Mott Community College, Baker College of Flint and University of Michigan-Flint Partner to Launch Pilot Project to Increase the Diversity of Those Seeking Teaching as a Career

PRESS RELEASE

Mott Community College, Baker College of Flint and University of Michigan-Flint Partner to Launch Pilot Project to Increase the Diversity of Those Seeking Teaching as a Career
Smart Teachers As Role Models (STAR)


According to a recent report from the National Education Association, the number of male public school teachers is at a 40-year low.  The report reveals a profession that is struggling to provide role models of both sexes and all races within a teaching workforce that is predominantly white (90 percent) and female (79 percent).  Since 1981, the ratio of male to female teachers has steadily declined.  With a two-decade decline, NEA researchers found that just 21 percent of the nation’s three million teachers are men.  Male teachers of color make up only 2-5 percent of the teaching population.

The numbers are even more distressing when broken down by race.  Nationally, about 17 percent of public school students are African American and only 6 percent of teachers are African American.  Likewise, about 17 percent of public school students are Hispanic and only 5 percent of teachers are Hispanic.  In more than one-third (38 percent) of America’s public schools, there is not a single teacher of color on staff.  NEA President, Reg Weaver, asserted that this report “includes some warning calls that can’t be ignored.”  “People are leaving our profession because of low pay, and we’re struggling to recruit and retain male teachers and teachers of color.  These are areas that we must address and correct.” The Flint and Genesee County school districts face the same crisis seen at the national level – a dire shortage of male teachers of color. 

In a collaborative effort aimed at reducing these sobering statistics, Mott Community College, Baker College of Flint and the University of Michigan-Flint have just launched an innovative program designed to increase the diversity of those who pursue teaching as a career.  As the fiscal sponsor for this initiative, MCC was recently awarded a $106,782 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to implement the Smart Teachers As Role Models (STAR) Program at Baker, MCC and UM-Flint.  The primary intent of this collaboration is to build upon a research-based model so that measurable results can be used, particularly in Michigan, to resolve an acute societal and educational problem – namely, an extreme lack of diversity among those who pursue a teaching degree and placement in Flint-area elementary and secondary schools. 

At the heart of this collaboration is the recruitment and enrollment of a cohort of students at the three institutions who are dedicated to the mission, purpose, and tenets of this initiative.  The Flint STAR Program seeks promising and motivated students with a particular emphasis on those from underrepresented groups - including non-traditional students, those who are educationally or economically disadvantaged, and those from areas where the access to or success rates in teacher education training are significantly below the national average.  The STAR Program focuses on preparing students to become educational leaders and classroom teachers who understand the types of issues, barriers and inequities our children face every day.

The necessity for teacher diversity is often overlooked rather than accepted as central to school reform.  This is just one of the conclusions from an analysis on teacher diversity prepared by the National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, composed of six leading education groups.  In its report, “Assessment of Diversity in America’s Teaching Force: A Call to Action,” released October 2004 which examines the relationship between educational achievement and teacher diversity, it was found that increasing the percentage of teachers of color in classrooms is directly connected to closing the achievement gap of students.  Research also asserts the importance to all students, without regard to gender, race or economic class, of being taught by teachers of color, particularly in the elementary grades. 

In recent years, many institutions have started to worry about the falling proportions of male students at every level of higher education and have sought to address the crisis through various programs.  Some college initiatives strive to keep males “off the streets.” Some schools cultivate mentors and others offer creative support services.  The Flint STAR Program builds upon many of these components in the development of a teacher-leadership program.  However, in contrast to some other initiatives around the country, participation in the Flint STAR Program is open to anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, who is capable of furthering the program’s objectives.  In addition, students interested in participating in the STAR Program must enroll in the teaching program at one of the three named institutions and commit to teach in the Flint and/or Genesee County schools after graduation.

STAR is an initiative that originated with the Washington, D.C.-based Phelps Stokes Fund, America’s oldest continuously operating foundation, whose guiding motto – Education for Human Development – signifies the importance of education in promoting every aspect of human capacity building.  The Flint STAR Program will be using national STAR resources to create a model specifically tailored for Flint and Genesee County, the designated Michigan pilot area.  For more information about the Flint STAR Program or specific STAR program activities, please contact: Tracy Blackwell, STAR Program Director, (810) 449-0472 or any of the institutional representatives below.

Baker College of Flint
Dr. Susan Goering, Dean of Education and Human Service, (810) 766-4389

Mott Community College
Robert Matthews, Director of Workforce Development, (810) 232-2511

University of Michigan-Flint
Tendaji W. Ganges, Executive Director – Educational Opportunities Initiatives, (810) 762-3365 or
Dr. Traki Taylor-Webb, Associate Dean - School of Education and Human Services
(810) 766-6878

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