Education Northwest conducted a landscape analysis to support the Region 16 Comprehensive Center in gathering information about promising practices and innovative strategies for recruiting and retaining Indigenous educators in teacher education programs (TEPs) and the workforce. This landscape analysis included a review of the literature; a review…

We describe the extent and predictors of staffing challenges faced by school districts in Washington state throughout the 2021-22 school year using data collected from job posting websites for districts representing more than 98% of students in the state. These data suggest that school districts in the state faced considerable challenges filling…

Professional references are widely used in hiring decisions, yet their effectiveness remains largely understudied. This study analyzes structured ratings collected from the professional references of teacher applicants and conduct an experiment to see whether the ratings influence hiring managers' assessments of applicants and hiring decisions.…

Turnover in the teacher workforce imposes significant costs to schools, both in terms of student achievement and the time and expense required to recruit and train new staff. This paper examines the potential for structured ratings of teacher applicants, solicited from their professional references, to inform hiring decisions through the selection…

The 2022 Legislature increased funding for specific types of school staff in the prototypical school funding model, which determines the state funding allocations for schools. The legislation also required that funding provided to schools for physical, social, and emotional support staff (PSES staff) be spent on those staff. This report includes…

Across the nation, there is a shortage of teachers who reflect the demographics of students. Even though the teaching workforce has diversified nationally in recent decades, teachers from diverse backgrounds, when attracted, depart schools at a significantly higher rate than white teachers (Ingersoll, Merrill, Stuckey & Collins, 2018). Over…

Teacher shortages continue to be a challenge for state policymakers, and while national media coverage paints a picture of widespread shortages, a closer examination reveals that shortages tend to be concentrated in specific subjects and schools. The primary policy response to shortages is often to recruit more teachers, but research demonstrates…

The 2021 Legislature tasked the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) with convening a workgroup to develop recommendations to support recruiting and retaining a multicultural and multilingual educator workforce with state salary allocations that are competitive and reflective of current economic conditions. The K-12 Basic…

Camp remains a powerful experience for youth of any age, but special care must be taken to ensure camps are supportive of diverse audiences. This article describes the process by which 4-H camp organizers created a welcoming and affirming camp for teen dependents of active duty, retired, or veteran military personnel, especially those campers who…

A growing literature documents the importance of student teaching placements for teacher development. Emerging evidence from this literature highlights the importance of the mentor teacher who supervises this placement, as teachers tend to be more effective when they student teach with a mentor who is a more effective teacher. But the efficacy of…

Across the United States, many districts find themselves short on bilingual teachers. More than half of the states face a shortage of such teachers, with shortages most acute in states that provide bilingual education to the greatest numbers of English learners. Bilingual and dual-language education have proven to have a positive effect on the…

Most research about how to improve the teacher workforce has focused on interventions designed to improve incumbent teachers, far less attention has been directed toward teacher hiring processes and whether districts can make better hiring decisions. Using data from Spokane Public Schools and Washington state, we describe the findings from a study…

As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the country in 2020, Washington state's emergent charter sector was growing. During this time, charter enrollment was growing by 28% each year, on average, and the number of schools in operation doubled from eight to 16. The new schools that opened were planned long before the pandemic. But even…

A growing literature documents the importance of student teaching placements for teacher development. Emerging evidence from this literature highlights the importance of the mentor teacher who supervises this placement, as teachers tend to be more effective when they student teach with a mentor who is a more effective teacher. But the efficacy of…

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…