Study: Lack Of Minority Teacher Retention To Blame For Gap

The Deseret Morning News (UT) (9/7, Lenz) reports that despite Education Secretary Arne Duncan's plans to recruit "more African American and Latino teachers in hopes to narrow the achievement gaps between students," new research published in the September issue of Kappan Magazine "shows that it's not recruitment that's lacking but retention of minority teachers." The study acknowledges a "significant gap between the percentage of minority students and the percentage of minority teachers," but indicates that "from 1998 to 2008, the number of minority teachers in the classroom nearly doubled." However, minority teachers leave the profession in even higher rates.