The 2004 Teachers of

Color Summit Report

On a chilly Friday morning in early November, cars began to fill
up the parking lots near the University of Colorado’s Coors Event
Center. The building, which is most often a site for collegiate
sporting events and is usually filled with cheering crowds of
students, was to host, instead, educators from the greater Denver-
Metro area. On November 12th, the School of Education at CU
Boulder, Adams 12 Five-Star Schools, Boulder Valley School District, Brighton School District 27 J,
and the St. Vrain School District jointly hosted the first area Teachers of Color Summit.
The Teachers of Color Summit was advertised as an opportunity to
District # of Participants
“bring together education students, practicing educators of color, and
Adams 12 23
allies to provide collegial support, opportunities for networking and
Adams 50 8
Aurora 1 mentoring and insights into best practices in education.” Attendees
Brighton 27J 4 included over 150 educators; there were representatives from nine
BVSD 15 school districts, five institutions of higher education, one private school
CU Boulder 44 and a handful of other education-affiliated organizations (see chart).
CU Denver 7
DPS 11 The Importance of Teachers of Color
DU 3 The day began with a Keynote Address by Jacqueline Jordan Irvine,
Emory 1 who is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Urban Education at
Jeffco 6 Emory University. Dr. Irvine specializes in multicultural and urban
Mapleton 2 teacher education, and much of her research and writing is specifically
PEBC/ Boett 1
concerned with the education of African-American students. Irvine’s
Private 2
St. Vrain 20 address would serve as both fodder and foundation for many of the
None 3 conversations the participants would have throughout the day. She
Total 151 shared demographics that portray the abysmal representation of
teachers of color in our public schools and discussed the important role
these teachers play in all students’ achievement. She also spoke about the difficulties of recruiting,
supporting and retaining teachers of color and shared some suggestions for schools of education,
districts and administrators that could help.
By some estimations, students of color represent over 40% of our public school population (this number
is much higher in urban centers). Teachers of color, however, represent less than 9% of our teaching
force. These numbers help create what a few have termed a “demographic imperative” to have more
teachers of color in our schools. According to Irvine, there are four
main reasons for having more teachers of color in our schools. The first “Teachers of color…
three are often the most readily apparent: 1) Teachers of color serve as understand linguistic
role models for all students and counter negative stereotypes that are and cultural student
often portrayed in the media and elsewhere in our society; 2) Teachers codes and often share
of color diversify the workplace, providing all teachers with more inter- the hopes, dreams, and
cultural experiences, strengthening human resources; 3) Teachers of expectations of their
color act as role models for students of color to consider teaching as a families.”- J. J. Irvine
career path. Irvine adds to these postulations, however, what may be the
most compelling reason to attract more teachers of color to the classroom. Teachers of color have a more
profound, positive impact on the achievement and retention of students of color due to culturally-based
practices, higher expectations, and roles as cultural mediators and advocates.
Challenges We Face
Despite the obvious need and the empirical studies that document each of the assertions that Irvine and
others have made, schools of education, districts and administrators have found it very difficult to attract
and retain teachers of color to the profession. While Jackie Jordan Irvine suggests that teachers of color
can make much-needed/essential contributions to our nation’s schools, they also face unique challenges;
challenges that can make it difficult to pursue teaching as a career and to practice culturally-(not sure
this has a hyphen) relevant pedagogy.
Morning Breakout Sessions at the Teachers of Color Summit provided an opportunity for participants to
discuss these unique challenges and how they impact teachers of color here in Colorado. Each of these
sessions, respectively entitled Lighting the Fire and Preventing Burnout: Recruiting and Retaining
Teachers of Color, Teaching in the Dominant Culture and Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy: Teaching for
Social Justice in the World of CSAP, began with a discussion by a panel of invited guests. Speakers
shared their experiences and then audience members joined the conversation by both asking questions
and sharing their own stories. These rich conversations yielded important insights into how we can
better recruit, support and retain teachers of color. In each session, the importance of mentoring,
financial assistance, and implementing systemic, culturally-relevant support mechanisms were
discussed.
In the Teaching in the Dominant Culture session panelists included teachers of color who currently work
in predominantly white institutions. A number of panelists described how a sense of isolation and
loneliness characterizes their teaching experiences. One participant described how this feeling of being
“out of place” can be exhausting and how difficult it is to work everyday in a space/place where very
few of your co-workers “share where we are coming from.”
Along with the sense of isolation that teachers of color can experience, there is the pressure and
expectation to be “the expert” and “the voice.” These educators described how they are often viewed as
the “go to” person for other teachers and administrators when working with students of color and
second-language learners and that as a result their workload is often doubled.
Not only are teachers of color often regarded as the resident “expert” on issues of cultural diversity, they
also frequently must act as “the voice” for students of color. One panelist suggested that in this role she
often found herself forced to raise questions about school policies, curriculum and disciplinary actions
that might otherwise go unasked. Together these pressures contribute, for some teachers of color, to
feeling that they are part of a “separate category” within a school community; one participant noted that
she often feels like the school’s “renegade,” and another felt identified as “the angry man” in his
institution. Panelists shared that it is often co-workers, rather than students, who contribute to feelings
of isolation and the pressures to be the “school expert.”
While the focus of this session was on the challenges teachers of color often face, suggestions raised by
participants for attending to these difficulties included the importance of finding allies at their respective
schools and the presence of institutional and administrative support. These suggestions, and the
challenges highlighted in this discussion, echo the concerns raised in the other two morning sessions
about the importance of support – personal, institutional, professional and financial – in recruiting and
retaining teachers of color.
Panelists in the Lighting the Fire and Preventing Burnout session made clear the value of individualized
and institutionalized support for teachers of color when sharing stories about their own journeys into
teaching. Reflecting on their own experiences, participants indicated the importance of “having
someone to go to” and of creating more formal support systems for each other. One panelist suggested
that providing students of color with mentors and role models in the field of education can be an
effective recruitment method. Participants also suggested that recruitment cannot be viewed in isolation
from improving relationships between universities, school districts and teachers. These collaborations or
“pipeline relationships” not only need to be strengthened but they need to be reformulated so that the
recruitment of teachers of color incorporates culturally-relevant strategies; strategies that could include
using multicultural hiring committees, targeting historically Black colleges and universities, connecting
with service and community organizations, and “grow your own,” district-sponsored alternative
routes.(maybe these things could be listed as bullets for quick read)
Closely aligned with suggestions for revising recruitment strategies is envisioning how we can prevent
burnout among teachers of color by providing multiple types of support. Participants in this session
suggested that we need to seriously think about “how we can get people together” and acknowledged
that we “need to do more of this.” The importance of creating opportunities for teachers of color to
connect with their colleagues working at different schools and in different districts was a reoccurring
theme in this discussion. Participants also suggested that it is essential that teachers of color receive
professional, institutional and financial support. In this regard, participants argued that it is essential to
make issues of equity and diversity “as important a goal as standardized tests.” Their recommendations
included providing financial support on campuses and to creating new or reviving existing professional
support systems. One participant suggested that these professional support systems must include a
mentoring program for new teachers of color— programs created and staffed by veteran teachers of
color. Together, the stories shared, the questions raised, and the suggestions offered in this session point
to the ways that support systems for teachers of color need to be multi-pronged in order to attend to the
unique challenges they face.
In the third of the morning’s sessions, Teaching for Social Justice in The Age of The CSAP, Bea
Ramos(if you are going to mention her name you might want to mention the other breakout session
leader’s names—Luis Urrieta (dominant culture and Anissa Butler(recruiting and retention) began the
discussion by asking panel members, who consisted of classroom teachers, administrators and district
representatives, to share strategies they have used when they work with students who are struggling
academically. One panel member recommended using the data provided by the CSAP to identify
students who are struggling to focus on those students’ needs. Others also recommended focusing on
parental involvement for these students and every panel member recommended using some form of
culturally relevant approach to teaching (i.e., connecting learning to students’ lives, cultural traditions
and interests).
Audience members also asked the panel a series of questions, and the conversations that ensued were
provocative. Despite a common sentiment to see the CSAP as an obstacle, and growing calls for
classroom teachers to “close the door,” one audience member also asked if there might be a way to
utilize the CSAP to “leverage” social justice goals and objectives, to use the “master’s tools,” so to
speak. This approach, many agreed, would need to be explored in greater depth by researchers and
policy analysts.
Other conversations ranged from how to develop culturally relevant curriculum in an era of
accountability to building relationships with students of color as a white teacher. Throughout these
conversations, several themes arose. One of the most prominent of these centered on the importance of
building relationships—relationships between teachers and administrators, teachers and their students,
teachers and parents, schools and communities. Inviting students and parents to participate in
conversations about norms, testing, power, access and building alliances was discussed as a vital
component of building these relationships.
As with the other sessions that morning, there were also concerns regarding the impact of high-stakes
testing on the recruitment and retention of teachers, particularly teachers of color. As students of color
are further marginalized by many high-stakes tests, so are the teachers who work, often in vain, to help
these students develop a positive academic identity.

Actions We Can Take

In the afternoon, conversation turned to a discussion of specific actions that schools, districts and
institutions of higher education can take in order to address unique concerns of and challenges faced by
teachers of color. Participants divided into three separate groups for these afternoon sessions. During
these sessions participants not only discussed a wide range of suggestions for attending to the
recruitment and support of teachers of color, but also discussed how we can begin to make these ideas a
reality. Many of the key points raised in these discussions echoed the themes raised by both Jackie
Jordan Irvine in her keynote address and panelists from the morning breakout sessions. Once again the
importance of mentoring, utilizing culturally-responsive hiring practices, developing multi-faceted
support systems and building alliances within and between educational institutions, in order to
effectively support teachers of color was evident. Below is a brief overview of specific
recommendations discussed in these afternoon sessions.
Mentoring:
! Increase administrative support for mentoring teachers of color.
! Establish “buddy system” for added classroom support.
! Team teaching as mentoring.
! Establish a team-oriented support system for new teachers to counter feelings of isolation.
Culturally-Responsive Recruitment and Support Practices:
! Multicultural curriculum throughout high school and college curriculum.
! Training on how to interview for teachers of color.
! Multicultural interview staff/committees.
! District minority workshops to work on communication needs of individual schools. Topics for
workshops could include induction, instructional issues, and working as a group.
! Colorado Department of Education develop a multicultural development center to address issues
faced by teachers of color.
! Make conversations about diversity a priority.
! More multicultural education courses.
Multi-Faceted Support Systems- Financial, Professional & Institutional Support:
! Financial incentives including tuition breaks, scholarship incentives, loan forgiveness, loan
waivers, signing bonuses, stipends and housing allowances.
! Financial support for outreach at the high school level and developing alternative pathways to
college.
! Funding for translation services.
! Funding for nontraditional/first-generation/undocumented teacher education students
! Stipends or incentives for non-traditional skills.
! Funding teacher education –shared by district and university.
! “Pay for performance” model in Denver Public Schools; attract and retain teachers of color by
offering a percentage of salary automatically if contract is renewed for a second year.
! Assistance with lesson plan development.
! Coaching sessions for teachers on teacher certification tests.
! Support for para-professionals to earn a teaching certificate. Provide on-site classes and access to
alternative licensure programs.
 ! Increase presence of people of color in administrative positions.
! Provide experiences for secondary students as a way to “grow your own” teachers.
! Provide professional development for all teachers on how to work with students of color.
! Establish mechanism for teachers to access each other’s curriculum in order to share resources.
! Establish mechanism to continue dialogue among all teachers about diversity issues.
! Provide planning time to address these issues.
! Establish new teacher communities at individual schools that provide support groups.
! Create opportunities for new teachers to observe and interact with experienced teachers.
! Develop website, listserv and/or clearinghouse as a way to share resources and develop
networks/alliances.
! Develop long-term for more meetings and/or summits like this one and plan to include
administrators and school board members.
! Establish teacher cadet programs. High school students build relationships and earn college
credit by shadowing a teacher.
! Build capacity of teachers already in the district to learn Spanish or other languages students
speak.
! Provide opportunities for discussion of multicultural issues.
! Structured time to spend with other teachers of color.
! Expand responsibility for support and translation because bilingual teachers and teachers of color
called on to provide support and translation by all teachers in a school.
Networks and Alliances:
! Create partnerships among teachers of color.
! Enhance university and district partnerships.
! Teacher “pipeline” through collaboration with other colleges.
! Build better relationships between school boards and administrators.
! Collaborate with non-educational minority groups. Extend discussions beyond schools in order
to educate, inform and involve community.
! Increase awareness in the community. Share stories to build relationships and facilitate cultural
understanding.
! White teachers as allies.

What can we do?

The list above is a brief overview of ideas generated during the afternoon sessions. In order to fully
develop any of these suggestions, we need to both continue conversations begun on November 12th and
to lay the foundations for implementing the strategies iterated above.
As we review our discussions and strategies discussed by participants and facilitators during the summit,
we can begin to identify specific approaches. In her opening address for the day, Jacqueline Jordan
Irvine previewed/ shared some of these same strategies. Recruiting teachers of color is the largest
obstacle towards diversifying our teaching force. Though it seems obvious, one of the most neglected
recruitment strategies is to go where the people are. Irvine recommends recruiting teachers “from
obvious places: predominately ethnic high schools, returning Peace Corps volunteers organizations,
community colleges, civil rights and community organizations, new-immigrant programs, Black
fraternities and sororities, public schools that employ paraprofessionals of color, Black and Latino
churches that have Sunday school and after-school programs” (2003, p. 59). Other suggestions that
arose during the morning and afternoon sessions of the summit included “grow your own” programs, in
which districts, schools and university-sponsored programs offer financial incentives for teacher
candidates who sign a multi-year contract to work in their schools. These kinds of programs, along with
alternative, state-sponsored approaches, often attract more teachers of color than traditional, university-
based programs. Other prominent suggestions for recruitment strategies included focusing on graduates
from Historically Black colleges and universities and community colleges with promising preparation
programs.
While these suggestions work on targeting distinct populations from which to recruit teachers, they
don’t acknowledge some of the more difficult, institutional changes that are also needed. Many
conversations from the day also reflected the need for cultural and paradigmatic change in schools and
colleges of education, where the faculty is (?) predominately white. Many participants commented that
the language, culture and values of educational institutions can not only contribute to feelings of
isolation for teachers of color but can also undermine culturally-responsive practices. Our efforts to
recruit and retain teachers of color cannot continue to ignore the importance of creating safe work spaces
for prospective teachers, administrators and faculty. As a result, we all must consider how the
institutions where we work can systematically attend to issues of equity and diversity. These
recommendations give all of us much to consider as we begin to form a community and build alliances
dedicated to these same goals.

Actions in Progress
At the end of the summit, participants were asked to fill out feedback sheets. The sheets were designed
not only to evaluate the summit itself, but also to give participants the opportunity to identify needs they
have and what kind of support the contributing organizations might be able to offer. Participants were
pleased with the networking opportunities and the sense of community at the summit, as well as the
opportunity to share ideas and resources. A compilation of the responses also indicates that many of the
participants want more, and possibly extended (more than one day) summits in the future, during which
they could meet in more, small groups and take part in more workshops. Participants also noted that
they would like to see better advertising and outreach to more schools, teachers and community
organizations, as well as support from more districts for these kinds of discussions and summits.
In an attempt to respond to some of these concerns and to continue dialogue begun at the Teachers of
Color summit this fall, the School of Education at University of Colorado-Boulder is currently setting up
a stirring/ planning committee with representative from the various districts to determine what would be
the most logical next steps. We are also working on creating a web page that would have information
regarding the issues of equity and diversity in schools, building district partnerships and providing
useful websites.