In this essay Brian R. Sevier, Joanna Bruno, Karol Gates, Stephanie Hartman, Mary Ellen Pittman, Vince Puzick, Phyllis Reed, and Beverly Reimer describe their effort at the Colorado Department of Education to recruit and engage educators in authoring free and open-source curriculum samples for preK-12 academic content areas. The story of…

Four-day school week (4DSW) schedules are growing rapidly across the U.S., with school districts citing perceived benefits to teacher recruitment and retention and student attendance as motivations for adopting the schedule. This study uses panel data from Colorado, one of the states with the highest prevalence of 4DSWs, to investigate the impacts…

Although the percentage of teachers of color in the workforce has grown significantly over the past 30 years, it still does not reflect the diversity of the national population or students. Teachers of color also have higher turnover rates than White teachers, highlighting the need for strategies to retain teachers of color as well as recruit more…

Postsecondary programs in early childhood education (ECE) can provide a pathway for new educators to enter the child care and early education (CCEE) field or for the advancement and professional development of individuals already in the field. At a time when CCEE administrators report difficulties in finding qualified applicants, the recruitment…

In Colorado, where higher education institutions are not graduating enough candidates to fill open teaching jobs, particularly in specializations such as math, several initiatives are working to improve rural teacher recruitment and retention. Through scholarships, state university partnerships, a multidistrict professional learning community, and…

Public health relies on sample surveys to monitor the health of populations and investigate factors that contribute to population health and illness. Such investigations require surveying individuals who are selected in ways that support statistical inference to the population. Faced with rising costs and declining participation, survey…

The United States is experiencing a teacher shortage crisis that is even more pronounced in rural communities. Teachers may be driven away from the profession if they feel inadequately trained or under-supported to address students' mental health needs. As such, an important teacher retention strategy is to ensure schools have enough mental health…

House Bill 21-1010 tasked the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to convene a workgroup dedicated to identifying obstacles to increasing the diversity of Colorado's educator workforce and to develop recommendations for meeting the challenge. This report is a result of the workgroup's…

Teacher shortages in some regions, schools and content areas have caused states to consider fast-tracking teachers into the classroom through avenues that include little or no clinical preparation. Teachers who enter the profession through these pathways are less likely to be prepared, less effective and less likely to remain in the profession…

Reports of ecological disturbances - wildfires, loss of biodiversity, drought, contaminated drinking water, extreme temperatures - fill the news. People have to navigate and manage these challenges. To do so effectively, requires that people are environmentally literate (EL), demonstrating an understanding of the problems, so they are motivated to…

Colorado has a significant shortage of special education teachers, particularly within rural areas. This article will compare two grant-funded recruitment and training projects drawing connections from the current research base in training and retention. High-Leverage Practices were infused into these projects to support authentic assistive…

To best train and support school leaders in their evolving roles, they require high-quality preparation and in-service pipelines that both address the changing demands on their positions and acknowledge the cascading effects that well-prepared leaders have on both student outcomes and in school culture and retention. Including school leaders in…

States and local education systems hold the primary responsibility for delivering public education in the United States. During the past several years, the quality of the American education system has become national policy priority, replete with school reform efforts designed to hold all students to high standards, increase student achievement,…

In a rapidly changing world, it is more important than ever for learners of all ages to develop the skills and experiences necessary to succeed in high-wage, high-skilled and high-demand careers of their choosing. Career Technical Education (CTE) is working with every state to help learners succeed, while also providing employers with skilled and…

Principals are instrumental to successful school improvement efforts and positive student outcomes. However, recent workforce trends, increased accountability, demands of the job, and turnover rates for school principals are worrisome. Succession planning is a systematic approach that involves all aspects of identifying and retaining leaders…