In a new report, the Center for American Progress argues that schools can have it all:  “Rigorous recruitment and thoughtful selection processes can achieve increased diversity and selectivity simultaneously.”

CAP recommends “improving recruitment for teachers of color, increasing teacher pay, using multiple measures for evaluating prospective teachers, and researching better metrics for predicting teacher effectiveness,” writes Barnum.

However, “some educational economists have floated the idea of essentially eliminating certification requirements” and instead carefully assessing new teachers’ classroom performance.

Between 2011 and 2015, nearly half of all states have ratcheted up testing or GPA requirements for entering teacher training programs. The raise-the-bar message has become policy, and teachers of color are the most affected.

At the same time, the push to increase the diversity of the overwhelmingly white teaching force has grown more urgent in the wake of recent studies.

“There’s clear qualitative and quantitative research that points to the added value for students of color when taught by a teacher of color,” said Travis Bristol, a professor at Boston University.

Barnum profiles a fourth-grade teacher in Baltimore who received high ratings, but may lose her temporary credential if she can’t pass a required test.