Examining the Preparation of School Human Resource Officers on Developing a Racially Diverse Educator Workforce Post Brown

Given the rapid decline of teachers and school leaders after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, there has been an increased conversation on diversifying the educator workforce. However, this discourse has often focused on the perspectives of teachers and practicing leaders. Consequently, little is known about the preparation of human resource officers (HROs) who share responsibility for teacher candidate selection and hiring. Stemming from a larger study exploring HROs perspectives on diversifying the teacher workforce, this study focuses on 11 HROs’ views on how their formal education prepared them to hire a diverse educator workforce. Findings suggest that HROs did not receive adequate training in their educational leadership program on workforce diversity and hiring. This study provides programmatic implications for educational leadership programs that train school-based HROs and insights on the impact of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision on diversifying the school