Who Becomes a Teacher? Racial Diversity in the K-12 to Teacher Pipeline

Several studies have documented the benefits to students of color of having teachers of their same race, but while U.S. K-12 students have grown more racially diverse over time, the U.S. teacher workforce remains overwhelmingly White. Nationally, the gap in racial and ethnic diversity between students and teachers is attributable to racial disparities in both educational attainment and progress through the teacher pipeline: certification tests and academic requirements for teaching disproportionately affect teaching candidates of color, and racial gaps in teacher hiring and retention further reduce the racial diversity of the teacher workforce.