Research has shown that while the number of school-age children has steadily increased over time, the number of qualified teachers available to educate them has not matched this need. This topical brief shows the percentage of public schools across the nation with teaching vacancies and summarizes strategies implemented in Region 5 Comprehensive…

In 2021, TNTP published "Missing Out: Arkansas' Teacher Shortage and How to Fix It," describing teacher shortages in Arkansas, programs the state had in place to address shortages, and the extent to which teachers and potential teachers were aware of and interested in these programs. Since that report was published, Arkansas has…

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in the profession is a matter of significant policy concern. Increasing teacher salaries and creating more attractive compensation packages are often proposed to achieve this goal. However, average real teacher salaries have remained stagnant over the past decade and have not fully recovered from the…

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…

This article describes the collaborative efforts of various state and national agencies working together to recruit and retain agriculture teachers in the states of Kentucky, South Carolina, and Ohio. We contrast multiple measures of recruitment and retention in these states with those from the comparator states of Arkansas, West Virginia, and…

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…

Hiring and retaining teachers of color is one approach that policymakers can use to support improved academic achievement and opportunities for racially and ethnically diverse students. National data show that while the student population is becoming more diverse, the teacher workforce remains largely white and female. While teachers from all…

Unfortunately, far too many Arkansas students are being taught by teachers who are uncertified in the subject they are teaching. This report analyzes the extent and potential causes of Arkansas' teacher shortage and propose a series of recommendations for state policymakers. Two primary findings about the shortage were identified: (1) Shortages…

Districts across the country are facing severe shortages of teachers--especially in certain subjects (math, science, special education, career and technical education, and bilingual education) and in specific schools (urban, rural, high-poverty, high-minority, and low-achieving). The severity of the teacher shortage problem varies significantly by…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify factors affecting special education teacher recruitment and retention throughout the Northwest Arkansas/River Valley region. This study contains both quantitative and qualitative survey data from 30 public school districts and 401 special education teachers currently serving in the field. The…

U.S. schools are facing chronic shortages of qualified teachers, resulting in the hiring of unqualified teachers who are disproportionately assigned to disadvantaged students. Further, changing demographics are resulting in racial/ethnic and cultural mismatch between teachers and students they serve, causing additional educational problems. This…

The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) provided states with newfound flexibility on accountability measures and school improvement strategies. Many policy experts have analyzed states' ESSA plans, which explain how states use their federal funds under various provisions of the new law, as well as the approaches states take to identify and rate…

Rural schools, particularly high poverty rural schools, often have difficulty hiring and retaining qualified teachers. Here, we discuss three programs the Arkansas Department of Education has used to attract teachers to teacher Geographic Shortage Districts (GSDs) through material incentives. Unfortunately, none of the programs have had much…

African American male teachers represent a disproportionately low number of educators in the American public school system. This lack of representation has implications for understanding, interacting with and educating the growing population of students of African descent in public schools. In addition, all students benefit from experiencing…

Arkansas has seen a gradual and continuous decline in its number of minority teachers. At the same time, school population demographics indicate that the percentage of minority students is increasing. This study was conducted to address the problems associated with strategies to recruit and retain minority students into education. A survey form…