The Opportunity
While 53% of students in the United States identify as people of color, 80% of teachers are white. And 40% of public schools don’t have a single teacher of color. This imbalance holds true in New England and has far-reaching effects on student experiences. Earlier this summer, we discussed why teacher diversity matters for our students in this blog post. We are proud to announce a new opportunity, in partnership with TNTP, for local education agencies (LEAs) to receive technical assistance and funding to identify their school’s talent diversity, its implications on student outcomes, and potential short and long term solutions.
Over the course of 8 months, selected grantees will partner with TNTP—a national nonprofit with more than two decades of experience recruiting and training educators—to better understand their current talent landscape and identify opportunities to recruit and retain more teachers of color. The three-phase process will be grounded in an understanding of local context and challenges, and will identify short- and long-term solutions that fit each LEA’s unique needs.
Establishing a Shared Vision and Scope: TNTP will hold planning sessions with grantees to learn what data is available, to understand what areas of inquiry will best support each grantee’s long-term goals for diversification of the teacher workforce, and to establish research questions for the scope of the project.
Data Collection and Analysis: Using the research questions established in Phase 1 as a guide, TNTP will begin targeted data collection – including collecting qualitative data from students, teachers, and communities – and will conduct analysis to examine the talent continuum. Some other data sources they will analyze include recruitment and marketing efforts, candidate pool details and sources, retention, compensation and career pathways, development, affinity spaces, and instructional culture.
Identifying Trends and Offering Recommendations: After compiling the data, conducting thorough analysis, and synthesizing trends, TNTP will share a summary report that includes findings, areas of strength, and recommendations to help grantees develop or contribute to their short- and long-term plans to ensure they have diverse and effective educator teams.
Benefits to Participation
We anticipate that a cohort of up to 12 grantees will be selected, who will each participate in the talent landscape analysis at no cost to them, plus receive up to $25,000 in grant funds to support internal efforts devoted to the analysis. Grantees will:
- Gain a deep understanding of how well their current approach to recruiting, staffing, and retaining educators aligns with their needs.
- Learn how the diversity of their teacher and leader workforce compares to that of their students, and explore advantages and key challenges in building and retaining a diverse workforce.
- Gather important feedback and perspectives from local stakeholders, including educators, other staff, students, families, and community members—focusing especially on aspects that affect teacher diversity.
- Identify patterns, trends, and recommendations for leaders to develop, continue, and accelerate plans to improve the quality and diversity of their teacher workforces.
To learn more, visit the landing page and download the RFP below. Contact EducationRFP[at] with any questions related to the RFP.
