The Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Fellowships for Aspiring Teachers of Color
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Brence Pernell, a 2007 RBF Fellow, with students he taught during a 2007 summer study abroad program in rural South Africa. |
TOMORROW’S STUDENTS URGENTLY NEED TEACHERS OF COLOR
- Nearly half of the nation’s students (44 percent) are students of color, but the latest data show that just one of every six teachers (16.7 percent) is a teacher of color.
- Current trends indicate that, by 2020, the percentage of teachers of color will fall to an all-time low of 5 percent of the total teacher force, while the percentage of students of color in the system will likely exceed 50 percent.
- In urban and rural schools nationwide, as many of half of all African-American, Latino, and Native American students do not graduate high school in four years.
- As many as a third of students in the nation’s high-need schools have at least one or more teachers without even a minor in the subject she or he teaches.
- Study after study shows that the single most effective way a school can improve students’ academic achievement is to consistently provide well-prepared, committed teachers.
- Research also shows, overwhelmingly, that students of color perform better – academically, personally, and socially-when taught by teachers from their own ethnic groups.
About the Fellowship
The goal of the Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowships for Aspiring Teachers of Color is to help recruit, support, and retain individuals of color as K-12 public school teachers in the United States. Current trends indicate that by the year 2020, the percentage of teachers of color will fall to an all-time low of five percent of the total teacher force, while the percentage of students of color in the K-12 system will likely near 50%. This Fellowship offers an important opportunity to ensure that greater numbers of highly qualified teachers of color enter public school classrooms around the country. Learn more...
Contact
Questions that are not answered in the information posted on this site can be directed by email to Ysabel Gonzalez at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.