About this series: Inside NC's teacher diversity gap

In this two-part series, WRAL News investigates teacher recruitment and diversity in North Carolina's public schools and colleges of education.

Posted 10:00 a.m. Jan 24, 2019 — Updated 9:24 p.m. Feb 22, 2019

In this two-part series, WRAL News investigates teacher recruitment and diversity in North Carolina's public schools and colleges of education.

In part one, we analyze student and teacher demographic data for all 115 school districts in North Carolina from the 2017-18 school year. Teacher demographic data is hand-entered by school districts and submitted to the state Department of Public Instruction. The teacher data only include full-time employees who work 35-plus hours as elementary, secondary or "other" teachers. Other teachers include special education, art, music, band, physical education, etc. Teacher assistants were not included in the analysis.

NC's teacher diversity gap: 'Where are the black and brown teachers?'

In part two, we investigate diversity and recruitment at North Carolina's colleges of education and the NC Teaching Fellows program.

WRAL education reporter Kelly Hinchcliffe received a grant from the Education Writers Association to work on this series. She was selected as a national EWA reporting fellow last summer.

Hinchcliffe spent months gathering North Carolina school and college enrollment and teaching data, then creating and cross-referencing the information. With the help of two WRAL colleagues, she analyzed the data to produce the basis for this project.

She and WRAL anchor/reporter Lena Tillett traveled the state talking to teachers, students and administrators about the importance of diversity in the schools' teacher workforce.

Suggest A Correction