Research

Substantial evidence indicates that students of color are disproportionately punished in schools nationally, and specifically in the District of Columbia [1]. More research has been conducted for Black students than for other minority groups, but numerous studies found that Latinx and Native American students are disproportionately being disciplined as well [2]. The more time a student misses class due to disciplinary actions, the less time that student receives academic instruction. Research suggests that “frequent suspensions appear to significantly increase the risk of academic underperformance” [2]. The disproportionate levels of punishment students of color receive could directly impact their levels of academic achievement, which is a trend currently seen within our nation's capital.

Even though Latinx students make up approximately 20 percent of DCPS and 16 percent of public charter schools, only eight percent of DCPS teachers identify as Latinx (charter schools are not required to report this information) [8]. This becomes even more problematic because Latinx students make up approximately 77 percent of the nation's English language learners (ELL) [9]. There is no reliable information regarding how many DC public school and charter school teachers speak a second language, which puts an unfair burden on the teaching staff who does speak a second language [11]. This makes it difficult for school districts to retain diverse teachers. They may also explain lower assessment results from Latinx and ELL students in the District.

According to the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education's Assessment Report, Latinx students have the third lowest proficiency scores on state standardized assessments [10].

• 32 percent of Latinx students show proficiency on the literacy assessment
• 28 percent of Latinx students showed proficiency on the math assessment
• 19 percent of ELL students showed proficiency on the literacy assessment
• 21 percent of ELL students showed proficiency on the math assessment

A teacher's gender does not have a significant impact on students in elementary grades, but it plays more of a role the older children become. A study analyzing 25,000 students from 1,000 schools found that when eighth graders had a female teacher, the boys fell behind girls by about three and a half months of instructional learning [12]. Studies have also shown that when female high school and college students have a female teacher in math and science courses, they participate more in class, get better grades, and are more likely to continue studies in that subject area in the future [13].

Research from Seth Gershenson, Cassandra Hart, Constance Lindsay, and Nicholas Papageorge (2017) suggests that Black primary-school students who were matched with a same-race teacher not only performed better on standardized test but their teachers had more favorable perceptions of them [2]. The Brookings Institute (2016) hypothesize that teachers of color might hold higher expectations for their students of color due to their own perceptions about their students’ “abilities, effort, and behavior” [5]. These findings indicate that inherent biases may influence the perceptions teachers have on students of color. When students and teachers share the same gender identity, teachers had more "favorable impressions" of their students [12]

A large body of evidence in research shows disparities that exist between Black and White communities nationally, but there is a limited amount of work highlighting the inequalities that exist in other minority subsets [6]. The positive impact of having teachers of color within the classroom has been documented for students across most demographics, but limited information exists showing the impact specifically of Latinx teachers or teachers from indigenous communities. This is problematic because Latinx populations are the largest minority demographic nationally and they are the least representative group of teachers within school buildings nationally and locally.

Limited information is available locally about transgender and gender-nonconforming students and teachers.