Educator recruitment and retention

Prioritize high-need subjects and schools: Teacher shortages are disproportionately concentrated in specific subject areas and schools. Special education, STEM subjects, and foreign languages (including English as a Second Language and foreign language courses) tend to have higher-than-average vacancy rates. State and local leaders should disaggregate data to understand precisely which schools and subjects are driving district-wide and statewide shortages, explore the drivers of turnover, and allocate resources where need is highest. Administrative data can help leaders identify patterns (for example, is there higher-than-average turnover among teachers with certain characteristics?), and input from educators can help illuminate what motivates them to stay or leave (for example, are educators leaving because of school culture, compensation, or something else?).

Financially supported pathways into teaching: Prospective teachers are faced with substantial costs to enter the profession, including program tuition and fees, licensure exams, and certification. These costs can be prohibitive, especially for individuals with low incomes. Furthermore, candidates often are not compensated for their time spent student teaching, and many prospective teachers cannot afford to work for free. Residencies, apprenticeships, and GYO programs can be fully or partially subsidized through district, state, and/or federal funding, which can ease cost burdens and make teaching a more accessible career. These subsidies can take the form of scholarships, living stipends, or waived licensure exam fees. Funded pathways can also help promote retention by requiring a multi-year commitment to teach in the district in exchange for financial support.

Culturally responsive mentorship: Mentorship is a key feature of many evidence-based program models. Strong mentorship is especially important for diversifying the profession: educators of color are underrepresented in the overall teacher workforce, which can be isolating and lead to burnout (teachers of color make up just 20% of the teaching workforce, whereas students of color make up approximately half of the total student population in the U.S.). Expert mentors who are trained in culturally responsive practices, especially those who share similar backgrounds with trainees, can help new teachers prepare for licensure exams, navigate their new school environments, and access resources. This support can help cultivate a sense of belonging at school and create an inclusive school climate, in turn reducing attrition and supporting a more diverse workforce.

Data-driven coaching: To help teachers improve their practice – including after their formal induction and mentoring period ends, if applicable – instructional coaches should use formal and informal student data alongside classroom observations to collaboratively set goals with teachers, develop teachers’ data literacy, and reflect on their performance. Coaching should align with and support the school’s overall goals for educator effectiveness, high-quality curricula and instruction, and student outcomes. Coaching can be delivered by full-time instructional coaches hired by the school or district, by teacher leaders who divide their time between teaching and coaching, or by third-party professional development providers. High-quality coaching can support retention by creating opportunities for growth and demonstrating that schools are committed to supporting teachers’ success.

Structured pathways for advancement: Supportive school leadership and teacher recognition are important drivers of retention. School and district leaders should create clearly structured pathways for teacher leadership that may include, but not be limited to, mentorship and coaching roles. Leadership roles should be formally recognized and supported, and administrators should aim to ensure that teachers from historically underrepresented groups have equitable access and support to pursue these opportunities. Washington, D.C. and Chicago offer examples of structured career advancement programs that allow teachers to continue classroom teaching at a reduced workload while benefiting from professional growth, greater influence in decision-making, and increased compensation. Chicago’s approach emphasizes distributed leadership, a model in which responsibilities and decision-making authority are shared to support collaboration and meaningfully empower teacher leaders.

Competitive base pay and financial incentives: There is no clear consensus in the field on how best to structure teacher compensation, but research generally suggests that performance pay – financially rewarding teachers for strong performance – positively influences student outcomes. Performance pay may also help schools retain high-performing teachers, depending on how specific incentive programs are designed. Differentiated pay may also be a promising strategy to draw teachers to high-need schools and subjects, though further research is needed to illuminate what characteristics and conditions make differentiated pay an effective tool for recruitment and retention. States play an important role in enabling districts to offer flexible compensation: many states have policies determining whether districts may use tenure, performance, or both to design compensation packages. If state and district leaders choose to implement compensation models that reward high-performing teachers, they should keep in mind that supportive and equitable performance evaluation methods are also important for job satisfaction and retention.

Improving student outcomes: Teacher turnover negatively impacts student outcomes (including test scores and disciplinary action) and disproportionately impacts schools with high populations of students of color. Conversely, research shows that teaching experience is positively associated with student achievement, suggesting that retention initiatives can play an important role in improving academic outcomes, especially for students of color.

Diversifying the teacher workforce: Research shows that representation in the classroom matters for both academic and non-academic outcomes. Studies have shown that Black students who have Black teachers are more likely to be referred to gifted programs, graduate from high school, and enroll in college. Same-race teachers are also associated with lower levels of exclusionary discipline and chronic absenteeism for students of color. As such, schools looking to reduce disparities in student outcomes should consider how they can attract and retain teachers who share similar backgrounds to the students served. GYO programs recruit individuals from the community, such as high school students and paraprofessionals, and can be a particularly effective strategy to recruit teachers from underrepresented groups.

Increasing access to teaching pathways: In addition to driving better student outcomes, expanding pathways into the profession can also offer better workforce outcomes (such as financial security and career growth) for individuals from groups who are underrepresented in the teaching profession. System-level investments in high-quality pathways programs can help increase access to a career with a predictable schedule, benefits, and opportunities for advancement.

School leaders: Principals and other school leaders play an essential role in creating conditions that support teacher satisfaction and retention. Principals should ensure teachers have access to professional growth opportunities, are supported in the classroom, and that their input is taken seriously in decision-making. They can establish partnerships with induction and mentoring programs, and they can also proactively identify strong candidates to serve as mentors or teacher leaders. School leaders should commit to creating an inclusive workplace and ensure the school supports the success of educators from diverse backgrounds.

Local education agencies: Districts should establish recruitment and retention strategies that include dedicated supports for schools with especially high vacancy or attrition rates. Districts can help schools build recruitment pipelines through partnerships with universities and preparation programs, dedicate resources toward identifying drivers of attrition, and establish district-wide professional development and teacher leadership programs (including through partnerships with technical assistance providers such as New Teacher Center). Districts typically also set salary schedules and design incentive programs, though district authority is sometimes constrained by state compensation policies.

State and federal education agencies: States have several policy levers at their disposal to influence educator recruitment and retention, such as through expanding teacher preparation programs, instituting flexible licensure requirements, and creating compensation guardrails or minimums. Some states are establishing pay minimums to make teacher salaries more competitive with comparable careers and/or requiring districts to implement differentiated pay or performance pay (such as in Maryland, where the state is both increasing the pay floor and implementing differentiated pay to draw teachers to high-need schools). Leaders should ensure that state funds are used toward evidence-based programs and policies (such as in Minnesota, which has established a statewide mentoring program). The U.S. Department of Education can also encourage the implementation of evidence-based practices through its administration of teacher preparation grants.

State and federal workforce agencies: State and federal workforce agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor, play a key role in funding teacher apprenticeships and other educator preparation programs. These agencies often use Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds and similar grants to help states and districts create paid routes into teaching.

Teacher preparation program providers: Teacher preparation programs are often administered by universities or nonprofit organizations (such as the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago or the Teacher Apprenticeship Network in New Jersey) in partnership with districts. These providers design and deliver the training, coursework, and clinical experiences that prepare educators for the classroom. They play a central role in implementing evidence-based practices related to preparation, mentoring, and ongoing professional development.

Researchers: While the drivers of teacher attrition are well-studied, there are opportunities to further build evidence for what features of recruitment and retention programs matter most under which conditions (for example, what program features help different kinds of schools retain highly effective teachers). Research findings should inform decision-making by states, districts, and preparation programs about where and how to scale effective programs.

Recruit strong coaches and mentors: Successful mentoring relationships are built on foundations of trust and collaboration. School and program leaders should proactively recruit influential, well-respected, effective expert teachers to serve as mentors and coaches, especially in schools that experience the highest turnover and need great coaching most. When selecting candidates for mentorship and coaching roles, leaders should evaluate why candidates are interested in the role, aiming to ensure they are committed and well-prepared to take on additional responsibility. School leaders should also offer recognition, training, and bonuses for mentors’ contributions.

Proactively manage and sustain change: Schools and districts that introduce new programs, such as teacher leadership programs or enhanced coaching and professional development, should plan for organizational change and build buy-in among staff. Resistance to new models is common, and teachers may be hesitant to engage with programs that feel disruptive or tangential to their core responsibilities in the classroom. Change management might also involve changing cultural norms about coaching and development. School leaders should lay out a long-term vision and plan, recognizing that lasting change requires sustained human capital and financial commitments beyond a single semester or school year. Maintaining open communication and encouraging two-way feedback over time can build trust, increase teachers’ willingness to try new approaches, and promote lasting change.

Regularly update financial incentives: Financial incentives should align with district goals such as increasing workforce diversity or filling vacancies in certain subject areas. There is no single formula for determining “adequate” financial incentives, as cost of living varies widely across states and districts, but research suggests that financial incentives must be sufficiently competitive relative to market averages to attract and retain teachers. As such, state and district leaders should regularly re-review teacher preparation subsidies, recruitment incentives, salaries, performance-based bonuses, and cost of living adjustments against market standards for comparable professions. Districts’ needs and resources also evolve over time, so leaders should retain flexibility to respond to changing district goals and budget conditions.

Address pay disparities: Research shows that Black teachers overall earn lower salaries, smaller increases, and are less likely to receive extra pay for extra work than their White colleagues. (Black teachers are more likely to live in states that prohibit collective bargaining and to work in high-need schools, both of which contribute to these disparities.) Women teachers and principals also earn lower salaries overall than their male counterparts, including when controlling for factors such as years of experience and level of education. If states or districts implement differentiated pay or performance pay, they should establish mechanisms to monitor pay equity and ensure that women and teachers of color are equitably compensated.

Evaluate program impacts: Educator recruitment and preparation programs often vary in the specifics of program design, measures of effectiveness, and the context in which they are implemented. This variation makes it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions about what works and where. To understand what approaches are most effective in their specific state or district, leaders should clearly define their desired outcomes and invest in research to assess whether programs are helping them achieve those outcomes. Rigorous and consistent evaluation can generate useful insights to guide program-related decisions and strengthen impact.

Vacancy rates: Understanding and addressing patterns related to teacher shortages requires disaggregating data in multiple ways. First, leaders should disaggregate data at various levels to understand (1) within states, which districts are driving shortages, (2) within districts, which schools are driving shortages, and (3) within schools, which subjects or grade levels are driving shortages. Leaders of states or large districts might also be interested in examining patterns by urbanicity.

Turnover rates: In addition to understanding where shortages are occurring, leaders should use data to understand who they are struggling to recruit or retain, disaggregating data to patterns by demographic group (such as race, ethnicity, and gender). This information can be used to allocate resources and provide tailored support for teachers from demographic groups that experience higher turnover than others. Leaders should also consider teacher performance (such as through teacher evaluation ratings) when examining attrition and consider whether interventions may be needed to retain highly effective staff.

Teacher satisfaction: While data on vacancies and turnover rates help track where shortages are occurring and who is driving them, data on teacher satisfaction can help leaders understand why teachers are leaving. School leaders should gather data on factors such as workload, compensation, professional development opportunities, and school climate to understand where teachers feel unsupported or overwhelmed. Data collection mechanisms can include surveys, exit interviews, and performance metrics. Understanding these drivers can help leaders address specific challenges.

Teacher compensation: State and district leaders should examine teacher salaries and total compensation (including incentives and benefits) compared to peer districts, state and national benchmarks, and/or comparable professions to understand where and how they might update compensation packages.

School climate: Recognizing that working conditions and school climate often drive turnover, leaders should consider examining indicators of school climate such as student behavior and discipline, attendance, leader effectiveness, and sense of belonging. State, district, or school leaders might also consider implementing comprehensive survey systems such as the Panorama School Climate Survey, which assesses culture and climate across multiple dimensions.