Target Student Diversity Case Study

to enhance students’ academic achievement is advantageous to the academic performance of students of all backgrounds, and for students of color specifically” (10). One such study, conducted by Stanford University, showed that math and reading scores improved for Tennessee students whose race was the same as their teacher’s, particularly for poor black students. Two additional studies published the following year showed black and Hispanic teachers could help black and Hispanic students get higher gains on tests than white teachers (2). The studies provide evidence that students benefit from teachers who are diverse. Following suite, it is reasonable to conclude that MPS students will benefit from its school systems leaders hiring more diverse

Goals, including diversity goals, are leveraged (by Target) as a tactic to measure performance against important company initiatives (11). This tactic has proven successful by Target, who boasts, “our total workforce is more diverse than the U.S. population as a whole, and 31% of their corporate board is diverse compared to an S&P benchmark of 15%”. (16). A strategy of identifying and publishing a goal is one way Target has been successful in growing its diverse employee ranks. Establishing a goal in diversity hiring and retention helped Target employees understand that diversity is important; there should be a focus of effort to improve the diversity of their team. Likewise, MPS should examine the population of individual schools and set specific goals to mirror the ethnic population of its student body. The goals should be published by each school principal to their administration and teacher staff. The goals should be reviewed on a quarterly basis to highlight progress in improving the diversity of the teacher population. This tactic will provide visibility performance of an important initiative, which is similar to the goal strategy used by