Hispanic Teacher Recruitment and

Retention Initiatives in Texas Schools

A Proposal DefenseBy

Robert M. Branch

Dr. William A. Kritsonis(Dissertation Chair)

Dr. David Herrington(Member)

Dr. Douglas Hermond(Member)

Dr. Camille Gibson(Member)

Committee Members

OutlineI. The ProblemII. Purpose of the StudyIII. Research QuestionsIV. Null HypothesesV. Significance of the StudyVI. Review of LiteratureVII. Research Design

The Problem The shortage of Hispanic educators plays a role in

the educational experiences of Hispanic students. 2006-2007 TEA data indicate that 21% of

teachers in Texas are Hispanic, but 46% of the students during the same year are Hispanic.

Previous findings indicate that increasing the number of Hispanic educators positively affects the educational attainment of Hispanic students (Darder, Torres, & Gutierrez, 1997).

Purpose of the Study To establish whether the number of

Hispanic teachers influence Hispanic student achievement and then identify methods to assist with the recruitment and retention of Hispanic teachers in Texas schools.

Conceptual Framework

Approaches of Administrators & District Personnel to Recruit &

Retain Hispanic Teachers

Internal Motivations

Of Hispanic Teachers

Hispanic Teacher

Recruitment & Retention

Initiatives in Texas Schools

The Impact of Academic Achievement for Hispanic

Students

Quantitative Research Question #1 Is there a corresponding increase in

the percent of Hispanic teachers with the increase of Hispanic Students in Texas from school years 2000 through 2007?

Quantitative Research Question #2 Is there a relationship between the

percent of Hispanic teachers and the percent of Hispanic students passing the TAKS Exit level examination in the core area of Mathematics?

Quantitative Research Question #3 Is there a relationship between the

percent of Hispanic teachers and the percent of Hispanic students passing the TAKS Exit level examination in the core area of English/Language Arts?

Qualitative Research Question #1 What factors influenced Hispanic

teachers to go into and remain in the teaching profession in the state of Texas?

Qualitative Research Question #2 What is the value of increasing the

number of Hispanic teachers in Texas school districts?

Qualitative Research Question #3 What are the approaches used by the

school districts to recruit and retain Hispanic teachers?

Qualitative Research Question #4 Which of these approaches appear to

be successful in recruiting and retaining Hispanic teachers?

Question to be answered by descriptive statistics:

Is there a statistically significant difference between the increase

in Hispanic student population in Texas high schools and the percent of Hispanic teachers in Texas high schools?

Null HypothesesH01 There is no statistically

significant correlation between the percent of Hispanic teachers in Texas high schools and the percent of Hispanic students passing the TAKS Exit Level Mathematics examination.

Null HypothesesH02 There is no statistically

significant correlation between the percent of Hispanic teachers in Texas high schools and the percent of Hispanic students passing the TAKS Exit Level English/Language Arts examination.

Significance of the Study This study will provide data to school

districts regarding effective recruitment and retention initiatives of Hispanic teachers.

School districts will be better equipped to hire and retain highly qualified Hispanic teachers for Hispanic students in their district in order to raise the achievement levels of these students.

Review of LiteratureThis section includes concepts of diversity in the teacher workforce and the impact that role models, successful interactions, and understanding play in the decision for minorities to be motivated to go into the teaching profession. It will also illustrate factors that research indicates as the contributor to why minorities do not remain in the profession.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

U. S. Department of

Education, 2003

The United States Hispanic

student population has made the most

significant changes with a 6.4% increase compared to a White student decrease of 9.2% and a

small African-American student

increase of 1.1%.

Author/Year Findings

Ochoa, 2003 The achievement

trends of Hispanic

students over the past 20

years indicate that their

achievement in the three primary

content areas is not

competitive with the

achievement of White students in our nation.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

National Center of Education

Statistics, 2003

The 2003 reports from

the NCES indicate that 16.9% of all teachers are minorities.

Author/Year Findings

Dee, 2004 In the year 2000, 8% of all teachers in the United States were African-American, 6% were Hispanic, and 84% were

White.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

Zientek, 2007 Across certification

routes, ethnic groups and

teachers with varying

educational attainment were

equally committed to

teaching. African-American

teachers were the most committed,

with 90% planning to remain in

teaching for an extended time,

followed by 82% of Whites and

71% of Hispanics.

Author/Year Findings

Wehrman, 2002

Wehrman reported that it is

important in communities, which have substantial

populations of color, to have

teachers of color in the classrooms as role models. It was believed that if the teacher and student share a

prominent characteristic, deeper bonds

would be formed.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

Dee, 2004 It has been reported that a teacher of color as a role model will also help to boost minority

students’ confidence and enthusiasm for

learning.

Author/Year Findings

Howard, 2003Howard suggests

students will benefit from having well-

trained teachers who

come from similar

racial/ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.

These teachers can contribute

to the students’ sense of

belonging and academic

achievement.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

Kirby, Naftel, & Berends, 1999

Diversity in the teaching force

will foster knowledge and understanding

of different cultures on the

part of all teachers.

Author/Year Findings

Ingersoll, 2001; Johnson, Verg, & Donaldson,

2005

Attempts to alleviate the shortage of

teachers have taken place on multiple levels.

Some have focused on the attrition rates

and recommended

attention to mentoring and developing new

teachers.

Review of Literature

Author/Year Findings

Winter & Melloy, 2005

Urban high-poverty schools

are hard to staff according

to recent findings of Winter &

Melloy. Schools labeled as low achieving had

significant effects on the perceptions of

potential applicants.

Author/Year Findings

Darling-Hammond,

2003

Since the early 1990’s the number of

teachers who exit the teaching

profession has surpassed the

number of teachers who entered the profession. Schools are

always fighting an uphill battle

to staff classrooms

with qualified teachers.

Research Design Research Method – Mixed methods

using a complementary design. This includes descriptive and correlational analysis of existing data as well as data obtained from open-ended interview questions and surveys.

Quantitative – Data will be obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) reports.

Research Design (continued) Qualitative – The qualitative data will

be collected with a questionnaire that will be given to Hispanic teachers and School/District Administrators. Data will also be collected by interviewing the Hispanic teachers and School/District Administrators.

Pilot StudyConvenience Sampling

30 Hispanic TeachersTest-Retest

ReliabilityTrustworthiness (Fair-Clear-Free of Bias)Changes based on inputs

Participants Excluded

Subjects of the StudySampling Method

Purposive sampling will be used in order to discover, understand, and gain insight from the school districts and Hispanic teachers.

Quantitative Five school districts in Southeast

Texas will be used in the study. These districts will be selected based on having met a criteria of employing at least 5% Hispanic teachers and serving at least 50% Hispanic students.

This data will be retrieved from the TEA database.

Qualitative 100 Hispanic teachers employed in Texas

schools with a teacher population of at least 5% Hispanic teachers and at least 50% Hispanic students as reported by TEA will be surveyed.

Of these 100 teachers, 30 will be interviewed.

10 School Principals and 5 Human Resource Directors will be asked open-ended questions and interviewed.

Analysis

Of Data

Quantitative

Qualitative Qualitative

1. TEA Demographic Data2. Hispanic Student Math Exit Level Taks Results (As Reported by the AEIS)

3. Hispanic ELA Exit Level Taks Results (As Reported by the AEIS)

Interviews of Hispanic Teachers,School Administrators & District Personnel

Questionnaires of Hispanic Teachers, School Administrators & District

Personnel

Analysis of Data (Quantitative)

ResearchQuestions

Question Addressed by Descriptive

Statistics

IndependentVariables

DependentVariables Statistics

Is there a corresponding

increase in the percent of

Hispanic teachers with the increase of

Hispanic Students in Texas from

school years 2000 through

2007?

There is no statistically significant difference

between the increase in Hispanic student

population in Texas high

schools and the percent of Hispanic

teachers in Texas high

schools.

Two Groups:

1) Hispanic Teachers in Texas Schools

2) Hispanic Students in Texas Schools

Difference of Increase/Decrease

Correlation using

Pearson r

Analysis of Data (Quantitative)

ResearchQuestions Hypothesis

IndependentVariables

DependentVariables Statistics

Is there a relationship between the percent of Hispanic

teachers and the percent of

Hispanic students

passing the TAKS Exit level examination in

the core area of

Mathematics?

There is no statistically significant correlation

between the percent of Hispanic

teachers in Texas high

schools and the percent of Hispanic students

passing the TAKS Exit Level

Mathematics examination.

Correlation using

Pearson r

Percentage of Hispanic Teachersin Texas Schools

Achievement levels

for Hispanic students taking

the TAKS Exit level

Mathematicsexamination

Analysis of Data (Quantitative)

ResearchQuestions Hypothesis

IndependentVariables

DependentVariables Statistics

Is there a relationship between the percent of Hispanic

teachers and the percent of Hispanic

students passing the TAKS Exit

level examination in the core area of

English/ Language Arts?

There is no statistically significant correlation

between the percent of Hispanic

teachers in Texas high

schools and the percent of Hispanic students

passing the TAKS Exit Level

English/Language Arts examination.

Correlation using

Pearson r

Percentage of Hispanic Teachersin Texas Schools

Achievement levels

for Hispanic students taking

the TAKS Exit level English/

Language Arts

examination

Analysis of Data (Qualitative)

Surveys/Questionnaire & Interviews

Data will be presented in

tabular to show categories & frequencies.The weighed mean will be computed for recruitment &

retentionfactors.

Responses for questions will be

categorizedinto emergent themes. These

will be presentedin tabular form

showing the categories withcorresponding

frequencies and percentages.

Inputs from theadministrators willbe identified,summarized andexplained.

Summary Recruitment and retention rates for

Hispanic teachers will be explored as well as an exploration of relationships between the percent of Hispanic teachers in Texas schools and the percent of Hispanic students who successfully pass the exit level TAKS examination. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be used to analyze data for the study.