Assessing Efforts to Diversify Kentucky’s K–12 Teacher Workforce: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of a Grow-Your-Own-Teacher Pathway

Abstract

We examined the characteristics of 77 high school participants from four school districts who participated in the Teaching and Learning Career Pathway (TLCP) at the University of Louisville during the 2018–2019 school year. The program seeks to support the recruitment of a diverse and effective educator workforce by recruiting high school students as potential teachers for dual-credit courses that explore the teaching profession. Utilizing descriptive and inferential analysis (χ2 tests) of closed-ended item responses as well as qualitative analysis of program documents, Web sites, and students’ open-ended item responses, we compared the characteristics of the participants with those of their home school districts and examined their perceptions of the program. When considering gender and race/ethnicity, our analysis revealed the program was unsuccessful in its first year, reaching predominantly white female high school students who were already interested in teaching. Respondents reported learning about the TLCP from school personnel, specifically, guidance counselors (39%), non-TCLP teachers (25%), or TLCP teachers (20%). We found that the TLCP program has not defined diversity in a measurable way and the lack of an explicit program theory hinders the evaluation and improvement of TLCP. Program recruitment and outcomes are the result of luck or idiosyncratic personnel recommendations rather than intentional processes. We identified a need for qualitative exploration of in-school recruitment processes and statewide longitudinal studies to track participant outcomes in college and in the teacher labor market.