Diversifying the Teaching Profession
The Diversifying the Teaching Profession (DTP) project is a three-year recruitment and retention project (June 2021 – June 2022, February 2024- January 2026) funded by the New Jersey Department of Education. The project is improving the hiring and retention of teachers of color in multiple Rutgers Graduate School of Education partner districts. The first year included four districts, Neptune Township Public Schools, North Brunswick Township Public Schools, New Brunswick Public Schools, and Rahway Township Public Schools, while the following years included Neptune Township Public Schools, New Brunswick Public Schools, and Rahway Township Public Schools. The GSE DTP project generated several important and sustaining outcomes:
Protocol/Policy Development
- Teams of five Teacher Leaders of Color (TLOC) from three GSE: CSPN partner districts were trained and developed district level plans for diversifying the partner districts’ workforces.
- From 2024-2026, TLOCs developed protocols to improve the hiring and retention of teachers of color to be implemented in their respective districts.
- We held the Navigating the Workplace as a BIPOC Teacher Panel on May 5, 2022, with a panel of TLOCs.
- We held an Administrator Panel, Leading for Equity: Curriculum and Policy in a Polarized Political Climate, on November 9, 2021.
- We will be holding a two-part panel discussion on January 13, and 27, 2025 with a panel of TLOCs to share the protocols and lessons learned from their districts.
Recruiting and Hiring New Teachers of Color
- Fourteen GSE teacher candidates were selected as DTP Fellows, who received additional support and were provided guidance by the Teacher Leaders of Color.
- The project supported the hiring of 25 Alternative Route candidates of color, who either lived in or already worked in the district.
- The TLOCs mentored the Alternative Route candidates of color to support their entry into the profession.
- Drawing from district teacher academies, 30 high school students visited Rutgers GSE to learn about pathways into teaching.
- The project developed paid internships within each district to provide practical educational experiences for the high school students to consider returning to their communities as teachers.
Teacher Education at the GSE
- The DTP project helped to develop a Land Acknowledgement that was used to start and center every session. It will continue to be used broadly at the GSE.
- The DTP project contributed to the development of a set of Shared Group Norms and Shared Group Beliefs that functioned to center and unify the members. These norms and beliefs will continue to frame and organize the work at the GSE.