FINAL REPORT OF THE NCTE TASK FORCE TO
ADVANCE AND SUPPORT MEMBERS OF COLOR
(keyed to the four charges issued to the Task Force, with findings and appendices)
Task Force Members: Beverly Ann Chin, Amanda Espinosa-Aguilar, Sharon Floyd, Maria Franquiz, Patsy Hall, R. Joseph Rodriguez, Duane Roen, Anna J. Small Roseboro, Sharon Washington (Facilitator)
Overview
Members of the Task Force have worked for approximately five months to pursue the four-part charge issued by the NCTE Executive Committee. They have conferred on six occasions by teleconference, have worked in an online workspace environment, and have met face-to-face for a two-and-a-half-day meeting. They have sought out information from many sources inside and outside the Council, and have conferred candidly about many challenging questions based on organizational policy and culture.
This report is organized around the four main charges given to our task force:
(1) Analyze the current NCTE structures intended to involve and support educators of color by looking at recruitment, retention, and advancement of members of color within NCTE;
(2) Provide an evaluation of NCTE practices as they affect members of color;
(3) Recommend changes in current structures and programs, or in the creation of new structures and programs needed to support members of color;
(4) Identify successful practices used by other similar organizations to recruit, actively involve, retain, and provide avenues for leadership for people of color.
Following each charge listed below you will find a summary of our findings with links to data sources, and a list of recommendations for future progress. Groups identified as people of color in this document include historically-underrepresented groups--African Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Latino (as defined by the NCTE Policy on Involvement of People of Color).
Commendations
In preparation to present the overview and recommendations, the task force members would like to highlight specific commendations on the progress made by NCTE to support and advance persons of color. These are as follows:
- The Executive Committee has supported and institutionalized opportunities to actively engage more persons of color in its leadership structure.
- NCTE’s “Policy on Involvement of People of Color” presents the organization’s commitment to members of color.
- The existence of a senior-level position on the NCTE staff, which was held by Dr. Sandra Gibbs, led to increasing the involvement of persons of color as well as quality programs that address the needs of students of color.
- The support of committee structures that promote inclusion, (e.g., Advisory Committee on People of Color) has provided resources to advance and support persons of color. Moreover, the support of the caucuses to meet during the annual convention has led to more positive communication and interaction with the caucuses.
- The organizational policies that promote inclusion (e.g., Election Policy on Involvement of People of Color) have led to more consensus-building opportunities and communication.
- The requirement that local committees for national conventions include people of color has been beneficial for increasing membership and participation.
- The convention-related practices and policies that promote inclusion (e.g., Rainbow Strand speakers of color, and the Saturday Evening Cultural Program) have supported members of color to share teaching practices and research and maintain communication about the profession and organization.
- The innovative CCCC programs that advance inclusion and mentoring (e.g., Scholars for the Dream and Cultivating New Voices Program) have supported emerging educators, leaders, and thinkers who are strongly committed to the profession as well as the academic achievement of students of color. Moreover, the programs have propelled beginning educators and scholars of color to contribute their knowledge and experience to NCTE and CCCC.
- The policies that help affiliates become more inclusive, such as multicultural programs, external funding for research and convention participation, conference programs, and the Equal Opportunity Program, encourage the inclusion of people of color as attendees and active participants.
- The periodic audits and reports of the Executive Committee are beneficial to determine how well NCTE responds to and acts upon recommendations based on recruitment, retention, and advancement of members of colors.
- The organizational support of members of color has been crucial to maintain inclusion and communication with the governance and operational structures of NCTE.
- The establishing of the NCTE Task Force to Advance and Support Members of Color further demonstrates the Executive Committee’s commitment to addressing and meeting the needs and concerns of members of color.
Findings and Recommendations
Charge (1): Analyze the current NCTE structures intended to involve and support educators of color by looking at recruitment, retention, and advancement of members of color within NCTE.
Findings: While data indicate that the number and percentage of members of color in NCTE have been declining for roughly 15 years--members of color now make up roughly 10% of an overall membership of about 50,000--NCTE has made efforts to both target educators of color in recruitment campaigns and provide mentorship and leadership opportunities for members of color. Statistically, people of color are well represented in many governance posts and, appointive committees (staff annually sends list of potential members, including members of color, to Chairs),but it isn’t clear if this is equally the case in important publications and convention roles, or if those achieving leadership roles are the same cadre of leaders of color or “new” leaders. Despite conscientious efforts, more can be done…particularly in the areas of retention and mentorship. It requires deep institutional commitment to invest in the programming and promotional activity needed to make NCTE a true professional home for a significantly larger share of ELA educators of color, but we believe that this is an investment worth making if NCTE is to successfully pursue its mission. The recommendations below are offered as important steps towards becoming a more inclusive, influential Council.
Note that while the Task Force believes that these recommendations are interdependent and are all important to pursue, the Task Force has emboldened those recommendations which they believe deserve the highest priority.
Recommendations relating to recruitment and retention:
1. Increase the number of members of color in five years from roughly 5,000 to 10,000 in order to be responsive to the increasingly diverse student population and meet the needs of the ELA teaching profession.
2. Assess programs and reports from NCTE affiliates to improve NCTE’s efforts to enhance NCTE’s recruitment, retention, and advancement of members of color.
3. Recruit and retain teachers of color through the Pathways program by incorporating scholarship and professional knowledge of teachers of color into Pathways and systematically reaching out to schools and districts serving students of color.
4. Find ways for the Advisory Committee on People of Color and the Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English to collaborate to recruit, retain, and advance members of color. For example, they could have a joint meeting at the November meeting—perhaps the day before or after NCTE. Ask these committees, and many others who must be involved in recruiting members, what suggestions they have for recruiting, retaining, and advancing more members of color.
5. Recruit more staff members of color in significant roles and provide appropriate mentorship and professional development.
6. Partner with NWP, IRA, AERA, MLA, and other professional organizations on outreach and initiatives to recruit, retain, and advance members of color.
7. Promote first-timers welcome breakfast at the annual convention and CCCC first-timer events through email in advance of meeting (in addition to current efforts) and ensure that members of color attend the breakfast in order to mentor/provide advice to first-timers of color. Our goal is to welcome and inform every first-time attendee of color in order to improve new member retention.
Recommendations relating to advancement of members of color within NCTE:
8. Recommendations related to the nomination of People of Color for elective office:
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Chairs of commissions and committees should be encouraged to submit nominations of people of color for NCTE offices.
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Send lists of possible leaders of color, including Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color and Scholars for the Dream alumni, to all nominating committees and those charged with appointing committee/commission members.
9. Recommendations related to mentoring and paths to leadership in NCTE for People of Color:
- Invite early-career members of color in NCTE, in collaboration with CEL and NCTE leaders, to help plan a summer leadership retreat for early-career members of color, held in conjunction with the existing summer affiliate leadership retreat. Summer participants will share their experiences at subsequent national meetings—to help generate further interest.
- Replace the President’s Scholarship for Undergraduate Teacher Candidates as it has been structured with Early Career Teacher of Color Scholarships (for those in first three years in the profession). This could be done by initially awarding two scholarships and matching these scholars with mentors, then appointing one scholar with a mentor the following year. By keeping all scholars in the program for two years, we should always have three active award participants. The scholarship would cover the costs of attending the NCTE convention for two years, and recipients would be invited to make a presentation at their second NCTE convention. It also would provide an honorarium to participating mentors, who could either be drawn from the pool of recent Early Career Teacher of Color Scholarship program alumni or, alternatively, from retired/emeritus members. The purpose of the program is to help provide outlets for early-career teachers of color to get to know the Council and quickly become contributing participants in its professional exchanges and activities.
* This recommendation has since been amended to support a new cohort consisting of one mentor and two early career teachers of color with scholarships annually.
10. Recommendations related to increasing NCTE members and leaders of color involvement with the NCTE Annual Convention:
- The Rainbow Strand Planning Committee, chaired by the Chairs of the Advisory Committee of People of Color and the Chair of the Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English, should include wide representation of people of color and should provide as many people of color as possible with a leadership opportunity.
- Offer a convention program and a Monday workshop (in collaboration with CEL) presented by current and recent NCTE leaders to inform members of colors about how to play a leadership role in NCTE by describing the nature of commission, committee, and elected leadership work.
- The recruitment dinner for local committee participation should include wide representation of people of color in all convention-related roles, but should not include people of color exclusively. The host affiliate leadership and NCTE should deploy strategies for maintaining contact and support for local committee members so that they remain involved with the host affiliate and national organization. To that end, we should track who has remained active and should regularly invite these members of color to assume additional roles in NCTE and the affiliate organization. One role that host affiliates should be invited to play is appointing a liaison to the caucuses, for the purpose of helping to plan the Saturday evening cultural event designed to encourage networking which leads to recruitment, retention, and advancement of members of color.
Charge (2): Provide an evaluation of NCTE practices as they affect members of color.
Findings: NCTE has policies and positions that promote inclusiveness and diversity in many realms of activity—general involvement in the Council, elections, convention planning, publications, visual representation, language use, selection of multicultural literature, public policy. Still it is difficult to say if these are systematically producing the effects sought when the policies were established. It is clear that given the cultural climate of the moment, now is not the time to take a step back from policies such as these. Efforts must be made to keep NCTE practices that promote inclusion current and relevant with the times.
Recommendations regarding evaluation of NCTE practices:
11. In all convention-related surveys ask members to self-identify race/ethnicity so that we can determine what content/program attributes and convention characteristics are most valued by members of color. Survey non-attendees as well as convention registrants.
12. Annually assess progress made towards implementation of these recommendations and schedule a re-examination of the Task Force charges in five years. The annual review should include an assessment of how many publications or research projects by people of color or about issues of race and identity were supported by the Council.
Charge (3): Recommend changes in current structures and programs or in the creation of new structures and programs needed to support members of color.
Findings: There is considerable confusion or misunderstanding within the membership about the status and function of the Caucuses and some other NCTE bodies established to advance inclusiveness. This confusion needs to be dispelled so that issues relating to levels of staff support, legal liability, financial responsibility, and roles in program creation and administration can be worked out. We believe that it is important that these questions be approached with a spirit of cooperation and openness, and that solutions are sought that meet the needs of NCTE caucus membership. Given that members of color comprise a relatively small share of the total membership, a need remains for a “sanctuary” or place/structure where people of color can gather and share ideas or concerns. It’s important for NCTE to celebrate the accomplishments of members of color, to reinforce a culture of accomplishment and to venerate the many contributions of teachers/scholars of color in English language arts education in general.
Recommendations:
13. Invite caucuses to engage in a dialogue about the form or structure that their relationship to NCTE could take (recognizing that they do exist and have value to the organization). Staff/EC should explain ramifications of different structural options—for membership, finances, identity.
14. Amend the charges for the Advisory Committee on People of Color and the Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English to make each of them as focused and purposeful as possible.
15. Ensure (through the appointment process) that search committees and review teams for products, program development, and publications are inclusive of people of color. In calls for manuscripts and proposals, invite submissions from teachers and scholars of color. The work of scholars of color should be included at every stage of publication, research, or product development.
16. Establish an annual (memorial) award named after a Council leader of color to be presented to a person of color who has made a significant contribution to NCTE and the development of our professional community.
17. Ensure that contributions of members of color are included in all elements of the Centennial planning and celebration. Encourage inclusion of the work and contributions of members of color (including pictures) in accounts of Council history.
Charge (4): Identify successful practices used by other similar organizations to recruit, actively involve, retain, and provide avenues for leadership for people of color.
Findings: The Task Force examined eleven organizations similar to NCTE in membership and/or subject focus, and found some common practices for the recruitment, retention and advancement of people of color. The Task Force also found new approaches to address the inclusion of people of color in member organizations. For consistency, ten questions guided the data collection from similar organizations, which focused on membership and governance demographics, programs and structures to support people of color, evaluation, accountability and effectiveness, as well as diversity messaging.
a. Who are your members? Students, professionals, others? What are their race, gender, and ethnicity?
b. What is your current representation of people of color in governance roles?
c. What programs, structures and statements do you have to promote inclusion of people of color in the organization?
d. What programs do you have to promote inclusion of people of color in leadership roles?
e. When did these programs and structures that promote inclusion and diversity come into being?
f. How do concerns about diversity determine where you meet and why?
g. How do you hold people accountable for progress toward meeting goals of racial and ethnic diversity?
h. Why is diversity valued in your organization? Was there an event or a triggering action that brought this to the forefront?
i. How effective have your programs and structures been? How do you know? How is this measured?
j. Other information:
It is important to note that a desire to increase the membership, active participation and leadership roles of people of color within education organizations is not unique to NCTE, but was evident across all organizations surveyed. Over the past two to three decades, there has been a growing concern nationally to increase the numbers of educators of color and the pool of culturally competent teachers for our increasingly diverse nation.
The themes that emerged during the exploration of similar organizations included targeted outreach, the use of caucuses or affinity groups, leadership institutes, and the inclusion of people of color as plenary speakers and conference workshop presenters. More work still needs to be done to gain a better understanding of the full range of practices employed for the inclusion of people of color.
List of organizations examined:
Approved by the NCTE Executive Committee on Wednesday, November 14, 2007.
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