The Circuit-Board Metaphor

54 percent of K–12 public school students in the United States were students of color or multiracial and 53 percent of secondary students identified as nonwhite, which means public schools are already majority minority (Riser-Kositsky, 2022; ThinkImpact, 2022).

Contrasting the heterogeneity of the student population is the homogeneity of the teaching population, which is primarily comprised of White, monolingual women. Over the same period that the percentage of White students decreased more than 10 percent, the percentage of White teachers did not change much, hovering around 80 percent (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020; U.S. Department of Education, 2016). The contrast could hardly be sharper.

While most of these classroom teachers are excellent, dedicated educators, it is reasonable to assume that more diversity in the teaching profession would help adapt to the growing diversity in the student population. Conversely, it is unreasonable to assume that a homogeneous teacher workforce can fully address the difficulties a growing number of students face as they try to navigate the education system, particularly at the secondary level (Robertson & Guerra, 2016; Santamaría & Jean-Marie, 2014). Such challenges include identifying reasonable options available to secondary students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds and planning mitigation strategies for obstacles unique to students from low-income families. Further, most public school teachers are not directly trained to confront the various educational and social inequities that exist in America’s public schools (Convertino, 2016; Möller, 2012; Robertson & Guerra, 2016). The net effect of these forces is that schools regularly face the monumental task of tackling topics like culture, race, economics, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, and other distinguishing characteristics that define individual student differences (Lund, 2011; Salvador & Kelly-McHale, 2017).

The diversity that characterizes public education will most likely become even more pronounced over time. Teacher education scholars Phyllis Robertson and Patricia Guerra (2016) noted that the White, monolingual, English-speaking student population in public schools is steadily declining compared to the rapidly growing populations of students of color who are not fluent in English. There are also contentions that high teacher turnover and persistent low expectations are more typical in the educational experiences of African American students and other marginalized groups than they are in the experiences of the general student population (Esposito & Swain, 2009; Reed & Johnson, 2010). At the secondary level, high teacher turnover can affect teacher quality and the ability of schools to offer advanced courses.

The education system’s inability to meet the ever-expanding needs of diverse students ultimately manifests as marginalized groups not performing well academically when compared with students from more advantaged backgrounds. Psychologist Gail Furman (2012) pointed out that the increased awareness of multiple achievement gaps and the deficit thinking present in school policies and practices designed to address those gaps herald the need for systemic reform. We believe that any reform efforts to alleviate these problems cannot focus on individual components in isolation. Rather, component parts of the cumulative problem must be addressed as a system (Gomez-Velez, 2013). The circuit-board metaphor can provide some insight into this dynamic.

The Circuit-Board Metaphor

Like other large and complex institutions, the public education system is a network of interconnected components working together. Instruction, finance, assessment, human resources, culture, climate, and professional development are but a few of the various components of any education system. Typical reform efforts and innovations focus on one or two of these components. For