A Place Where People Care: A Case Study of Recruitment and Retention of Minority-Group Teachers Special Issue: Partnering for Equity

The need to increase the racial/ethnic diversity of the U.S. teaching force has been reported widely. This article documents the programs and practices implemented at one university to recruit and retain minority students in the teacher preparation program through the Teacher Education Advocacy Center (TEAC). The goals of the Center are to enhance the quality of the teacher education program, particularly by supporting the recruitment and preparation of students from minority groups (e.g., linguistic, cultural, racial and/or ethnic) into teaching. The practices and programs of the TEAC model meet the criteria of the four "Cs" of recruitment: concern for the various aspects of the issue and readiness to tackle them; commitment by the highest leadership to the recruitment program; collaboration among all those concerned about the problem; and creativity in program development (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1987).