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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A Shortage of Hispanic Teachers

By Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Journal Staff Writer
      Editor's Note: Lawmakers and education experts have identified the achievement gap between Hispanic and Anglo students as a serious problem that has vexed the state for years. Today, the Journal continues its spotlight on the issue. For previous stories, such as last week's on the poor proficiency rates of many graduates, go to ABQjournal.com and click into the Education Achievement Gap blog.
   
    When Joel Dorado moved to Albuquerque from Mexico two years ago, he didn't speak English and found adjusting to the new culture difficult.
    Despite the challenges, he's become a fair student at Albuquerque High School and thrives in a Ballet Folklorico class there.
    As a student taking primarily bilingual classes, Dorado said he has had several Hispanic teachers, which has helped his transition to living in the U.S.
    "It makes a big difference," he said. "The ways we were raised were the same. I feel more comfortable talking to them."
    He said in classes with non-Hispanic teachers, he has felt embarrassed to ask questions or even speak because of the cultural gulf he feels separates him from native students and teachers.
    Dorado's story illustrates a striking statistic in Albuquerque Public Schools: 57.6 percent of the district's student population is Hispanic, but only 29 percent of its teachers are. The statistics for the entire state are nearly identical.
    But does it matter if a teacher and a student share an ethnic or racial background?
    Carlos Ortega, one of Dorado's teachers at Albuquerque High, said the dearth of Hispanic teachers does hurt students. Ortega falls into an extreme minority in APS: Just 7 percent of the district's teachers are Hispanic men.
    "It's essential to create a climate that's culturally appropriate at our schools," Ortega said. "If you don't have teaching staff and administrators who come from the same cultural background, there will be difficulty creating healthy student-teacher relationships."
    For example, Ortega said many Latino children are taught that looking an elder or a person of authority in the eyes is disrespectful, which could be misinterpreted by Americans who are taught to look everyone in the eye. Or a student may feel neglected in the American school system, which encourages individual progress.
    "Many Latino students come from cultures where the group is valued more. They may be used to or expect more involvement from teachers or other students when they are having trouble," he said.
    Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, said the department's research division is not aware of any studies that analyze whether Hispanic students benefit from having a Hispanic teacher.
    And not all Latino students feel a teacher's race and ethnicity matter.
    Luis Arias, a senior at Valley High School, said the best teachers he's had don't have a similar heritage, but do have similar qualities.
    "I don't think there is an advantage in having the same ethnicity. It's more about the teacher, if she really cares," he said. "A good teacher keeps you on task, instills discipline, really cares. If our work wasn't done, she would make you do it before you could move on to the next assignment. She expected a lot. She knew we were smarter than we showed sometimes."
    Arias has been accepted to UNM and plans on becoming a lawyer.
    The director of APS' Human Resources Department, Andrea Trybus, said the number of Latino teachers reflects the pool of applicants. She said about 35 percent of teacher applicants are Latino.
    "I think we need to continue to work to provide teachers who reflect the diversity of our student population," Trybus said, but cautioned that race and ethnicity should not be the only factors in choosing teachers.
    "While we're talking about hiring Hispanic teachers, we also need to make sure we're hiring teachers who are highly qualified in what they're teaching," she said.
    Richard Howell, dean of the University of New Mexico's College of Education, said improving diversity is one of the college's goals. About 42 percent of the college's undergraduate student body is Hispanic, but just 24 percent of its graduate school students are.
    Howell said it's important for Hispanic students to see Hispanic teachers and other Hispanics in positions of authority as models.
    "The faster we can move Latinos and Native Americans into positions of authority, the better it will be for all of us, to better reflect New Mexico," he said.
    The percentages of Hispanics in administrative and principal positions — around 40 percent — are higher than that of teachers. Trybus said she isn't sure why that is.
    "We're not doing anything differently in our recruiting to make that number higher," she said. "It's a personal decision people make to try to move up the ranks."
    The disparity between the student body and the number of Hispanic teachers isn't unique to APS or even the state. Arne Duncan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, this summer told a meeting of the National Council of La Raza that a gap exists nationally, as well.
    "I want to encourage you to develop a new generation of Hispanic teachers. Twenty percent of all public school students in the U.S. are Latino. But only 5 percent of their teachers are Latino," he said.
    Adrian Pedroza, executive director of the Albuquerque Partnership and a member of the Latino Education Improvement Task Force, said to get more Latinos interested in teaching, the value placed on a teaching career needs to be boosted.
    "Very rarely do I hear students talk about being teachers. I think it's our responsibility to lift up the career of teaching," Pedroza said.

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