Persistence Despite Structural Barriers: Investigating Work Environments for Black and Latinx Teachers in Urban and Suburban Schools

Abstract

Research suggests that work environments are associated with turnover patterns for teachers of Color. This study investigates variation in work environments using longitudinal administrative data from 20 large urban and suburban K-12 school districts. Results indicate that teachers of Color are more often employed in “hard-to-staff” work environments compared to their White colleagues. Despite this, findings demonstrate high relative levels of teacher experience in schools where teachers of Color, specifically Latinx educators, represent a majority of the teaching staff. These results have implications for educational policy and practice, specifically in the areas of teacher preparation, recruitment, hiring, and retention.