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The Evolution of a Research–Practice Partnership: Examining the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers of Color in Rural and Suburban Contexts
Book chapter

The Evolution of a Research–Practice Partnership: Examining the Recruitment and Retention of Teachers of Color in Rural and Suburban Contexts

Kristine S Lewis Grant, Deanna D Hill and Circe Stumbo
Making a positive impact in rural places: change agency in the context of school-university-community collaboration in education
2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-64113-223-720251006

Abstract

College-school cooperation Community and college Community and school Education, Rural Rural Schools
A community organization and three school districts in Iowa agreed to collaborate to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers of color toward the long-term goal of racial and ethnic parity among teachers and students. The percentages of students of color in the districts ranged from 27% to 45%, while the percentages of teachers of color ranged from 2% to 7%, respectively. The school districts agreed to undertake several activities, including participating in project design meetings, actively networking with one another, and tracking and reporting data on the recruitment and retention of staff of color. The community organization agreed to provide or coordinate professional development and to provide districts with regular status updates. The community organization initially brought the university researchers into the partnership to conduct a literature review on the benefits of a diverse teacher workforce, then reengaged them later to conduct a literature review on effective strategies. However, the researchers found there was very little literature on the recruitment and retention of teachers of color in rural or suburban contexts, and very few studies centered race in the analysis. These limitations made it unclear whether strategies from the literature were adaptable or adoptable for the districts’ contexts. Thus, the partnership evolved to conduct original research in order to directly inform the districts’ strategies within their unique context. At the same time, the collaboration is contributing to our collective understanding of how both race and place impact teacher recruitment and retention.

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