Disproportionality of Sanctions for Illegal and Unethical Teacher Behavior

We use data from Texas spanning 2007–2017 to explore the frequency of teacher sanctions for illegal and unethical behavior and their disproportionality by teacher characteristics. Analyses reveal that the overall incidence of teacher sanctioning is low, with teachers most frequently sanctioned for sexually related offenses. Consistent with documented disproportionalities in student discipline, we find key disproportionalities in teacher sanctions by gender and race: Overall, male, Black, and Hispanic teachers are overrepresented among sanctioned teachers. However, we also observe important interactions between race and gender. Notably, for example, Black female teachers are particularly likely to be sanctioned for contract and financial violations, while Black male teachers are particularly likely to be sanctioned for drugs and violence. We conclude with implications for policy.

Black Male Teachers and Gender Equity in Early Childhood Education

Black male teachers represent 2% of the teaching profession. When grade level and area of specialization are added, for example early childhood education, even fewer Black males are visibly present in classrooms. Because of the underrepresentation of Black male teachers, clarion calls have been made in extant research, media, and popular press for racial and gender equity at and above the early childhood level. Black male teacher recruitment and retention initiatives including Call Me Mister have played an instrumental role in attempting to diversify early childhood classrooms by bolstering the percentage of Black male teachers who teach young children, and by illuminating the importance and benefits of the pedagogies and schooling practices of Black male teachers in supporting Black boys in classrooms. Black boys are often misperceived as disinterested in school, and Black male teachers are summoned to classrooms to serve as role models, father figures, and pedagogues who can meet the academic and social needs of Black boys at all grade levels. However, persistent challenges to the recruitment and retention of Black male teachers to classrooms remain daunting tasks in the teaching profession. More than 85% of teachers are White, middle-class, and female, and this overwhelmingly White female majority has concretized the idea that early childhood teaching is essentially women’s work. In doing so, White female teachers are socially constructed as the hallmark of early childhood education, possessing the White hegemonic feminine characteristics and dispositions essential to teaching young children. To that end, anti-Black misandric normative discourses such as early childhood teaching as women’s work have created barriers for and has stymied the recruitment and retention of men, regardless of race and ethnicity, but especially Black men who desire to teach young children.

Desperate Measures

Black male teachers are less than two percent of all current teachers in the United States. However, there has been an effort to recruit and retain Black men into the teaching profession for a number of reasons. All student benefit when they have a Black male teacher. Black boys, in particular, have markedly higher test scores and improved discipline when they have a Black male teacher. Black male adults in educational settings is essential for enhancing Black boys’ academic and social development. There is a need for Black male teachers in education. Even with nationwide recruitment efforts like My Brother's Keeper, the numbers of Black male teacher remain small. Additionally, Black male teachers leave the profession at a higher rate than other subgroups. This paper will examine one teacher preparation program's effort to increase retention of Black males in the teacher preparation program and the teaching profession.

A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of how School Working Conditions Influence Black Male Teacher Turnover

Context Ongoing teacher diversity campaigns will not increase the net number of teachers of color if policymakers fail to address the disproportionate rate at which teachers of color leave the profession when compared to White teachers. Purpose The purpose of this article is to fill the empirical gap about the mechanisms that influence Black male teacher turnover. Specifically, this study explores the perceived school-based experiences of Black male teachers, with particular attention to comparing the experiences of Black men who are the only Black male teachers in their schools to those of Black men in schools with multiple Black male teachers. Research Questions 1. In what ways do the school-based experiences differ for Loners (Black male teachers in schools employing only one Black male teacher) versus Groupers (Black male teachers in schools with larger numbers of Black male teachers)? 2. How does a school's organizational context, such as relationships with colleagues and school administration, affect the decisions of Loners and Groupers to stay in their schools or in the teaching profession? Research Design This study employed a qualitative method, phenomenology. Two waves of semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with Black male teachers (N = 27) across 14 schools. Seven schools had three or more Black male teachers on the faculty (n = 20), and seven schools had one Black male teacher on the faculty (n = 7). Each semistructured interview lasted approximately 60 minutes. Findings/Results Groupers cited challenging working conditions (such as weak administrative leadership) as their primary reason for wanting to leave. The following academic year, almost half of these teachers (9 out of 20) did not return to their schools in the positions they had held the previous year. Counterintuitively, Loners, despite sometimes having hostile interactions with their White colleagues, stayed. While Simon and Johnson theorized that the absence of positive collegial relationships increases turnover, this phenomenon proved less true for Loners’ decisions to remain at their schools. Recommendations Given that Groupers were more likely to leave when compared to Loners, policymakers who are interested in increasing the number of Black male teachers must also give attention to retention. Future research should compare the school-based experiences and influences of turnover of Black male Loners and Groupers to other ethnoracial minorities, such as Latinx and Asian teachers. Practitioners, or specifically principals, may also want to become more attentive to interpersonal relationships in schools, particularly between Black male teachers and their White colleagues.