Schools continue to face specific and persistent teacher shortages in certain subjects, such as upper-level math and special education, and in certain schools, including historically under-resourced schools and rural schools. Declining participation in teacher preparation programs, coupled with high turnover in the profession, suggests that a…

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…

All students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from having teachers and school leaders of color. Since principals of color are often more likely to hire and retain teachers of color, increasing school leader diversity is a key lever for addressing educational inequities. To provide advocates and policymakers with context on this important…

High schools throughout the United States, especially those serving high poverty and high minority communities, struggle to find qualified science teachers to fill vacancies, a situation that has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This science teacher shortage is caused by a combination of low levels of recruitment into the…

"Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators" spotlights the challenging and necessary work of fostering social justice in schools. Integral to this work are the teachers and school leaders who enact the principles of social justice-racial equity, cultural inclusivity, and identity acceptance--daily in their classrooms. This volume…

State education agencies are investing new federal relief funds in initiatives such as technology, broadband, summer programming, virtual tutoring, and teacher professional development for e-learning. Research suggests that one of the most significant impacts of the pandemic is exacerbating existing inequality and widening achievement gaps. A…

Despite a growing population, the underrepresentation of African American faculty in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) is a growing concern in the United States. Recent studies indicate PWIs have been focused on increasing diverse student enrollment, particularly among African Americans, but not on recruiting and retaining African American…

The purpose of this article was to problematize the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black women teachers in an effort to promote awareness, research, and action. Black women teachers impact the educative and socioemotional needs of all students. However, this impact is most noticeable when Black women serve large populations of Black…

When it comes to ensuring every student gets great teachers, state governments play a crucial and underappreciated role. Without access to the right data, school systems will struggle to match the supply and demand for new teachers. Without certification policies that prioritize student impact over paper credentials, too many talented people will…

The COVID-19 global pandemic impacted the United States' educational landscape by intensifying the teacher shortage. In particular, significant help is wanted in filling public school vacancies in specialty areas, which has resulted in non-instructional staff teaching in classrooms and impacting school operations. Federal, state, and local…

The focus of professional development for teachers is to increase teaching skills and student academic success. Challenges in retaining and hiring teachers are causing local, state, and national organizations that represent teachers to rethink ways to support teachers within the profession. The professional and psychological needs of teachers have…

Effective teacher management -- aimed at building teachers' status, skills, motivation, wellbeing, and retention -- is a key policy lever that can help Uganda to achieve its aim of developing and sustaining a high-quality, inclusive, and equitable education system for all learners, including refugees and vulnerable Ugandans. This policy brief aims…

Rural regions struggle to retain early intervention (EI), special education (SE), and early childhood education (ECE) supports for children with developmental delay and/or disability, yet there is little guidance to prepare pre-service students for rural practice. This exploratory scoping review of rural EI/SE/ECE practice in the United States and…

As the nation's high school student population becomes increasingly diverse, the lack of minority teachers, particularly African American male teachers, is a concern. This case study of African American male high school teachers in a mid-sized market in the Midwest sought to identify the motivations for teaching, the barriers prior to and during…

This study examined the long-term impact of a special education residency program in high-need urban schools on the recruitment, program completion, and hiring and retention of graduates. Findings from this study, expanding research to special education teacher preparation, are consistent with a growing body of research that suggests that a…