There has been an ongoing dialogue among education stakeholders across the nation about impending teacher shortages, and individual states have been grappling with how to properly detect and deal with potential gaps. But are there really shortages? If so, in what regions of the country or in states and to what degree of severity? What type of…

This research review analyzes studies on the recruitment and retention of teachers of color in order to examine the current state of teachers of color in the workforce; understand the factors that affect their recruitment, hiring, and retention; and highlight opportunities for policymakers to grow a stable workforce of teachers of color in their…

This brief is the first in a series of reports examining the teacher shortage dilemma. It considers what the research says about teacher shortages and highlights recent state task force findings. Designed to guide state leaders in policy decisions, the briefs that follow examine five strategies states are using to address shortages: (1)…

The Rhode Island Education Policy Primer provides an overview of how public education operates in Rhode Island. The Introduction offers context on the inequitable origins of Rhode Island's public school system, as well as the role that activism has played in expanding educational opportunities. The At a Glance section provides a quick look at…

The Rockefeller Institute of Government is conducting a multistate examination of potential supply and demand issues for teachers. In other words, are states facing teaching shortages around the country? This report, the second state-specific review, is an initial overview of the P-12 teacher labor market in New York State (NYS). It examines the…

Working with the South Dakota Department of Education, the authors have begun collecting data to pinpoint where potential shortages and turnover of teachers are as a way to lay the foundation of targeted solutions in specific areas. Given the data collection process, they have broken the study into two phases: (1) Phase one: is a…

Students in schools, colleges, and universities are rapidly becoming more diverse while the teaching workforce has failed to keep pace. The underrepresentation of minority teachers on school faculties persists despite efforts by successful national teacher recruitment programs, such as the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, to redress this…

Research shows that exposure to teachers of color has a positive impact on students of all races, and particularly on students of color. Despite these positive effects, only 4% of Pennsylvania's teachers are people of color. This percentage is not only one of the lowest in the nation, but it is also starkly disparate from Pennsylvania's own…

Community colleges are becoming increasingly important organizations within the modern structure of higher education. Nearly half of all U.S. college students are enrolled in community colleges. Forces driving the expanding reliance upon community colleges to provide the postsecondary educational needs of U.S. citizens include: the current…

Recruitment and retention of minority faculty in bilingual special education is a perilous task. Research has shown that minority faculty/teachers are able to provide emotional support, mentor students, serve as role models, create a positive climate, provide diverse views, increase collaboration among faculty and teachers, and work with…

The Texas Education Agency's (TEA's) 2017 Annual Report is intended to shine light on the agency's commitment to ensuring that every one of the more than five million public school students in Texas is prepared for success in college, a career or the military. In Texas public schools: (1) Graduation rates are at an all-time high and put Texas in…

Research for Action (RFA) has completed its second year of a five-year external evaluation of the Project Leadership and Investment for Transformation (LIFT) Initiative in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District (CMS). Project LIFT is a public-private partnership between CMS and the local philanthropic and business communities in Charlotte,…

Rural educational issues cannot be addressed by a one size-fits-all approach to school improvement, but current research offers some solutions and insights into turning around low-performing rural districts and schools. Of the four possibilities set forth by the U.S. Department of Education, the transformation model holds the most promise for…

This study examines and compares the recruitment and retention of minority and White elementary and secondary teachers and attempts to empirically ground the debate over minority teacher shortages. The data we analyze are from the National Center for Education Statistics' nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey and its longitudinal…

In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 30 teaching residency programs received funding through one of 28 Teacher Quality partnership grants awarded to establish or expand residency programs. These programs follow a model of teacher preparation in which prospective teachers complete graduate-level coursework alongside a year-long fieldwork experience in the…