Who Teaches Whom? Race and the Distribution of Novice Teachers

Using a rich data set from North Carolina, the authors found that black seventh graders are far more likely to face a novice teacher in mathematics and English than are their white counterparts (the differences are about 54 percent in mathematics and 38 percent in English for the state as a whole). This inequitable access to experienced teachers occurs within districts, more so than between them. The authors postulated that this inequitable access was a result of disproportionate pressure on administrators from advantaged parents to have their children placed in a more experienced teacher’s classroom as well as from senior teachers requesting to be assigned easier-to-educate students.