ECSU Magazine 2.1.pmd - Elizabeth City State University

Addressing the shortage of minority males in teacher educationECSU, North Carolina LegislativeBlack Caucus partner to host summitElizabeth City State University (ECSU) inpartnership with the North Carolina LegislativeBlack Caucus is hosting a national summit on “theshortage of minority males in teacher education.”The summit will be held October 15-17, 2003, on thecampus of Elizabeth City State University, ElizabethCity, NC.The purpose of the summit is to assist ECSU andthe state with its efforts to increase the pool ofminority males, particularly African Americanmales, in teacher education. The primary objective ofthe summit is to share approaches and strategies foraccomplishing local, regional, and state goals. Theoutcome of the summit is to develop a solutionorientedaction plan intended to identify, enroll,prepare, and ultimately place minority males in theclassroom.Research shows that to achieve a qualityeducation students must be exposed to a wide varietyof cultural perspectives. Such exposure can beaccomplished only with a multicultural teachingforce in which racial and ethnic groups are includedat a level of parity with their numbers in thepopulation. The fact is that American public schoolsreflect diversity in their student populations, but notthe teaching force. There is interest nationally and inNorth Carolina to increase the supply of minoritymale teachers to enhance the quality of instructionand student learning.In northeastern North Carolina (where ECSU islocated), the 23 Local Education Agencies report thatthere are 905 white male teachers serving some22,000 white male students while 392 minority maleteachers serve approximately 28,000 minority malestudents. At ECSU, there were 252 students whograduated with a B.S. degree in Education between1995 and 2000. During that time, only nine minoritymales (or 0.035 percent of the total students inteacher education) graduated from the ECSU teachereducation program. These graduation numbers aregenerally comparable to the other five minorityinstitutions in The University of North Carolinasystem. As a result, the summit at ECSU is anattempt to address this critical issue in our Pre K-12schools. Elizabeth City State UniversityhostsThe Summitto address theshortage of African American malesin Teacher EducationOctober 15-17, 2003In partnership with the North CarolinaLegislative Black CaucusFor more information, contactDr. Claudie Mackey at 252/335-3479featuresECSU MAGAZINE FALL 2003 5