Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Dissertation Chair for Robert Marcel Branch, Dissertation Proposal Defense PPT.

1. Hispanic Teacher
Recruitment and Retention
Initiatives in Texas Schools
A Proposal Defense
By
Robert M. Branch

2. Dr. William A. Kritsonis
(Dissertation Chair)
Dr. David Herrington
(Member)
Dr. Douglas Hermond
(Member)
Dr. Camille Gibson
(Member)
Committee Members

3. Outline
I. The Problem
II. Purpose of the Study
III. Research Questions
IV. Null Hypotheses
V. Significance of the Study
VI. Review of Literature
VII. Research Design

4. The Problem
 The shortage of Hispanic educators plays a role in
the educational experiences of Hispanic students.
 2006-2007 TEA data indicate that 21% of
teachers in Texas are Hispanic, but 46% of the
students during the same year are Hispanic.
 Previous findings indicate that increasing the
number of Hispanic educators positively affects
the educational attainment of Hispanic students
(Darder, Torres, & Gutierrez, 1997).

5. Purpose of the Study
 To establish whether the number of
Hispanic teachers influence Hispanic
student achievement and then
identify methods to assist with the
recruitment and retention of Hispanic
teachers in Texas schools.

6. Conceptual Framework
Approaches of
Administrators & District
Personnel to Recruit &
Retain Hispanic Teachers
Internal Motivations
Of Hispanic Teachers
Hispanic Teacher
Recruitment & Retention
Initiatives in Texas Schools
The Impact of Academic
Achievement for Hispanic
Students

7. Quantitative Research Question #1
 Is there a corresponding increase in
the percent of Hispanic teachers with
the increase of Hispanic Students in
Texas from school years 2000
through 2007?

8. Quantitative Research Question #2
 Is there a relationship between the
percent of Hispanic teachers and the
percent of Hispanic students passing
the TAKS Exit level examination in
the core area of Mathematics?

9. Quantitative Research Question #3
 Is there a relationship between the
percent of Hispanic teachers and the
percent of Hispanic students passing
the TAKS Exit level examination in
the core area of English/Language
Arts?

10. Qualitative Research Question #1
 What factors influenced Hispanic
teachers to go into and remain in the
teaching profession in the state of
Texas?

11. Qualitative Research Question #2
 What is the value of increasing the
number of Hispanic teachers in Texas
school districts?

12. Qualitative Research Question #3
 What are the approaches used by the
school districts to recruit and retain
Hispanic teachers?

13. Qualitative Research Question #4
 Which of these approaches appear to
be successful in recruiting and
retaining Hispanic teachers?

14. Question to be answered by descriptive
statistics:
Is there a statistically significant
difference between the increase in
Hispanic student population in
Texas high schools and the percent
of Hispanic teachers in Texas high
schools?

15. Null Hypotheses
H01 There is no statistically significant
correlation between the percent of
Hispanic teachers in Texas high
schools and the percent of
Hispanic students passing the
TAKS Exit Level Mathematics
examination.

16. Null Hypotheses
H02 There is no statistically significant
correlation between the percent of
Hispanic teachers in Texas high
schools and the percent of
Hispanic students passing the
TAKS Exit Level English/Language
Arts examination.

17. Significance of the Study
 This study will provide data to school
districts regarding effective
recruitment and retention initiatives
of Hispanic teachers.
 School districts will be better
equipped to hire and retain highly
qualified Hispanic teachers for
Hispanic students in their district in
order to raise the achievement levels
of these students.

18. Review of Literature
This section includes concepts of diversity
in the teacher workforce and the impact
that role models, successful interactions,
and understanding play in the decision for
minorities to be motivated to go into the
teaching profession. It will also illustrate
factors that research indicates as the
contributor to why minorities do not
remain in the profession.

19. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
U. S.
Department of
Education,
2003
The United
States Hispanic
student
population has
made the most
significant
changes with a
6.4% increase
compared to a
White student
decrease of
9.2% and a
small African-
American
student
increase of
1.1%.
Author/
Year Findings
Ochoa, 2003 The
achievement
trends of
Hispanic
students over
the past 20
years indicate
that their
achievement in
the three
primary
content areas
is not
competitive
with the
achievement of
White students
in our nation.

20. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
National Center
of Education
Statistics, 2003
The 2003
reports from
the NCES
indicate that
16.9% of all
teachers are
minorities.
Author/
Year Findings
Dee, 2004 In the year
2000, 8% of all
teachers in the
United States
were African-
American, 6%
were Hispanic,
and 84% were
White.

21. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
Zientek, 2007
Across
certification
routes, ethnic
groups and
teachers with
varying
educational
attainment were
equally committed
to teaching.
African-American
teachers were the
most committed,
with 90%
planning to
remain in
teaching for an
extended time,
followed by 82%
of Whites and
71% of Hispanics.
Author/
Year Findings
Wehrman,
2002
Wehrman
reported that it is
important in
communities,
which have
substantial
populations of
color, to have
teachers of color
in the classrooms
as role models. It
was believed that
if the teacher and
student share a
prominent
characteristic,
deeper bonds
would be formed.

22. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
Dee, 2004 It has been
reported that a
teacher of color
as a role model
will also help to
boost minority
students’
confidence and
enthusiasm for
learning.
Author/
Year Findings
Howard, 2003
Howard
suggests
students will
benefit from
having well-
trained
teachers who
come from
similar
racial/ethnic
and linguistic
backgrounds.
These teachers
can contribute
to the students’
sense of
belonging and
academic
achievement.

23. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
Kirby, Naftel, &
Berends, 1999
Diversity in the
teaching force
will foster
knowledge and
understanding
of different
cultures on the
part of all
teachers.
Author/
Year Findings
Ingersoll,
2001; Johnson,
Verg, &
Donaldson,
2005
Attempts to
alleviate the
shortage of
teachers have
taken place on
multiple levels.
Some have
focused on the
attrition rates
and
recommended
attention to
mentoring and
developing new
teachers.

24. Review of Literature
Author/
Year Findings
Winter &
Melloy, 2005
Urban high-
poverty schools
are hard to
staff according
to recent
findings of
Winter &
Melloy. Schools
labeled as low
achieving had
significant
effects on the
perceptions of
potential
applicants.
Author/
Year Findings
Darling-
Hammond,
2003
Since the early
1990’s the
number of
teachers who
exit the
teaching
profession has
surpassed the
number of
teachers who
entered the
profession.
Schools are
always fighting
an uphill battle
to staff
classrooms
with qualified
teachers.

25. Research Design
 Research Method – Mixed methods
using a complementary design. This
includes descriptive and correlational
analysis of existing data as well as
data obtained from open-ended
interview questions and surveys.
 Quantitative – Data will be obtained
from the Texas Education Agency
(TEA) Academic Excellence Indicator
System (AEIS) reports.

26. Research Design (continued)
 Qualitative – The qualitative data will
be collected with a questionnaire that
will be given to Hispanic teachers
and School/District Administrators.
Data will also be collected by
interviewing the Hispanic teachers
and School/District Administrators.

27. Pilot Study
 Convenience Sampling
30 Hispanic Teachers
 Test-Retest
Reliability
Trustworthiness (Fair-Clear-Free of
Bias)
Changes based on inputs
 Participants Excluded

28. Subjects of the Study
 Sampling Method
Purposive sampling will be used in
order to discover, understand, and
gain insight from the school districts
and Hispanic teachers.

29. Quantitative
 Five school districts in Southeast
Texas will be used in the study.
These districts will be selected based
on having met a criteria of employing
at least 5% Hispanic teachers and
serving at least 50% Hispanic
students.
 This data will be retrieved from the
TEA database.

30. Qualitative
 100 Hispanic teachers employed in Texas
schools with a teacher population of at
least 5% Hispanic teachers and at least
50% Hispanic students as reported by TEA
will be surveyed.
 Of these 100 teachers, 30 will be
interviewed.
 10 School Principals and 5 Human
Resource Directors will be asked open-
ended questions and interviewed.

31. Analysis
Of Data
Quantitative
Qualitative Qualitative
1. TEA Demographic Data
2. Hispanic Student Math Exit Level Taks Results (As Reported by the AEIS)
3. Hispanic ELA Exit Level Taks Results (As Reported by the AEIS)
Interviews of Hispanic Teachers,
School Administrators
& District Personnel
Questionnaires of Hispanic Teachers,
School Administrators & District
Personnel

32. Analysis of Data (Quantitative)
Research
Questions
Question
Addressed by
Descriptive
Statistics
Independent
Variables
Dependent
Variables Statistics
Is there a
corresponding
increase in
the percent of
Hispanic
teachers with
the increase of
Hispanic
Students in
Texas from
school years
2000 through
2007?
There is no
statistically
significant
difference
between the
increase in
Hispanic student
population in
Texas high
schools and the
percent of
Hispanic
teachers in
Texas high
schools.
Two Groups:
1) Hispanic
Teachers
in Texas
Schools
2) Hispanic
Students
in Texas
Schools
Difference of
Increase/
Decrease
Correlation
using
Pearson r

33. Analysis of Data (Quantitative)
Research
Questions
Hypothesis
Independent
Variables
Dependent
Variables Statistics
Is there a
relationship
between the
percent of
Hispanic
teachers and
the percent of
Hispanic
students
passing the
TAKS Exit level
examination in
the core
area of
Mathematics?
There is no
statistically
significant
correlation
between the
percent of
Hispanic
teachers in
Texas high
schools and the
percent of
Hispanic
students
passing the
TAKS Exit Level
Mathematics
examination.
Correlation
using
Pearson r
Percentage of
Hispanic
Teachers
in Texas
Schools
Achievement
levels
for Hispanic
students
taking
the TAKS
Exit level
Mathematics
examination

34. Analysis of Data (Quantitative)
Research
Questions
Hypothesis
Independent
Variables
Dependent
Variables Statistics
Is there a
relationship
between the
percent of
Hispanic
teachers and the
percent of
Hispanic
students passing
the TAKS Exit
level
examination in
the core area of
English/
Language Arts?
There is no
statistically
significant
correlation
between the
percent of
Hispanic
teachers in
Texas high
schools and the
percent of
Hispanic
students
passing the
TAKS Exit Level
English/
Language Arts
examination.
Correlation
using
Pearson r
Percentage of
Hispanic
Teachers
in Texas
Schools
Achievement
levels
for Hispanic
students
taking
the TAKS
Exit level
English/
Language
Arts
examination

35. Analysis of Data (Qualitative)
Surveys/Questionnaire
& Interviews
Data will be
presented in
tabular to show
categories &
frequencies.
The weighed
mean will be
computed for
recruitment &
retention
factors.
Responses for
questions will be
categorized
into emergent
themes. These
will be presented
in tabular form
showing the
categories with
corresponding
frequencies and
percentages.
Inputs from the
administrators will
be identified,
summarized and
explained.

36. Summary
 Recruitment and retention rates for
Hispanic teachers will be explored as well
as an exploration of relationships between
the percent of Hispanic teachers in Texas
schools and the percent of Hispanic
students who successfully pass the exit
level TAKS examination. Both qualitative
and quantitative research approaches will
be used to analyze data for the study.