The research on the recruitment and retention of African American students into vocational teacher education indicated that there was a need for institutions of higher education to take a more serious look at these efforts. This admonition was due to the continuous decline of African Americans in the teaching force, as well as a decline in minority student enrollments in vocational teacher education (Pratzner, 1987). Statistics also indicated that by the year 2000, the number of minority students in public schools will make up approximately 40% of school enrollments, while the number of minority teachers is expected to decline to less than 5% of the teaching force (Graham, 1987; Holmes, 1989). This lack of representation of minorities in the teaching force will have a negative impact on the success of all children in the nation'S public schools (Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, 1986). / Ed. D.

The public school teacher population of the United States is predominantly White, while the demographics of P-12 student population continue to grow increasingly diverse. Across the nation, there has been a call for the recruitment and retention of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers. The state of Oregon passed the Oregon Educator Equity Act, originally called the Oregon Minority Teacher Act, in 1991, and with recent renewed attention, the preparation of more culturally and linguistically diverse teachers in the state has gained prominence. Refocused consideration to the lack of diversity in the teaching workforce is overdue, as evidenced by the low numbers of African Americans found in Oregon's teacher workforce. Moreover, the experiences of African American teachers are underexplored. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the factors that contributed to the successful recruitment of African American teachers, specifically graduates of a teacher pipeline program. Employing an assets-based framework, a qualitative multiple-case design was used; data analyses included open coding of interview data, a constant comparison analysis of individual cases, and cross-case analysis. The predominant themes that contributed to the success of participants in this study included, belonging, accountability, and commitment to equity. While these findings, consistent with much of the literature on achievement of students of color, are not new, this study adds African American teacher voices to the existing research on the diversification of the teacher workforce. Additionally, this dissertation highlights successful efforts made toward recruitment of teachers of color with an Oregon lens.