Economic downturns can cause major funding shortfalls for U.S. public schools, often forcing districts to make difficult budget cuts, including teacher layoffs. In this brief, we synthesize the empirical literature on the widespread teacher layoffs caused by the Great Recession. Studies find that teacher layoffs harmed student achievement and were…

The literature on the diversification of the higher education workforce has tended to focus on broad brush changes to patterns of employment and working conditions. What has been less remarked is ways in which individuals are negotiating the structures and stretching the parameters within which they work, including experience outside higher…

This summary of the policy brief "Leaks in the Educator Pipeline: Wisconsin Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Completers Working in Illinois and Minnesota Public Schools" examines one type of "leak" in the Wisconsin educator pipeline. The source of these "leaks" are recent graduates from one of the state's 40+…

For the last two decades, Ohio has given its new public school teachers choices among retirement plans. Early in their employment, they are handed a form that allows them to opt for a traditional pension plan, a 401(k)-style defined-contribution (DC) plan, or a plan that combines elements of each. If they make no affirmative decision at all--that…

Given the evidence of positive effects on students of having at least one teacher who shares their race or ethnicity, state boards of education, other state policymakers, and school leaders need to recognize teachers' race and ethnicity as markers of teacher quality. Whether purposefully or not, education systems have long defined teacher quality…

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced the expansion of the northeastern reciprocity agreement to include certified educators throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and beyond. As of April 21, 2022, "educators in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New…

The purpose of this report is to investigate paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits offered to higher ed employees. We surveyed 419 higher education institutions on the paid time off, tuition benefits, and retirement benefits they offer their employees. Key findings include the following. Only about one-third of institutions…

This article is a discussion of the role of the University Counsel (sometimes called the General Counsel) as "adviser, officer, administrator, and agent" in the university setting. The article discusses the nature of the "fiduciary duty" in university governance and describes several of the substantive areas of the law with…

Over the past decade, an increasing number of overseas Chinese PhD graduates have returned to China to develop their career. For these academic returnees, one of the challenges is to (re)construct an academic identity in a familiar context that is also strange because they have been absent for a few years. In this autobiographical paper, the…

The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA), a public research university, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving working conditions for non-tenure track faculty (NTTF) with a 20-year track record of progressive policies to improve the support for them. This commitment is manifested through a series of improvements in policies,…

Since 2007, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has averaged an 81.5% teacher retention rate on their average of 2,295 teachers. This means that each year, OUSD needs to fill over 400 teaching positions. Nationally, the teacher retention rate is around 90%, and in California that number hovers at 88%. With this in mind, in January 2018, OUSD's…

School districts and state education systems across the country are in the midst of an increasingly challenging fiscal environment. In many states, funding for K-12 education remains below pre-recession levels in what has been called a "punishing decade for school funding" (Leachman et al., 2017), despite efforts in recent years to…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a larger study on Louisiana's Believe and Prepare pilot program. The program aimed to provide teacher candidates or in-service teachers a competency-based curriculum and a residency with a mentor. State and teacher education leaders in Louisiana sought to better understand the early career outcomes…

Eric Booth cites concrete evidence of the growth and maturity of the teaching artist field and points a way forward.

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant aims to increase the number of highly qualified individuals teaching in high-need fields, such as reading specialist, mathematics, or science, at high-need schools. TEACH Grants provide up to $4,000 per academic year to students preparing to become teachers. To receive…