Portfolio Project # 5

The student population in elementary education continues to become more diverse, yet
the ethnicity and gender of those teaching elementary education continue to be Caucasian
females.
Las Vegas is an extremely diverse city with a rapidly growing population. High
transiency rates within the Clark County School District cause for administrators and teachers to
not know what to expect in their classrooms and schools from one year to the next. One thing
that remains almost a standard, however, is the general demographic that makes up the teacher
population in CCSD and across the nation. Since before the American school system as we know
it now existed, Caucasian females were recruited to be school teachers. As Becoming A Teacher
states, “Though male teachers were preferred by the community, men were needed to work on
the farms during the warmer months. Thus, women were recruited as teachers (Lightfoot,
1978).” The trend of Caucasian females in teaching began in the early 1600s and is still present
to this day. The lack of diversity of teachers may pose a deterrent effect for student success
because of a teacher’s inability to fully understand other cultures and languages.
I am a product of CCSD and can attest to the fact that the cultural differences between
teachers and students can affect student’s learning. I never felt fully engaged in classrooms that
did nothing to include all cultures and accept diversity as a good thing. I experienced, throughout
my entire K-12 career, instances of not feeling understood by teachers and the school district. I
understand that recreating home environments is not possible or easy, but teachers should at least
understand that not all students have the same backgrounds or opportunities. The playing field is
not level. I also experienced discrimination in elementary school by a Caucasian teacher and did
not even know until I told my mom about the experience and she immediately reported it to
administration. Since I was at a young age, I did not understand why these things happened but
had accepted that I had brought it on myself. This harmed me, and I developed distrust in my
teacher for the rest of the year which affected my learning. Wariness towards teachers because of
their race was common. Legal segregation seems like it was a long time ago and a concept now
forgotten, but a present version of it now exists in our school system. Schools in lower-income
areas of Las Vegas service a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic students. While all public
schools in Las Vegas should be equal, schools in lower-income areas do not receive the same
quality of education those in higher-income areas receive. These teachers do not expect their
students to succeed and therefore do not hold their students to the same standards that they would
others, “Although reform efforts during the 1950s through the 1990s resulted in significant
improvements in education, data gathered during the first two decades of the new century
indicate that an achievement gap continues to exist between Hispanic, Black, and American
Indian/Alaska Native students and other groups on many measures of educational achievement.”
This results in Black and Hispanic students having the highest drop out rates in our valley. If
teachers were better equipped and trained to understand these students and their outside
struggles, their quality of education would be better.
 “When you become a teacher, your influence on the profession will be enhanced if you
understand and appreciate the historical context for U.S. education.” As a future educator, I will
be aware of these statistics, but I will not let them get in the way of how I teach. I will hold my
students to the same standard no matter their race, sex, or cultural background. I will, however,
extend help wherever needed and provide resources to parents that are not fully aware of the
school system in America and its importance. I understand the high transiency rates of students
in CCSD, and I will make sure that I am a stable and prepared constant in their life where they
feel accepted and supported. Being Hispanic myself, I would love to help fellow students fall in
love with learning and teach them the importance of education. I will be aware of teachers that
came before me, and not shed their ways of teaching but rather ask myself, “How can I improve
upon this?” While Caucasian female teachers do make up the highest percentage of educators,
this does not have to be a bad thing. The easiest way to improve upon this is to teach them how
they can be more understanding of students of different races.