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A volume in Contemporary Perspectives on Access, Equity and Achievement
Series Editor Chance W. Lewis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
The field of education has been and will continue to be essential to the survival and
sustainability of the Black community. Unfortunately, over the past five decades, two major trends have
become clearly evident in the Black community: (a) the decline of the academic achievement levels of Black
students and (b) the disappearance of Black teachers, particularly Black males. Today, of the 3.5 million
teachers in America's classrooms (AACTE, 2010) only 8% are Black teachers, and approximately 2% of these
teachers are Black males (NCES, 2010). Over the past few decades, the Black teaching force in the U.S. has
dropped significantly (Lewis, 2006; Lewis, Bonner, Byrd, & James, 2008; Milner & Howard, 2004), and this
educational crisis shows no signs of ending in the near future. As the population of Black students in K-12 schools in the U. S. continue to rise-
currently over 16% of students in America's schools are Black (NCES, 2010)-there is an urgent need to increase the presence of Black educators.
The overall purpose of this edited volume is to stimulate thought and discussion among diverse audiences (e.g., policymakers, practitioners, and
educational researchers) who are concerned about the performance of Black students in our nation's schools, and to provide evidence-based strategies
to expand our nation's pool of Black teachers. To this end, it is our hope that this book will contribute to the teacher education literature and will inform
the teacher education policy and practice debate.
About the author
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Teachers College, Columbia University , USA
Chance W. Lewis, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte , USA
Ivory Toldson, Ph.D., Howard University, USA
