The Case of Teacher Tracking at Leon Middle School

Abstract

Derrick Lindsey, a Black teacher at Leon Middle School, has high aspirations for his career in education and hopes to become an outstanding teacher and transformative educator. He is enthusiastic about his job and passionate about his students; however, he cannot help but notice that there are some serious inequities occurring at Leon. Of primary concern is the long-standing, disproportionate assignment of Black faculty to less prestigious courses and White faculty to better-resourced classrooms in Leon’s International Baccalaureate program. The root of Leon’s issues begins to unravel as Derrick voices his concerns about the mistreatment of Black faculty to Principal Anderson. This case study explores the damaging effects of teacher tracking and asks readers to consider the consequences of these decisions on school climate and the retention of diverse faculty.

Keywords

teacher tracking teacher assignments Black teachers

Case Narrative

Although the warm summer sun beckons, Lisa Anderson instead spends several weeks in her office over the summer cycling through names in the district’s database looking for new teachers to hire at Leon Middle School before school starts. Lisa is not alone, however, as across the nation she knows many principals are similarly searching for the most highly qualified, credentialed, and experienced teacher applicants available. Her priority is to find African American teachers to catch up with her school’s recent demographic shift toward larger numbers of African American students. This proves to be a tall task for a number of reasons, leaving Anderson in a conundrum. As she gazes out her office window, watching a group of children running around the playground across the street, her mind begins to wander and she thinks about how she got into this situation.

Leon Middle School

Leon Middle School is a large middle school located in a suburban enclave within a large metropolitan area. Leon’s Pre-International Baccalaureate (IB) magnet program is attractive to parents across the district. The school enrolls about 1,100 students from across the region. The current school demographics are 60% African American, 33% White, and 7% Hispanic/Latinx. Leon experienced a major demographic shift in the last 5 years as a result of district rezoning. The new zones shifted what was an overwhelmingly White school to a predominantly Black one.

Most of the White students are from the surrounding highly affluent suburban area. The vast majority of the African American and Latinx students, however, are bussed in from the far less affluent neighborhoods surrounding downtown. In all, 90% of the African American and Latinx children are on free or reduced-price lunch, compared with only 15% of the White students. Another fairly recent change in the school comes in the area of discipline. Under Principal Anderson, Leon has seen a marked increase in discipline-related issues, resulting in the third highest discipline referral count of all middle schools in the large district. Also, Leon suffers from consecutive years of mediocre test score performance. Although the IB program is experiencing great success, the growing general education classrooms are suffering as a consequence.

Despite the shifts in student population, Leon’s faculty demographics remain consistent. The overwhelming majority of the teachers are seasoned White females who have been at the school for a number of years and have been with the school through the shifts in demographics. The most senior of these teachers primarily teach in the well-resourced IB program and hold a firm grip on electives such as band and chorus. Leon has five Black teachers in the school. Three of these teachers have been with the school since before the most recent student demographic shift, having taught at Leon as long as any of the White teachers. However, these teachers are strategically placed in classrooms that receive the most “foot traffic” from the “new” African American students—these classrooms are exclusively the general education, remedial, and special education courses.

Principal Anderson and Teacher Assignments

Principal Anderson is a White, female school administrator who transferred to Leon from her previous appointment in a local high school located in the central city. Although she is relatively new to the principal role, she already has a strong reputation for being “the disciplinarian.” Her plans for the school are simple: to ensure the discipline, order, and safety of all students. Commanding full control over the assignment of teachers to courses and classrooms, she plans to be very strategic about the process in an attempt to maintain order.

Anderson places her teachers in classrooms in a manner that she believes will be beneficial to the school. Given the many different discipline issues at the school, she places the Black students with Black teachers as much as possible. Anderson feels that this would be more than desirable for both parties, a belief that is bolstered by the African American parents in her previous school who consistently advocated for the hiring of more African American teachers. One parent even shared some research with her that provided empirical evidence about these benefits (Dixson & Dingus, 2008; Walker, 1996). This was fine with her because she believes this arrangement of students and teachers will also support her goal of improving the discipline issues she perceives. “Our Black students need more Black role models if we want to see them succeed. That’s research!” Anderson said in a recent faculty meeting.

This arrangement creates another dilemma, however. To match Black students with Black teachers, they must be in the same classes. Despite having the same level of seniority as many of the Black teachers, the White teachers in the school have retained tight ownership over the higher level and IB courses that the school offers. In response, Principal Anderson’s solution is to distribute Black teachers across the general and special education courses, where Black students can then be assigned. After all, she believes that assigning students to courses with Black teachers will meet her goals around discipline and teacher racial matching. She considers the fact that Black students may be shut out from taking higher level courses with this arrangement but dismisses the concern when she considers the other benefits that she sees as more important. Indeed, the enrollment of Black students in higher level classes has taken a marked decline in the years since she became principal at Leon. Furthermore, this scheduling change means White teachers who have been teaching in the IB program and who have been quite vocal about retaining these prestigious assignments because of the resource privileges that accompany these classrooms will be able to do so. Principal Anderson sees this arrangement as a win-win situation.

As a result of Principal Anderson’s scheduling preferences, five Black teachers at Leon teach all of the Black students on campus in some fashion throughout the day. This effectively leaves Black teachers excluded from teaching any of the honors and IB courses because there are not many Black students in those classes. This assignment also means that the Black teachers have less technology like smart boards and other curricular supports for their students because those resources have been funneled solely to the IB program. The Black faculty has been quiet about their concerns since the beginning of Anderson’s tenure, hoping their situation would eventually change and they will again have the ability to teach higher level classes as some of them had in previous years.

Beginnings of an Insurrection?

Derrick Lindsey is a seasoned, African American intensive math teacher in his sixth year at Leon. He obtained his master’s degree in mathematics education at the local university and recently renewed his professional teaching certification. The remaining Black faculty includes an intensive reading teacher, general English teacher, sixth-grade Dean, and an earth science teacher. All of them have more experience than Derrick; three of them are among the teachers with the highest seniority in the school.

Derrick and his other African American colleagues regularly meet in the faculty lounge to discuss their classrooms, students, parents, and plans for the week. It is 1 month before the end of the semester, and faculty reassignment letters were distributed in the mailroom that morning. “Anything new? Different?” Derrick asks. “Nope. Same room, same courses, same everything,” a fellow African American colleague sadly replies. “Yeah, same here. Is this all they think of us and our students?” Derrick asks. The group shakes their heads in dismay. This troubles Derrick as he feels that the Black teachers in this school are constantly being devalued. “We have to do something. I am not going to continue to deal with this nonsense,” Derrick replies.

Searching for Perspective

Much like the IB and elective courses, the White teachers at Leon had a firm grasp on all of the department head positions. These teachers were considered by Principal Anderson to be the most highly motivated at the school. Derrick attended his regular math department meetings on Wednesday afternoons. Given the recent conversation in the faculty lounge, this meeting was particularly tough for Derrick. As the conversation continued about state testing, Derrick grew increasingly disgruntled. After the meeting, Derrick asked to speak privately with his department head, Jen, who had been his mentor since his first day at Leon.

“Hey Jen, have you noticed some of the trends with the faculty reassignments here at Leon?” Derrick asks, plainly. “Yeah . . . I was wondering about that. It seems like everyone has changed or shifted assignments over the years, except you,” Jen explains. She continues, saying,

Well to be honest, I have spoken to Principal Anderson on a few occasions about her faculty assignment decisions and their effects on students. The reality is that we have seen a decline in African American students taking advanced math courses in our department. You’re a great teacher, Derrick, and I know that a lot of our students connect with you in the classroom—we need that expertise in our upper level classes, too. Despite my inquiries Principal Anderson has not budged on her beliefs. However, it may be beneficial for you to talk to her about your concerns. She may consider changing some of her ways.

“Thanks Jen, I think I will say something to her. I appreciate your support,” Derrick replies.

Immediately after their conversation, Derrick calls the office secretary to set up a meeting with the principal to voice his colleagues’ and his concerns.

The Showdown

The following week, Derrick along with two female African American teachers meets with Principal Anderson to voice their concerns about their reassignments for next year. Derrick explains,

We feel like these consistent reassignments to classrooms that are under-resourced and under-supported shows how undervalued we and our students are in this school. Furthermore, our complete absence from the honors and IB classrooms is great cause for concern, as it suggests that the White teachers on this campus are better suited for the more prestigious courses that get all the resources they need. What about us? What about our students?

Anderson replies,

Well, I respect your concerns and I promise you that I will be working diligently to get you all more resources. In fact, Jen has mentioned to me repeatedly how much she values your contributions in the math department. We appreciate all the hard work you put in to help our students soar. However, faculty assignments are solely my responsibility and I assign teachers to classrooms that I know they can handle in order to maximize student learning. These are non-negotiable.

After years of injustice and further disgruntled by her response, the Black teachers threaten to leave the school in search of other places that will find them worthy of better treatment. Anderson holds firmly to her stance on teacher assignments. By the end of the school year, four of the five teachers, including Derrick, had secured placements at other schools in the area. Anderson “the disciplinarian” was left to fill in the holes that she had created.

Principal Anderson’s gaze snaps back to her computer screen, and she continues to scroll through the list of applicants for the vacant teacher positions that she has to fill before the coming school year. She knows it will be important to try and hire teachers of color to fill the positions vacated by four of her Black teachers. She wonders if Derrick and the other Black teachers who left had a legitimate point. For the first time in her career as a principal, she considers whether she should rethink her approach to teacher assignments.

Teaching Notes

Derrick had big aspirations and goals for his career in education and hoped to become an outstanding teacher and transformative educator for his students. He wanted to see them be inspired just like he was not so long ago. However, the values of school leadership and his own personal values were incongruent, forcing him out of the school. Principal Anderson slowly comes to the realization that her beliefs and practices may in fact be oppositional to her goals of diversifying her staff.

This case study exemplifies the segregated and dichotomous nature of many of today’s public school systems. Schools are growing increasingly segregated as our diverse student population continues to grow (Orfield & Lee, 2006). These segregating practices continue as school districts have systematically become resegregated as a result of White flight (Brooks, Arnold, & Brooks, 2013; Cashin, 2004; Orfield, 2001). Within schools, there has been a powerful resurgence of second-generation segregation as students are disproportionately represented in remedial and special education courses, whereas White students are overrepresented in honors and advanced courses (Ford, 2010; Perry, Steele, & Hilliard, 2003). As a result of these trends, schools become socially reproductive structures that simply reify Black–White inequalities, typically beneficial for White students (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). Also, advanced programs like Advanced Placement (AP) and IB teach the students concentrated in them that they are superior to the ones that are not (Brooks et al., 2013).

More specifically, this is a classic case of inequitable teacher distribution and segregation within schools. The basis of this case study is rooted in research that suggests that minoritized teachers are systematically matched with same race students, in lower level classrooms, and in disproportionate numbers (Ford et al., 1997; Frankenberg, 2009; Kalogrides & Loeb, 2013;Kalogrides, Loeb, & Béteille, 2011, 2013; Loeb, Darling-Hammond, & Luczak, 2005; Pflaum & Abramson, 1990). This research further suggests that schools have historically done a poor job of assigning teachers to courses in an equitable fashion that is beneficial to both the faculty and students.

Black and Latinx teachers are grossly underrepresented in IB, AP, and honors courses within schools (Kalogrides et al., 2011). Research finds that regardless of experience and credentials, underrepresented teachers are disproportionately assigned the majority of lower level courses in comparison with their White colleagues (Kalogrides et al., 2013). This is also the case for Black students (Ford et al., 1997; Ford, 1998), who are often overrepresented in remedial education and underrepresented in the advanced coursework in their schools (Oakes, 2005; Whiting & Ford, 2009). There are a multitude of factors that often hinder Black students from enrolling in these advanced courses. Many culturally diverse students are underreferred to advanced or gifted courses by their White teachers (Ford, 2010; High & Udall, 1983). This can result from lowered expectations that White teachers sometimes have of Black students (Oakes, 2005). Ford (1994,1999) and Grissom, Rodriguez, and Kern (2015) suggest that the scarcity of Black teachers, who possess the ability to identify the often overlooked strengths of minoritized students, contributes to their underrepresentation in advanced courses. Other factors like curricular mismatches (i.e., lack of cultural relevance; Ladson-Billings, 2000) and lack of recruitment of Black students into these advanced instructional programs (Ford, 1994, 2010; Oakes, 2005) also play a significant part. As a result, Black students are often discouraged from and/or uninterested in signing up for advanced coursework in their schools.

Course assignment scholarship suggests that higher level courses are often seen as a reward for teachers with experience, credentials, or even preference (Bacolod, 2007; Grissom et al., 2013; Jackson, 2009; Kalogrides et al., 2011, 2013; Kelly, 2004; Loeb et al., 2012). In addition, research claims that teachers are assigned to higher level courses like IB as a result of being highly motivated to teach them (Finley, 1984). Finley also posits that these kinds of teachers are enthusiastic about the field as well as the content and want to develop courses of interest for students. These teachers go above and beyond the typical classroom duties through participation in workshops, district curriculum writing, and school administrative duties (Finley, 1984). Following this logic, the absence of Black teachers from the higher level courses implies that they do not have the enthusiasm nor the motivation that their White colleagues possess. This way of thinking by school leaders can lead to the further perpetuation of these assignment practices. Also, the assignment of Black teachers exclusively to lower level coursework can send the wrong message about their competence to their students, fellow teachers, and parents.

Black teachers in America and abroad historically have struggled with race-based discrimination in predominately White schools. Black teachers often are faced with symbolic consequences and isolation for being Black in a predominately White space (Griffin & Tackie, 2016; Kelly, 2007; Mabokela & Madsen, 2000). These effects include issues of role entrapment, “pigeon hole effect,” and boundary heightening impressed upon them by White colleagues (Kohli, 2016; Mabokela & Madsen, 2000, 2003). These problems force Black teachers, like Derrick, to constantly negotiate being spotlighted as the sole expert on Black students and Black affairs (Kelly, 2007; Mabokela & Madsen, 2000, 2003).

Some studies suggest that despite the credentials and preferences held by Black teachers to venture into higher level courses (i.e., AP), they are often denied access solely because of race (Page & Page, 1991). In the United Kingdom, Black teachers are often denied promotion to higher level courses despite their superior credentials and experience as a result of what Brar (1991) suggests is overt and systemic racism. Kohli (2016) supports this work as she suggests that teachers of color in urban environments get overlooked for leadership positions by department heads and other school administration, despite their merit. She explains, “Schools are fundamentally structured through Eurocentric hierarchies” (p. 22). The hierarchies that Kohli (2016) mentions work to disenfranchise Black teachers from assignment choices and privileges White teacher preferences. Other research posits that Black teachers’ identities suffer tremendously from incongruence with curriculum and pedagogical practices in an attempt to fit in with the existing culture (Castaneda, Kambutu, & Rios, 2006; Lee, 2013). According to this scholarship, today’s schools prove to be oppressive spaces for teachers of color. These forms of oppression hinder social mobility and prove detrimental to professional identities.

Derrick’s silenced voice in the decision-making process by Principal Anderson is a prime example of the disenfranchisement of Black teachers in many White-dominated school power structures (Kalogrides et al., 2011; Kohli, 2016). Derrick’s story is also an example of the growing disenchantment of Black educators with the field of teaching. Teachers of color are only 17% of the current teacher workforce that is currently dominated by White females. Even those modest numbers may begin to shrink further as Black teachers leave the field in alarming numbers due to their growing dissatisfaction with school management, intensifying the racial disparities (Achinstein, Ogawa, Sexton, & Freitas, 2010; Boser, 2011; Ingersoll & May, 2011).

Growing amounts of research suggests that current teacher assignment practices are detrimental to minoritized student success. Frankenberg (2009) explains that continuous teacher segregation practices contribute to further classroom segregation inequities for minoritized students. Clotfelter, Ladd, and Vigdor (2005, 2007) speak to the larger issue of Black students receiving a disproportionate amount of novice and inexperienced teachers as a result of being in more general and remedial courses. Understanding the powerful impact that teachers have on students, the differential exposure of Black students to novice teachers further reifies achievement inequities and gaps for these students in comparison with White students (Clotfelter et al, 2005, 2007; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005).

Contemporary educational leadership research makes attempts to explain the current practices of leaders in teacher assignment and even hiring practices that essentialize the influence of their personal belief systems, school culture, No Child Left Behind policies, other district policies, parental influences, and individual teacher leverage (Clotfelter et al., 2005; Grissom et al., 2013; Kalogrides et al., 2011; Mertz, 2010; Pflaum & Abramson, 1990). Conversely, the literature in this field suggests that leaders are responsible for developing and sustaining all-inclusive environments, where all constituents are involved in the decision-making process (Brooks & Miles, 2010; Horsford, 2010). However, some school leaders feel incompetent and are not invested in issues of school diversity; therefore, it is simply easier to segregate teachers and students based on race to alleviate their concerns about dealing with diversity (Mabokela & Madsen, 2005; Young, Madsen, & Young, 2010).

Although the contemporary context of teacher tracking is striking alone, placing these issues in a larger historical context adds an additional layer of complexity and seriousness. One of the strengths of the education system that existed prior to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was the Black community’s influence and authority over their schools (Anderson, 1988; Walker, 1996). These communities included faith organizations, ministers, business owners, and most importantly local, Black educators (Anderson, 1988; Fairclough, 2007). An unintended consequence of the Brown decision was the Black community’s loss of influence and control over the education of their children (Horsford, 2011; Morris, 2009; Tillman, 2004). The deleterious effects of Brown manifested itself in the systematic firing of Black educators (Hudson & Holmes, 1994) and injurious second-generation segregation practices within schools (Brooks, 2012). Furthermore, in the few situations post-Brown where Black educators were hired, it was to educate Black children only (Foster, 1998). The long-standing and continual discursive practices that have occurred since Brown disadvantage Black students and teachers alike. Given this historical framing, the assignment of Black teachers to general and remedial education courses discussed in this case can be seen as an extension of the segregation that occurred before the Brown decision and that has never been properly addressed. The experiences discussed by Derrick and his colleagues are one manifestation of this oversight.

The scholarship used to explain Derrick’s experience in the classroom draws from educational leadership, sociology of education, and statistical research on teacher assignment. Together this research helps identify a unique contribution to the literature Stanley (2016) terms racialized teacher tracking (2016). The gross underrepresentation of Black and Latinx teachers alike in advanced courses seems to be a combination of leadership bias, institutional racism and/or discrimination, internal school politics, and a lack of appreciation for teachers of color among other various factors. Unfortunately, as in the case of Derrick, this can lead to the increasing flight of Black teachers from the field. Given these and other issues, it is important for leaders to consider which factors contributed most to Derrick’s departure and what can be done to not only halt the trends but also make strides in reversing them for the good of the students in addition to the profession.

Questions and Activities

Students should read the case narrative and teaching notes to gain a sense of Derrick’s story as well as the broader research literature that supports this case and then return to this section to discuss the questions and participate in the activities.

Discussion Questions

Principal Anderson notes that one of her reasons for pairing teachers with Black students was in response to parent requests at her previous school for more Black teachers and research that touts the benefits of these arrangements.

Do you think those parents will be happy with Anderson’s interpretation of their requests?

Take a closer look at the articles that take up this issue of student–teacher racial matching (Dixson & Dingus, 2008; Walker, 1996). What nuances to the arguments made in this literature are Principal Anderson missing?

The case showed that the Black teachers had limited voice and control over the courses they taught. What could be the potential impact of these placements on their teaching performance? How might they be perceived by other teachers because of these assignments? Their students?

At the end of the case, Principal Anderson seems to be coming around on her perspective on teacher assignments. Assuming she is able to recruit more teachers of color to fill the positions vacated by Derrick and his colleagues, what are some things that Principal Anderson might do differently in the future to help retain her teachers of color?

One very clear consequence of teacher tracking is shown in the case, teacher turnover. What are some other detrimental effects of these practices?

Principal Anderson was adamant about her decision to assign teachers in a particular way. Should these types of decisions be solely based on leadership beliefs or should other constituents have input on teacher assignments? What are the pros and cons of these various approaches?

Do you think it is important to have an equitable spread of teachers across instructional programs? Why or why not?

If Derrick had taken a different approach to address the issues at Leon, could he have yielded different results? If you were in Derrick’s shoes, what would you have done?

As a school leader, what sorts of things do you believe will be important in retaining your teachers? Teachers of color?

Activities

Consider the ways your school might exhibit similar racial patterns with regard to the assignment of teachers of color. Identify areas of strength and those in need of improvement. Next, create an action plan that identifies concrete steps and stakeholders to include in a plan to address identified weaknesses and further strengthen areas where your school is doing well.

In small groups, discuss the racial makeup of your school’s teaching staff and the spread of teachers of color across instructional programs (i.e., honors, IB, AP). Each member should create a chart displaying the racial makeup of his or her general education, remedial, and advanced courses. Analyze the chart. Discuss among the group your results and ways to increase the presence of minoritized teachers in all programs.

In small groups, develop an intervention plan that could be implemented by the principal to end the current trends at the school. Consider what the principal could have done to improve Derrick’s experience. Create a 5-year plan for Derrick that would increase support and help him reach his goals as a teacher.

In small groups, brainstorm ideas for policy initiatives that could be written to ensure equitable teacher assignment patterns.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Darrius A. Stanley, is a PhD candidate in K-12 Educational Administration at Michigan State University. Darrius’ research focuses on the effects of race, gender, culture, and school leadership on minoritized teacher’s career trajectories.

Terah T. Venzant Chambers, is an associate professor of K–12 Educational Administration at Michigan State University. Her research interests include post-Brown K–12 education policy and urban education leadership.

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