Teachers of Color Project: Princeton City Schools

Princeton City Schools, located in Cincinnati, OH, recognized the need to align its educator workforce with the diverse demographics of its student body. As a result, the district’s strategic plan includes priorities focused on building a diverse culture and workforce. This guided the district’s work on their recruitment and retention strategies. Working in collaboration with their teachers of color, the district developed and implemented the SPECTRA—Supporting Princeton Educators of Color through Training, Relationships, and Affirmation—initiative.

This journey map offers a visual overview of the Inclusive Innovation process for this project. The project story follows below.

Connect and Commit

To begin addressing the recruitment and retention needs and potential strategies within Princeton City Schools, the district created a core team. The team was composed of both district-level leaders and teachers.

During the first phase of the Inclusive Innovation process, Connect and Commit, the team focused on building relationships and trust and elevating the voices of teachers of color. The team evaluated the community’s cultural wealth to draw upon in addressing their challenges. They developed a community charter in which they agreed upon values, goals, and agreements for equitable communication and collaboration.

Inquire and Investigate

In exploring the challenge, the core team, educators (para-eductors, early career teachers, veteran teachers), and district leaders analyzed data from surveys and empathy interviews with teachers to identify themes and root causes.

To elevate the voice of teachers, educators took part in a journey mapping activity to understand the actions, thoughts, barriers, and conditions teachers of color must traverse to become classroom teachers. District leaders listened to the teachers share their journey and learned about challenges that teachers are navigating outside and within their district.

In addition to the Journey mapping exercise, Digital Promise provided Princeton City Schools with analyzed data taken from empathy interviews to help analyze the root causes and to develop an informed understanding of the district’s challenge with recruiting and retaining teachers of color. From this deep analysis, the district developed a problem of practice.

Design and Develop

To address the problem of practice, Digital Promise engaged district leaders and educators in a co-design process called Design Studios to address the problem of practice and meet the desired outcomes.

• Design studios: Collaborative workshops where teachers of color and/or school and district leaders ideate, sketch, and develop design solutions for specific challenges or projects.

To guide the direction of the design process, they proposed three questions to ensure the effectiveness of the retention program.

• How might we design the processes, rituals, and events to build a teacher mentoring program that helps retain and support young teachers of color?
• What needs to be true about mentorship for teachers of color to be valued, respected, seen, and heard?
• What does it look/feel/sound like when mentoring is fully implemented?

Princeton City Schools teacher participating in SPECTRA in a group activity during the Fall Kick-Off Event.

Through brainstorming sessions, workshops, and consultations, Princeton City Schools generated creative ideas to support and retain teachers of color. Princeton City’s SPECTRA (Supporting Princeton Educators of Color through Training, Relationships, and Affirmation) Initiative strives to create a supportive community for educators of color, enabling their success in the district. By implementing a “grow-your-own” approach, the initiative develops talent within the school district, elevating paraprofessionals to classroom teachers.

Mission: To foster a sense of community, support, and interdependence to assist new educators of color in navigating the district and school settings so that they may thrive and be successful educators who remain and grow within the Princeton City Schools.

Objectives: To address the challenge, the district team identified four outcomes for this program:

• To increase the number of educators of color in Princeton City Schools.
• To recruit more qualified educators of color to get a variety and balance of educators of color in the district.
• To retain the educators of color we have
• To grow our own educators of color from within the district

Implement & Iterate

Throughout the implementation phase of the SPECTRA Initiative, Princeton City Schools organized a series of impactful events, each contributing to the program’s success in fostering a diverse and inclusive educator workforce. The Mentoring Program Launch marked the official beginning of the initiative, pairing experienced educators with young teachers of color at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. The district aimed to provide support, guidance, and professional development opportunities to educators of color, ensuring their success and celebrating Princeton City Schools’ commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

Princeton City Schools teachers participating in SPECTRA in a group activity during the Fall Kick-Off Event

The events held during the implementation phase showcased the district’s dedication to the Inclusive Innovation Process by Digital Promise. The kick-off event introduced mentors and mentees, fostering meaningful connections and setting the stage for a transformative journey.

The professional development session at the Performing Arts Center focused on cultivating self-awareness and cultural competence among educators, promoting an inclusive learning environment.

Through Zoom sessions, the initiative provided valuable insights to strengthen relationships between educators and guardians, ensuring positive collaboration to support student success. The midyear gathering at the Meritage Restaurant allowed participants to reflect, share successes, and reinforce the sense of community within SPECTRA, emphasizing the ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion in education.

The SPECTRA Initiative fosters community, support, and interdependence among educators of color. Recognizing their challenges, the initiative provides a support network to help them thrive in the district and school settings. By promoting diversity, affirming relationships, and providing the necessary resources, SPECTRA ensures that educators of color overcome obstacles and make lasting contributions to the district’s educational landscape.

“As a special education paraprofessional at The Lincoln Heights Elementary School for 3 years. I was surrounded by individuals who loved me and wanted more for me, and at the end of my 3rd year, they persuaded me to embark on my journey to become a teacher. Throughout my journey 4 years later, I have endured many districts, but none that provide love and support like Princeton has given me as a student, paraprofessional, and even more as a classroom teacher..” – Landon Zellers

Solution Impact

The SPECTRA Initiative has begun to yield numerous benefits for educators and students within Princeton City Schools:

Increased Representation: By implementing SPECTRA, Princeton City Schools achieved a more diverse educator workforce, better reflecting the demographics of their student body. This has shown an increase in the representation of teachers of color and an increased number of candidates in the teacher pipeline and within the district.

Sense of Community and Support: Through the SPECTRA Initiative, educators of color have found a sense of community, support, and interdependence. The mentoring program and networking opportunities have provided a platform for collaboration and professional growth, enabling educators to navigate challenges and thrive within the district.

Career Advancement Opportunities: SPECTRA has provided classified staff with bachelor’s degrees the opportunity to advance their careers through programs like the Teacher Licensure Cohort Program. This initiative offers mentoring minority scholarships and reduced tuition, removing barriers to becoming a certified teacher more accessible.

Partnerships and Outreach: Princeton City Schools has forged partnerships with local colleges and universities, creating opportunities for aspiring teachers from underrepresented backgrounds. Collaborations with institutions through programs such as the Alternative Resident Educator & Professional Development Institute have diversified the teacher workforce and increased access to teaching careers.

Explore the Teachers of Color Project:

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• Middletown City School
• Avonworth, Hampton, South Fayette