When you’re working with a predominantly minority, low-income group of kids, does the race or ethnicity of their teacher make a difference in student achievement?

There’s no hard evidence, but a lot of researchers and administrators believe that a teacher who has similar life experiences to her students may be more effective in teaching them.

Specifically, they say these teachers—who are often, but not always, the same race or ethnicity of their charges—have a better understanding of the child’s culture and can figure out ways to reach them. A “culturally responsive” teacher, as they are sometimes called, has a better grasp of the child’s lifestyle through interaction with families and the community.

And these teachers often have higher expectations for their students, in part because they might have gone through similar experiences and realize their potential.

Rushern Baker, the executive director of the Community Teachers Institute, found in research on the topic that “when students of color were taught by teachers of color, especially teachers that were culturally connected and came from the same neighborhoods, there was an ability to get students more interested in learning, increase attendance rate, and by doing these things grad rate increased.”

That said, there’s a growing problem within the teaching ranks: The numbers of minority teachers are dropping due to retirements and career changes, and they’re not being replaced. Urban schools, which statistically are more likely to have higher populations of minorities, also have the highest numbers of minority teachers, but they are also losing these teachers.

There are plenty of strategies to recruit more minorities to the teaching field, and also learn from their insider’s knowledge to better train teachers with different experiences. Check out the January-February issue of Urban Advocate when it goes online for more ideas.

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor