Racial Mismatch among Minoritized Students and White Teachers: Implications and Recommendations for Moving Forward

ABSTRACT

The student population in American public schools has become increasingly diverse; however, the teacher workforce remains primarily White (80%). The purpose of the current paper was to examine the relationship between student-teacher racial composition and perceptions of school climate and the impact of Whiteness on the educational outcomes of minoritized students and their counterparts. Findings from the study indicate that more than 90 percent of the minoritized students in the sample are being educated by a majority White teaching staff. White students’ perceptions of cultural acceptance and connectedness increased as the number of White teachers increased. However, there was no effect for minoritized students. For minoritized students, perceptions of school climate did increase as the number of minoritized students increased. Recommendations for addressing ways to create more equitable learning environments for minoritized students and address and reduce teacher bias are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tamika P. La Salle

Dr. Tamika P. La Salle is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut. Dr. La Salle studies culturally responsive educational practices and school climate. She Is particularly interested in the impact of culture on students perceptions of school climate as well as student outcomes. Dr. La Salle also engages in work aimed at  developing and maintaining culturally responsive school environments that are equitable, safe, and positive for students, teachers, and families. Currently, Dr. La Salle serves as a member of the National Association of School Psychology Minority Scholarship Board, co-chair of the International School Psychology Association Research committee, and as an ex-officio on the Association of Positive Behavior Support Board in the Equity seat.

Cixin Wang

Cixin Wang is an assistant professor of School Psychology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park Her research interests focus on bullying prevention and mental health promotion among children and adolescents. Her research seeks to: (1) better understand different factors contributing to bullying/ victimization and mental health difficulties, including individual, family, school, and cultural factors; (2) develop effective prevention and intervention techniques to decrease bullying at school; and (3) develop school-wide prevention models to promote mental health among students, especially among culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students.

Chaorong Wu

Chaorong Wu serves as a bio-statistician in the Institute of clinical and transnational science (ICTS) at the University of Iowa. He graduated from Quantitative, Qualitative and Psychometric Psychology from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research and professional works focus on applications of and innovations in advanced statistical techniques, including latent structure modeling, multi-level modeling, categorical data modeling, and various other modeling approaches.

Jesslynn Rocha Neves

Jesslynn Rocha Neves is a doctoral candidate in School Psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her research experiences have focused on school climate, particularly in relation to culturally diverse and international contexts. Jesslynn is interested in promoting responsive educational practices for culturally diverse and traditionally marginalized student groups.