By: J. Cameron Anglum, Ph.D.
Amid efforts to improve and stabilize their teacher workforces, many states and districts across the country have sought to expand their recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups, including teachers of color and male teachers. The racial, ethnic, and gender composition of most districts’ teachers looks far different than its student makeup, especially as the nation’s student body continues its diversification. Fifteen years of Missouri teacher workforce data reveals some modest progress and continued challenges across the state’s public schools. On the one hand, the recruitment of non-white teachers has improved in many districts, doubling the statewide proportion of early-career teachers of color. On the other hand, turnover among the state’s teachers of color remains over 50 percent higher than that of white teachers, placing continued pressure on recruitment efforts. To the benefit of students and teachers alike, Missouri schools would be well-served to expand their efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented teachers, especially in the school and district contexts with the largest gaps between student and teacher diversity.
Key Points:
Recent research has documented the benefits of a more racially and ethnically diverse teacher workforce, driving improved educational achievement and attainment among students of color, especially Black students.
Whereas one in three Missouri students identifies in a non-white racial or ethnic group, fewer than one in 10 teachers identifies similarly.
Missouri’s public charter schools employ the highest proportion of teachers of color, though they also have the largest gap between the racial/ethnic makeup of their students and teachers.
Twenty-two percent of Missouri’s teachers are male, nearly unchanged over the past 15 years; male teachers work most frequently in the state’s high schools.
Over the past 15 years, the proportion of novice teachers of color has doubled, while the proportion of male novice teachers has remained the same.
Please Cite As: Anglum, J.C. (2026). What’s changed: 15 years of race, ethnicity, and gender trends in Missouri’s teacherworkforce. Policy Research in Missouri Education, 8(15). www.primecenter.org/education-reports-database/teacher-workforce-trends