Tomorrow’s Students Urgently Need Teachers of Color
• Nearly half of the nation’s students (44 percent) are students of color, but the latest data show that just one of every six teachers (16.7 percent) is a teacher of color.
• Current trends indicate that, by 2020, the percentage of teachers of color will fall to an all-time low of 5 percent of the total teacher force, while the percentage of students of color in the system will likely exceed 50 percent.
• In urban and rural schools nationwide, as many of half of all African-American, Latino, and Native American students do not graduate high school in four years.
• As many as a third of students in the nation’s high-need schools have at least one or more teachers without even a minor in the subject she or he teaches.
• Study after study shows that the single most effective way a school can improve students’ academic achievement is to consistently provide well-prepared, committed teachers.
• Research also shows, overwhelmingly, that students of color perform better – academically, personally, and socially-when taught by teachers from their own ethnic groups.
The Award
• Fellows receive a $30,000 stipend to apply toward a Master’s degree at the
Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia
• Preparation in a high-need public school
• Support and mentoring throughout your three-year teaching commitment
• Guidance toward teaching certification
• lifelong membership in a national network of Woodrow Wilson Fellows
The Commitment
As part of their commitment to ensuring the success of students in high-need schools, Fellows teach for at least three years in an urban or rural school district. Continuation as a teacher of record is contingent on the Fellow’s completion of the master’s degree and obtaining appropriate teaching licensure.
Curry’s Teacher Education Program
For more information, visit http://www.woodrow.org/teaching-fellowships/wwrbf/
