To Teach or not to Teach - Pre-Collegiate Grow Your Own Teacher Programs Qualitative Study

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Putri

Teacher recruitment and retention are central drivers of the teacher shortage crisis, especially in Black and Latinx communities. This qualitative multiple case study examined pre-collegiate Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher programs through the perspectives of Black and/or Latinx alumni, current program staff, and former staff. Framed around teacher diversity goals and community cultural wealth, the study analyzed how program participation shaped alumni career choices. Findings show these pre-collegiate GYO programs can meaningfully influence professional decisions, informing future pipeline design.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Teacher shortage and diversity context

Identity development, bias, and equity

Grow Your Own program models

Study design and case study approach

Theoretical framework: Community Cultural Wealth

Research Article To Teach or not to Teach: A Qualitative Study of Pre-Collegiate Grow Your Own Teacher Programs and the Perceptions of Alumni, Current Staff, and Former Staff Natasha T. Pitt, EdD College Achieve Public Schools North Plainfield, NJ Abstract The teaching profession is in peril. Teacher recruitment and teacher retention are issues that have compounded the teacher shortage crisis, particularly in Black and Latinx communities. This study focused on a vehicle by which to recruit people into the profession while in middle and/or high school, known as pre-collegiate Grow Your Own teacher programs. Given the push for a more racially diverse teaching force, this qualitative multiple case study explored the phenomena of pre-collegiate grow your own teacher programs through the perspectives of Black and/or Latinx alumni, program staff, and former staff. Results revealed that pre-collegiate Grow Your Own teacher programs have influenced the professional career decisions of alumni of the program. Key Words grow your own, teacher recruitment, pre-collegiate teacher programs, pathway programs, teacher diversity, teacher shortage There is an achievement gap in this country, which has been promulgated by an education debt (Ladson-Billings, 2006) . The education debt is a result of historical, social, and economic disparities that have created inequity for people of color. Education has been considered an equalizer, which can create equitable opportunities for marginalized people of color (Shields, 2011) . The ability to educate with an equity lens is crucial to the academic achievement of students of color; however, identity development is imperative. Identity development is a cyclical process that interweaves a person’s past, present, and future experiences (Tatum, 2017) . People are inundated with archetypes of people of cultures with which they identify and of those with which they do not identify. Partelow et al. (2017) noted that in 2017, The National Center for Education Statistics reported that while the population of Black and Latinx students is increasing, the percentage of Black and Latinx teachers (particularly in urban areas) is decreasing. There are tangible academic and social benefits to students of color being exposed to teachers of color. The opportunity to see a person of color in a position of authority, which is how many students view their teachers, cannot be overestimated. Additionally, teachers of color can be more connected to culturally responsive pedagogy because of the relatability of those teachers. Lastly, the presence of teachers of color for non-students-of-color is essential relative to the dismantling of stereotypes and biases, which are inherent in our society. Tatum (2017) referred to bias as smog all around us There is also a decline in enrollment in teacher education programs contributing to teacher shortages in the United States. Teacher shortages are more prevalent in urban and rural communities (Garcia & Weiss & Economic Policy Institute, 2019) . Teacher shortages are also more evident in school districts where most of the student population is Black and Latinx (Garcia & Weiss & Economic Policy Institute, 2019) . One approach that has attempted to address the teacher shortage and the need for greater teacher diversity is the implementation of Grow Your Own teacher programs (GYO) . Thirty-six states have created teacher pipeline programs to address the issue of teacher shortage (Sutcher et al., 2016) . There are four kinds of GYO program models: pre-collegiate (selective), precollegiate (non-selective), communityoriginated and community-focused, community-originated and university educatorinitiated (Valenzuela, 2017) . While there has been research done regarding the recruitment of teachers of color and various pathways, there is a gap in the literature relative to pre-collegiate GYO teacher programs and how these programs might be a suitable pathway for teacher re

FAQs

What problem does the study address?

The study addresses the teacher shortage crisis, particularly the recruitment and retention challenges affecting Black and Latinx communities.

What is the focus of the research?

It focuses on pre-collegiate Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher programs and how alumni, current staff, and former staff perceive their impact.

What theoretical framework guides the study?

The study uses the theoretical framework of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) to explain how culturally grounded connections support participants and students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Putri