As Michigan grapples with an ongoing teacher shortage, a new report says the state is also falling short when it comes to building a diverse educator workforce.

According to EdTrust-Midwest, just over 11% of Michigan teachers are people of color, even though nearly 40% of the state’s students are non-white.

The study finds about 1 in 10 Michigan students attends a school with no teachers of color at all, a gap Charlotte Pierce – senior policy analyst at EdTrust-Midwest – said can affect academic outcomes and long-term workforce readiness.

“Strong and diverse teacher workforces have been linked to quantitative improvements in test scores,” said Pierce, “fewer absences and suspensions, higher graduation and college enrollment rates, and an increased trust between students and teachers.”

The report offers a roadmap to strengthen Michigan’s teacher pipeline, such as earlier recruitment and retention efforts. Pierce said state leaders are receptive and open to taking action.

Pierce also pointed out that the lack of diversity isn’t tied to a single failure point but to barriers that build over time.

“What we really want to frame this as is a pipeline issue,” Pierce said. “So it’s not one single point where we’re losing all of our teachers, but rather, we’re not getting as much diversity of interest in the teaching profession and that could be for a number of reasons, including low pay.”

Researchers say barriers like cost, lack of support during student teaching, and poor early career conditions continue to limit who enters and stays in the profession. Pierce emphasized that representation in the classroom can shape how students see their own futures.

“When students aren’t seeing diversity at the front of their classrooms,” said Pierce, “it’s hard to inspire the next generation, if they can’t see themselves in that profession.”

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This story was originally published by Public News Service. It was posted by Michigan Advance, which is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For more, go to https://michiganadvance.com.