Building schools that reflect their students
How Trina Edwards and Diversity in Ed connect schools with diverse teachers
Author: Annette Konoske-Graf
How Trina Edwards and Diversity in Ed connect schools with diverse teachers
Author: Annette Konoske-Graf
Growing up in New Orleans, Trina Edwards had teachers who looked like her. “The teachers were from our community,” Edwards says. “They knew how to survive, and how to talk to and empower students.”
Her teachers made her feel valued, and they made learning fun. More than anyone, she remembers Ms. Carter, a brilliant math teacher: “She was the funniest! She had a large, colorful personality, and she taught me even more about life than she did the subject of math.”
More than thirty years later, Edwards wants other students to have teachers like hers. She’s now the publisher of Diversity in Ed, a national online job board and magazine that connects job seekers with schools that are committed to hiring diverse teachers.
Diversity in Ed members can post their resumes, get career advice and search for job openings in education. The platform also offers career fair expos for districts and candidates to connect.
With Edwards at the helm, Diversity in Ed aims to cultivate a teaching workforce as diverse as its students. Currently, 80 percent of public school teachers identify as white, while white students make up less than half of public school students in the United States (1). 40 percent of U.S. schools have no teachers of color at all (2).
Teachers of color may have a more culturally relevant approach to their students, and often expect more from students of color than white teachers do (3). Studies show that Black boys who have at least one Black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade are much more likely to graduate high school and want to attend a four-year college (4).
Through Diversity in Ed, Edwards wants to place more teachers who reflect their students' identities.
“Our vision is to create an equal opportunity for every student of color to be taught by a teacher of the same color or culture.”
Long before she started in teacher recruitment, Edwards wanted to empower families and communities of color. She came to Diversity in Ed after a long career as a labor and delivery nurse in New Orleans. “Once I had clinical experience, I knew immediately that labor and delivery is what I would do. It was a happy environment. When the parents would go home with their babies, it was a joyous experience.”
But Edwards is also a teacher at heart. She saw that many patients, especially those from low-income, underserved communities, needed better access to prenatal information.
Edwards started teaching a variety of labor and delivery classes, sometimes with as many as twenty mothers-to-be. As an advocate, Edwards regularly confronted racist ideas and assumptions about her patients.
“I saw that we blame people for a lack of knowledge, and I did something about it.”
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina severely flooded the hospital, and it eventually closed. Edwards continued to work as a family planning nurse in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, providing the same essential services to low-income families.
Soon, Edwards and her family relocated to Houston, and she began her new career in diverse teacher recruitment. For Edwards, diversity is more than race or ethnicity; it includes strengths, approaches, experiences, and perspectives, too. Edwards elaborates, “Tattoos! I’ve never had a teacher with a tattoo! You couldn’t come into my high school with an arm sleeve. Now you may want to have a teacher who does have tattoos, because it may be significant to some of your students.”
At Diversity in Ed, Edwards can support candidates who otherwise may have left teaching even before they began. In addition to helping schools diversify their staff, editor Caitlin Corrigan says, “Diversity in Ed is empowering new teachers with information and practical advice for the job market, which, big picture, can do wonders for retention and commitment to the field.”
Edwards remembers a young woman named Kinyatta who was hesitant to apply to teaching jobs for fear of rejection. Edwards helped Kinyatta develop a video resume, and encouraged her to participate in one of Diversity in Ed’s virtual recruiting fairs. The fair led to a job offer, and Kinyatta is now a technology teacher in Boston, where she runs STEM summer camps for girls. Edwards says she keeps in contact with Kinyatta, who expresses her gratitude and appreciation for Edwards’ encouragement and coaching.
“Diversity in Ed strives to speak to the real needs of educators and offers support beyond just the connection to a possible job,” Corrigan says. “Trina [Edwards]... knows how to curate the work of thought leaders and shares that wisdom with teachers from diverse backgrounds.”
Some school districts—from Duval County in Florida to Fairfax County in Virginia—have partnered with Diversity in Ed for more than 15 years. Edwards believes these partnerships are what make Diversity in Ed so special; they let job seekers know that they don’t need to “résumé whiten“ to get hired (5).
“The candidates feel comfortable posting their resumes, their photos, and not using a middle name, because they know that the recruiters value them for their uniqueness.”
TEACH.org looks forward to a continued partnership with Diversity in Ed, and we celebrate Trina Edwards for her long-standing dedication to a diverse teacher workforce!