The need to diversify the teacher workforce became a topic of public discussion in the United States during the late 1980s, when conflicting demographic trends in the student and teacher populations could not be ignored. While the term diversity has different dimensions, it is used in this entry to refer to a person's race or ethnicity. Throughout this entry, the phrase racial/ethnic minority teachers is used interchangeably with teachers of color or simply minority teachers. This broad category includes African Americans, Latina/o/s, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, and people of two or more racial/ethnic groups. This entry provides an overview of major arguments put forward for diversifying the teacher workforce, factors contributing to the shortage of teachers of racial/ethnic minority groups, ...

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