Driving Diversity: How Teacher Prep Can Accelerate Progress - Executive Summary

Oct 15, 2026

A high-quality teacher workforce is essential for student success, and racial diversity strengthens outcomes for students of all backgrounds. Teacher preparation programs shape the pipeline because most new teachers earn licensure through these programs. The report highlights that preparation completers are often more diverse than returning teachers, yet workforce diversity grows more slowly. Many programs fail to graduate candidates matching state workforce diversity, slowing progress. It also outlines evidence-based benefits for students of color and explores policy barriers and incentives.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Introduction

Political and legal headwinds—plus weak incentives—slow progress on teacher diversity

Driving Diversity: How Teacher Prep Can Accelerate Progress DECEMBER 2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • A high-quality teacher workforce is well-prepared, effective, and racially diverse. • Given that the vast majority of new teachers in the United States earn licensure through teacher preparation programs, the diversity of prep program completers drives the diversity of new teachers. Therefore, teacher preparation programs bear the foundational responsibility for advancing teacher diversity. • Nationally the cohort of teacher preparation completers is more diverse than thereturning teacher workforce. Yet, the racial diversity of the teacher workforce is growing at a slower pace than the racial diversity of college-educated adults. • More than 4 in 10 teacher prep programs fail to graduate candidates that are as diverse as their state’s existing teacher workforce, actively making the workforce less diverse. • Each state’s teacher production exists in a unique context. View your state’s data and visit the Teacher Diversity Dashboard to see how individual prep programs in your state are contributing to the diversity of the teacher workforce. • Education leaders at every level have a key role to play. o State policymakers should make sure the requirements for entering the teaching profession are the right ones (e.g., rigorous expectations for content knowledge) and are free from unnecessary barriers that prevent talented individuals from becoming teachers. o Teacher preparation programs need to focus on recruiting diverse cohortsand supporting all candidates, including candidates from historically disadvantaged groups, to meet high state standards and earn their teaching credentials. INTRODUCTION Teachers remain the most important in-school factor for student success.1 This is why researchers, policymakers, advocates, and school districts are focused on hiring and retaining the highest quality teacher workforce possible—a goal that must include diversifying the teacher workforce. Teachers of color bring benefits to all of their students, including better test scores, lower absence rates, and positive impacts on students’ social-emotional competence, particularly as it relates to self-efficacy. 2 Students of all races have positive perceptions of teachers of color, which research has shown can lead to higher motivation and achievement and which may suggest that teachers of color are uniquely able to build rapport with students of different races from their own. 3 The benefits of a diverse teacher workforce are particularly consequential for students of color. Students of color who have teachers of color perform better on reading and math tests 4 and take and pass advanced courses at higher rates. 5 For example, Black students who have just one Black teacher in kindergarten through grade five achieve higher reading and math scores.6 Teachers of color may also positively impact students of color on a range of nonacademic factors as well, including better attendance, 7 social-emotional outcomes such as increased sense of belonging, 8 and behavioral outcomes such as lower rates of discipline. 9 Taken together, these academic and nonacademic benefits translate to students of color attaining life milestones as a result of their experiences with teachers of color, including higher rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion. 10 For example, Black students who have just one Black teacher in grades K–3 are 13% more likely to graduate from high school and 19% more likely to go to college.11 In addition to the numerous and well-documented benefits teachers of color have on students, there is new evidence suggesting that they also confer benefits to their white colleagues. White teachers who have just one same-grade Black colleague are more effective at teaching Black students.12 This may be because teachers of color model how to nurture a positive and caring classroom environment while also

FAQs

Why does teacher workforce diversity matter for student success?

Teachers are the most important in-school factor for student success. Research shows students benefit when teachers of color are present, including improved test performance, attendance, and social-emotional outcomes.

How do teacher preparation programs influence diversity of the teaching workforce?

Most new teachers in the United States earn licensure through teacher preparation programs. Therefore, the racial diversity of program completers directly affects the racial diversity of new teachers entering the workforce.

What factors are slowing progress toward a more racially diverse teacher workforce?

The report points to slower growth in teacher racial diversity compared with college-educated adults, weaker incentives to enter teaching, and political and legal headwinds including federal rollbacks and uncertainty after the Supreme Court decision affecting affirmative action.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Taylor Morgan