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TNTP

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Learn more about TNTP’s work through in-depth case studies: real-world education solutions that transform students’ experiences and outcomes.

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What's the Cost of Teacher Turnover: 2024 Update

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What's the Cost of Teacher Turnover: 2024 Update

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LPI

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Grow Your Own:  Preparing Teacher Candidates to Teach and Stay in Local Schools

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Grow Your Own:  Preparing Teacher Candidates to Teach and Stay in Local Schools

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edpreplab.org

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This brief from EdPrepLab and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) describes how UDC prepares teacher candidates to teach and remain in the local school system by recruiting local candidates and centering race, class, and culture in preparation courses. UDC's strategies include implementing research-based instructional practices and empowering candidates to address the needs of students and communities in DC through advocacy. Candidates engage in reflective practices to address biases, enhancing their preparedness and effectiveness. The authors explain how this approach not only improves retention rates but also ensures that aspiring teachers can steward the opportunities in today's diverse classrooms.

Citation

Burtin, A. S., Graves, K. D., and Yun, C. (2024). Grow Your Own: Preparing Teacher Candidates to Teach and Stay in Local Schools. [Brief]. EdPrepLab.

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Grow Your Own: Preparing Teacher Candidates to Teach and Stay in Local Schools

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This brief from EdPrepLab and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) describes how UDC prepares teacher candidates to teach and remain in the local school system by recruiting local candidates and centering race, class, and culture in preparation courses.

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Weaving Well-Being into Educator Preparation

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Weaving Well-Being into Educator Preparation

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edpreplab.org

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Laura Allen, Courtney Crim, Benjamin Sosnaud, Ellen Barnett, Jonathan King, and Joy Rushing

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Weaving Well-Being into Educator Preparation

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This brief from EdPrepLab and Trinity University describes the development, implementation, and impact of Trinity’s Natural Environment and Well-Being course designed by faculty members who sought ways to incorporate the benefits of natural environments and science of learning and development to support the well-being of teacher candidates.

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What Kind of Emergency Hires Do Well at Teaching

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What Kind of Emergency Hires Do Well at Teaching

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LPI

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Teaching Apprenticeships:  Here are 3 Models that Work

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Teaching Apprenticeships:  Here are 3 Models that Work

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DA

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Creating and sustaining a strong teacher pipeline is more important than ever, which is why colleges and K12 school districts are experimenting with apprenticeships, teacher residencies and similar strategies. The question is, what makes an effective program?

The Pathways Alliance, a coalition of K12 and higher education organizations dedicated to supporting diverse and inclusive educator preparation pipelines, recently shared a comprehensive list of 14 teacher apprenticeship programs along with explanations and insight into each initiative. We've selected three examples to share with you, but you can click here to view the complete report.

Ector County ISD

Texas' Ector Couty ISD recently approved its Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teachers, the latest "transformative step" designed to meet the rural school districts' needs. Apprentices work with experienced educators for an extended period to gain essential skills.

One of the most crucial pieces to this initiative is the financial support it offers. Apprentices' full tuition and fees are covered, allowing them to earn a bachelor's degree without the financial burden. Additionally, they receive a paycheck while gaining experience with the district.

"This initiative not only elevates the standard of teacher training but also represents a significant advancement in ECISD's ongoing efforts to recruit, retain and reward top-quality educators," the document reads.

Missouri State University

This university is home to the Pathways for Paraprofessionals Registered Apprenticeship Program, a unique opportunity tailored to special education. The program prioritizes practical experience, mentorship and a thorough understanding of special education practices.

Most notably, the program promises flexibility, allowing paraprofessionals to enroll in entirely online classes. Participants can also complete part of their coursework at no tuition through collaboration with school districts.

More from DA: Fighting false information? 8 ways to better spread the truth

Dakota State University

The Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway helps tackle teacher shortages by giving paraprofessionals a pathway to earn their teaching certifications. It's supported by the state's Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Regulation.

During their apprenticeship, participants continue their work as paraprofessionals. They do not serve as teachers of record, allowing them to receive adequate support and mentoring while obtaining practical experience.

Paraprofessionals can also earn stackable apprenticeship degrees. The program is structured to provide:

A bachelor's degree in elementary, special or secondary education over two years.

Virtual coursework at convenient times.

Mentorship from experienced teachers and university advisors.

"This model helps retain talent within the community and ensures apprentices receive practical guidance from seasoned professionals," the report asserts.

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Teaching apprenticeships: Here are 3 models that work

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Learn from these innovative strategies that blend K12 and higher education to fuel a new wave of teaching apprenticeships.

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Trust for Learning

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Diversifying the Teacher Workforce:  Promising Strategies from the Regional Educational Laboratories and Comprehensive Centers

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Diversifying the Teacher Workforce:  Promising Strategies from the Regional Educational Laboratories and Comprehensive Centers

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REL

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Equitable and Inclusive Hiring Practices:  A Reference Guide of Strategies to Grow and Diversify the Educator Workforce

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Equitable and Inclusive Hiring Practices:  A Reference Guide of Strategies to Grow and Diversify the Educator Workforce

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RIDE Rhode Island Department of Education & Comprehensive Center Network

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Strengthening Pathways Into the Teaching Profession in Texas

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Strengthening Pathways Into the Teaching Profession in Texas

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LPI

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AIR

# data[].attributes.headline
Strengthening Pathways into the Teaching Profession in Texas

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Strengthening Pathways into the Teaching Profession in Texas

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Learning Policy Institute

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Advocating for Actionable Data on Equitable Access to High-Quality Teachers

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Advocating for Actionable Data on Equitable Access to High-Quality Teachers

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National Council on Teacher Quality

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Supporting a More Diverse Teacher Workforce:  Research and Promising Approaches Efforts in Colorado

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Supporting a More Diverse Teacher Workforce:  Research and Promising Approaches Efforts in Colorado

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REL Central

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REL Central Supporting a More Diverse Teacher Workforce

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LPI

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Using Data to Understand Teacher Retention in Minnesota

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Using Data to Understand Teacher Retention in Minnesota

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ednote.esc.org

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Data collection can be a powerful tool for policymakers in crafting and implementing targeted, effective and sustainable policy solutions. In Minnesota, the Department of Education and the Professional Educator Licensure and Standards Board are leveraging available data and expanding data collection in an effort to improve statewide teacher recruitment and retention.

We recently talked with Yelena Bailey, director of education policy at the Professional Educator Licensure and Standards Board; Greg Keith, director of school and educator support at the Minnesota Department of Education; and Tyler Livingston, supervisor of educator workforce programs at the Minnesota Department of Education to gain a better understanding of the state's teacher recruitment and retention efforts.

The Minnesota Department of Education and Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board work together on many of the state's teacher recruitment and retention efforts. One such effort is the state's teacher retention survey (the Minnesota Survey of Preparation, Insight and Retention, or MNSPIRE) that is being administered for the first time this year.

Historically, these organizations collect data on a range of topics related to teacher recruitment and retention, including the biennial Supply and Demand report. This report includes data on teacher attrition by cohort, information on teacher shortages and unfilled positions, the tiered licensure system and information on teacher preparation programs. The state has additional publicly available data on licensure and compliance, licensure exams and teacher preparation programs.

According to the most recent data available, Minnesota had 112,860 licensed teachers in the 2021-22 school year. However, based on the most recent Licensure Compliance Report, only 71,902 teachers were working in schools during 2021-22, including related services providers and noninstructional assignments. The MNSPIRE survey will help state policymakers better understand how many teachers in the state start in the classroom and ultimately transition out, as opposed to individuals who become licensed but never enter the profession.

In recently reported results from MNSPIRE, 72% of respondents reported currently working in a public school district or charter school in Minnesota. Of the respondents who reported not currently working in public education, about half reported working in education in another capacity - including in private schools or as an administrator. Another 25% of respondents not currently employed in public education indicated that they were changing career fields.

About 30% of respondents indicated that school climate is a top reason they left the teaching profession, followed by 16% who chose a lack of academic freedom, economic reasons and/or standardized testing among their top reasons for leaving. Across the open responses on the survey, respondents consistently discussed a desire to reduce "teacher burden" in order to retain teachers, including increasing pay and benefits, examining administrative tasks and reducing work hours.

Similar to our conversation with Joan Johnson and Meg Homer with the Virginia Department of Education, all three individuals in Minnesota mentioned a need for a greater focus on teacher retention from the state level.

"We often address the symptom of the problem, but not the problem itself," one of the individuals mentioned, adding, "Identifying why teachers are leaving systemically would be helpful." While this is the first year it has been administered, the teacher retention survey may be one way for Minnesota state policymakers to begin this conversation and explore targeted, effective and sustainable policy solutions for their state.

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Using Data to Understand Teacher Retention in Minnesota

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Data collection can be a powerful tool for policymakers in crafting and implementing targeted, effective and sustainable policy solutions. In Minnesota, the Department of Education and the Professional Educator Licensure and Standards Board are leveraging available data and expanding data collection in an effort to improve statewide teacher recruitment and retention.

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How Region 2 States Are Leveraging Innovative Strategies to Address Critical Shortages of Educational Personnel

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How Region 2 States Are Leveraging Innovative Strategies to Address Critical Shortages of Educational Personnel

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WestEd

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State Policy Levers to Address Teacher Shortages

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State Policy Levers to Address Teacher Shortages

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Education Commission of the States

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Learning Policy Institute

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Tackling Teacher Shortages: What Can States and Districts Do?

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COVID-19 is intensifying long-standing teacher and other staffing shortages. Policymakers need to act quickly and strategically to address the mounting crisis and build for the long-term.

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How to Convince People to Become Teachers

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How to Convince People to Become Teachers

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Fast Company

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How to convince people to become teachers

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People pursue teaching because they want to make a difference, how do you convince them it's still possible after two pandemic-worn years?

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New Threat to COVID Era Education:  Black and Latino Teachers are Leaving the Profession

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New Threat to COVID Era Education:  Black and Latino Teachers are Leaving the Profession

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Los Angeles Times

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New threat to COVID-era education: Black and Latino teachers are leaving the profession

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California schools serving low-income students have taken hits during the pandemic. Now, teachers of color are exiting at higher rates than white teachers.

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The Irreplaceables:  Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools

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The Irreplaceables:  Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools

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TNTP

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Planning Stay Conversations with Teachers

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Planning Stay Conversations with Teachers

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TNTP

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Highlighting Exemplar Practices:  Sample Email

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Highlighting Exemplar Practices:  Sample Email

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TNTP

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How a 30 Second Survey Can Help Schools Retain Teachers

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How a 30 Second Survey Can Help Schools Retain Teachers

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TNTP

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Is a "great resignation" of teachers on the horizon?

It's a question weighing heavily on the minds of school and district leaders. While there's no evidence of an uptick in teacher resignations so far this year, an alarming number of teachers say they're thinking about quitting-the result of added stress from the pandemic exacerbating longstanding concerns about pay, working conditions, and teaching's entire value proposition.

The good news is that school leaders have a lot of agency in teacher retention, even during difficult times: in our recent guide to addressing teacher shortages, we shared several proven, low- or no-cost strategies that can encourage wavering teachers to stay.

But how can leaders identify the teachers most at risk of quitting in the first place? The answer may be as simple as a 30-second survey.

We recently partnered with Edgewood Independent School District-which serves almost 10,000 students across 20 schools in San Antonio, Texas-to implement a "pulse check" survey providing actionable, real-time information about teachers' experiences and the support they need to feel better about their jobs.

It's no accident that the Pulse Check's first question resembles the emoji kiosks you've encountered in airport terminals and IKEA checkout lines: these tools have a proven track record of collecting actionable, bite-sized feedback.

Teachers in Edgewood received this prompt by email every other week. Their response opened a link that asks three targeted questions, which take only about 30 seconds to answer:

How are you feeling about your work?

Is there anything you'd like to share about how you're feeling or how your work is going?

What supports/resources would make work easier for you?

Next, in near real-time, we fed the responses into dashboards for principals and district leaders that offer insights and trends on teachers' current experiences by school, grade, subject area, race or ethnicity, and tenure in the district. The result was timely, actionable data on what could help teachers feel better about their jobs-whether it's repairing a broken projector, clearer communication about testing timelines, or bigger issues like workload reduction.

Just as importantly, each small response to the Pulse Check paints a bigger picture that can help predict whether specific teachers will return to their school next year. As you might expect, teachers in Edgewood who indicated dissatisfaction with their jobs were more likely to leave-50 percent of teachers who reported they were struggling at least five times on the Pulse Check left at the end of the year, compared to only 17 percent who responded positively at least five times. But an even stronger predictor of retention was teachers' willingness to respond at all. Overall, 58 percent of teachers who didn't respond even once to the Pulse Check left at the end of the year.

All of this points to a clear takeaway for principals: simply asking how teachers are doing, regularly and consistently, can offer valuable insights for boosting teacher retention at a time when it's never been more important. Focus on addressing any concerns teachers raise-but focus even more on teachers who don't say anything at all.

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How a 30-Second Survey Can Help Schools Retain Teachers

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Is a "great resignation" of teachers on the horizon? It's a question weighing heavily on the minds of school and district leaders. While there's no evidence of an uptick in teacher resignations so far this year, an alarming number of teachers say they're thinking about quitting-the result of added stress from the pandemic exacerbating longstanding concerns about pay, working conditions, and teaching's entire value proposition.

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Addressing Teacher Shortages in the Short and Long Term:  What States and Districts Can Do

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Addressing Teacher Shortages in the Short and Long Term:  What States and Districts Can Do

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The Education Trust

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A Coming Crisis in Teaching?  Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S.

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A Coming Crisis in Teaching?  Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S.

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Learning Policy Institute

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Teacher Shortages During the Pandemic:  How California Districts are Responding

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Teacher Shortages During the Pandemic:  How California Districts are Responding

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Learning Policy Institute

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Inequitable Opportunity to Learn:  Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers

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Inequitable Opportunity to Learn:  Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers

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Learning Policy Instittute

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Tackling Teacher Turnover with Instructional Coaching

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Tackling Teacher Turnover with Instructional Coaching

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Better Lesson

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Understanding Teacher Compensation:  A State-by-State Analysis

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Understanding Teacher Compensation:  A State-by-State Analysis

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Learning Policy Institute

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Addressing Staffing Shortages through an Equity Lens

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Addressing Staffing Shortages through an Equity Lens

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Alliance for Resource Equity

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Analysis:  Study of 6 'Grow Your Own' Teacher Prep Programs Shows How They Can Improve Diversity of the Workforce

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Analysis:  Study of 6 'Grow Your Own' Teacher Prep Programs Shows How They Can Improve Diversity of the Workforce

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The 74

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America's teaching workforce is overwhelmingly white. But as pandemic stresses add up and a tight labor market offers other options, it's Black and Hispanic educators who are substantially more likely to say they plan to leave the profession, threatening to exacerbate this lack of diversity.

The mismatch between a homogenous pool of teachers and an increasingly diverse student body has only gotten worse over time. In the 1999-2000 school year, 38 percent of public school students identified as people of color, compared with just 16 percent of teachers. In 2017-18, more than half of students were people of color, but the share of teachers of color remained stubbornly low, at 21 percent. This is a troubling trend, particularly since students of color benefit from having access to teachers who look like them. Their test scores, graduation rates and college-going all improve with no adverse effects on white students.

And yet, people of color aren't being recruited into teaching - at least, not at the pace needed. But our research shows that local, " grow your own " alternative teacher preparation programs can help to strengthen the diversity of the teaching workforce, as well as enable districts to address broader staffing challenges.

We studied six alternative teacher preparation programs in U.S. urban school districts that serve substantial numbers of low-income students and students of color. (The specific districts were kept anonymous in our report to ensure the confidentiality of research participants.) The programs were designed and administered by the organization TNTP in partnership with the local districts.

In every case, these programs recruited more people of color into teaching than the districts' other recruitment efforts typically did. On average, across all the programs, the TNTP recruits were 52 percent people of color, compared with 43 percent for other new teachers. In one program in Massachusetts that was particularly successful, 44 percent of the TNTP recruits were individuals of color, compared with just 21 percent for the district's other new teachers.

Overall, the TNTP effort added 74 more teachers of color than might otherwise have been hired just in those six districts. Teachers recruited by the TNTP programs were also at least as effective - and in some cases more so - at raising student achievement as other new teachers.

Each of these programs set out to enhance the racial, and in some cases gender, diversity of the recruitment pool. They were most effective when they accomplished three things:

Lowering costs for teacher trainees. This residency-style pathway into teaching included a summer training program, after which candidates entered classrooms as paid teachers while receiving coaching and in-person training. Tuition paid to the TNTP programs was significantly lower than is typical for a university degree program, and some trainees received stipends for their summer work as well. Across every program that we studied, aspiring teachers of color described how reducing costs in both time and money were essential to their decisions to enter the profession.

Recruiting from the community. School staff in non-teaching roles, such as teachers' aides, are more than twice as diverse (around 39 percent non-white nationally) as teachers. The programs reported that recruiting individuals already working in schools was critical to their success. Another successful strategy was stepping up outreach to nearby minority communities, often partnering with community and nonprofit organizations or creating targeted marketing campaigns.

Help with licensing. The tests to get a teaching license are known to disproportionately screen out minorities, even as they are imprecise predictors of teacher quality. To work around this barrier, one TNTP program set earlier application deadlines and provided accepted candidates with intensive test preparation, bolstering their chances of passing even before the start of the summer training program. Another program took advantage of state rules that allowed principals to request waivers of test requirements on a case-by-case basis. That gave promising candidates who had not yet passed the tests more opportunities to do so during their first year in the classroom.

Our research findings illustrate that there are effective ways around the hurdles that have been keeping otherwise interested people of color from becoming teachers. "Grow your own" programs can widen the pathway into the teaching profession to help ensure that the teaching workforce better reflects the diversity of the students it serves.
Benjamin Master is a policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation who focuses on human capital development and management in K-12 schools. Christopher Doss is a quantitative researcher at RAND who specializes in fielding causal and descriptive studies in education.
Submit a Letter to the Editor

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Analysis: Study of 6 'Grow Your Own' Teacher Prep Programs Shows How They Can Improve the Diversity of the Workforce

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America's teaching workforce is overwhelmingly white. But as pandemic stresses add up and a tight labor market offers other options, it's Black and Hispanic educators who are substantially more likely to say they plan to leave the profession, threatening to exacerbate this lack of diversity.

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Creating a District Plan to Increase the Racial, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity of Your Educator Workforce

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Creating a District Plan to Increase the Racial, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity of Your Educator Workforce

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Connecticut Department of Education

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Educator Diversity:  Why It Matters and How to Make It Happen

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Educator Diversity:  Why It Matters and How to Make It Happen

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The Education TTrust

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The sad fact is that educator diversity in our nation's public schools does not reflect the rising diversity of our student population. More than 50% of American students are people of color. Yet fewer than 20% of teachers are people of color - and that number hasn't budged in decades. One study of Black elementary school students in North Carolina found that 50% of them did not have a single Black teacher. And the representation gap is particularly glaring for Latinos, who make up more than 25% of U.S. students, but fewer than 10% of teachers.

In their forthcoming edited volume, "Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers," Conra Gist, an associate professor of education at the University of Houston, and Travis Bristol, an associate professor of education at the University of California at Berkeley, highlight the mountain of research on the benefits of having an ethnoracially and culturally diverse teacher workforce for all P-12 students, but particularly for students of color, who tend to thrive in classrooms led by teachers who share their racial and cultural backgrounds. Improved academic outcomes, lower suspension rates, and higher graduation rates are among the favorable outcomes that students get from exposure to teachers who share their racial and ethnic background. By embracing policies, practices, and programs that improve retainment of teachers of color and open new avenues into the profession, including Grow Your Own programs, state and district leaders can diversify their educator workforces and boost student outcomes.

As state and district leaders hire more educators of color into a still predominately White workforce, professional development and teacher support programs will need to adapt to reflect the growing diversity of the profession. Engagement in critical and racial literacy and teacher-led learning are key to creating a healthy racial climate in schools.

Educator diversity must be centered in every conversation about educational excellence from pre-K through high school graduation, and not merely a part of state and district leaders' strategic plans. To address this issue, the editors of "The Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers" partnered with The Education Trust to develop a webinar and blog series to help disseminate research on the positive effects of teacher diversity to practitioner and policy audiences.

The first two webinars spotlight a special issue of Phi Delta Kappan, a professional journal for educators, featuring 11 research briefs and 11 teacher testimonies on educator diversity across the teacher development continuum - in recruitment, preparation, mentorship, human resource development, professional development, pedagogical and leadership practices, intersectionality, educational impact, retention, and policy, as well as at minority serving institutions.

We encourage state and district leaders and advocates to watch the full webinar series and help ensure that school systems are embracing best practices for fostering diverse learning environments and supporting educators of color. We also urge education leaders and advocates to read the upcoming blog series, in which scholars will suggest ways that schools and districts can diversify and strengthen their teacher workforce, so that students have access to the mentors and role models they need to succeed, and touch on topics like these:

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Educator Diversity: Why It Matters & How to Make It Happen - The Education Trust

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The sad fact is that educator diversity in our nation's public schools does not reflect the rising diversity of our student population. More than 50% of American students are people of color. Yet fewer than 20% of teachers are people of color - and that number hasn't budged in decades.

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The Education Trust

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Teacher Diversity & Equity Policy Scan - The Education Trust

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Access to a racially and culturally diverse teacher workforce is beneficial for all P-12 students, particularly for students of...

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Getting Black Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers

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Getting Black Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers

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The Education Trust

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Teachers can face a steep learning curve in their first few years of teaching, and a significant percentage of teacher growth occurs in that very first year. As they gain more experience, they can play a big part in increasing student motivation, increasing homework completion, and even reducing student absenteeism. Ultimately, teachers are the No.1 predictor of student success inside the classroom, estimated to have two to three times the effect of any other in-school factor.

This is why having a teacher with more than just a year or two of teaching experience matters. And yet, students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are more likely to attend schools with greater numbers of inexperienced teachers than their peers. This disparity, the result of a variety of factors (i.e., centuries of systemic racism, housing segregation, and resource inequity), means that groups of students are missing out, by no fault of their own, on the critical learning opportunities necessary to prepare them for success in college and/or the workforce.

Right now, many students attend schools where they have a brand -new teacher year after year after year. This "revolving door" of teachers can deeply affect student learning. High turnover creates instability, making it difficult for schools to create coherent instruction and to implement new initiatives. To no surprise, inexperienced teachers and high teacher turnover disproportionately affect the achievement of students who are most underserved.

In our report, Getting Black Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers, our findings reveal whether these inequities are due to varying levels of teacher experience between the districts in a particular state or within a particular district. In either case, these disparities are not inevitable.

Our Findings

Finding 1a: Across the Country, Black Students are Assigned More Novice Teachers

Finding 1b: Across the Country, Black Students are More Likely to Attend Schools That Have High Percentages of Novice Teachers

Finding 1c: Not Only do Black Students Across the Country Have More Novice Teachers, but They Also Have More First-Year Teachers

Finding 2a: Across the Country, Black Students are Assigned More Uncertified Teachers

Finding 2b: Nationwide, Black Students are More Likely to Attend Schools That Have High Percentages of Uncertified Teachers (Greater Than 10%)

Finding 3: The Extent to Which Disparities in Student Access to Novice Teachers are Primarily Found Within Districts or Between Districts Varies Widely by State

State and district leaders and local school board members can set clear goals and identify and address barriers to preparing, recruiting, and retaining strong and racially diverse teachers. And school leaders can take steps to create working conditions that ensure teachers, including teachers of color, remain in schools and hone their craft.

We've put together a roadmap for success to aid state and district leaders make the necessary changes to address long-standing gaps in access to strong teachers.

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Getting Black Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers - The Education Trust

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Teachers can face a steep learning curve in their first few years of teaching, and a significant percentage of teacher growth occurs in that very first year. As they gain more experience, they can play a big part in increasing student motivation, increasing homework completion, and even reducing student absenteeism.

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Getting Latino Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers

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Getting Latino Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers

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The Education Trust

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teachers can face a steep learning curve in their first few years of teaching, and a significant percentage of teacher growth occurs in that very first year. As they gain more experience, they can play a big part in increasing student motivation, increasing homework completion, and even reducing student absenteeism. Ultimately, teachers are the No.1 predictor of student success inside the classroom, estimated to have two to three times the effect of any other in-school factor.

This is why having a teacher with more than just a year or two of teaching experience matters. And yet, students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are more likely to attend schools with greater numbers of inexperienced teachers than their peers. This disparity, the result of a variety of factors (i.e., centuries of systemic racism, housing segregation, and resource inequity), means that groups of students are missing out, by no fault of their own, on the critical learning opportunities necessary to prepare them for success in college and/or the workforce.

Right now, many students attend schools where they have a brand -new teacher year after year after year. This "revolving door" of teachers can deeply affect student learning. High turnover creates instability, making it difficult for schools to create coherent instruction and to implement new initiatives. To no surprise, inexperienced teachers and high teacher turnover disproportionately affect the achievement of students who are most underserved.

In our report, Getting Latino Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers, our findings reveal whether these inequities are due to varying levels of teacher experience between the districts in a particular state or within a particular district. In either case, these disparities are not inevitable.

Our Findings

Finding 1a: Latino Students Have More Novice Teachers in More Than Half of All States

Finding 1b: In Three States - Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Washington - Latino Students are 2 to 3 Times More Likely to Attend Schools That Have High Percentages of Novice Teachers

Finding 1c: In Eight States, More Than 25% of Latino Students Attend Schools With High Percentages of Novice Teachers

Finding 2: In Several States, Latino Students Are More Likely to Attend Schools That Have High Percentages of Uncertified Teachers (Greater Than 10%)

Finding 3: The Extent to Which Disparities in Student Access to Novice Teachers Are Primarily Found Within Districts or Between Districts Varies Widely by State

State and district leaders and local school board members can set clear goals and identify and address barriers to preparing, recruiting, and retaining strong and racially diverse teachers. And school leaders can take steps to create working conditions that ensure teachers, including teachers of color, remain in schools and hone their craft.

We've put together a roadmap for success to aid state and district leaders make the necessary changes to address long-standing gaps in access to strong teachers.

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Getting Latino Students Better Access to Non-Novice Teachers - The Education Trust

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Teachers can face a steep learning curve in their first few years of teaching, and a significant percentage of teacher growth occurs in that very first year. As they gain more experience, they can play a big part in increasing student motivation, increasing homework completion, and even reducing student absenteeism.

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Resource Equity Guidebook:  Teaching Quality & Diversity

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Resource Equity Guidebook:  Teaching Quality & Diversity

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Alliance for Resource Equity

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TNTP

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Inclusive Teacher Recruitment and Retention

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Inclusive Teacher Recruitment and Retention

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Hanover Research

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A Strong Foundation:  Three State Policy Priorities to Give Every Student Effective, Diverse Teachers

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A Strong Foundation:  Three State Policy Priorities to Give Every Student Effective, Diverse Teachers

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TNTP

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Supporting the Educator Pipeline:  How Can States and Districts Use Federal Recovery Funds Strategically?

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Supporting the Educator Pipeline:  How Can States and Districts Use Federal Recovery Funds Strategically?

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LPI

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A Natural Fit:  Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teaching Pipelines

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A Natural Fit:  Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teaching Pipelines

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The Education Trust

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Education Trust

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Pathways to Teaching:  Teacher Diversity, Testing, Certification and Employment in Washington State

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Pathways to Teaching:  Teacher Diversity, Testing, Certification and Employment in Washington State

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REL

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Best Practices to Recruit and Retain Well-Prepared Teachers in All Classrooms

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Best Practices to Recruit and Retain Well-Prepared Teachers in All Classrooms

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LPI NC State University WestEd

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Grow Your Own Programs for Teachers:  A Look at Programs and Policies

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Grow Your Own Programs for Teachers:  A Look at Programs and Policies

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Education Commission of the States

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In August, the Tennessee Department of Education launched a competitive grant program to facilitate the development and expansion of Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher programs across the state. The $2 million dollar initiative aims to increase access to the teaching profession by removing financial barriers and promoting partnerships between educator preparation programs (EPPs) and local educational agencies (LEAs). The program is designed to help boost interest in the teaching profession and increase the racial diversity of the state's educator workforce.

Tennessee's efforts to leverage GYO programs as a strategy for developing high-retention pathways into teaching is grounded in research that homegrown teachers have higher rates of retention and that GYO programs remove access and success barriers in teacher preparation programs. GYO programs can be a powerful mechanism for developing well-prepared teachers who both reflect the communities they work in and are knowledgeable about the needs of students and families.

New America's 50-state scan of GYO policies and programs reveals GYO to be a widely used strategy but one that is highly localized with variability in program design. We found programs for high school students, paraeducators, community members, non-certified school staff, or some combination across 47 states plus the District of Columbia.

GYO programs for high school students include career and technical education courses that provide exposure to careers in teaching and internships in local schools. Paraeducator pathways often include scholarships, partnerships between EPPs and LEAs, or career ladders that offer financial support and mentoring. The number of program types offered across states varies widely. Seven states (FL, ID, LA, NH, OH, RI and WV) have one type of GYO program, and nine states (AR, CA, CO, KS, MN, MS, NY, OR and SC) have more than five program types.

Twenty-eight states have a GYO-focused policy and 18 states fund some type of GYO program. For example, Maryland's Teaching Fellows Scholarship is funded through state legislation and provides tuition and housing support to state residents who commit to working in an under-resourced school.

Eight states (CA, IL, MA, MN, NY, TN, TX and WA) offer a competitive grant program designed to incentivize school district and educator preparation partnerships to develop and implement GYO programs. New America's latest report examines the benefits of these competitive grant programs and found that state funding is strengthening partnerships within and across GYO programs, improving GYO initiatives' data use and promoting sustainable funding models. Competitive state funding is helping GYO programs nationwide expand access to the types of paid, supervised on-the-job experiences that are essential to high-quality teacher preparation.

These grant programs have helped states cultivate more diverse workforces. Consider California, which funded teaching credentials and, in some cases, associate and bachelor's degrees for over 2,000 paraprofessionals through its now defunct California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program. In its last cohort, 48% of candidates participating in state funded GYO programs were candidates of color and 45% were bilingual, which is a more diverse group than California's teaching workforce. This success can be attributed to the focus on paraeducators, a group that tends to closely reflect student demographics.

Fortunately, the state has reinvested in this strategy: In 2016 and 2017, the legislature provided an additional $45 million to support paraprofessionals and other school staff in earning their teaching certifications through the California Classified School Employee Credentialing Program. This latest program has helped credential over 200 teachers and has over 2,000 in the pipeline, and the majority of them are Black, Latinx or Asian.

States and districts are facing deep budget cuts, which may lead to reductions in spending on GYO programs. However, these examples offer a glimmer of hope for continued investments in GYO by leveraging federal and state funding sources.

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Grow Your Own Programs for Teachers: A Look at Programs and Policies

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In August, the Tennessee Department of Education launched a competitive grant program to facilitate the development and expansion of Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher programs across the state. The $2 million dollar initiative aims to increase access to the teaching profession by removing financial barriers and promoting partnerships between educator preparation programs (EPPs) and local [...]

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Minnesota's Grow Your Own Programs Aim to Diversify Teaching Staffs

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Minnesota's Grow Your Own Programs Aim to Diversify Teaching Staffs

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K-12 Dive

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In the five years since Minnesota began statewide "Grow Your Own" grant programs to recruit teachers, the state has expanded educator preparation programs for paraprofessionals and high school students of color, according to a study released Wednesday by New America, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Flexibility for regional workforce needs and continual efforts to advocate for partnerships and funding helped the GYO programs around the state gain awareness and support, but the teacher workforce is still not representative of the student population. Only 4.3% of licensed teachers in the state are educators of color, compared to 33.5% of students of color, according to the 2019 Biennial Minnesota Teacher Supply and Demand .

An understanding of the successes and challenges school systems across the country experience as they seek to recruit and retain a diversified teacher talent pool may help state and local K-12 programs better target funding and resources.

More than a year of changing instructional formats and struggling to engage students in learning during the global pandemic has raised the stress levels of teachers and increased concerns about teacher shortages, a RAND Corporation report said. A recent teacher survey cited in the report showed nearly half of teachers who identify as Black or African American said they were likely to leave their jobs at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

As schools plan and budget for pandemic recovery services , they should consider programming that increases teacher diversity and qualifications, the U.S. Department of Education recommends.

Educator racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity can positively impact school communities, including the academic and emotional well-being of students, according to the Teaching Profession Playbook , developed by 26 education-related organizations and published by the Partnership for the Future of Learning.

"It's very hard for students to see themselves as teachers when we haven't said 'you can be a teacher' from day one," said Kleber Ortiz, an education faculty member at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, as quoted in the New America report.

Minnesota is one of nine states that has a statewide competitive grant for GYO program development and implementation. Since the 2016-17 school year, the state has allocated $1.5 million annually for the GYO grant program to fund the paraprofessional and high school pathways to boost the state's supply of teachers, according to the New America report.

The Saint Paul Public Schools Urban Teacher Residency Program is a partnership between the Saint Paul-based University of St. Thomas and Saint Paul Public Schools to help paraprofessionals gain teacher training and credentials. In the district, 53% of paraprofessionals are "Black, Indigenous, and people of color," compared to just 20% of SPPS licensed teachers, the report said.

The full teacher residency program, which is open to people who already have bachelor's degrees, lasts 15 months and includes coursework over two summers, as well as on Mondays during the fall semester and Fridays during the spring. During the rest of the week, residents work with a trained teaching mentor. Candidates can earn a master's in education and a Tier 3 teaching license. Participants must agree to teach for at least three years in the district after completing the program, the report said.

The program's goal is to have 80% teaching candidates of color, which would align with the district's 79% percent of students of color. The residency program's first five cohorts were between 54% and 64% people of color, the report said.

Statewide, there is more demand for the GYO programs than available funding. For example, although $1.5 million is available annually, there were 18 applicants requesting more than $3 million in fiscal year 2020

Organizers are working through this and other challenges, including potentially expanding the number of eligible districts and educators and creating another pathway for people who don't have bachelor's degrees. Additionally, there is discussion about requiring - instead of strongly encouraging - that grant funds go to prospective teachers of color, the report said.

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Minnesota's 'Grow Your Own' programs aim to diversify teaching staffs

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In the five years since Minnesota began statewide "Grow Your Own" grant programs to recruit teachers, the state has expanded educator preparation programs for paraprofessionals and high school students of color, according to a study released Wednesday by New America, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

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Educator Quality:  Professional Learning

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Educator Quality:  Professional Learning

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Learning Policy Institute

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Teachers who receive thorough preparation and are supported throughout their careers are both better equipped to meet the needs of diverse students and more likely to stay in the profession.

How can teachers best be prepared and supported throughout their careers to develop and deliver curriculum that is content rich, culturally responsive, and rooted in inquiry and problem solving?
Learn More

Well-structured partnerships between districts and schools of education benefit both aspiring and experienced teachers. They improve preparation by providing teacher candidates with high-quality field experience, and encourage and support continuous learning by the professional teaching staff.

Throughout the country, schools of education, districts, and states are adopting research-based strategies that include:

Coursework and field experiences that prepare teacher candidates to design and deliver content-rich curriculums rooted in inquiry and problem solving.

An explicit focus on equity and instruction and experiences that enable new teachers to support diverse students and to partner with families.

Teacher-designed and -delivered professional development that is sustained, collaborative, and closely linked to their classroom practice.

School and districtwide implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) that provide ongoing opportunities for teams of teachers to learn from and with each other.

" Building instructional capacity starts from a shared understanding that professional learning is not a product, but rather a process... "

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Teachers who receive thorough preparation and are supported throughout their careers are both better equipped to meet the needs of diverse students and more likely to stay in the profession. How can teachers best be prepared and supported throughout their careers to develop and deliver curriculum that is content rich, culturally responsive, and rooted in inquiry and problem solving?

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Educator Quality:  Recruitment and Retention

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Educator Quality:  Recruitment and Retention

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Learning Policy Institute

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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.
Learn More

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. "

Browse Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention​ By

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Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention​

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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.

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Learning Policy Institute

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Well-prepared, culturally skilled, and committed teachers are vital if all students are to graduate ready for college and careers. Ensuring educator quality begins with strong preparation and includes ongoing opportunities for professional learning and growth.
Learn More

Putting educator quality at the center of national school improvement efforts remains as relevant today as it was 20 years ago when a national commission described recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers as the single most important in-school resource for providing all students with an equitable and excellent education. For students to graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in the 21st century, our schools need well-trained, culturally skilled, and professionally committed educators.

The Learning Policy Institute explores three key components of educator quality:

Recruitment and Retention: Attracting a diverse and high-quality teacher workforce requires expanding innovative and research-based recruitment efforts, including strategies to make teaching careers attractive and financially sustainable. A comprehensive strategy for addressing teacher turnover-from supporting beginning teachers to improving working conditions-is also key.

Professional Learning: A commitment to deeper learning demands expert teachers and leaders. Teachers need deep content knowledge as well as knowledge of the learners they teach in order to develop engaging, culturally responsive curriculums rooted in inquiry and problem solving. Throughout their careers, teachers grow and develop through support from experienced peers, time to learn and plan with colleagues, and participation in professional learning communities.

Evaluation and Career Development: Schools and educational systems should support and leverage the development of educators at every stage of their career, including providing opportunities to share their expertise and take on new responsibilities through mentorship and leadership positions. Thoughtful evaluation systems linked to goals and professional learning can be valuable tools to improve individual teaching practices and inform and support personnel decisions.

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Well-prepared, culturally skilled, and committed teachers are vital if all students are to graduate ready for college and careers. Ensuring educator quality begins with strong preparation and includes ongoing opportunities for professional learning and growth.

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Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession

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Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession

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Future of Learning

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Key Elements for a Strong Diverse Teaching Profession

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Key Elements for a Strong Diverse Teaching Profession

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Learning Policy Institute

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Three Ways to Support Early Career Teachers Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Three Ways to Support Early Career Teachers Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Education Commission of the States Educational Blog

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The COVID-19 pandemic presented a host of new difficulties for teachers, as many transitioned to remote learning under tight timelines and found new and creative ways to serve their students. This Teacher Appreciation Week, we recognize the work of so many teachers during such a difficult year and thank them for their continued work with students across the nation.

As we express gratitude for all educators during Teacher Appreciation Week, one group of teachers may benefit from specific support from policymakers this year - early career educators. Prospective teachers finishing educator preparation programs and teachers in the first few years of their careers continue to face unique challenges during the pandemic. These challenges range from disrupted student teaching and mentoring experiences to navigating distance learning as new teachers.

The early career years are a fragile stage in an educator's career in non-pandemic times, as studies estimate that 30% to 45% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years on the job. This high turnover rate may be particularly concerning to policymakers dedicated to recruiting and retaining a more diverse workforce, as recent gains in the recruitment of teachers of color could be lost without attention to keeping early career educators in the classroom.

Given the particularly difficult circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers may consider research-based strategies to show appreciation for new teachers and improve retention - including flexibility around clinical experience, effective mentorship and compensation.
Clinical Experience
Research shows that teacher candidates are more successful in their first year when they have opportunities to engage in actual teaching experience, and that new teachers with more comprehensive pedagogical training (including clinical experience) have lower attrition rates. With many states issuing waivers or providing other flexibilities for clinical experience hours to some candidates during the pandemic, policymakers may consider how to ensure early career teachers are receiving sufficient training and support.

As states consider new learning support initiatives, tutoring and summer programs could help provide teacher candidates and new teachers with the in-person teaching experience they need to be successful while also helping students recover from the interrupted learning they experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A federal bill introduced in February would provide grants to school districts and educator preparation programs to assign teacher candidates finishing their program to tutor students at "hard-to-staff schools* or high-need schools."*
Mentorship
Effective mentorship makes a difference for early teacher retention, and following the COVID-19 pandemic policymakers may consider requiring mentoring or improving the quality of mentorship programs as an additional support for early career teachers. According to our 50-State Comparison on teacher recruitment and retention, as of 2019, 31 states require induction and/or mentoring support for new teachers.

For example, Illinois administrative code outlines Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Induction that cover nine key areas, including mentor selection and assignment and professional development for mentor teachers. Alaska employs rigorously selected retired teachers as full-time mentors for first- and second-year teachers. Mentors use formative assessment tools to guide mentoring activities, and the program has demonstrated success in improving the retention of early career teachers.
Early Career Compensation
Higher initial compensation also shows promise to retain early career teachers. One study found that 97% of teachers with a base salary of $40,000* or higher continued teaching the following year, compared to 87% of teachers with a salary below $40,000.

This year, at least 17 governors spoke about teacher compensation in their State of the State addresses. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, for example, praised the budget for raising the minimum teacher salary in the state. While studies on the impact of salary vary, some have found that the impact of increased salary is especially pronounced for inexperienced teachers and may have a stronger impact on retention for teachers of color, which makes it a promising policy lever for state leaders looking to keep a diverse cohort of new teachers in the profession.

While support for early career teachers is particularly pressing given the unique challenges of the pandemic, student teaching experiences, quality mentorship and competitive compensation are strategies for retention that can outlast the current crisis. This Teacher Appreciation Week, Education Commission of the States thanks teachers around the nation for all they do to ensure quality education for students, and we will continue to track legislation impacting teachers through our State Education Policy Tracking tool.
This language is quoted from the federal bill (S. 457). The term "hard-to-staff school" means "a high-need school that has a high rate of teacher turnover or a large concentration of teachers in their first or second year of teaching". The term ''high-need school'' means "a public elementary school or secondary school that is located in an area in which the percentage of students from families with incomes below the poverty line is 30 percent or more." This study was conducted in 2007-08. $40,000 in 2007 is equal to approximately $51,000 today.

As policy researcher, Cassidy supports the Policy Team by tracking legislation and responding to information requests on a variety of education policy issues. Prior to joining Education Commission of the States, Cassidy completed her bachelor's degree in political science and psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Cassidy is passionate about providing state leaders with quality information to support them in improving education systems for all students.

As senior policy analyst, Tiffany contributes to a variety of policy issues. She brings more than a decade of experience working to improve teaching and learning, including work at the Tennessee Department of Education and as an advisor to education leaders while at TNTP. Tiffany began her career as a fifth grade teacher and is passionate about ensuring all students have access to an excellent education.

As assistant director, Sarah leads policy staff and projects to meet Education Commission of the States' mission and goals. Sarah brings more than 18 years of experience in the field of education, including as a National Board Certified teacher and in educational nonprofit leadership roles. Sarah is passionate about inspiring and supporting the growth and development of individuals, teams, organizations and communities to recognize their potential and achieve their vision.

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Cassidy Francies, Tiffany McDole and Sarah Glover

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3 Ways to Support Early Career Teachers Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

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As we express gratitude for all educators during Teacher Appreciation Week, one group of teachers may benefit from specific support from policymakers this year - early career educators. Prospective teachers finishing educator preparation programs and teachers in the first few years of their careers continue to face unique challenges during the pandemic.

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High Hopes and Harsh Realities:  The Real Challenges to Building a Diverse Workforce

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High Hopes and Harsh Realities:  The Real Challenges to Building a Diverse Workforce

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Brown Center on Educational Policy at Brookings

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Education Commission of the States

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Mitigating Teacher Shortages:  Induction and Mentorship

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Mitigating Teacher Shortages:  Induction and Mentorship

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Education Commission of the States

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State Boards Seek Increased Educator Diversity

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State Boards Seek Increased Educator Diversity

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National Association of State Boards of Education

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Promising Recruitment, Selection and Strategies For a Diverse Massachusetts Teacher Workforce

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Promising Recruitment, Selection and Strategies For a Diverse Massachusetts Teacher Workforce

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TNTP and DESE

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DESE

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Influence 100

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has launched Influence 100 to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of superintendents in Massachusetts, create more culturally responsive districts and leaders across the state, and promote better outcomes for students. Influence 100 includes a fellowship program for qualified educators who desire to move into the superintendent role in the next five years and support for school districts to become more culturally responsive and to engage in intentional strategy development and execution around diversifying their educator workforce.

The InSPIRED* Fellowship

Applications close at 11:59 pm EST on Friday, September 20th, 2019. Apply today!

InSPIRED Fellows are In- Service Professionals who are committed to Increasing the Racial and Ethnic D iversity of our teacher workforce by recruiting students and young adults from target communities at the high school, community college or undergraduate level into the teaching profession. This Fellowship is designed around two goals:

This highly-selective opportunity is for current educators with close connections to their school-communities and the ability to connect with students in target districts, to recruit the next generation of culturally responsive, diverse and effective teachers. These connections may exist for a variety of reasons, including, for instance: growing up in the district, being a fluent speaker of the predominant in-home language of many of the students in that community, or being a first-generation college student.

Educators in these the following target districts are strongly encouraged to apply: Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Randolph, Revere, Springfield, and Worcester.

The Fellowship will run from October - June 2020. Fellows will have touchpoints with at least 100 students from the target districts and receive a stipend of &dollar;1,500 for their time.

Please reach out to EducatorDevelopment@doe.mas.edu with any questions.

Click here to view a pdf of the application. Applicants must apply online via the link above to be considered.

Resources

Below you will find links to a list of resources, including national and local Massachusetts programs focused on recruiting and retaining diverse educators. This information can be used to support school and/or district efforts to diversify the educator workforce and pipeline. These lists are intended to serve as a source for information; resources are not endorsed by the Department or any participating school or district. If you know of any promising programs or models, please email amazingeducators@doe.mass.edu with the subject line: Diversifying the Educator Workforce.
Last Updated: October 19, 2020

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massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

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Attract, Prepare, Retain:  Effective Personnel for All- Information and Resources

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Attract, Prepare, Retain:  Effective Personnel for All- Information and Resources

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OSEP IDEAS that Work

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Attract, Prepare, Retain: Effective Personnel For All - Information and Resources

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is focusing on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel-general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers-who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. This is a topic that is important for schools, states, communities, businesses, districts, and professional organizations. This topic disproportionately affects children with disabilities and their families due to the many unfilled positions and high attrition rates among special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers. This page provides research and resources for stakeholders to explore potential strategies and innovative approaches to address this critical need. On this page you will find:

Leverage Briefs

The leverage briefs are the culmination of OSEP's Attract, Prepare, Retain: Effective Personnel for All Initiative and highlight 13 leverage points covering strategies recognized by various stakeholders as essential to addressing critical shortages in the special education workforce. This series of briefs is meant to serve as an overview and starting point for stakeholder groups as they consider and craft effective solutions for their particular communities. It is also meant to serve as an inspiration for the forming of community partnerships and to challenge the status quo through innovative thinking to build an effective special education workforce pipeline. The leverage points in this series are not intended to be exhaustive and do not encompass all strategies that exist to attract, prepare, and retain personnel.

Complete Leverage Brief Series

Stand-Alone Briefs

OSEP 2020 National Summit on Attract, Prepare, Retain

OSEP hosted a virtual summit focusing on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel-general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers-who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. The topic disproportionately affects children with disabilities and their families due to the many unfilled positions and high attrition rates among special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers. Improving how we attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel for children with disabilities is a critical need that will only be resolved by prioritized and collaborative efforts.

The 2020 Summit brought together various stakeholders and explored potential strategies and innovative approaches to address this critical need. The virtual event was held over three days and allowed participants to register for each event individually or attend all three.

Each event was recorded and you will find the archived recordings, as well as information on each of the speakers on the 2020 National Summit Archive Page.

Video Vignettes

These videos offer the perspectives of educators and related service providers from around the country. The participants share what inspired them to become educators, what innovative approaches were incorporated into their preparation, or what motivates them to remain in the field. Some participants also describe how their thinking about effective teacher attraction, preparation, and retention has evolved over the years. OSEP Former Director Laurie VanderPloeg introduces the video series with an inspiring story of her own motivation to become and remain a special educator. We hope you find these videos both informative and uplifting!

Laurie VanderPloeg - FormerDirector, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.Former Director VanderPloeg shares how the passion, dedication, commitment, and the sacrifices that her mother made during her 50 years as an educator influenced her own decision to go into the same field.

Kaitlin Ayers, Teacher of Students with Moderate/Severe Disabilities shares what attracted her to the education profession and what made her want to stay (Attract, Retain)

Lisa Hill, Director for East Georgia Learning Resource System shares how great mentors throughout her career have kept her in the field of education for 30 years. (Retain)

Yvette Mere-Cook, School Based Occupational Therapist shares how the support from her administrators have been critical in her retention in the field of education. (Retain)

Adrea Truckenmiller, Assistant Professor of Special Education, Michigan State University shares several innovative approaches that were implemented in 2019 and how they have been able to show how these different approaches have been able to demonstrate how they have been effective. (Prepare)

Rebecca Vitelli, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher with the Colonial Early Education Program and 2020 Delaware Teacher of the Year shares how her parents, who were both in education inspired her to join the field. She also talks about her goal to make learning exciting and meaningful for all students. (Attract)

Fanica Young, K6 Exceptional Educator High Incidence Disabilities shares how her teacher preparation program and the OSEP Project CREED (Culturally Responsive Exceptional Educators for Diversity) Preparation Scholarship prepared her to use innovative approaches in her classroom. (Prepare)

If you would like to submit a video talking about what inspired you to become an educator, share an innovative approach you use or what motivates you to remain in the field, please let us know! Please feel free to send us an e-mail and we will share with you how to submit your video.

OSEP Symposia Series

Each year OSEP conducts a Symposia Series to provide high-quality, timely, and evidence-based strategies to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. The 2019 OSEP Symposia Series focused on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. These symposia highlighted current research on this topic and explored promising practices that are making a difference in programs, districts, and States.

Attract, Prepare, Retain: Resources

To explore resources from Federal centers and organizations, state specific resources, and resources from other organizations please click on the plus (+) sign to expand each section.

If you know of any additional resources relating to attracting, preparing, and/or retaining educators to serve students with disabilities that you would like to share with the Office of Special Education Programs, please send them through our SmartSheet form.

The following resources include reports, briefs, and tools created by Federally funded centers and grants. OSEP funds over 50 centers that provide a diverse range of services to special education stakeholders.

Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO)

This page offers several readings, webinars, and other resources related to increasing and promoting the retention of the birth through third grade teaching workforce.

Center on Great Teachers and Leader (GTL Center)

This toolkit is a ready-to-use resource for states working closely with districts to build and implement effective, high-quality mentoring and induction programs. Additionally, this tool summarizes research and best practices, highlights relevant examples, and provides streamlined processes for action planning.

This toolkit created in collaboration between the GTL Center and CEEDAR Center to support states and districts in identifying both short-term and long-term evidence-based strategies to address teacher shortages in special education.

The GTL Center's Shortage Strategy Selection Tool provides resources, program exemplars, and research that will help teams identify, select, implement, and continuously improve strategies to address special education teacher shortages.

This toolkit provides a framework for States and districts to establish opportunities for teacher leadership roles in order to support educator development and retention. This toolkit synthesizes research on teacher leadership, highlights real-world exemplars, and offers ten supporting resources that can be used at the Federal, State, or local level.

Collaboration for Effective Education Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center

This brief describes strategies for leveraging teacher candidates in school buildings as assets to help alleviate teacher shortages in many content areas and to provide individualized learning support for students with the greatest needs.

The CEEDAR Center's Course Enhancement Modules seek to improve teacher and leader preparation by assisting faculty in implementing evidence-based and culturally-responsive practices into their courses and preparation programs

This brief, created to inform policymakers, State educational agency personnel, district personnel, and preparation providers, offers an overview of short-term evidence-based strategies as well as long-term systemic solutions to special education teacher shortages.

This special issue brief from the CEEDAR Center and GTL Center outlines essential features to assist preparation program faculty, teacher educators, and other collaborators in planning for and implementing effective, practice-based opportunities for candidates through coursework and field experiences. This brief also showcases several preparation programs that have enacted innovative strategies to implement practice-based opportunities

This planning framework from the CEEDAR Center provides guidelines to support educator preparation programs to integrate evidence-based and high-leverage practices within coursework and clinical experiences.

Due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the candidate pool of career changers to enter the teaching workforce is greater than ever. This brief provides guidelines for leveraging these potential candidates to address critical shortage areas.

This brief outlines short-term strategies for addressing Special education teacher shortages that, when paired with long-term comprehensive strategies, can be used to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel to serve students with disabilities.

This policy analysis, produced in collaboration with the New Teacher Center, summarizes State policy context in all 50 states related to how educators are prepared and continuously supported to serve the needs of students with disabilities.

College & Career Readiness & Success Center

This four-part learning series, developed through a collaboration among sis federally funded technical assistance centers, supports State education agency, local education agency, education preparation program, and community organization personnel in developing and implementing Grow Your Own programs in their state, region, or district.

Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC)

This presentation, conducted by ECPC and Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), provides an overview of the research and data related to early childhood special education and early intervention shortages, and provides examples of initiatives and suggestions targeted to a variety of stakeholders to address these shortages.

Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center

This page lists reports, highlights state initiatives, and links resources developed by ECTA partners on the topic of the recruitment and retention of effective personnel.

The Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) is a system for implementing strategies and activities for the recruitment and retention of early childhood service providers and early intervention personnel. CSPD also includes maintenance of data on personnel and professional development, professional standards and certification, alternative training models, adequate supply of personnel, and preparation and continuing education.

IRIS Center

Through collaboration with Digital Promise, the IRIS Center aims to improve professional development for educators by offering focused and intensive courses to develop discrete instructional skills and practices. Once participants successfully complete a course, they receive a digital badge to document their receipt of an IRIS micro-credential.

The IRIS Center offers a module for school administrators and other stakeholders who seek to support special educators and increase teacher retention. This module offers various perspectives and resources, concluding with an end-of-module assessment.

The IRIS Center offers a module for school administrators and other stakeholders who seek to increase educator retention and effectiveness through comprehensive induction supports for novice special educators. This module offers various real-life exemplars, resources, and tools, concluding with an end-of-module assessment.

National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities

The Personnel Improvement Center provides a collection of initiatives targeted at personnel recruitment and retention offered by a variety of organizations.

This report from the Personnel Improvement Center analyzes interviews with eight states to examine policies and strategic approaches for the recruitment and retention of personnel to serve students with disabilities in their states.

This practice brief, written in partnership with the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages, highlights strategies that various states, school districts, and Part C programs have used to recruit and retain qualified related service providers.

In 2010, the Personnel Improvement Center administered a survey to obtain information on state-level strategies for the recruitment and retention of special education personnel and related service providers. This policy analysis brief analyzes the results of the survey after being administered to 41 states.

National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI)

This brief from the NCPMI highlights strategies for improving school climate through pyramid model practices to promote teacher retention for teachers serving students with disabilities.

Regional Education Laboratory Central (REL Central)

This tool allows stakeholders to leverage existing student enrollment and educator workforce data to better understand and predict educator shortage trends in specific content areas and localities. This tool can then assist stakeholders to proactively identify and later implement strategies to address shortages.

Regional Education Laboratory Mid-Atlantic (REL Mid-Atlantic)

This webinar, hosted by Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic (REL Mid-Atlantic), offers an overview of four innovative initiatives that States have implemented to create partnerships between local education agencies (LEAs) and preparation programs in the region. In this webinar, several stakeholders involved in these partnerships share their lessons learned and provide suggestions to parties interested in adapting this model in their own local contexts.

This webinar, hosted by Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest), highlights evidence-based strategies to support increased retention rates for Black educators and help improve educational outcomes for Black students.

Regional Education Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest)

This report summarizes a partnership between Regional Education Laboratory Midwest and a Michigan district to address strengthening teacher pipelines and diversifying the workforce. This report outlines considerations for data analysis, root-cause analysis, and goal setting that can be replicated by districts looking to implement a similar approach.

This resource provides guidance for school and district leaders to better target efforts to improve teacher retention through the use of teacher exit surveys.

This webinar, hosted by Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (REL Midwest), highlights actionable strategies to support teacher attraction, preparation, and retention, particularly in rural communities and contexts affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regional Education Lab Northwest (REL Northwest)

This series, compiled by REL Northwest, presents evidence-based research, data, and resources to help practitioners and policymakers address teacher recruitment, preparation. and retention in their local contexts.

San Diego State University

This program aims to attract, mentor, and later transition prospective African American special educators and school psychologists into the teaching workforce while providing ongoing mentorship.

Script-NC

This OSEP-funded project builds partnerships with select North Carolina community colleges to improve the preparation of early childhood candidates by incorporating evidence-based and competency-based practices that support the inclusion of students with disabilities who are culturally and ethnically diverse, into coursework and practice-based field experiences.

State Personnel Development Grant Network (SIGnetwork)

This collection of resources supports State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) recipients in their efforts to develop, integrate, and evaluate ongoing professional learning to support the retention of personnel serving all students, including those with disabilities.
Texas Comprehensive Center
Grow Your Own Teacher Initiative Resources aims to answer critical questions using evidence and exemplars related to the implementation and effectiveness of Grow Your Own programs in order to recruit and retain high-quality educators.

University of Kentucky

This OSEP-funded grant at the University of Kentucky aims to improve speech-language pathology preparation by providing explicit training in telepractice for the delivery of speech-language services while concurrently embedding ongoing clinical experiences in rural schools through teleconferencing.

University of Virginia

This OSEP-funded fellowship program supports 75 special education and speech-language pathology candidates to serve students with learning disabilities by providing practice-based opportunities and aligned coursework.

The following tools, program exemplars, and resources related to educator shortages are created by various organizations aimed at attracting, preparing, and retaining educators in their individual states. Please note that OSEP does not own the following resources.

Alabama

This resource, from the Alabama State Department of Education, provides an overview of alternative routes to certification and temporary certification options in the state.

This mentoring program works to improve teacher retention by providing novice teachers in hard-to-staff areas in participating Alabama districts access to ongoing mentoring and support by an experienced teacher.

This page aims to address teacher recruitment in critical shortage areas, such as autism, speech pathology, and gifted education by providing a list of financial incentives available for new hires in high-needs districts.

Alaska

This infographic presents a current overview of educator retention and turnover in the State of Alaska.

This collection of resources from the Alaska Department of Education features a variety of strategies and program exemplars relating to the recruitment, preparation, and ongoing support of teachers in Alaska.

Arizona

This program, primarily funded by the Arizona Office of the Governor, offers prospective teachers full-tuition scholarships for any K-12 licensure area in exchange for a commitment to teaching in an Arizona public or charter school for as many years as they received funding.

This loan program is designed to offer a maximum forgivable loan of $7,000 per year for Arizona residents looking to enter the teaching profession, primarily in critical shortage areas such as math, science, and special education.

This report, prepared by the Arizona Educator Retention and Recruitment Task Force, offers recommendations that leaders across Arizona could pursue to address factors that impact educator shortages in Arizona. Recommendations were organized by stakeholder group, such as policymakers, State education agency personnel, and local education agencies.

This loan repayment and stipend program aims to reduce related service provider shortages in specified regions by offering incentives of up to $25,000 for speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, and child psychologists who provide early childhood development services.

Teach Camp is a program that aims to increase educator retention and development by offering a system of professional learning to first and second year teachers in topics such as special education essentials, law, and best practices.

The SETTA program provides tuition assistance for in-service paraprofessionals that seek to earn a special education teaching certification.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) reimburses for all assessments associated with chronically critical academic shortage areas, including all areas of special education.

This program offers tuition reimbursement grants to Arkansas teachers and administrators pursuing higher education for up to six college credit hours each academic year, with priority given to those taking courses in high-needs areas such as special education.

California

This scholarship program gives up to $4,000 a year in funding for classified school employees, such as paraeducators, to complete a teacher preparation program to earn certification in special education, math, or science.

This cross-institution partnership supports the retention of high-quality educators by empowering them to foster a professional development (PD) model for teachers in California in which in-service practitioners establish and lead their own systems for PD.

This research report from the Learning Policy Institute presents an overview of special education shortages in California. This report examines possible root causes and key challenges of the shortage and offers policy considerations and potential solutions.

This interactive map provides a district-level analysis of the teacher supply and demand in California, examining indicators such as percent of beginning teachers, percent of teachers of color, certification program enrollment, and attrition rate.

This report highlights data on the teacher workforce in the State of California. This includes an examination of the trends in areas of critical shortage, such as special education, and how these trends vary by location and student population.

Colorado

This program from the Colorado Department of Higher Education offers an annual payment of up to $5,000 for up to five years for applicants serving in a rural district and/or a content shortage area, such as special education.

To address the professional development and retention of personnel, the State of Colorado has incentivized National Board Certification by providing a stipend for school-based personnel, including teachers, administrators, school counselors, and school psychologists, who have achieved national certification.

This interactive dashboard uses data from the 2018-2019 Colorado Educator Shortage Survey to compare educator shortages throughout the State in various endorsements, including endorsement areas that serve students with disabilities.

This program aims to address the shortage of school nurses by matching new school nurses with expert mentors who provide onsite or virtual mentoring during their first year working in a school. Additionally, mentors receive ongoing professional development throughout the course of the program.

Pathways2Teaching is a concurrent enrollment grow-your-own program in which 11 th and 12 th grade students explore teaching as a potential career choice through weekly field experiences while earning college credits.

Connecticut

In partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority offers teachers in state-identified shortage areas, such as comprehensive special education, below-market interest rate mortgage loans to help teachers become homeowners in the communities where they work.

This guidebook supports Connecticut districts to create, implement and sustain initiatives for the selection and hiring of high-quality and diverse educator candidates. It includes a self-assessment tool that integrates evidence-based research to recommend strategies for districts to implement.

Delaware

This page, compiled by the Delaware Department of Licensure and Certification, highlights an alternative certification program for individuals aiming to earn an initial teaching certificate or add-on certificate in special education.

This toolkit supports district and school administrators and staffs to develop a comprehensive approach to the selection of effective educators in areas of greatest need by offering examples of effective practices, resources, literature, and other references.

Delaware's Comprehensive Induction Program (CIP) provides comprehensive support to novice educators and related service providers, including school nurses, school counselors, and school psychologists, during their first four years in the field.

District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)

The Leadership Initiative for Teachers (LIFT) is a five-stage career ladder aimed at retaining teachers in areas of high-need, including special education, by providing high-performing teachers in District of Columbia Public Schools with opportunities for career advancement inside the classroom. Each stage of the career ladder involves additional responsibility and increased recognition and compensation.

Florida

This report investigates the effects of Florida's Statewide program designed to increase the supply of teachers in designated "hard-to-staff" areas, such as special education.

This program aims to aid highly qualified paraprofessionals who are currently working in Florida public schools to earn a Bachelor's degree and teaching licensure in special education.

Georgia

The Georgia Teacher Pipeline summit is an annual event in which various Georgia stakeholders, including State education agency personnel, educator preparation programs, alternative preparation programs, local education agency personnel, school-level staff, and OSEP leaders, work collaboratively to develop a comprehensive approach for improving and strengthening the teacher pipeline in Georgia. Teams focus on short- and long-term talent management strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective teachers and leaders for all students, including those with disabilities.

GaTAPP is an alternative preparation program, available in various districts throughout the State of Georgia, that aims to transition individuals into the teaching field from other career paths while providing ongoing mentoring and support as well as job-embedded clinical practice opportunities. Additionally, special education candidates participating in GaTAPP receive additional instruction throughout their time in the program.

This report from the Georgia Department of Education analyzes the results of a survey of over 50,000 Georgia educators on the main factors leading to personnel attrition in the State, including the impact of in-service educators on prospective candidates' perceptions of the field, gaps in preparation, and the role of school leaders on retention.

This mentoring program provides first and second year Special Education Directors in the State of Georgia as they enter the workforce with ongoing mentoring and support through a professional learning community.

Hawaii

This incentive program offered by the Hawai'i State Department of Education aims to retain teachers in state-identified critical shortage areas by providing annual pay differentials in addition to their current salaries. Through this program, special education teachers would receive a pay differential of up to $10,000 a year.

This 2020 bill supports efforts to increase teacher recruitment and retention in Hawaii by allocating 25 million dollars in funds to create competitive salaries and equitable compensation for Hawaii teachers. This bill also establishes additional pay for special education teachers as well as teachers in hard-to-staff geographic locations.

This program assists service members and veterans to transition into teaching positions in areas designated as having the greatest need by the Hawaii State Department of Education, such as PK-12 special education, while financial and placement support as well as ongoing mentorship.

Idaho

This infographic provides a current overview of educator retention, turnover, caseloads and workforce gaps in the State of Idaho.

Illinois

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission offers tuition exemptions for up to 250 students seeking initial licensure in special education at an accredited Illinois university.

This report analyzes teacher shortage data in Illinois, including longitudinal data that demonstrates critical shortage areas, and identifies promising approaches to alleviating shortages in these areas, such as special education.

Iowa

This program aims to attract promising new teachers with competitive starting salaries, and retain effective teachers with leadership opportunities, increased compensation, and incentives for collaboration between teachers.

The Teach Iowa Scholar Program (TIS) offers loan repayment assistance for a maximum of five years for teachers in designated shortage areas, including the areas of visual impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, mild-moderate disabilities, and school counseling.

Iowa's Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Grant supports innovative partnerships to train school-based mental health service providers that serve both general and special education students for employment in schools and LEAs in rural Iowa.

Kansas

This program's goal is to lower the attrition of teachers in critical shortage areas, especially special education, by providing one-on-one or small group digital mentoring and targeted support to novice teachers.

Kentucky

This resource, created by the Teach KY initiative, provides guidance for local education agencies looking to establish Grow-Your-Own programs throughout the State of Kentucky.

This public awareness and teacher recruitment program consists of 32 teacher ambassadors that seek to attract prospective candidates to the teaching profession. Ambassadors advertise the profession in high schools and colleges, highlighting success stories, and promoting pipeline programs such as Educators Rising or Grow-Your-Own programs.

This legislation enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly, aims to recruit educators into critical shortage areas and diversify the educator workforce by establishing eight state-approved options for alternative certification in Kentucky.

The Multicultural Teacher Recruitment Program (MTRP) aims to address shortages of personnel of color in all Kentucky-identified shortage areas, including special education, by recruiting candidates of color at the high school, community college, and career changer level. Fiscal, coaching, assessment, and job placement supports are offered to all candidates participating in the program.

Louisiana

This Fellowship is a year-long comprehensive program aimed at increasing the retention of special education leaders in Louisiana by offering in-person training and coaching.

Maine

This report presents overviews and policy implications and examines the effectiveness of five "Grow-Your-Own" (GYO) programs in the State of Maine. This report highlights the success of these five programs on teacher placement and retention in special education in particular.

MACM is an alternative preparation program that attempts to address Maine's need for highly qualified special educators by giving conditionally-certified special educators with intensive mentoring and coursework that culminates in full certification.

This initiative, led by the Maine Department of Education, draws on funds from Title II and Part A of ESSA to support several programs aimed at attracting and retaining high quality educators. Examples of programs included the Learning Facilitator Credentialing Program as well as regional educator shortage "think tanks".

Maryland

This page describes several alternative teacher preparation programs in Maryland, with an emphasis on programs related to certification in high-needs regions and subjects as well as diversifying the educator workforce.

This bill supports efforts to address teacher shortages in Maryland by allocating funds towards digital outreach efforts for educator recruitment in critical shortage areas. This bill also features language specific to efforts for the recruitment and retention of special educators.

Massachusetts

To ensure that students with disabilities are served by high quality special education Directors and Early Childhood Coordinators, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides four Leadership Institutes. These four Leadership Institutes gives participants collaboration opportunities and ongoing technical assistance and coaching.

This grant program provides tuition assistance for in-service paraprofessionals that seek to earn a teaching certification in a high-need discipline, such as special education.

Teach Western Mass (TWM) is a one-year teacher residency program that aims to provide aspiring teachers without prior education coursework in the State of Massachusetts, accelerated training and eventual licensure in special education (moderate disabilities) or other shortage areas.

Michigan

This report summarizes a series of listening sessions involving over 120 educators, including special education teachers, general education teachers, school leaders, related service providers, district leaders, and preparation providers. These listening sessions resulted in a list of solutions for policymakers to consider to address teacher shortages in Michigan.

Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Education has partnered with Region 10 Low Incidence projects, local districts, and regional institutions of higher education to implement several initiatives related to the recruitment and retention of special educators. Initiatives include tuition support, mentoring systems, and other collaborative recruitment activities.

This loan repayment program provides teachers with student loan repayment assistance if they are teaching in a designated geographical region or shortage area, such as special education.

This residency program was established through a partnership between the University of St. Thomas and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), to create a pathway for unlicensed MPS employees to work towards a licensure in special education while working full time.

This program, led by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Special Education Division, aims to better prepare current preparation program students and recent graduates by pairing them with an experienced mentor educator who is certified in the same licensure area.

Minnesota Low Incidence Project offers tuition support for individuals pursuing certification in the areas of Blind Visually Impaired (BVI) and Physical/Health Disabilities (P/HD)

Mississippi

This loan forgiveness program aims to address speech-language pathologist shortages in Mississippi schools by offering a forgivable loan to speech-language pathologists who commit to serving in Mississippi public or charter school districts for at least one year for each year of funding received.

Missouri

Troops to Teachers Missouri seeks to place retiring military personnel into teaching positions in critical shortage areas such as special education, math and science as well as non-instructional positions such as paraprofessionals, counselors, psychologists, school nurses, speech therapists, audiologists, and physiotherapists.

Montana

This infographic presents a current overview of educator shortages in Montana, including shortage subject areas, mobility and retention, as well as the implications of Montana's educator shortage.

The MSRP focuses on centers on the belief that the personal touch, including face-to-face contact and personal phone calls and e-mails, is essential to attract candidates into preparation programs. This program, led by the Montana Council of Administrators of Special Education (MCASE), aims to attract personnel to serve students with disabilities by sending recruiters to attend national, regional, and local conferences and career fairs, travel to universities to visit with professors and students, and post openings online.

The OPI Special Education Endorsement Project addresses the shortage of special education teachers in rural Montana by placing a licensed educator in a non-special education area in a special education classroom, while concurrently giving mentoring and coursework to gain endorsement in special education. Teachers admitted to the project must serve in a special education teaching position for two years after obtaining the special education endorsement.

This loan assistance program, established through House Bill 211, provides loan assistance to educators serving rural schools in subjects defined as critical shortage areas, including special education.

Nebraska

This webinar series from Nebraska MTSS provides guidance to stakeholders aiming to establish supportive workplace environments that improve educator satisfaction, mental well-being and retention by presenting evidence and best practices around several topics related to social emotional learning from an adult perspective.

New Hampshire

This collection of resources features literature, tools, templates, as well as program and district exemplars aimed at improving educator recruitment and retention within the state of New Hampshire. Several of these resources focus on the recruitment and retention of personnel serving students with disabilities.

Nevada

This legislative bill aims to alleviate teacher shortages and diversify the educator workforce by allowing non-citizens who are in the United States on work permits to become certified in a state-identified critical shortage area, such as special education, following the completion of a preparation program.

Nevada's Coalition to Address Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services created this page to assist special educators and related service providers who are seeking loan forgiveness programs and resources.

New Mexico

This bill supports efforts to increase teacher recruitment in New Mexico by establishing Grow-Your-Own programs in high-needs areas and giving loans for educational assistance to earn licensure through these programs.

This program, established by the New Mexico Public Education Department, seeks to reduce teacher turnover by offering financial rewards to high-performing teachers and school leaders. This program gives priority to teachers and leaders in low-performing schools as well as areas with teaching shortages, such as special education.

This alternative licensure program aims to attract and retain special education teachers in central New Mexico by allowing teacher candidates the opportunity to co-teach with an experienced teacher while earning a first-year teacher salary and benefits and concurrently completing coursework for licensure.

New York

This guide, created by the New York City Department of Education aims to support new hire induction and retention by providing an overview of hiring initiatives in New York, as well as onboarding guidance. This guide also includes guidance specific to prospective teachers of students with disabilities.

This fact sheet provides an overview of educator shortages in New York, including shortage subject areas, the impact of retirement, and teacher preparation data.

North Carolina

North Carolina Teachers of Tomorrow is a state-wide alternative preparation program in North Carolina that certifies teachers in high-needs areas, such as special education, through virtual, self-paced preparation for individuals who already hold a four-year degree in any subject.

Inspired by competency models in nursing preparation, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University created Pathway to Practice NC, designed to help emergency licensed teachers earn their teaching certifications in numerous subject areas, including special education. This program consists of seven modules that can be completed on a flexible schedule.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction offers several resources and archived presentations related to recruitment and retention of teachers to serve exceptional children.

This page highlights resources and strategies for the recruitment of related service providers for students with disabilities.

This discontinued program was designed to help North Dakota school districts recruit and retain qualified teachers by providing the opportunity for teachers serving in critical need or shortages areas to receive loan forgiveness.

This bill would allow individuals who do not have a teaching license to receive a year-by-year certification to teach non-core subjects, such as special education, if they meet certain criteria and have relevant work experience.

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction's Office of Special Education awards traineeships in priority areas of disabilities to North Dakota teachers who wish to pursue graduate level re-training in the field of special education.

Ohio

The Ohio Association of Pupil Services Administrators (OAPSA) offers a resource hub, featuring both Federal and Ohio-focused resources, to support stakeholders in addressing shortages of personnel serving students with disabilities in the State.

This collection of resources from the Ohio Department of Education illustrates a variety of strategies, considerations and program exemplars related to the attraction, preparation and retention of teachers in Ohio.

The Ohio Related Services Workgroup was established to address causes and solutions for the shortage of related service providers in school settings. This report summarizes root causes of the related service provider shortage in Ohio and offers recommendations for strategies and approaches to alleviate the shortage.

In 2020, The Ohio Related Services Workgroup identified role ambiguity as a primary barrier to attracting personnel to pursue careers in related service professions. To address this, the Ohio Department of Education created these resources to attract prospective candidates to related service professions by providing clarity on the roles and responsibilities of various school-based related services such as audiologists, occupational therapists, school nurses, school psychologists, physical therapists, and speech-language pathologists.

Oklahoma

This page describes several alternative teacher preparation programs in Oklahoma, with an emphasis on programs related to certification in high-needs regions and subjects.

In 2019, several bills were introduced in Oklahoma that aim to strengthen teacher recruitment and retention pipelines in order to address the critical teacher shortage in the state.

This program aims to improve early-career educator retention by pairing novice teachers with mentors to provide ongoing support as well as to increase the use of evidence-based practices.

This study examines trends in the educator pipeline, certification, and mobility by subject area in order to calculate projections for future educator workforce demands in Oklahoma. Specifically, this study projects an increase in educator certification in areas related to serving students with special needs.

"Boot Camp", established through OK HB 1233, is a 150-hour non-traditional special education teacher certification program aimed at providing prospective teachers a provisional license to teach in the area of mild/moderate or severe/profound disabilities.

Oregon

This grant program seeks to address speech-language pathologist shortages throughout Oregon by providing up to $10,000 in scholarships to individuals seeking licensure in speech-language pathology or audiology.

Pennsylvania

This report, written in collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Learning Policy Institute, examines root causes, policy implications, and strategies for addressing teacher shortages in Pennsylvania. This report highlights specific challenges surrounding and strategies for addressing special education shortages in the state.

Rhode Island

The RIPLS address the retention and development of personnel by providing specific descriptors to guide local and school leaders in improving professional learning for educators. The standards are designed to ensure professional development opportunities in Rhode Island are of high quality and sustained over time, with the goal of improving and building upon educators' practices and student outcomes.

The Rhode Island Teacher Preparation Index tracks the graduation to hiring rate of educator preparation program (both traditional and alternative) graduates. Additionally, the Teacher Preparation Index also shows long-term performance reports in specific certification areas, including special education.

South Carolina

PACE is an alternative certification program in South Carolina aimed at designing a pathway for career changers to earn certification over a three-year period in a critical needs area, while working in a classroom.

SC-Create is a scholarship program that offers tuition-free coursework to in-service teachers looking to transition to or add-on a licensure in several areas related to serving students with disabilities. These areas include, but are not limited to, special education, speech-language pathology, and school psychology.

The South Dakota Department of Education offers student loan forgiveness for teachers working in critical need geographic areas as well as critical need subject areas.

South Dakota

This report summarizes the research findings on the funding systems for education in South Dakota and offers a set of recommendations to address the recruitment and retention of educators in the state. Recommendations include models for expanding funding as well as strategies related to licensure reciprocity and educator induction.

Tennessee

This resource serves to enhance teacher preparation and retention in Tennessee by providing a framework for the development, implementation, and monitoring of partnerships between educator preparation programs (EPPs) and local education agencies (LEAs).

This report provides an overview of the retention, movement and attrition of Tennessee public school teachers, with emphasis placed on high-needs content areas, such as special education and career & technical education (CTE).

Texas

This resource list compiled by the Texas Education Agency lists several programs and grants that provide financial assistance to individuals seeking teaching certification with an emphasis on alternative preparation programs.

This program aims to retain certified classroom teachers in designated shortage fields, including PK-12 special education, by offering up to $2,500 per year in loan repayment assistance.

The Texas Education Agency attempts to address teacher shortages and diversify its teacher workforce by offering competitive grants for districts to develop Grow Your Own programs aimed at attracting high school students to pursue a career in education.

Utah

This report analyzes strategies, policies and incentives that have been used to address the attraction and retention of high-quality teachers in Utah in order to assist districts and schools in examining their own recruitment and retention practices.

This bill supports efforts to increase teacher recruitment in high-needs areas, including special education, by awarding grants to districts to enhance professional development and offer stipends to teachers in American Indian- and Alaskan Native-concentration schools

Virginia

This program, created through a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), aims to improve teacher retention by providing free membership to CEC and professional development support specifically designed by CEC.

This program is designed for educators who desire to pursue a position in special education leadership. It offers year-long workshops, seminars, and field experiences that culminate in special education director certification.

This Grow Your Own program addresses teacher shortages in critical shortage areas and hard-to-staff schools by identifying, training, and, later, financially supporting high school students interested in a teaching career.

Washington

Recruiting Washington Teachers is a teacher academy program that aims to support high school students to pursue teaching careers in State-identified shortage areas, including special education.

This report, from the National Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) examines data surrounding teacher preparation experiences and workforce entry of graduates of special education teacher education programs in Washington.

This report presents a toolkit of recommended strategies for growing and sustaining Grow Your Own programs in Washington as well as mini case studies of the sustainability of these programs.

West Virginia

This page, compiled by the West Virginia Department of Education, provides alternative certification program and partner district information for individuals seeking to earn a provisional teaching certificate in special education.

Wisconsin

This Wisconsin school district offers educators personalized opportunities to earn micro-credentials in specific skills and competencies that, once demonstrated, can lead to increased salary and compensation. This micro-credential program is offered to speech therapists and audiologists as well.

This module series provides prospective teachers with guidance on the various pathways to licensure in Wisconsin. This series includes a module on alternative preparation routes to certification in shortage areas such as special education, mathematics, and science.

The 10 Sped program is an alternative route to cross-categorical or early childhood special education teacher certification that is aimed at career changers who are currently employed full time.

This bill would create an alternative pathway for special educators in Wisconsin to become licensed by showing competency that is comparable to that of testing requirements for licensure.

This bill aims to increase the teacher workforce in Wisconsin, especially in critical shortages areas such as special education, by creating a license reciprocity pathway for individuals who hold teacher licensure in another State.

Wyoming

This program seeks to address teacher shortages by providing teacher candidates pursuing certification in special education, math, science, reading, or teaching English as a second language with loan repayment assistance in exchange for a minimum of two years of service in a Wyoming public school.

The following resources include research papers, briefs, program exemplars, and tools created by various organizations. These organizations are not affiliated with OSEP but align with the goals and strategies of OSEP's efforts to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel to serve students with disabilities.

Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (AAIMH)

This video introduces and highlights pathways to various types of endorsement for infant mental health practitioners.

These guidelines are intended to serve as a tool for building a comprehensive infant and early childhood mental health system by creating a shared framework for in service provider preparation as well as professional development.

The School Superintendents Association (AASA)

The School Superintendents Association offers several academies aimed at utilizing cross-institutional partnerships to effectively prepare school and district leaders, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)

Through this program, AACTE partners with the Mursion virtual simulation platform to enhance personnel preparation in AACTE-affiliated institutions of higher education through the use of simulated experiences. AACTE offers discounted software to the institutions and provides access to workshops and resources for candidates at participating institutions.

This segment of AACTE's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion video series highlights three approaches that AACTE is taking to address the shortage of highly qualified special education teachers.

This brief provides an overview of research identifying factors that influence special education teacher shortages and suggests a systemic approach to improve special education teacher retention.

This NIC attempts to address the problem of special education teacher shortages through a partnership between eleven specially-selected preparation programs in higher education. Members of the NIC are implementing a range of strategies, which aim to positively impact the special education teacher shortage by the Fall of 2022.

American Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)

This webinar features speakers from various institutions, including OSEP grantees, and focuses on the preparation and retention of an effective early childhood workforce to serve students with disabilities.

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

This resource offers evidenced-based approaches to addressing educator preparation and retention by reconceptualizing approaches to personnel preparation as well as school staffing models, in order to provide teachers with high-quality, continuous professional learning opportunities.

The resource, created by the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders at the American Institutes for Research, features a self-care self-assessment with key strategies for fostering resilience and a self-care planning tool to assist educators in identifying areas of strength and growth related to self-care and the development of self-care plans.

This brief from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders at the American Institutes for Research provides on overview of micro-credentials and describes how they have been designed and implemented throughout the field of education. This brief also examines several gaps in information on micro-credentials that future research should address.

This resource collection highlights reports, briefs, videos and infographics produced by the American Institutes for Research on trends, projections and research on critical teacher shortages in the United States.

In 2017, seventeen states submitted their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans. This page, from the American Institutes for Research, provides an overview of ten overarching ways in which these seventeen ESSA plans address critical teacher shortage areas.

This framework provides guidance to state and local policymakers to systemically address educator shortages by supporting them to analyze challenges with attraction, preparation, and retention across the career continuum. This framework features a data tool that assists states and districts in analyzing where initiatives are most needed and helps them target initiatives for the greatest impact.

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)

AOTA's Pediatric Fellowship Programs aim to increase the retention of occupational therapists by providing training programs that advance the knowledge and skills of licensed occupational therapists in focused areas of practice.

These two pages present briefs, videos, scholarship information and other resources aimed at attracting prospective students to pursue a career in occupational therapy.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

This page aims to help increase the retention of school-based speech-language pathologists and audiologists by highlighting exemplars from States and districts that have successfully implemented models of increased compensation for personnel.

This resource collection provides an overview of the challenges surrounding the school-based SLP shortage as well as resources related to the recruitment and retention of school-based SLPs.

In 2019, ASHA hosted a town hall on the need to expand the school-based SLP workforce through innovative strategies and solutions.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

This article offers various stakeholders, such as state education agencies (SEAs), school districts preparation programs, and teachers' unions, specific considerations and actions they can take to implement grow-your-own programs within their contexts.

Center for American Progress

This interactive map provides examples of programs and initiatives across the country that aim to improve systems for attracting, preparing, and retaining educators.

This report from the Center on American Progress presents the findings from a national survey on school districts' human capital practices and analyzes the impact of those human capital systems on teacher attraction and retention.

Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER)

This report analyzes data on special education and STEM teacher shortages in Washington State and outlines a number of potential solutions at the school, district, and State levels to improve special education and STEM teacher pipelines.

This report investigates the effects of Statewide teacher incentive programs in hard-to-staff subjects, such as special education. This report finds a relationship between financial incentives, such as loan forgiveness, and decreased teacher attrition in shortage areas.

Center for Collaborative Education (CCE)

This report explores how micro-credentials were uniquely implemented in six districts throughout the United States and examines the impact the micro-credentialing programs had on educator professional development and retention.

Clemson University

This program works to recruit, retain, and develop certified African American male teachers in schools and content areas where they are highly underrepresented, particularly in elementary and middle school settings.

Coalition for Teacher Quality

The Coalition for Teacher Quality includes over 100 organizations, over a dozen of which are centered on students with disabilities. This series of briefs aims to provide various stakeholders with strategies, resources, and tools to build strong and diverse teacher and leader pipelines.

College Football Playoff Foundation

The College Football Playoff Foundation aims to address teacher shortages by partnering with preparation programs to recruit student athletes to pursue certification in critical shortage areas and provide support to these athletes as they complete their program.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

These professional preparation standards for special education and early intervention aim to improve teacher preparation and retention as they are intended to be used to guide curriculum development and for purposes of program review for recognition and accreditation.

This resource library provides professional development materials, guidance documents, and video exemplars to support stakeholders in preparing and developing educators to better serve students with disabilities through the application of High-Leverage Practices.

This issue brief, created as a result of the 2020 CEC Legislative Summit, provides an overview of the condition of the workforce serving students with disabilities and offers suggestions to policymakers on strategies that can be taken to address the recruitment, preparation, and retention of personnel.

This paper addresses the impact of stress management on special educator wellbeing and retention, and provides examples of ways that educators and leaders may use evidence-based strategies to manage stress.

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program empowers the teaching profession by providing a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and students, expand their leadership roles, and influence policy and practice.

This campaign spotlights innovative practices, policies and stories of progress that States are adopting to strengthen educator preparation, especially in critical shortage areas.

Education Commission of the States

This collection provides an overview of State-specific shortage data that have been published in the past five years. This collection does not include States' Shortage Area Listing reports that are reported to the U.S. Department of Education annually.

This resource collection compiles 50-State comparisons of state-specific information related to various aspects of teacher shortages, such as data reports, State policies, financial incentives, mentoring and induction programs, and more.

This brief explores how alternative certification can be used to address teacher shortages by providing an overview of the research, State exemplars, and considerations for policymakers considering developing legislation on alternative certification.

Education Commission of the States provides an overview of various legislation proposed and enacted in States across the country to attract teachers to high-need schools and subjects through targeted recruitment efforts.

This brief series examines five strategies States are using to address teacher shortages in the United States: alternative certification, financial incentives, induction and mentorship, evaluation and feedback, and teacher leadership.

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This resource describes ways to enhance early childhood preparation programs to prepare high-quality personnel to serve students with disabilities. It highlights a sequence of activities and supports for incorporating an explicit and intentional emphasis on cultural and linguistic diversity and evidence-based practices in coursework, field experiences, and program practices.

Hope Street Group

This cross-State initiative provides training and support to educators across a variety of content areas, including special education. Through this program, participants work collaboratively to create teacher-driven policy solutions to present to State policymakers and board members on a variety of educational issues, including personnel shortages.

Learning Policy Institute (LPI)

This research review examines strategies for attracting and retaining educators at the Federal, State, and district levels.

This report reviews research and examines State initiatives focused on six strategies to attract, prepare, and retain educators, with an emphasis on critical shortage areas. These six strategies are: Service scholarships and loan forgiveness; high-retention pathways into teaching; mentoring and induction; developing high-quality school leaders; competitive compensation; and recruitment strategies to expand the pool of qualified educators.

This brief highlights the significant role principal leadership plays in teacher recruitment, retention, and attrition.

This resource presents a variety of interactive tools, research briefs, and strategies for addressing teacher shortages in the U.S. This toolkit includes a specialized section on special education teacher shortages.

This interactive map highlights factors that reflect and impact teacher supply and attrition in each of the 50 States, focusing on indicators such as teacher attractiveness, teacher equity, compensation, and working conditions.

National Association of Direct Support Professionals (NADSP)

This report provides an overview of the shortage crisis in direct support professional workforce through an examination of various data sources, research, and other related policies.

National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)

NAESP provides numerous free professional development webinars for principals to learn how to better support and retain personnel. Many of the webinars present specific examples of how elementary school principals can improve retention by supporting the mentoring and induction of special education teachers and related service personnel.

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

This process will help connect potentially qualified graduate student candidates with school psychology programs that have remaining slots for incoming students in late spring through summer.

This project aims to leverage current practitioners in order to expose high school students and undergraduates, especially those from diverse backgrounds, to school psychology as a career.

These two pages support attracting and preparing high-quality school psychologists by offering a variety of resources, preparation program information and licensing information to prospective school psychology candidates.

This research summary explores the school psychologist shortage, emphasizing the regional and differences in which these shortages take place and preparation program availability.

This resource guide provides specific recommendations for how best to address the shortages in school psychology and recruit effective personnel to serve students at all levels.

This page provides prospective and practicing school psychologists with information on credentialing and continuing education agency requirements and examines whether each State accepts a Nationally Certified School Psychologist as an alternative route and provides links to further information on its alignment with State credentialing requirements.

National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)

This report highlights five diverse educator preparation programs that take innovative approaches to special education teacher certification.

National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR)

This report offers recommendations for State and local policymakers to address policies related to teacher residencies in four areas: partnership and stakeholder collaboration, recruitment and selection, coaching and feedback, and assessment and evaluation. Within each of these areas, NCTR highlights case studies of effective residency programs and districts.

This report offers a framework for States, districts, and preparation programs to strategize ways to address financial barriers in implementing residency programs and improve their financial stability over time. This framework also includes accompanying webinars, modeling tools, and guidance documents.

National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services (NCPSSERS)

This resource collection provides reports and data about the special education teacher and related service provider shortage.

NCPSSERS provides a dialogue guide for individuals seeking to discuss personnel shortages for students with disabilities with various stakeholders, including policymakers, institutes of higher education and school administrators.

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

These reports highlight essential questions and policy options to support State legislators considering policies to recruit, prepare and retain effective teachers.

This report highlights the overwhelming need for each State to building the education work force that is based on their State's specific needs.

National Education Policy Center (NEPC)

This document offers a variety of research and policy reviews as well as resource guides related to the topic of teacher employment and retention through a policy lens.

National Head Start Association (NHSA)

This report offers recommendations for stakeholders to build stronger early childhood provider preparation and development through five strategies: redefine credentials, rethink degree attainment, optimize practice-based training, expand job-embedded coaching, and connect in-service preparation to career advancement.

New America

This resource highlights the impact of Grow Your Own programs on overcoming barriers that lead to critical teacher shortages and provides State exemplars of successful Grow Your Own program implementation.

Northeast Regional Resource Center

The Northeast Regional Resource Center and key partners offer a framework for action to support State, district and school leaders in retaining quality teachers, especially those in special education.

The PARAprofessional Resource & Research Center (PAR²A Center)

This resource library highlights research studies, briefs, and program exemplars on educator recruitment and preparation through paraeducator career ladder programs.

PDK International

Through collaboration with Digital Promise, Educators Rising allows pre-service candidates to earn digital badges to showcase mastery in one of five competencies: anti-bias instruction, classroom culture, collaboration, formative assessment, or learner engagement. Educators Rising collaborates with participating institutions of higher education, scholarship committees, and employers to recognize and value micro-credential achievement.

This blueprint from PDK International provides step-by-step guidance to local education agencies (LEAs) to establish grow-your-own programs aimed at recruiting students from their current high school population to enter educator preparation programs. The blueprint supports LEAs to analyze local and State workforce data, research existing policies, and to explore potential funding sources.

This webinar highlights how Educators Rising Connecticut, a high school-based grow-your-own, initially funded the program in one district and how they eventually made the program a Governor-recognized statewide initiative. This webinar offers practical tips and lessons learned aimed at supporting districts to address shortages and diversify the workforce through their own grow-your-own initiatives.

Power to the Profession

This national collaboration, led by a task force of 15 national organizations, aims to empower the professions of the early childhood workforce by establishing a framework and setting a vision for how to drive the significant and sustained public investment that will allow children birth through 8 to benefit from a well-prepared, diverse, supported, and compensated workforce.

Public Impact

Opportunity Culture is a program in which teachers' roles are restructured so that the teachers can serve as teacher leaders and extend their reach to more students for additional pay but still within existing school-level budgets. Opportunity Culture experts work alongside school leaders to restructure school budgets in order to fund these new roles.

Teacher Incentive Fund

This brief provides guidelines and a framework for school and district leaders, human resource personnel, and policymakers to develop a strategic accountability approach to managing teacher retention, mobility, and turnover.

The Education Trust

This report summarizes responses to a series of focus groups of educators of color in various areas, including special educators, and case studies of the experiences of educators of color in the workforce. This report offers recommendations for schools, districts, and States to consider in order to support educators of color, reduce attrition, and build more inclusive work environments.

TLE TeachLive

This program from the University of Central Florida (UCF) Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology aims to improve the preparation of all educators by creating mixed-reality classroom simulated situations that allow teachers to develop their preservice skills within a safe and authentic environment.
University of Central Washington's School of Education
This brief provides a comprehensive strategy to address teacher shortages in Washington with an emphasis on growth in critical shortage areas such as special education. This strategy includes eliminating financial barriers for teacher candidates and implementing virtual student teacher supervision.

University of North Dakota

This one-year residency program prepares candidates to work in rural localities in North Dakota and western Minnesota by placing future educators with an experienced mentor who serves students with mild or moderate disabilities. In this program, the school district or special education unit provides funding for teachers in residence who will be placed in their district or unit.

University of Texas

The CLI Engage initiative at the University of Texas implements a system for early childhood specialists to earn micro-credentials as part of an early childhood competency framework. Within this program, CLI Engage identifies a cohesive set of skills for each role to demonstrate in order to earn these micro-credentials in the form of digital badges.

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Attract, Prepare, Retain: Effective Personnel For All

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The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is focusing on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel-general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers-who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities.

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Toolkit Facilitation Guide
Center on Great Teachers and Leaders AIR

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Special education teacher shortages have existed for decades. Unfortunately, the urgent need for short-term solutions to fill vacancies often works in opposition to long-term, systemic efforts to create an effective teacher workforce.

The Educator Shortages in Special Education Toolkit is organized around the guiding principle that short-term strategies to meet immediate demand must be intentionally paired with long-term, systemic strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective special education teachers to create comprehensive shortage solutions.

The Toolkit is organized around a Facilitator's Guide and three supporting sets of tools. If this is your first visit, we recommend starting with the Facilitator's Guide.

Watch the Webinar

Tools to Strengthen Educator Pipelines and Address Shortages

Date: Friday, August 23, 2019

12:00-1:00 p.m. ET

The GTL Center now offers two new toolkits to support states and districts in identifying both short-term and long-term evidence-based strategies to address teacher shortages in special education while finding effective ways to diversify the educator workforce. The GTL Center and its partners at the CEEDAR Center and the Learning Policy Institute will provide an overview of the toolkits and answer participants' questions about how the tools can be applied in your own state, district, preparation program, or school.
Download Slides

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders - at American Institutes for Research

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The GTL Center is dedicated to advancing state efforts to grow, respect, and retain great teachers and leaders for all students. Our mission is to foster the capacity of vibrant networks of practitioners, researchers, innovators, and experts to build and sustain a seamless system of support for great teachers and leaders for every school in every state in the nation.

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Solutions Today

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Learning Policy Institute 2018

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Interactive map highlighting a number of key factors that reflect and influence teacher supply and attrition. http://bit.ly/2ctRs2u

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Center on Great Teachers and Leaders AIR

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The Talent Development Data Tool
Plan for COVID-19 staffing needs and challenges by visualizing different slices and segments of the teacher workforce across the entire educator career continuum. This easy-to-use, Excel-based tool assists states in targeting funding, incentives, and other programmatic supports for the greatest impact, as well as allowing states to provide support to districts in making strategic staffing decisions.

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders - at American Institutes for Research

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The GTL Center is dedicated to advancing state efforts to grow, respect, and retain great teachers and leaders for all students. Our mission is to foster the capacity of vibrant networks of practitioners, researchers, innovators, and experts to build and sustain a seamless system of support for great teachers and leaders for every school in every state in the nation.

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Common Practices for Recruiting, Training and Retaining Bilingual and Diverse Teachers  

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Common Practices for Recruiting, Training and Retaining Bilingual and Diverse Teachers  

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REL Northwest

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Human Resources Practices for Recruiting, Selecting and Retaining Teachers of Color 

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Human Resources Practices for Recruiting, Selecting and Retaining Teachers of Color 

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REL Northwest

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Potential Testing Barriers for Teacher Candidates of Color

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Potential Testing Barriers for Teacher Candidates of Color

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REL Northwest

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Strategies for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Grow-Your-Own Teacher Programs for Educators

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Strategies for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Grow-Your-Own Teacher Programs for Educators

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REL Northwest

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Paving the Way for Latinx Teachers: Recruitment and Preparation to Promote Educator Diversity

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Paving the Way for Latinx Teachers: Recruitment and Preparation to Promote Educator Diversity

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New America

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This report takes a close look at pathways into teaching for Latinx students and the barriers they face at each of these transition points.

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Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  Learning What Works From Washington State

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Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  Learning What Works From Washington State

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New America

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In late October, educators, school administrators, teacher preparation program faculty and staff, advocates, policymakers and researchers convened in Seattle, Washington for the state's Diversifying the Educator Workforce (DEW) conference. DEW is organized by the Professional Educator Standards Board (in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), which oversees teacher preparation and certification and helps shape policy for the state of Washington. Washington is helping lead the way for other states interested in creating multiple pathways into the teaching profession to help address shortages and increase the diversity of the workforce.

The conference is held twice per year and organized around specific themes; the theme for this iteration was advancing equity in educator preparation. DEW brings together a range of educational stakeholders to provide an opportunity to hear and share strategies to increase underrepresented candidates in the educator workforce. This is an urgent issue in Washington where 89 percent of the teacher workforce is white and the demographics of the K-12 student population is becoming more racially and linguistically diverse - nearly 45 percent of students are students of color and 10 percent are English learners. Nationally, 80 percent of the educator workforce is white while students of color now make up 51 percent of K-12 enrollment. Many states are focusing on how to close the student-teacher diversity gap due to a growing body of research that points to the benefits of having racially diverse teachers, particularly for students of color.

The day started with Robert Hand, a family consumer sciences teacher at Mount Vernon High School and the 2019 Washington State Teacher of the Year. Mr. Hand teaches in the Recruiting Washington Teachers (RWT) program, which aims to provide high school students with exposure to careers in education. Emphasizing the recruitment of students of color and bilingual students, RWT is framed around culturally responsive curriculum, mentoring and hands-on classroom experience, and exposure to higher education options and support services to help students navigate potential barriers to entering college. One goal of RWT is to help grow future educators who are invested in going back to teach in their local communities.

Mr. Hand was joined by two Latina students who described their desire and motivation to become teachers. One noted that her interest in teaching stemmed in part from the fact that she had not had many Latinx teachers throughout her own educational experience. Both discussed the support they received from Mr. Hand as integral to pursuing their goal to attend college. Another shared that she had not been planning on attending college, but that the support and guidance she received from Mr. Hand and other teachers helped her see college as a possibility. Finally, they talked about the value of getting experience working in an early learning center in increasing their knowledge and understanding of teaching.

Conra Gist, an associate professor at the University of Houston and expert on Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher preparation programs, gave a keynote that encouraged education preparation programs to consider the extent to which their policies, practices and structures show a commitment to developing and supporting racial/ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity and equity among their teacher candidates. Dr. Gist also highlighted research on GYO programs and offered several best practices including creating incentives to spur GYO program development such as providing funding to support programs and candidates.

Several school districts presented on their work developing and implementing GYO programs. Kent School District, the fourth largest district in the state, has implemented a GYO program to help current teachers in the district earn their English as a Second Language or Bilingual endorsement. The program is a direct response to the growing English learner population who make up almost 25 percent of students and need to ensure that teachers are effectively prepared to support their learning needs. Highline Public Schools presented on the successful Bilingual Teacher Fellows program that they developed in partnership with Western Washington University to prepare a cohort of bilingual paraeducators to earn their teaching degree. The first cohort of fellows graduated in June and all were hired as lead teachers within Highline.

Washington has embraced Grow Your Own programs as a key strategy for diversifying the educator workforce and opening up multiple pathways into the profession. These programs seek to recruit and prepare individuals from the community to enter the teaching profession and teach in the community.

Several districts spoke of the barriers that GYO candidates had to overcome in order to obtain their teaching degrees. One common barrier identified were the testing requirements necessary to enter teacher preparation programs and to earn licensure. To that end, the conference also included a session on a recent report commissioned by PESB to examine strategies for addressing the disproportionate outcomes for teacher candidates of color on these mandated exams.

Indeed, data from Washington show that pass rates on the West-B, a basic skills test required for entry into a teacher preparation program, were lower for candidates of color compared to white candidates. Specifically, 91 percent of white candidates passed all three subtests (reading, math, writing) compared to 66 percent of African American candidates and 60 percent of Latinx candidates. Similar trends were seen on pass rates on the Elementary Subtest required to earn elementary certification in the state.

Research compiled by members of the task force that contributed to the report indicates that "standardized testing is ineffective as a singular measurement of knowledge" and highlights the cultural and linguistic bias of these exams. Policymakers in Washington must now consider whether to accept the recommendations of the report to eliminate the West-B requirement and replace it with multiple measures that can help demonstrate candidates basic skills.

Finally, several educator preparation programs in the state presented on work they are doing to support the recruitment and retention of racially and linguistically diverse teacher candidates. Nat Reilly spoke about the Future Woodring Scholars Program at Western Washington University that is "basically RWT for first year college students." The program pulls together cohorts of first year students who are interested in majoring in education and are selected based on eligibility criteria such as first generation college student, student of color, eligible for Pell Grants, male and others. The current cohorts of scholars are 83 percent students of color, 25 percent are bilingual and 90 percent are first generation college students. Scholars are provided with a supportive structure to help ease them into their first year of college and facilitate their entry into the Woodring College of Education. This includes taking all of their courses as a cohort during their first quarter and being partnered with a peer mentor.

The DEW conference offers a window into how Washington is engaging its education stakeholders to strengthen teacher preparation and attract, prepare and retain a more racially and linguistically diverse educator workforce, a challenge faced by states across the country.

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Diversifying the Educator Workforce: Learning What Works from Washington State

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In late October, educators, school administrators, teacher preparation program faculty and staff, advocates, policymakers and researchers convened in Seattle, Washington for the state's Diversifying the Educator Workforce (DEW) conference. DEW is organized by the Professional Educator Standards Board (in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), which oversees teacher preparation and certification and helps shape policy for the state of Washington.

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Journey into Education & Teaching. Helping paraprofessionals in Boston become teachers.

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Greater Boston

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Our mission at Breakthrough Greater Boston

is to inspire excitement for learning, create paths to college and promote careers in education.

Breakthrough Greater Boston prepares low-income students for success in college and trains the next generation of urban teachers using a unique Students Teaching Students model. Through our six-year program, students gain a passion for learning and the perseverance and tools to succeed in college and beyond. Teaching Fellows gain intensive in-classroom experience, expert training and 1:1 coaching.

Through six years of intensive, tuition-free, out of school time programming, we change students' academic trajectories and support them along the path to college. We are building the next generation of teachers through competitive recruitment, research-based training, and coaching from master teachers.

Founded by MacArthur Genius Award winner Angela Duckworth in 1992 in Cambridge, we expanded into Boston in 2013, followed by Somerville in 2018. With the 2024 completion of our growth plan, Breakthrough will serve 900 students and 200 teachers annually.

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Our mission at Breakthrough Greater Boston is to inspire excitement for learning, create paths to college and promote careers in education. Breakthrough Greater Boston prepares low-income students for success in college and trains the next generation of urban teachers using a unique Students Teaching Students model.

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Our Stories, Our Struggles Our Strengths:  Perspectives and Reflections from Latino Teachers

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Our Stories, Our Struggles Our Strengths:  Perspectives and Reflections from Latino Teachers

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The Education Trust

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Exploring Massachusetts Special Education Data

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Exploring Massachusetts Special Education Data

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ESE Policy Brief February 2020

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ESE Policy Brief October 2017

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Diverse and Culturally Responsive Educator Workforce

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Diverse and Culturally Responsive Educator Workforce

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CSI Newsletter
January 8, 2020

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DESE December 13, 2019

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Race, Relational Trust and Teacher Retention in Wisconsin Schools

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Race, Relational Trust and Teacher Retention in Wisconsin Schools

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Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness Research Partnership

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Investing in Talent Development:  A Funding Guide to Supporting the Teacher Workforce with Federal, Private and State Funds

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Investing in Talent Development:  A Funding Guide to Supporting the Teacher Workforce with Federal, Private and State Funds

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders AIR

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Lessons Learned Around Reducing Inequitable Access to High Quality Teachers

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Lessons Learned Around Reducing Inequitable Access to High Quality Teachers

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Comprehensive Center Network Region 6

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Taking the Long View:  State Efforts to Solve Teacher Shortages by Strengthening the Profession 

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Taking the Long View:  State Efforts to Solve Teacher Shortages by Strengthening the Profession 

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Learning Policy Institute

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Micro-Credentials for Teachers:  What Do We Know?  What Do We Need to Know?

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Micro-Credentials for Teachers:  What Do We Know?  What Do We Need to Know?

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The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders AIR

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Short-Term Strategies for Dealing with Shortages of Special Education Teachers

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Short-Term Strategies for Dealing with Shortages of Special Education Teachers

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University of Florida and AIR

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Preparing and Retraining Special Education Teachers:  Short Term Strategies for Long-Tern Solutions

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Preparing and Retraining Special Education Teachers:  Short Term Strategies for Long-Tern Solutions

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The CEEDAR Center and The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders

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Leverage Points to Enhance State and Local Efforts to Attract, Prepare and Retain Effective Personnel for Children with Disabilities

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Leverage Points to Enhance State and Local Efforts to Attract, Prepare and Retain Effective Personnel for Children with Disabilities

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USDOE

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Creating a District Plan to Increase the Racial, Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity of the Educator Workforce:  A Guidebook for Hiring and Selection 

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Creating a District Plan to Increase the Racial, Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity of the Educator Workforce:  A Guidebook for Hiring and Selection 

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders

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Four Strategies to Increase Teacher Retention

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Four Strategies to Increase Teacher Retention

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Hanover Research

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Increasing the Diversity of the Educator Workforce:  A Data-Driven Approach for Districts

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Increasing the Diversity of the Educator Workforce:  A Data-Driven Approach for Districts

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Institute of Education Sciences

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Education Commission of the States

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Council for Chief State School Officers

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Education Commission of the States

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Inequitable Opportunity to Learn:  Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers 

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Inequitable Opportunity to Learn:  Student Access to Certified and Experienced Teachers 

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Learning Policy Institute

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Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  Data Tool for Practitioners

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Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  Data Tool for Practitioners

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders

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Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  A Data Tool for Leaders and Practitioners

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Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce:  A Data Tool for Leaders and Practitioners

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Center on Great Teachers and Leaders AIR

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Grounding Your Diversifying Efforts In Data

Many states struggle to attract and retain an educator workforce that reflects the diversity of their student population. The GTL Center's data tool helps states understand the underlying causes of their diversity gaps. Use this free, user-friendly, Excel-based tool to identify and visualize diversity gaps across the entire career continuum, from "future teachers" graduating from high-school and entering preparation programs, to preservice teachers entering the educator workforce, and growing and developing into experienced classroom instructors.

State education agencies, educator preparation programs (EPPs), regional education agencies, and districts can use the data tool to do the following:

Reveal insights about the diversity of the educator workforce at the state, district, school, or EPP level.

Identify the main drivers behind the existing disparities between the educator workforce and K-12 student populations.

Pinpoint crucial points across the educator career continuum where implementing carefully selected strategies can help diversify the educator workforce and improve equitable access.

Looking for Support?

We offer services to support use of this tool, including:

Expert Consultation

Single or Multi-Day Workshops

Supports for Action Planning and Early Implementation

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Center on Great Teachers & Leaders - at American Institutes for Research

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The GTL Center is dedicated to advancing state efforts to grow, respect, and retain great teachers and leaders for all students. Our mission is to foster the capacity of vibrant networks of practitioners, researchers, innovators, and experts to build and sustain a seamless system of support for great teachers and leaders for every school in every state in the nation.

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Confronting Bias and Building Trust:  Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Black Educators

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Confronting Bias and Building Trust:  Creating Inclusive Workplaces for Black Educators

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ies REL

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Time: 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Central Time

Location: Virtual

Description:

This Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest webinar showcases how retaining Black teachers is a high-leverage strategy for improving student outcomes, particularly for Black students. During the webinar, researchers present information on the importance and challenges of retaining Black teachers, as well as evidence-based strategies that can increase retention rates for Black teachers and potentially improve educational outcomes among Black students. Practitioners share real-life examples and concrete strategies that educators can implement to create inclusive and antiracist work environments and improve retention rates among Black teachers within their school and/or district.

Partnership: Midwest Achievement Gap Research Alliance

Speakers:

Jameela Conway-Turner, PhD, Researcher, REL Midwest

Kyle Fagan, PhD, Researcher, REL Midwest

Curtis Jones, PhD, Director, Office of Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education, and Co-Director, Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness Research Partnership, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Katharine Rainey, Director, Educator Development and Support, and Co-Director, Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness Research Partnership, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Kyron Harvell, STAR Project Director, Office of School Culture, Lansing School District

Sharif El-Mekki, CEO, Center for Black Educator Development, and REL Mid-Atlantic Governing Board Member

Marlo A. Reeves, PhD, Senior Research/Evaluation Associate, Office of Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Resources:

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Inclusive Environments for Black Teachers Webinar | REL Midwest

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Time: 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Central Time Location: Virtual Description: This Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest webinar showcases how retaining Black teachers is a high-leverage strategy for improving student outcomes, particularly for Black students.

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Creating Inclusive Workspaces for Black Teachers

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Creating Inclusive Workspaces for Black Teachers

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ies REL

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November 25, 2020

In 2019, Dr. Curtis Jones (Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education [SREed]) conducted a study on race, relational trust, and teacher retention in Wisconsin schools. He found that African American teachers are much less likely to stay in their school as educators, with only 58% remaining after just 2 years compared to 77% of White teachers. He also found that African American teachers feel lower levels of trust with other teachers than White or Latinx teachers, which likely factors into their greater risk of leaving.

This Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest video explores why Black teachers leave the teaching profession and the best practices for retaining them. Viewers will hear from Dr. Tammie Causey-Konaté (REL Midwest), Dr. Curtis Jones (SREed), and Etai Mizrav (REL Midwest) on research-based practices for retaining Black teachers and why the work is important everywhere. The video also shares the perspectives of educators and district leaders from Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois, on best practices for creating and sustaining inclusive work environments for Black teachers.

REL Midwest also produced a viewing guide [281 KB ] that is available for download. The guide prompts viewers as they consider what they have learned in the video that can inform their own work. The viewing guide can be used by school and district leaders along with teachers as they consider how they can develop more inclusive work environments for Black teachers.

To learn more about our work in this area, visit the Midwest Achievement Gap Research Alliance webpage.

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Creating inclusive workplaces for Black teachers

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November 25, 2020 In 2019, Dr. Curtis Jones (Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education [SREed]) conducted a study on race, relational trust, and teacher retention in Wisconsin schools. He found that African American teachers are much less likely to stay in their school as educators, with only 58% remaining after just 2 years compared to 77% of White teachers.

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Principals if You Don't Include Questions about Race, Class and Privilege during Your Interviews You are Failing

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Principals if You Don't Include Questions about Race, Class and Privilege during Your Interviews You are Failing

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Philly's 7th Ward

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Principals, if you don't have your staff hired and ready for back to school, you have my sympathy. As all school leaders know, the best hiring season for teachers is early in the calendar year (around January to March).

At times, late in the school year, or even mid-year, a school community will get lucky, but for the most part, hiring well means hiring early and never completely take the recruitment hat off.

While I strongly believe in principals being able to work with their leadership teams to both hire and when necessary fire, it is tempered with the belief that schools cannot fire their way to greatness. Only hiring well, coaching, and support will work.
Ask the Right Questions
A few people have asked me what types of questions my leadership team uses to be as selective as possible in choosing the most aligned candidates.

For us, it is critical that we find educators who truly believe in the potential of our students, nearly all of whom are Black. We are looking for a particular mindset when it comes to people leading our classrooms full of our community's precious children.

If you don't bring a sense of intense love for our Black youth and unwavering urgency to serve them, you aren't the right fit at our school. The injustices that Black students experience are pervasive. Educators must be accountable to providing a vastly different experience than Black children experience in society. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

Since we always want to be able to look a parent or grandparent in the eyes and say, "yes, I would definitely put my own child in that classroom," here are a few of the questions we ask to ascertain which candidates will be good fits for our school community:

What do you believe you should be held accountable for?
They have to be comfortable being held accountable for how much children learn. Some teachers only want to be held accountable for what they covered in the class. It's a different type of teacher who embraces accountability-individual and collective. We want them.

What are your strategies and non-negotiables for ensuring Black students are successful? How do you define this success? Can you give examples of how strict authoritativeness lives in your classroom? How does your classroom speak to high standards and love?
Hilary Beard speaks about the authoritative parent and teacher who establishes a high bar that is tightly married to high levels of support. This "warm demander" pushes students and these students respond by meeting the bar.

Have you had a Black supervisor? How would you feel about being led by a Black male principal? Why?
I encourage the Black women education leaders to ask this as well. Yes, it is 2018, and there are still plenty of people who will cast aspersions about the leadership of people of color. I've known folks who raise their eyebrows to an answer of a Black leader and go to someone white and smile at the very same answer they heard before. (Too many examples to cite here, I'll have to follow up with a different blog about the undermining that happens in schools and systems.)

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Principals, If You Don't Include Questions About Race, Class, and Privilege During Your Interviews, You Are Failing. - Philly's 7th Ward

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Principals, if you don't have your staff hired and ready for back to school, you have my sympathy. As all school leaders know, the best hiring season for teachers is early in the calendar year (around January to March). At times, late in the school year, or even mid-year, a school community will get lucky, ...