Resources

This study examined whether new teachers are, in fact, assigned to the toughest classrooms, and, if so, what effect that has on new teacher turnover. Using administrative data from Florida and the National Schools and Staffing Teacher Follow-Up Survey, the author found that inexperienced teachers usually taught in schools with low-performing, minority, or limited-English-proficient students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

This study considers the national retention rates for Teach For America teachers based on a survey of three cohorts. The researchers found that teachers in more challenging assignments (e.g., split grades, multiple subjects, and out-of-field classes) were more likely to leave their schools or resign from teaching.

This brief produced by the Alliance for Excellent Education examines access to great teachers and leaders in high schools. Understanding the dynamics of the teacher labor market can ensure that strategies actually influence teachers’ decisions concerning where to work, as well as how long they stay. Although states and districts have the most influence on teacher policies, federal law also can help improve access to great teachers by supporting and encouraging effective recruitment and retention practices at state and local levels.

This study of Florida districts found that collective bargaining agreements are often more lenient than people think when it comes to administrators’ discretion in teacher assignments—even in large, at-risk districts. Yet administrators often do not take advantage of the flexibilities in their union contracts because of ingrained practices and pressures by teachers and parents for the most effective teachers to teach students with the fewest high needs.

This center works to increase the nation’s capacity to successfully recruit and retain special educators, early intervention providers, and related service providers to serve the needs of infants, young children, and youth with disabilities and their families. Information on careers, personnel preparation programs, state certification requirements, financial aid, and employment opportunities is maintained and continually updated on this website.

In Hillsborough County, Florida, the annual three-day district job fair is limited to high-poverty schools on the first day, and principals in these schools also are exempt from the district requirement that transferring teachers must be given priority before new teachers. 

The state provides financial assistance to students pursuing bachelor’s degree programs, as well as current licensed teachers, to pursue endorsements or master’s degrees in hard-to-staff subject areas. The scholarships are available to those teachers who plan to serve a hard-to-staff geographic area at the rate of one year of service for each award year. 

As part of Pittsburgh’s larger Empowering Effective Teachers plan initiative, which includes increasing the exposure of students with high needs to highly effective teachers as a strategic goal, the Promise-Ready Corps (PRC) is a group of ninth- and 10th-grade teachers who have been identified as effective and who will loop with cohorts of students for two years, providing high-quality core instruction and additional advising (an extra 44-minute period).

Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Schools  established the Strategic Staffing Initiative, which moves teams of administrators and teachers to high-need schools. Under this initiative, effective principals are identified and allowed to select effective members of their current staffs to take with them to a high-need school. 

The Houston (Texas) Independent School District (HISD) established the Effective Teacher Pipeline project to address concerns voiced by many teachers about working conditions in high-need schools. HISD is concentrating on a small number of high-need schools to increase the number of effective teachers on those campuses. The intent is to create supportive school cultures by placing several effective teachers at each school. Relocating teachers are given a financial incentive, professional development, and leadership opportunities.