As the influx of immigrants into the United States has risen over recent years (Kohut & Suro, 2006; Massey, 2007), and with this trend expected to continue, the cultural, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic composition of U.S. society is becoming increasingly diverse (Milner, et al., 2003; Wallace, 2000). Accordingly, the face of the American student is also more diverse. But, as the student body is becoming more heterogeneous, with only slightly over half of public school enrollment consisting of White students (U.S. Department of Education, 2010), the racial/ethnic composition of teachers remains much less diverse (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). As they begin their teaching careers, many new teachers have never attended school with, or lived in neighborhoods with, people of color (Larke, 1990; Milner, 2003). About 84% of the nation's teachers are White (U.S. Department of Education, 2009), and are often from middle-class backgrounds (Parameswaran, 2007), while only a little more than half of U.S. public school students are White (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).
