Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention

Students need and deserve a diverse corps of highly skilled teachers. Expanding the teacher workforce to meet changing educational needs requires a retooling of recruitment strategies to attract young people and career changers to the profession who are well prepared to succeed. School districts and state policymakers have a role to play in stopping the “leaky bucket” of teacher turnover that exacts both a financial and academic toll on students and school systems.

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Research identifies a number of effective strategies for attracting—and keeping—a diverse and high-quality teacher workforce. Building on the evidence, districts, schools of education, and states are adopting innovative strategies to recruit and retain talented educators, including:

Policies and practices, including financial incentives, to make teaching careers more attractive and available to diverse candidates.
Innovative teaching pathways that encourage and prepare young people and others to teach in their communities, which research indicates increases retention.
Improved teaching and learning conditions, including access to academic resources and supportive services, skilled and supportive school leaders, and opportunities to collaborate and partner with peers and parents.

“ Teacher turnover is 50 percent higher in high-poverty than in low-poverty schools.”

Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis
American Educational Research Journal

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Key Elements for a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession

May 03 2021
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Decades of research have affirmed that teachers are the most critical school resource to advance student achievement. The key elements for a strong and diverse teaching profession include effective recruitment strategies, high-retention and culturally responsive preparation, supportive working conditions, and competitive and equitable compensation, as well as adequate and equitable funding to support all of these efforts.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention
Policy Playbook

Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession

May 03 2021
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The Partnership for the Future of Learning offers a set of strategies to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain high-quality teachers and bring greater racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity to the profession. This in-depth playbook includes examples of legislation and research-based policies, a guide to talking about teacher shortages and strengthening the profession, and publications for further reading.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Equitable Resources and Access
Report

California Teachers and COVID-19: How the Pandemic Is Impacting the Teacher Workforce

Desiree Carver-Thomas,

Melanie Leung,

Dion Burns

Mar 04 2021
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A year into COVID-19, critical teacher shortages may jeopardize the safe reopening of schools. Research from interviews with California urban and rural district leaders sheds light on sustainable strategies including high-retention pathways and financial supports.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Equitable Resources and Access, COVID-19
Blog

Eroding Opportunity: COVID-19’s Toll on Student Access to Well-Prepared and Diverse Teachers

Michael A. DiNapoli Jr.

Feb 10 2021
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Well before the pandemic, districts across the country grappled with ongoing teacher shortages, driven by both teacher turnover and significant declines in those choosing to enter the profession. COVID-19 has only worsened these pre-pandemic conditions, undermining access to well-prepared and experienced teachers, especially for students from historically underserved groups. A number of federal opportunities are key levers to strengthening the pipeline into the profession.

Topics COVID-19, Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention
Brief

The Importance of Teaching and Learning Conditions

Barnett Berry,

Kevin C. Bastian,

Linda Darling-Hammond,

Tara Kini

Jan 04 2021
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Teacher workplace conditions can influence the overall quality of teaching, teacher retention, and school improvement. In North Carolina, several policy strategies have been identified that create the conditions that enable teachers to work more effectively. These policies can help the state build a road map for excellence and equity for every student—and the teachers and administrators who serve them every day.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Professional Learning, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Educator Quality: Evaluation & Career Development, Equitable Resources and Access
Report

Sustainable Strategies for Funding Teacher Residencies: Lessons From California

Cathy Yun,

Karen DeMoss

Nov 12 2020
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High-quality teacher residencies have the potential to address workforce challenges, including teacher shortages, underprepared educators, and, when adequately funded, workforce diversity. In 2018-19, California provided seed funding to jump-start or scale such programs. Recognizing that state funding may not always be reliable, programs are also working toward greater financial sustainability. This report examines the current state of teacher residencies in California and strategies these programs use to sustain funding, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Educator Quality: Professional Learning
Brief

Sustainable Strategies for Funding Teacher Residencies: Lessons From California

Cathy Yun,

Karen DeMoss

Nov 12 2020
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With significant state investment, teacher residencies are spreading throughout California. Vignettes on Humboldt County and Fresno Unified School District highlight examples of California teacher residencies and how they are helping to address shortages and support both students and teachers.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Educator Quality: Professional Learning
Brief

Sharpening the Divide: How California’s Teacher Shortages Expand Inequality

Desiree Carver-Thomas,

Tara Kini,

Dion Burns

Nov 10 2020
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In the fall of 2019, hundreds of thousands of California’s students were learning in classrooms staffed by teachers who were not fully certified. Shortages vary across the state and by subject and are likely to be further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a number of policy solutions have the potential to mitigate ongoing shortages.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Equitable Resources and Access
Report

Sharpening the Divide: How California’s Teacher Shortages Expand Inequality

Desiree Carver-Thomas,

Tara Kini,

Dion Burns

Oct 15 2020
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The entire country is grappling with educational access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistent shortages of well-prepared teachers remain a dire concern, and are distinctly worse in districts serving the highest numbers of students from low income families. California has taken steps to address shortages in recent years—this report highlights the primary factors driving shortages and shares research on eight key strategies that can attract and retain well-prepared teachers.

Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention, Equitable Resources and Access
Blog

Raising Demands and Reducing Capacity: COVID-19 and the Educator Workforce

Tara Kini

Jun 25 2020
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We’re hearing a lot of conflicting scenarios and projections related to the teacher workforce come fall. Indicators of teacher demand and supply—including the number of teaching and other positions funded, the number required to deliver instruction safely, turnover rates, and the supply of new teachers coming out of teacher preparation programs—can help us begin to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the educator workforce.

Topics COVID-19, Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention

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Related Research

Research Related to Educator Quality

Jul 01 2015

In keeping with the Learning Policy Institute’s commitment to communicating high-quality research to inform education policy and practice, we have assembled a selection of reports by other organizations that address critical questions and issues in LPI’s core topic areas. This collection, which will be periodically updated, is part of our larger effort to provide policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders with useful information as they seek to advance equitable and empowering learning for all students.

Report

Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It

Aug 16 2017

As students return to school this year, many will be in one of the more than 100,000 classrooms across the country staffed by an instructor not fully qualified to teach. This shortage of qualified teachers is almost entirely due to teachers leaving the profession and about 2/3 of teachers who leave do so for reasons other than retirement. This study looks at who is leaving, why, who is impacted, and policy considerations.

Report

Diversifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color

Apr 19 2018

More and more states and districts are recognizing that recruiting and retaining teachers of color can help meet their students' needs while also helping to curb critical teacher shortages. But prospective teachers of color encounter unique barriers to entering and staying in the profession. High-retention pathways—combining high-quality clinically rich preparation with financial support—can be especially effective at reversing those trends.

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