Greater Rochester PLTI Advocates for Increasing Teacher Diversity in Monroe County, New York
A Case Study
June 2023
Author:
Dr. Wendy Y. Perez
NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
Members of the Greater Rochester PLTI (GROC PLTI) Core Team
Luva K. Alvarez
Tina Carney
Kimberly Jones
Muhammad Lloyd
Elizabeth Maxwell
Sponsored by the WK Kellogg Foundation
Website: https://everychildthrives.com
Acknowledgements
The research team would like to thank the core team from the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership and Training Institute for their commitment to advancing teacher diversity and racial justice in New York as evidenced by this case study. A special thank you to all of the Greater Rochester PLTI/Monroe County parent leaders and community members who participated in one-on-one conversations or focus groups for this case study. Also, thank you to the Racial Equity Peer Learning and Inquiry Community of Practice for your continued efforts to advance racial equity in your respective communities. To the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we are thankful for your generous support of this work and partnering with us to amplify the voices of parent leaders fighting for racial justice across the country. Finally, I wanted to thank my colleagues Dr. Joanna Geller, Anne Henderson, and Kate Gill-Kresley for serving as editors for this case study.
About the Center for Policy, Research, and Evaluation at NYU Metro Center
Our mission is to make research and evaluation for education that is action-oriented, liberating, accessible, and results in more equitable systems, policies, and practices. Recognizing that research is often used as a tool of domination, we believe in the reclamation of research tools to illuminate marginalized truths, stories, and experiences.
We pursue our mission:
- in solidarity with youth, parents, educators, and communities that have been historically marginalized by oppression;
- collaboratively with researchers and practitioners from universities and community-based organizations;
- using a critical lens in our work and in our own personal development;
- with culturally responsive quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods;
- through rigorous and thoughtful work that affirms humanity.
Website: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/research-evaluation
About the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute
The Greater Rochester Parent Leadership and Training Institute’s mission is to equip Monroe County parents with advocacy skills to influence their community. It is a parent-informed non- partisan democracy initiative that increases civic leadership and impacts parents at home and in the community. PLTI is committed to uplifting parent voices while training parents to become better community advocates. The ability to gather and learn from each other gives an immersive experience. Parents in our program learn about civics and strategies for community engagement within an intentionally diverse cohort of parents. PLTI believes parents are valuable partners, and their expertise should be welcomed and respected. Graduates of the PLTI program are heard at decision-making tables across the Greater Rochester area, such as school boards, city councils, county legislature, parent groups, and community-based organizations.
The Greater Rochester PLTI is a family civics initiative based on the curriculum of the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity-CWCSEO. This parent leadership and democracy best practice is replicated in partnership with the National Parent Leadership Institute.
Websites: https://greaterrochesterplti.org/ and https://parentswholead.org/
The Racial Equity Peer Learning And Inquiry Community of Practice
In January 2021, four organizations that develop parents as leaders, in partnership with the NYU Metro Center and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, committed to advancing parent-led racial equity projects in New Mexico, Mississippi, New York, and Washington. This racial equity peer learning and inquiry community is part of a broad body of work that began with the Parent Leadership Indicators Project. Using the Ripple Effect Theory of Change, parent leaders have explored ways to evaluate their initiatives and share the impact they have on their communities.
A ripple effect can be defined as a gradually spreading influence or series of consequences caused by a single action or event. This ripple effect action begins with stable, well structured opportunities provided by organizations that enable parents to gain civic leadership skills and networks. When these parent leaders speak out, their voices carry the authority of lived experience. They understand how gaps in social, health, and educational services limit their children’s future in critical ways. When elected officials, policy-makers, and community leaders listen to parent leaders, they become more aware of how their actions affect children and families. As public officials and parent leaders increasingly work together on issues and programs, collective action to improve conditions and outcomes for children gains momentum.
Case Study: Greater Rochester PLTI Advocates for Increasing Teacher Diversity in Monroe County, New York
Kimberly Jones is a parent leader and alum of the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute. Over the past two years, she has been part of a parent-led effort to increase teacher diversity in Monroe County, New York.
Kimberly’s son, Dayquan, attended Rochester City Schools, but had only one Black teacher who looked like him. Despite this, he always saw himself as a teacher. In high school, a program for aspiring educators mapped out his path to his goal. With strong parental support, in five years he gained an undergraduate and master’s degree, and professional certification.
The path from successful graduate to school counselor, however, wasn’t all smooth. His first-choice school district, though sorely lacking Black professionals, didn’t choose him until late in the hiring season. Then, after a strong first year, he got a pink slip because of district personnel cuts. Though he did land a position in a second-choice district, this experience made him question why he was chasing a career that guaranteed low salaries.
Despite these roadblocks, his commitment is still strong. For students of color, he is the model he never had in his school years. Like many other parents whose children motivate their civic activism, Kimberly’s son’s experience has fueled her commitment to making it easier for other people of color to become and remain teachers
This case study shows how a group of parent leaders—the Greater Rochester Parent Leadership Training Institute (GROC PLTI)—elevated the issue of teacher diversity in Monroe County, New York, secured meaningful representation in hiring decisions, and are collaborating with a school district and higher education institution to make meaningful change.