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One significant contributor to longstanding teacher shortages, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been an underinvestment in the teacher pipeline. Fortunately, federal spending packages currently under consideration contain funding that has the potential to help effectively address the school staffing crisis. Proposed funding would support high-quality and affordable educator preparation, an important tool for improving retention.
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The pandemic has exacerbated teacher workforce issues that have persisted for at least a decade. Because of these long-standing conditions, even small changes in teacher supply and demand during the pandemic have resulted in serious disruption for schools already struggling to fill teacher vacancies. Research points to ways districts and states can address the immediate crisis and build for the future.
Linda Darling-HammondLisa FlookAbby SchachnerSteve WojcikiewiczPamela CantorDavid Osher
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Advances in neuroscience, developmental, and learning sciences shed light on the ways that teaching practice must transform to support the whole child and cognitively complex learning. How can educators be supported to make these shifts? Research sheds light on the content educators need to learn about children’s learning and development, as well as effective strategies to support educator learning and capacity.
Linda Darling-HammondKevin C. BastianBarnett BerryDesiree Carver-ThomasTara KiniStephanie LevinG. Williamson McDiarmid
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In Leandro v. the State of North Carolina, the Supreme Court of North Carolina found that children have a right to high-quality educators. However, access to a supply of qualified teachers and administrators is increasingly limited and inequitably distributed across the state. Expanding high-quality teacher pipelines and training, updating preparation and professional development, and other strategies could help strengthen North Carolina’s teacher and principal workforce.
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The current staffing crisis in public schools is taking center stage in communities throughout the country. Long-standing teacher shortages, combined with COVID-19-related absences, are stretching schools to the breaking point. Policymakers need to act quickly and strategically to address the mounting crisis and build for the long-term. Research provides a clear roadmap to guide their efforts.
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A thoughtful planning process following the first few months of distance learning led one San Francisco Bay Area school district to rethink its professional development strategy for elementary math instruction. The result: More collaboration, alignment, and engagement among teachers and minimal disruption to student learning, even when the pandemic necessitated switching of classrooms and teachers.
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Teachers play a vital role in providing all students with deeper learning experiences that prepare them for life and work in the 21st century. In West Virginia, several key policy strategies have been identified to improve and advance the preparation of a well-qualified and equitably distributed teacher workforce across the state.
Conra D. GistTravis J. BristolDesiree Carver-ThomasMaria E. HylerLinda Darling-Hammond
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Teachers of color and Indigenous teachers made up 16% of the teaching force in 2000 and 19% in 2019. This modest increase would have been more significant if not for high (and growing) attrition rates among these teachers. This article from a Kappan Special Report examines why teachers of color and Indigenous teachers leave the profession and what can be done to retain them.
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Federal COVID relief packages have allocated more than $176 billion for pandemic-related education needs—the federal government’s largest single investment in schools. In a series of fact sheets, policy experts discuss how states and districts can develop, implement, and refine plans for these funds. Investing in workforce development, recruitment and retention is a high-impact way to support quality student learning.
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The landscape of the 21st century and scientific advances have significant implications for how we organize schools and student learning experiences. This article elevates findings from the science of learning and development to articulate emerging knowledge about how young people develop and its concrete implications for schools can be effectively designed to optimize learning, success, and well-being.
