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Low pay and high credentialing costs make it difficult to build a diverse, stable teacher workforce. Policies reducing student loan debt can ease financial barriers for teachers while improving recruitment and retention. Federal strategies, supported by state and local actions, can address these strains and strengthen the teaching profession.
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Teacher shortages are widespread, yet layoffs occur annually. This paradox stems from converging factors such as state and local funding decisions, fluctuations in public school enrollment, and the impending expiration of federal ESSER funds.
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Each year, approximately one in six public school teachers across the United States leaves their school or leaves the profession altogether, contributing to teacher shortages and costing districts considerable time, energy, and resources to find and train new teachers. The Learning Policy Institute’s updated calculator can help educational leaders to estimate the cost of teacher turnover.
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High teacher turnover undermines student achievement, and replacing teachers consumes valuable staff time and resources. This tool can be used to estimate the cost of teacher turnover in a school or district and to inform local conversations about how to attract, support, and retain a high-quality teacher workforce.
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Teacher shortages continue to impact schools and districts in all 50 states and Washington, DC, driven in part by financial barriers that prevent candidates from accessing comprehensive preparation. New AmeriCorps rules will potentially unlock a meaningful source of funding for comprehensive preparation programs and the candidates they prepare.
Ryan SaundersJulie FitzMichael A. DiNapoli Jr.Tara Kini
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Teacher residencies offer a strategy to simultaneously improve the quality of preparation and provide a long-term solution to teacher shortages. This examination of the teacher residency model looks to recent efforts in 12 states that shed light on how to fund and grow residencies.
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An estimated 400,000-plus teaching positions in the United States are either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments, based on the most recent state-reported data. Because of variations in state policies, the severity of shortages and access to well-qualified teachers differs greatly from state to state.
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Teacher shortages continue to be a huge issue in many states. Yet states differ in their education policies and in the ways that teachers are prepared, compensated, and supported. These differences can result in dramatically different levels of student access to a diverse, stable, and well-qualified educator workforce.
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Teaching performance assessments (TPAs) are used by many states to assess candidates’ classroom readiness—a critical mission for preparation programs and the state agencies that approve programs and set licensure standards. Understanding the relationship between preparation experiences and TPA success can inform programmatic and policy decisions.
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Teacher residencies offer an approach to address teacher shortages while improving teacher preparation. Through robust financial and educational support, residencies attract diverse candidates who stay in teaching. Five effective California programs yield policy recommendations, including strategies for designing and funding sustainable, affordable programs that support candidates.
