Diversity In The Teacher Pipeline

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Diversity in the teacher pipeline

Empower bilingual paraeducators to become teachers

By Toni Rader and Shawn Pennell

Categories: Career pathways, English learners, Equity, Learning designs

April 2019

Vol. 40 No. 2

Given that over 5 million K-12 students in the U.S. public school system are classified as English learners (NCES, 2017), many policymakers and school leaders recognize that public schools need ethnically and linguistically diverse educators. But about 80% of teaching staff are white (Williams, Garcia, Connally, Cook, & Dancy, 2016), and only 13% speak another language in addition to English. To bridge this gap, some school districts have turned to bilingual paraeducators (sometimes called paraprofessionals or teacher aides) to support students’ learning — and to cultivate the next wave of licensed teachers. In 2012, the Northern Nevada English Learning Initiative, a consortium of education entities in and around Washoe County, Nevada, received a grant from the federal Office of English Language Acquisition to develop and

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Authors

Toni Rader and Shawn Pennell

Toni Rader (tlrader@washoeschools.net) is a coordinator at the Education Support Professionals Division of the Department of Professional Learning in Washoe County School District. Shawn Pennell (spennell@nevada.unr.edu) is director of academic affairs at Multnomah University Reno-Tahoe.

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