{"id":140358,"date":"2018-08-22T08:01:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T12:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=140358"},"modified":"2023-07-05T14:29:18","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T18:29:18","slug":"degrees-change-uconn-increases-diversity-teaching-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/08\/degrees-change-uconn-increases-diversity-teaching-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Degrees of Change: UConn Increases Diversity in Teaching Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A lack of diversity among classroom teachers in elementary and secondary schools has long been a national issue.\u00a0In the state of Connecticut alone,\u00a0less than 8 percent of teachers are of color, while\u00a0students of color represent 40 percent of the population.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n  <p>Research supports that all students, no matter what race, benefit from having teachers of color. <cite> &#8212 Gladis Kersaint<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>UConn and the Neag School of Education have made a concerted effort to increase their underrepresented student population, with the long-term hope of closing the gap that exists now in classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past two years, the percentage of students of color enrolled in the five-year integrated bachelor&#8217;s and master&#8217;s program has increased by 10 percent to 30 percent for the class entering this year. And enrollment of students of color in the teaching certificate program for college graduates is now 25 percent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are making strides in a very diligent manner, but we can\u2019t sit on our laurels,\u201d says Gladis Kersaint, dean of the Neag School of Education. \u201cWe are showing others the path on how to correct this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_108014\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108014\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-108014 img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Neag School of Education degree candidates prepare for their Commencement procession at the Gentry Building on May 10, 2015. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)\" width=\"550\" height=\"367\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/UConnED150510a022-150x100.jpg 150w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 550px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 550\/367;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-108014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neag School of Education degree candidates prepare for their Commencement procession at the Gentry Building. (Peter Morenus\/UConn File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Change has come through hard work and an individual touch through a number of programs. The Neag School of Education has two advisors who concentrate much of their work on the enrollment of underrepresented students \u2013 Mia Hines and Dominique Battle-Lawson. They connect with both high school students and UConn freshmen, because students are admitted into the five-year program following their sophomore year.<\/p>\n<p>Both advisors have experience in public schools \u2013 Battle-Lawson as an elementary teacher in Bloomfield, Connecticut, for more than six years, and Hines as a school counselor in North Carolina and Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>The pair advise the Leadership in Diversity (LID) program, a student-run mentoring program that\u00a0focuses on supporting students of color interested in teaching. Each year, LID hosts a\u00a0Future Educators Conference for local high school students interested in careers in education. The conference now attracts about 100 students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have done a much better job of reaching out to both UConn students of color and those in high schools about Neag School of Education and becoming a teacher,\u201d says Battle-Lawson. \u201cEspecially for first-generation college students, we need to reach out and let them know about us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Neag School Dean Gladis Kersaint On Diversity, Part I, August 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IK9QOmvRMzs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Another effort, called Diverse Educators Making Outstanding Change, partners mentors with\u00a0students of color who are either enrolled in the teacher preparation program or interested in teaching. Mentors \u2013 recent graduates, administrators, and UConn faculty and staff \u2013 and students connect to talk about their professional paths as well as issues they may face as being a teacher of color in the field.<\/p>\n<p>The end result of these efforts is to put more teachers of color in the classroom. That\u2019s important because numerous studies have shown students do better with a diverse teaching population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudent of color benefit from having teachers of color,\u201d says Kersaint. \u201cThey respond when they are supported by teachers of a like race. It\u2019s not just students of color, though. Research supports that all students, no matter what race, benefit from having teachers of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Neag School Dean Gladis Kersaint On Diversity, Part II, August 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mViCqH2BEsU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Symone James \u201916 (ED), \u201917 MA, a fifth-grade teacher at Roger Sherman Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut, is part of the 8 percent of teachers of color in this state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the time I was a little girl, my dream job was to become a teacher,\u201d says James. &#8220;Both of my parents were from Jamaica and neither went to college, but they always told me education was important.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n  <p>It&#8217;s really important for students to see windows and mirrors in their teachers. If they can see a reflection of someone like them, it can be very positive. <cite> &#8212 Symone James \u201916 (ED), \u201917 MA<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>James said a reason that many student of color don\u2019t enter the field of education is because of the perception of the job. She relied on many of the resources that\u00a0the Neag School of Education offers to help support her through her education.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Symone James, Neag School of Education, August 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N5tzuCSfmV8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeaching is not something that students of color are encouraged to do at a young age,\u201d says James. \u201cBut, I think it is really important for students to see windows and mirrors in their teachers. If they can see a reflection of someone like them, it can be very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James cherishes the conversations she is able to have with her students in Meriden. \u201cIt&#8217;s important for them to see people of color in a position of success, like a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That ability to be a role model is something that Tracey-Ann Lafayette \u201916 (ED), a fourth-grade teacher in East Hartford, saw first-hand with a student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a little girl from India, and she was so excited because our skin colors matched,\u201d says Lafayette. \u201cIt really makes an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She says many students of color don&#8217;t enter the education field because of negative experiences they had of their own in school. When there are negative memories, \u201ca school may be the last place you want to go back to,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Lafayette believes that the efforts the\u00a0Neag School of Education is making in recruiting students at the high school level is very important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe also don\u2019t spend a lot of time talking about white students having teachers of color, but that is really important too. It can teach them how important diversity is at a young age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Neag School of Education&#8217;s programs targeting high school students are critical, according to Lafayette.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy the time students get to college, a lot of people are set on what they want to do, or at least have a pretty good idea,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to go a little further back. It\u2019s really good to let high school students knows that education is a great option.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Neag School of Education has made a concerted effort to increase diversity in the teacher preparation program, with a view to putting more teachers of color in classrooms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":112044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2426,1855,2225,2306,2195],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2113],"class_list":["post-140358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-curriculum-instruction","category-neag","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-voices","category-windham-county"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 11:55:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140358"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200943,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140358\/revisions\/200943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/112044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140358"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=140358"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=140358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}