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Early recruitment into the teaching profession. Ongoing mentorship from high school to postsecondary education. Structured partnerships between PreK–12 and higher education. These are a few promising steps communities across the United States are taking to fill the large and growing demographic gap that exists between students and teachers in our public elementary and secondary schools. In 2015–2016, 51 percent of students in public schools were non-White, compared to only 20 percent of teachers.¹ The Latinx² population is the largest ethnic group in American public schools, making up about a quarter of the student population and expected to grow to one-third by 2027.³ While demographic gaps exist between the other non-White student populations and teachers, this one is the largest, with Latinx teachers making up only 9 percent of the teacher workforce.⁴

Why does this demographic mismatch matter? While the Latinx student population has experienced some positive academic gains, its academic attainment still lags behind their White peers. The high school dropout rate is higher for Latinx students than other racial/ethnic subgroups, and four-year degree attainment is lower. Research on student-teacher racial/ethnic matching indicates that one high-potential strategy for improving Latinx student outcomes is to increase the number of effective Latinx teachers available to teach, mentor, and support them.⁵

While research has largely focused on the impact of Black teachers on Black students,⁶ some studies have found that Latinx students who are assigned to a teacher who reflects their cultural, racial, and/or linguistic backgrounds experience an array of benefits. These include more positive perceptions of their teachers,⁷ higher achievement scores,⁸ and an increase in the likelihood of attending college.⁹ Other studies have found that Latinx students in schools with more Latinx teachers took more advanced placement courses and international baccalaureate courses than in schools with fewer Latinx teachers,¹⁰ and that Latinx teachers improve Latinx students’ aspirations and feelings of connectedness.¹¹

Of course non-Latinx teachers can effectively teach Latinx students,¹² and not every Latinx teacher will be equally effective at doing so. This is particularly true given the wide heterogeneity of the Latinx population: any given Latinx teacher may not share the same race, country of origin, language, and/or socioeconomic background with all, or even any, of their Latinx students.¹³

But research suggests that, overall, Latinx teachers are more likely to be well-positioned to support Latinx students’ academic, emotional, and social success than non-Latinx teachers.¹⁴ For example, Latinx teachers who share their students’ cultural experiences are able to more easily establish confianza—trust that leads to openness and sharing of information, and which is critical to forming authentic relationships with students and their families.¹⁵ And because Latinx teachers sometimes have experienced the same inequities as their students, they are more likely to be aware of school policies and practices that affect students of color and to advocate for changes, like implementing restorative justice practices to address school discipline or adopting culturally relevant curricula.¹⁶

Latinx teachers can often bring linguistic diversity into the classroom as well. In 2016, there were roughly 13 million Latinx students in public schools. At the same time, there were approximately 4 million Latinx English learners (ELs)¹⁷—making up the majority of ELs (77 percent) in public schools.¹⁸ Not surprisingly, most states report teacher shortages in bilingual, dual language, and English as a Second Language (ESL) in their public schools.¹⁹

While the number of Latinx teachers has more than quadrupled over the last three decades—from approximately 69,000 in 1987–1988 to 338,000 in 2015–2016²⁰—the rate of growth is still not quick enough to narrow the wide gap between student and teacher demographics.

In order to really narrow the demographic gap between Latinx students and teachers, more Latinx individuals will need to first be eligible to become teachers. This will require more of them to complete high school, enroll in college, and complete a bachelor’s degree. This report takes a close look at pathways into teaching for Latinx students and the barriers they face at each of these transition points. In the sections that follow, we explore how Latinx teachers enter the profession and examine the barriers along the way. We then profile three Latinx-focused pathways into teaching that are attempting to reduce those barriers. Finally, we reflect on our four key findings and offer five recommendations for policymakers and practitioners.