All Publications

Widespread media reports of local teacher shortages have become a hot topic in education since the summer of 2015. After years of teacher layoffs, districts began hiring again as the economy recovered from the Great Recession. This report analyzes evidence of teacher shortages, looks at national and regional trends in teacher supply and demand, and investigates policy strategies that might mitigate these effects based on research about effective approaches to recruitment and retention.

The nation’s population and students have grown more racially and ethnically diverse, but the teaching workforce has not experienced similar demographic shifts. This brief summarizes the results of a study of the recruitment, employment, and retention of minority k-12 teachers, examining the extent and sources of the minority teacher shortage and offering evidence-based solutions to addressing the low proportion of minority teachers in comparison to the increasing numbers of minority students in the school system.

Fewer young people choosing to enter the teaching profession and high attrition rates are contributing to teacher shortages. School districts throughout the country are having difficulty finding enough qualified teachers to fill open positions, especially in schools serving low-income students and students of color. This brief summarizes research on teacher recruitment and retention, identifies key factors that influence decisions to enter, stay in, or leave the profession, and offers evidence-based recommendations for policymakers.

This brief summarizes an analysis of the scope of teacher shortages being experienced throughout the country and discusses the causes and consequences of the shortages. Shortages are particularly severe in special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions. This brief also provides recommendations of local, state, and federal policies to support the recruitment and retention of a quality teacher workforce.

Considerable research exists on the elements of high-quality early childhood education and its many benefits, particularly for low-income children and English learners, but little information is available to policymakers about how to enact their visions of good pre-k programs. This report fills that gap by describing and analyzing how four states—Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina—have built high-quality early education systems.

During the 2015–16 fiscal year, states invested nearly $7 billion in programs for our country’s youngest learners. This fact sheet summarizes the lessons learned by a review and analysis of how states can design, fund, and manage investments to assure high-quality preschool. The original report looked at how four states built quality early education systems with strong outcomes. 

Read a summary of case studies of high-quality early education programs in four states: Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina. This analysis is based on reviews of policy documents, studies, and data in each state, as well as observations of programs and interviews with policymakers, program administrators, providers, teachers, parents, advocates, and researchers.

Do teachers, on average, continue to improve in their effectiveness as they gain experience in the teaching profession? This review of research finds that teaching experience is, on average, positively associated with student achievement gains throughout a teacher’s career, especially in collaborative school environments.

This brief summarizes the key findings from a critical review of the relevant research to determine whether teachers, on average, improve in their effectiveness as they gain experience in the teaching profession. A renewed look at this research is warranted due to advances in research methods and data systems that match student data with individual teachers and have allowed researchers to more accurately answer this question.

Loan forgiveness and service scholarships are two promising approaches to attracting and keeping teachers in the profession. This brief looks at existing research on these programs and finds that financial assistance that meaningfully offsets the cost of professional preparation can be effective at recruiting and retaining high-quality professionals into fields and communities where educators are most needed.