LPI In the News

The Register-Herald.com by Sarah Plummer | West Virginia is not alone in having too many teacher vacancies. The U.S. is short 60,000 teachers, according to a major report from the Learning Policy Institute, A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S. Reasons for the decline, said lead author Leib Sutcher, range from lower enrollment in teacher preparation programs to high turnover. Turnover is exacerbated, said Sutcher, by putting untrained teachers in classrooms.

The Christian Science Monitor by Ellen Powell | Researchers at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) concluded that most policymakers are tackling the wrong end of the teacher shortage problem: Don't just encourage people to join the profession, they say, find ways to keep them teaching once they get there. Report co-author and LPI President Linda Darling-Hammond suggests that better preparation, mentoring, and improved working conditions would go a long way toward retaining teachers. This article also appeared in Big Education APE and Red Lake Nation News.

TES Reporter | U.S. schools are facing a major teacher shortage because of a lack of new recruits and high numbers quitting the profession, according to a major new report from the Learning Policy Institute, detailed in this article. The 8 percent U.S. attrition rates compares to 3–4 percent in countries such as Finland and Singapore, according to the report, which notes that “[c]hanging attrition would change the projected shortages more than any other single factor.”

The Hechinger Report by Jackie Mader | The number of minority teachers is increasing at more than twice the rate of white, non-Hispanic teachers, but minorities, most often placed in hard-to-staff schools, are still more likely to leave the profession, according to a new Learning Policy Institute report, Minority Teacher Recruitment, Employment, and Retention: 1987 to 2013. Retention is key to increasing the size of the minority teaching force, said report co-author Richard Ingersoll.

The Washington Post by Joe Heim | The first major teacher shortage since the 1990s could develop into a crisis, according to a new study by the Learning Policy Institute. Unless the trend shifts, the country could be short by more than 100,000 teachers by 2018, said study co-author Leib Sutcher. Enrollment in teacher-preparation programs dropped by 35 percent at the same time demand for new teachers grew, as districts reinstated programs and classes that were cut during the Great Recession. This article also appeared in Ad Hoc News, Albuquerque Journal, BCNN1, Carroll County Times Online, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call, News Locker, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, and The Times-Picayune Online.

The Courier | Northwestern Ohio educators cite teacher evaluations based on test scores, lack of respect for the profession, changes in retirement, an “assembly line” atmosphere, and increased certification requirements as reasons for a teacher shortage. The article ties Ohio’s lack of teachers to the nationwide shortage explained in the Learning Policy Institute’s (LPI) study, A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S., and quotes co-author and LPI President Linda Darling-Hammond. This article also appeared on WFIN.com in Findlay, Ohio.

Orlando Sentinel by Leslie Postal | Florida is suffering from a teacher shortage that is even more severe in some districts than the national problem detailed in a new study from the Learning Policy Institute (LPI). The problem will only get worse unless leaders take steps to reduce the "leaky bucket" of teacher attrition, according to the LPI study. [A version of this story by Leslie Postal and Scott Travis appeared in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.)

Education Week by Madeline Will | The country is “on the precipice of a dramatically widening shortfall of teachers,” according to this article outlining results of the Learning Policy Institute report on a nationwide teacher shortage. The article states that the trend lines are far from encouraging, though not all education experts are convinced of an impending widespread national shortage. Co-author and LPI President Linda Darling-Hammond said that unlike some other countries, the U.S. lacks policies to address the problem, “so we get these recurring waves of shortages.”

The Oregonian by Betsy Hammond | Despite the state’s larger-than-average class size, Oregon is the only state in the nation to rate more than a 4 on the Learning Policy Institute’s “teacher attractiveness” scale. Competitive pay, supportive principals and co-workers, and excellent job security put Oregon at 4.09 on the scale, which was based on surveys and data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Education Association, and Educational Testing Service. A version of this article also appeared in MyInforms and Big Education APE.

Miami Herald by Kyra Gurney | The Miami-Dade County Public Schools started the year with 150 vacancies, a concern for the district, but a happy situation for one teacher who had no difficulty finding a job. Leib Sutcher, lead author of a new report from the Learning Policy Institute, provided context on how Florida’s situation compares to that of other states.