The last several years have seen an escalation in calls for an adequate response at governmental level to the reality of a teacher supply crisis in Ireland. This article traces the evolution of the crisis, providing important socio-historical context and analysis. It argues that while the issue of a steady supply of teachers has been a feature of…

"Grow Your Own" (GYO) programs have recently emerged as a promising approach to expand teacher supply, address localized teacher shortages, and diversify the profession. However, little is known about the scale and design of GYO programs, which recruit and support individuals from the local community to become teachers. We conduct a…

As well as high levels of teacher attrition, most countries around the world report some form of teacher recruitment crisis, exemplified by failed recruitment targets and high levels of demand for new teachers. These issues have reached crisis point in England. The impact of the controversial ITT Market Review, and subsequent accreditation process…

Situated against teacher demand problems worldwide, rising teacher turnover and declining teacher education enrollment have rendered the state of South Carolina a region commonly described as facing a "teacher shortage crisis." This paper reports results from an evaluation of the Rural Recruitment Initiative (RRI), a state-level teacher…

Measuring the appropriate level of teacher compensation for different working conditions requires overcoming a number of empirical challenges, including defining and measuring differences in qualifications, effects of non-wage compensation, financial constraints, and lack of market clearing. We address those challenges in a study of teacher…

Despite enacting well-intentioned policies to improve teacher recruitment and retention, many states continue to face significant staffing challenges, particularly in high-need schools and hard-to-staff subjects such as math, science, and special education. Two years ago, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) set out to explore the…

The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) determined that an effective strategy for addressing teacher shortages and filling hard-to-fill positions in remote geographic locations is to offer repayment of educational loans for those who fill these positions. The Loan Forgiveness Program…

In the New England area, schools and districts face challenges in recruiting teachers for remote rural schools, offering competitive pay with other industries, particularly for CTE teachers, and declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs. Region 1 Comprehensive Center (R1CC) and Region 2 Comprehensive Center facilitated three virtual…

This dissertation consists of three papers. In each, I use applied econometric methods and economic theory to study the American teacher workforce. The first paper evaluates a novel policy to address teacher shortages by promoting experienced school staff to be teachers of record. Controlling for demographics and baseline scores, I find that…

Purpose: In this paper we investigate school district staffing challenges during the 2021-22 school year, the second school year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Methods/Approach: We use novel data from Washington state collected by scraping websites for job postings during the 2021-22 school year; the districts represented in the study serve…

This research brief highlights evidence-based strategies for recruiting and hiring highly effective teachers, a critical challenge for many districts facing ongoing shortages. Research emphasizes that early and open hiring processes expand applicant pools and lead to better matches between teachers and schools, improving retention and student…

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…

This report draws on insight from a nationally representative survey of schools in England, a convenience sample of nearly 1,500 supply teachers and qualitative research with 60 supply teachers, 22 leaders, and seven supply teacher providers conducted in 2023. It explores individuals' motivations for entering the supply market, along with the…

Teacher shortages have intensified across several OECD countries, making this an urgent priority for education systems. Between 2015 and 2022, the share of students whose principals reported shortages rose from 29% to 46.7% on average across the OECD. Simultaneously, rapid technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and broader…

Background: Federal lawmakers passed the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program in 2008 to incentivize enrollment in bachelor's and master's degrees in education and to reduce teacher labor supply issues in high-need fields at low-income schools. The program offers undergraduate and graduate students up…