In a January 2016 report on teacher shortages in California, "Addressing California's Emerging Teacher Shortage: An Analysis of Sources and Solutions," the Learning Policy Institute found that there were too few qualified California teachers to meet the growing demand of school districts across the state. A fall 2016 survey of more than…

With the U.S. facing a national teacher shortage that is projected to grow substantially in the coming years, school systems across the country are grappling with the challenge of building and maintaining a high-quality teacher workforce for all students. While school leaders and policymakers might be tempted to solve shortages by focusing solely…

Without changes in current policies, U.S. teacher shortages are projected to grow in the coming years. Teacher turnover is an important source of these shortages. About 8% of teachers leave the profession each year, two-thirds of them for reasons other than retirement. Another 8% shift to different schools each year. In addition to aggravating…

After many years of teacher layoffs in California, school districts around the state are hiring again. With the influx of new K-12 funding, districts are looking to lower student-teacher ratios and reinstate classes and programs that were reduced or eliminated during the Great Recession. However, mounting evidence indicates that teacher supply has…

Teacher shortages have been worsening in California since 2015. Growth in teacher demand as the economy has improved has collided with steep declines in the supply of new teachers, leading to significant increases in the hiring of underprepared teachers, especially in districts serving high-need students. Shortages are most severe in special…

Recent media reports of teacher shortages across the country are confirmed by the analysis of several national datasets reported in this brief. Shortages are particularly severe in special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions. Shortages are…

Widespread media reports of local teacher shortages have become a hot topic in education since the summer of 2015. To date, there has not yet been a detailed national analysis of the sources and extent of teacher shortages, or a prognosis for the future. This report details the outcomes of such a study, which analyzes evidence of teacher…

A number of studies have found that teachers are prone to leave schools serving high proportions of low-achieving, low-income, and minority students for more economically and educationally advantaged schools. In schools with very high turnover rates, this can pose a number of challenges, including lack of continuity in instruction, lack of…

The authors of this report, education researchers and reformers, value both the promise and possibilities of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), with its mandate that states ensure a "highly qualified" teacher for every child in every core academic class. Reports by the Education Trust, the Center for Education Policy, and the Center…

Most schools and teachers cannot provide the kind of teaching the new standards demand because they lack know-how and organizational support. The policy challenge ahead is to develop schools' capacity to teach challenging content to diverse learners by ensuring teachers' access to knowledge they need to be effective and by developing new…

Several initiatives hold great promise to reform teaching: redesigning initial teacher preparation; rethinking professional development; and involving teachers in research, collaborative inquiry, and professional standard-setting. U.S. teachers need to emulate their European and Asian counterparts, who are better paid, prepared, and supported and…

This newsletter's central item is an essay on teaching as a profession and its condition in the midst of current trends and historical movements. It discusses teacher education, recent reform efforts to incorporate new understandings of teaching and learning in programs for prospective teachers, establishment of professional development schools,…

Projects a "typical" future teacher's career path, based on current teacher-education developments. She will be a highly motivated student, major in an academic subject, enter a highly selective teacher-education program, pursue challenging coursework, get adequate field experience, enter a professional-development-school internship, and develop…

One of the most important aspects of NCLB is its demand that states ensure a "highly qualified" teacher for every student. This provision draws much-needed attention to the importance of ensuring equitable student access to high-quality teachers, write the authors. Some aspects of the provision have raised legitimate concerns--including…

Efforts to professionalize teaching in recent years have contrasted sharply with regulatory initiatives that deprofessionalize the occupation and the act of teaching. Choices made now between better regulations and better teachers will determine the shape of education in years to come. (TE)