Brookings Mountain West is pleased to release a new policy brief on "The Growing Need for Diverse Teachers in the Mountain West," by Michael Hansen (Brookings Institution senior fellow and director of the Brown Center on Education Policy) and Diana Quintero (research analyst at the Brown Center on Education Policy). 

This policy brief examines the racial and ethnic diversity of the public teacher workforce in five Mountain West states, drawing on survey data from 1993 to 2016. The authors find increases in student diversity are generally outpacing teacher diversity in the region, though important differences in teacher-student parity and access to nonwhite teachers across states are also evident. In addition, they demonstrate the recruitment and retention of nonwhite teachers in these states lag considerably behind the rest of the United States. This brief concludes with recommendations to help Mountain West states and districts promote greater racial and ethnic diversity among their teacher workforces.

Learn more about Brookings Mountain West.