On Huffington Post:

This year, I consider my math classroom an anomaly of sorts. We have not one but two black males teaching 25 or so students mathematics. While it’s true that it’s my only math class (I’m a hybrid math teacher/math coach/data analyst/web designer), it’s also productive because the kids seem to respond in kind. In a CTT (collaborative team teaching) class, we have more room to differentiate for students and plan our day accordingly. Plus, the students get to see two adults in front of them in an academic role. Honestly, that matters.

And it does. To an extent.

But the studies about black/Latino male teachers to their student counterparts show a different picture. In a presentation by Ron Ferguson, Senior Lecturer in Education and Public Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School, Ferguson asserted that maybe black males shouldn’t be teachers but guidance counselors and mentors. At first, I was shocked. Then, I thought about classrooms across the nation and just nodded in complete understanding.

Black and Latino male teachers aren’t as effective as they could be just yet, and it has everything to do with the roles they take on in schools.

Read the rest here and comment.