Isaiah Johnson

“Auburn School District will elevate recruitment and retention of educators of color to achieve our strategic priorities and SEL goals. Students of color who have a same-race teacher show increased sense of belonging, engagement and passion for learning; decreased chronic absenteeism, increased family engagement and decreased behavior referrals (Gershenson, Holt, and Papageorge, 2016; Gershenson, Hansen, & Lindsay, 2021). Our one-year project will develop a strategic action plan for retaining and supporting a racially diverse and thriving educator workforce through four activities: 1. Focus groups with Educators of Color, centering their social and emotional well-being. 2. Conversations with our Students of Color (SOC), focusing on the impact the presence or absence of Educators of Color (EOC)has on their social and emotional well-being. 3. In partnership with SOC and EOC, align retention implications gleaned from listening sessions with district SEL goals. 4. Pilot a co-designed leadership community space that is supported and resourced by school and district leadership that supports the wellbeing and career aspirations of EOC. Two end-of-year impacts are expected: 1. Readiness to launch a comprehensive retention strategy in 2023-2024 that centers the morale and thriving of our Educators of Color. 2. Learning from two pilot practices as part of the strategy: a. An EOC leadership community that centers the thriving of EOC through identity-sustaining professional learning. b. A repeatable feedback loop of conversations with EOC and SOC to ensure that practices and experiences are effective.”