REL Mid-Atlantic and the New Jersey Department of Education are conducting an applied research study to increase understanding of the types of changes 10 New Jersey school districts made to their hiring processes following a continuous improvement coaching series provided during the 2022/23 school year. The study will explore challenges districts encountered in incorporating hiring practices informed by the coaching, as well as how they addressed such challenges, and the extent to which districts engaged in continuous improvement efforts for practices aimed at increasing the hiring of teachers of color.

REL Mid-Atlantic and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) are working to build the knowledge and capacity of school districts to increase educator diversity through hiring and talent selection. The goals of the project are to build the capacity of state leaders to train at least five districts in the 2024/25 school year on culturally responsive hiring practices, bolstering the efforts of NJDOE to build an educator workforce that more closely reflects the ethno-racial diversity of the state’s student population.

REL Mid-Atlantic partnered with the New Jersey Department of Education to develop and facilitate a six-session coaching series for 10 local school districts, building their capacity to make data-informed decisions and implement research-based practices that promote increased hiring of teachers of color throughout the state. The sessions helped district staff create a vision statement, analyze their teacher workforce data, conduct root cause analyses, identify and implement evidence-based strategies for addressing the root causes, and develop a theory of action and implement continuous improvement processes to promote change in hiring practices.

Blog post: Why Increasing Educator Diversity Matters in New Jersey