Eastern Oregon University (EOU) is making a push to increase the number of minority teachers in Eastern Oregon high schools and is hoping local school districts will sign on to a program that aims to do just that.
The Oregon Teacher Pathway program attempts to create a teacher awareness pipeline beginning with minority 11th graders and assisting them on their path to becoming school teachers. School districts and Umatilla and Milton-Freewater will begin the program in the fall, and EOU is hoping to get the Hermiston School District on board, as well.
Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks, dean of Colleges of Business and Education at EOU, spoke Monday night at the Hermiston Hispanic Advisory Committee about the Oregon Teacher Pathway Program. He said the Hermiston School District Hispanic population is nearing 50 percent, while only 9 percent of its teacher population is Hispanic.
He said that as the number of minority teachers in the classroom increases, so do minority student test scores, thereby closing the achievement gap that exists between students of color and Caucasian students.
“We know that, so the more we can diversify our teacher population, the better off the students will be,” he said.
The Oregon Teacher Pathway program involves providing an adult mentor to minority high school students, placing the student in an elementary school and having them work with second through fourth graders who are struggling with math and reading. In return, the high school student receives college credit.
Easton-Brooks said the need for minority teachers will continue to rise as the country’s minority population continues to increase. Nationwide, minority students currently make up about 40 percent of the student population in public schools. That number is expected to jump to 70 percent by 2026.
One of the goals of the Oregon Teacher Pathway program is to produce home-grown minority students.
“One of the biggest problems we see in places like Hermiston, Ontario, Milton-Freewater and Pendleton is they go and get minority students from the west side to come here and teach, and then after a couple of years, they go away,” Easton-Brooks said. “So, if we can grow our own from Hermiston, Pendleton, Ontario – people that know they community – the easier it will be to keep them in the community. It’s already their home.”
For more information about the Oregon Teacher Pathway program, visit the EOU website.
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