70 CHAPTER 3 Diversifying the Teacher Workforce: A Retrospective and Prospective Analysis ANA MARÍA VILLEGAS AND TAMARA F. LUCAS The topic of accountability has generated considerable attention in public discussions of education during the past ten years. Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, however, the focus on accountability has become even more intense. No Child Left Be- hind requires that all students, not just some, make adequate progress toward meeting challenging academic standards, as determined by scores on standardized tests. This expectation, a significant departure from past practice, has profound implications for those concerned with teacher workforce issues. As part of its mandate, No Child Left Behind calls for a “highly qualified” teacher in every classroom in the nation. Meeting this re- quirement is particularly challenging in the context of the shifting demographics of the student population. During the past 30 years, schools in the United States have become increasingly diverse. In 1972, students from racial/ethnic minority groups accounted for only 22% of total K-12 enrollments. By 2001, such students represented nearly 40% of all those served in elementary and secondary schools. A peek at the future shows that students from all minority groups com- bined will constitute the majority of the K-12 student population by 2035 (NCES, 2002e; U.S. Department of Commerce, 1996). Histori- cally, schools have not succeeded in educating students of color 1 on a par with their White peers, as evidenced by numerous outcome mea- sures, including scores on achievement tests (Lee, 2002) and high school completion rates (NCES, 2002a). Although this achievement gap is not new, the growing presence of racial and ethnic minorities in Ana Maria Villegas is Professor of Curriculum and Teaching at Montclair State Uni- versity. Tamara F. Lucas is Professor of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University. They recently co-authored Educating Culturally Responsive Teachers: A Cohe- sive Approach.