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In the largest ever survey centering male teachers of color, thousands of teachers who use DonorsChoose shared their experiences in the classroom. Black male educators’ responses stood out, pointing to the impact they have in their school communities, the unique responsibilities they’re expected to shoulder, and how we can better recruit and retain these powerful educators.
When students feel seen and understood by their educators, their engagement and learning can thrive.
In one study, the graduation rate among Black students increased by 33% if they had at least one Black teacher between third and fifth grade.
Black educators are vastly underrepresented.
Especially Black men, who make up just 2% of public school educators. This dearth of Black male educators means that Black boys are likely to go through their entire public school education without ever having a teacher who looks like them.
Black male teachers spend more time mentoring and counseling students than teachers of any other demographic
The same trend emerged regarding tutoring students outside of class.
Black male teachers have more students socializing in their classrooms.
These teachers report an average of 10 students spending time in the classroom outside class every week.
Black male graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) spend the most time with students (an average of 11 hours per week) and have even more students spending time in their room (an average of 18 students).Black teachers of all genders report that they shoulder additional responsibilities due to their race.
These responsibilities include disciplining students of color and teaching their school community about racism. Black male teachers are most likely to cite "stresses related to teaching during this heightened racial climate" as a top 3 reason for burnout.
At schools where racial tensions run high, Black teachers are much more likely to be tasked with additional labor due to their race.
Male teachers of color who agreed that "Racial and ethnic differences between students and teachers create tensions at this school" were more than three times as likely to agree with the statement, "Because of my race, I’m expected to serve as a school liaison to families of color."
50% of all respondents were inspired to become a teacher by a teacher.
This finding was universal, predicted neither by gender, age, nor racial identity.
Black male teachers are most likely to have entered the profession because they wanted to teach a curriculum that affirms the identities of students of color.
Educators who began teaching after 2010 were the most likely to report choosing the profession because they see teaching as social justice, with male teachers of color more likely to report this than White male educators.
University of Michigan researchers found that having one funded DonorsChoose project makes a teacher 22% more likely to stay in their classroom in a given school year.
Does your company or foundation want to help teachers of color stay in the classroom by funding the tools they request? We’d love to connect!
Contact usWatch as Dr. Travis J. Bristol, Sharif El-Mekki, John Legend, and educators discuss the findings of this survey and their implications for the profession.
DonorsChoose worked with Sharif El-Mekki from the Center for Black Educator Development to launch the largest survey ever centering male teachers of color. We distributed the survey to DonorsChoose educators of all demographics, and received 5,000 responses. To achieve representative findings, we ensured that 32% of respondents were male teachers of color. Participating teachers received $300 in DonorsChoose funding credits as a thank-you for their time, backed by an anonymous funder.
Read the full reportWe’re excited to continue analyzing these survey results to uncover more insights into the classroom experiences of other groups of teachers historically excluded from the field, and the ways we can best recruit and retain those educators.
Learn more about our language choices, and how we’re reflecting the identities of the teachers and students we serve.
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