The Education Commission of the States (ECS) recently released a national comparison of state policies to recruit and retain teachers across the teacher pipeline.
“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,” researchers state. “Shortages contribute to students being taught by inexperienced or out-of-field teachers, and they can be financially costly for schools and districts. Declining participation in teacher preparation programs, coupled with high turnover in the profession, suggests that a comprehensive approach that accounts for each stage of the teacher pipeline is necessary to recruit and retain effective teachers.”
Local educational agencies cannot address the teacher shortage alone. States play a critical role in adopting policies at every stage of the pipeline, including around teacher training and providing support to LEAs in their efforts to recruit and retain educators.
Key findings, California takeaways
ECS researchers found important commonalities in policies nationwide around data sharing, career-pathway development, establishing financial incentives and more. Among their findings:
Data
- Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have published teacher shortage data in the past five years.
- Thirty-three states, including California, and D.C. have conducted a statewide teacher working conditions survey in the past five years, with some states conducting an annual survey.
Teacher pipeline
- Thirty-five states and D.C. offer pathways into teaching for high school students, while 31 states and D.C. offer a pathway to individuals interested in becoming a paraprofessional. While California does not offer a pathway, program or incentive through statute or regulation to recruit high school students into the teaching profession, LEAs throughout the state have established career technical education programs to begin preparing students to pursue a teaching credential. The California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program to recruit classified school employees (including paraprofessionals) to enroll in teacher training programs is in statue.
- More than a quarter of states and D.C. have created or supported teacher residencies in state policy, while 30 states and D.C. have created or supported teacher apprenticeships.
- While California has no statute creating or supporting teacher apprenticeship programs, the state established the Teacher Residency Grant Program “to provide one-time competitive grants to applicants to develop new, or expand existing residency programs that recruit and support the preparation of special education, bilingual education, science, technology, engineering or mathematics teachers. Statute also establishes the local solutions grant program which provides funding for locally-developed teacher career pathways, among other allowable uses of funding.”
In the classroom
- Thirty-two states require induction and mentoring support for new teachers in statute or regulation and 35 states set minimum qualifications for teachers serving as mentors. California requires induction and mentoring support for two years for new teachers, and requires that a mentor teacher hold a valid state teacher credential; has achieved permanent status or, in a district with an average daily attendance of fewer than 250 students, has been employed by the district as a credentialed classroom teacher for at least three consecutive school years; and has substantial recent classroom teaching instructional experience.
- Sixteen states, not including California, require that a part of a teacher’s workday/week be set aside for planning time.
Teacher pay
- Thirty-two states have at least one financial incentive for teachers who commit to teach in underserved schools or geographic areas of need, and 38 states and D.C. have at least one financial incentive to recruit teachers to teach a shortage subject area or specific student populations. California is part of both groups. The Golden State Teacher Grant Program, Assumption Program of Loans for Education and Governor’s Teaching Fellowships Program provide financial incentives toward recruiting teachers to underserved schools or geographic areas of need and to shortage subject areas or specific student populations.
- Nineteen states excluding California require or explicitly encourage additional pay for teachers who work in underserved schools and/or shortage subject areas.
- Thirty-four states require or explicitly encourage additional pay for teachers who obtain National Board Certification. In California, teachers who obtain this certification and agree to teach in a high-priority school receive a $25,000 award disbursed in annual payments of $5,000 over five years.
