Diversity Spotlight: Call Me MiSTER - USF Builds a Pipeline of Black and Brown Male Teachers in Florida’s Classrooms

In the U.S., K-12 classrooms have a representation problem. For many states, the majority of public school children are students of color – however, only 20% of public school teachers are people of color and only 2% of teachers are black or brown men.

The national program, Call Me MiSTER, aims to change that statistic and hopes to provide students with teachers who look like them and who can relate to their experiences.

Many of its founders describe the experience being about “purpose” – something bigger than just an individual situation or journey – and that it’s about being able to give back and prepare the next generation.

Planning for an Industry Change

Founded in 2000, the program began as a collaboration between Clemson University and three private HBCUs — Benedict College, Claflin University and Morris College. Since then, it has grown and spread to more than 25 colleges and universities nationwide.

Dr. Roy Jones, the national Director of Call Me MiSTER, developed the program to break the school-to-prison pipeline for black and brown men. The way to do that, they decided was to provide elementary school students of color with role models who looked like them.

• • MiSTER is an acronym that stands for “Men Instructing Student Toward Effective Role Modeling.”
  • The line “Call Me MISTER” was made famous by Sidney Poitier in the movie In the Heat of the Night. 

The University of South Florida began its first cohort and chapter in 2021 and is now the only university to hold a license for the Call Me MiSTER program in the state of Florida. Dr. Brenda L. Walker is the Director of the program at the University of South Florida and has been in education for over 30 years. In her personal experience as a teacher/ educator she saw a disproportionate amount of black and brown children in special education classes. This led to her interest in the mission of Call Me MiSTER.

“You cannot prepare teachers to be culturally responsive if you do not have a critical mass of underrepresented group members,” she said.

The primary design of the program is to recruit, retain, develop and place men of color into teaching positions primarily at the elementary and middle school levels in public schools as well as special education.

In exchange, graduates agree to teach in local urban or low-income elementary school classrooms – at least one year for every year they receive assistance from the program.

While the Mission is about creating role models for students, the program also seeks to reduce racial prejudices through those role models, providing access and equity. The MiSTERS learn how to be leaders, how to give back and how to address the needs of the “whole child.”

Realizing the problem and finding a solution

According to a 2015 investigation by the Tampa Bay Times, in five Pinellas County elementary schools, 95% of black students tested were failing reading or math, making black neighborhoods in southern Pinellas County the most concentrated site of academic failure in all of Florida.

The USF St. Petersburg campus partners with the Pinellas County Public Schools to increase the pool of available licensed teachers from a broader, more diverse background. This partnership is an important step to building a sustainable model to effectively change the possibilities for students.

MiSTERs enrolled in the program receive tuition assistance for approved areas of study, an academic support system to help assure success, social and cultural support, assistance with job placement and the opportunity to attend a national summer conference with all the Call Me MiSTER participants.

• • The program provides full ride scholarships to black and brown males to study elementary education on the condition that they agree to return and teach in urban or low-income elementary school classrooms – at least one year for every year they receive assistance from the program.
  • The Call Me MiSTER program, including the student’s tuition, is entirely funded by private donors.
  • USF hopes to increase the number of students and expand the program to its campuses in Tampa and Sarasota-Manatee.

The results speak for themselves as low socioeconomic standing black and brown boys are four times as likely to be in gifted classes if they have a male teacher of color even just 1 out the 6 years of elementary school. The numbers improve when the frequency of black and brown male educators throughout the child’s duration is increased.

What can people or businesses do to advance mission?

• • Community Building – Financial or In-Kind Donations to Support – The USF program plans to add four MiSTERs per year for the foreseeable future. As such, funding is going to be a key component of making this a success.
  • Support Events for Cohort such as Annual Signing Day - The signing ceremony is a formal commitment among the University of South Florida College of Education, Pinellas County Schools, and the Call Me MiSTER program.
  • Professional Advising/Mentorship

Phelps is a proud sponsor of the Call Me MiSTER program and is dedicated to helping the USF cohort expand its presence and recruit more members.

Phelps Associate, Jeffrey Newsome was introduced to Call Me MiSTER by his mother, a Pinellas County teacher. “My mother has taught at one of Pinellas County’s target schools for over 10 years. Each summer she split a classroom with one of Pinellas County’s few black male elementary educators. Visiting their classroom and then reading the mission of Call me MiSTER put statistics—proving success—behind our personal experience,” Jeffrey said.