Full Title: Attention Rising Seniors! New Fellowship For Aspiring Teachers of Color * Nearly half of the nation’s students (44 percent) are students of color, but the latest data show that just one of every six teachers (16.7 percent) is a teacher of color. * Current trends indicate that, by 2020, the percentage of teachers of color will fall to an all-time low of 5 percent of the total teacher force, while the percentage of students of color in the system will likely exceed 50 percent. * In urban and rural schools nationwide, as many of half of all African-American, Latino, and Native American students do not graduate high school in four years. * As many as a third of students in the nation’s high-need schools have at least one or more teachers without even a minor in the subject she or he teaches. * Study after study shows that the single most effective way a school can improve students’ academic achievement is to consistently provide well-prepared, committed teachers. * Research also shows, overwhelmingly, that students of color perform better – academically, personally, and socially-when taught by teachers from their own ethnic groups.