This study aimed to identify the relationship between school climate, special education teacher job satisfaction, and intent to stay. The study participants included special education teachers from two middle Tennessee public school districts who serve students K-12. The study demonstrates the relationship between school climate and special…

Teachers contribute more to reading and math outcomes than any other factor of schooling. However, teacher shortages are pervasive. How can schools and districts recruit high-quality educators, hold onto to the ones they already have, and reflect the diversity of their students? This infographic highlights innovative models beyond the traditional…

The need for qualified school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers is often discussed in terms of teacher recruitment; however, retaining those teachers is also necessary to ensure the stability and longevity of SBAE programming. Through the lens of teacher resilience, this qualitative study sought to answer the question: What individual…

Purpose: For decades, federal and state agencies have identified teacher shortages in high-needs endorsement areas (HNEAs), including science, mathematics, and special education, as a critical problem. Many states have implemented policies and practices to recruit HNEA teachers, but little is known about how their workforce outcomes compare with…

Purpose: For decades, federal and state agencies have identified teacher shortages in high-needs endorsement areas (HNEAs), including science, mathematics, and special education, as a critical problem. Many states have implemented policies and practices to recruit HNEA teachers, but little is known about how their workforce outcomes compare with…

Across the nation, teacher shortages are receiving broad attention. Teacher turnover can lead to negative outcomes for students through the replacement of effective teachers by inexperienced or unqualified teachers, increases in class sizes, or reductions in course offerings. For educators, frequent turnover upsets collaboration, stability,…

Background/Context: School districts across the United States face persistent difficulties recruiting and retaining teachers (García & Weiss, 2019; Schmitt & deCourcy, 2022). Over the last decade, every state in the south has faced a growing teacher shortage, with some facing shortages in all grades and subjects (U.S. Department of…

We develop a unifying conceptual framework for understanding and predicting teacher shortages at the state, region, district, and school levels. We then generate and test hypotheses about geographic, grade level, and subject variation in teacher shortages using data on teaching vacancies in Tennessee during the fall of 2019. We find that teacher…

Providing consistent, excellent teaching for each student in every classroom depends on whether states and districts commit to transforming teaching into a profession that reliably builds and grows teacher expertise over the career continuum. To address the problem of inequitable access to effective teachers, the U.S. Department of Education asked…

In February 2014, the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE) requested that the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) provide assistance to the SBE's Basic Education Program (BEP) Review Committee. The SBE requested additional information on the use and effectiveness of market-based teacher compensation and market-based incentives by…

This report presents the Tennessee edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

The school systems of Tennessee are continuing to make efforts to recruit and retain African-American and other minority teachers. As school systems in the state become more and more diverse, these efforts must increase. The number of classroom teachers with 30+ years of experience further emphasizes the accelerated need to establish and implement…