems, a focus on how to prepare, recruit, and retain highly effective educators, particularly within our high needs and culturally diverse schools, is a national imperative.