What Does the Future of the Teacher Workforce Look Like? It Depends on Where You Live

Note the reference at the bottom to online teachers.

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In this email: What Does the Future of the Teacher Workforce Look Like? It Depends on Where You Live Related Resources In the News  As the school year begins, the back-to-school headlines are once again dominated by concerns about teacher shortages. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that, without meaningful policy changes, school staffing challenges will continue to undermine U.S. education and shortchange the country’s students. A growing number of states are seeing increased teacher turnover, and LPI’s new national scan of 2020–22 state-level data estimates more than 300,000 teaching positions in the United States were either unfilled or held by people who were not fully qualified. As pressing as it is to get qualified teachers in classrooms immediately to address shortages, effective policy must also focus on recruiting a well-prepared and diverse pool of candidates, along with retaining effective educators. In a new blog, author Susan Kemper Patrick discusses trends in enrollment and completion for teacher preparation programs across the country. These trends vary across states, with some states posting recent gains in the number of teaching candidates completing preparation. To understand variation in enrollments and completions, Patrick shares examples of the range of policy approaches, looking specifically at Washington, California, Louisiana, and Texas. READ THE BLOG ▸ Click to tweet: In this @LPI_Learning blog, @susan_k_patrick highlights variation in teacher preparation enrollments and completions across states to shed important light on policy approaches that may expand the teacher pipeline. https://bit.ly/48cOXuI Recent Research on Teacher Shortages The State of the Teacher Workforce What does the data say about teacher working conditions in each state? This interactive map rates each state on how attractive and equitable the teaching workforce is compared to the national average. The tool also includes indicators of teacher supply and demand, such as teacher turnover and expected student population growth. For more on this resource, see the blog, “Tracking the State of the Teacher Workforce Across States.” State Teacher Shortages: Teaching Positions Left Vacant or Filled by Teachers Without Full Certification A review of reports on the teacher workforce and state agency documents covering the 2020–21 or 2021–22 school years found that at least 300,000 teaching positions were either left unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for the subject matter they were teaching. The Federal Role in Ending Teacher Shortages Recent teacher shortages demonstrate the need to develop a stronger education profession in the United States. Experts have identified seven key areas the federal government can focus on to build a nationwide strategy for teacher recruitment, preparation, support, and retention. In the News: LPI Research on Teacher Shortages Doubling Up on Classrooms, Using Online Teachers and Turning to Support Staff: How Schools Are Dealing With the Ongoing Teacher Shortage September 11, 2023—LPI research found that 1 in 10 teacher positions are either vacant or filled by someone uncertified for the subject they are teaching. In this interview with CNN, Susan Kemper Patrick discusses the impact of the teacher shortage crisis on learning, noting that students with ineffective teachers are likely to fall behind. A tenth grade student in Lancaster, TX, expressed sadness at the impact of the shortages: “I feel like the problem is just getting worse instead of better. It’s kind of sad, because I want to learn.”

Copyright © 2023 Learning Policy Institute, All rights reserved. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness. Information you provide to us is used exclusively by LPI to communicate our news to you. We never share your information with third parties. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here. Our mailing address is: Learning Policy Institute 1530 Page Mill Rd Ste 250 Palo Alto, California 94304

New Commentary: Policymakers Should Ring in the New Year With Action to End Teacher Shortages

An item from a California-based policy shop that may be of interest to readers.

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Linda Darling-Hammond: Policymakers Should Ring in the New Year With Action to End Teacher Shortages As we ring in 2023, New Year’s resolutions for too many educators include plans to find new job opportunities as they look to leave the teaching profession in record numbers. This year’s crop of back-to-school stories has been dominated by the news of teacher resignations leading to widespread teacher shortages and the desperate attempts by numerous schools and districts to get adults—any adults—into classrooms, with many resorting to hiring untrained military veterans, mobilizing the National Guard, and drawing from teaching pools overseas. While the United States has experienced recurrent shortages for decades, the pandemic has turned a periodic blaze into a five-alarm fire. In this new commentary in Forbes, Linda Darling-Hammond writes about the severity of current teacher shortages, explores why teachers are leaving, and elevates policy solutions to strengthen the educator workforce. Darling-Hammond will also be speaking about teacher shortages at an upcoming webinar on January 12 hosted by the U.S. Department of Education as part of its series, Raise the Bar: Literacy & Math Series to Address Academic Recovery. READ THE COMMENTARY ▸ REGISTER ▸ Click to tweet: As we ring in 2023, educators are leaving the teaching profession in record numbers. In this post via @Forbes, @LDH_ed writes that policymakers should take action with a focused and purposeful set of policies to strengthen the educator workforce. http://bit.ly/3GNXIzJ

Copyright © 2023 Learning Policy Institute, All rights reserved. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness. Information you provide to us is used exclusively by LPI to communicate our news to you. We never share your information with third parties. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here. Our mailing address is: Learning Policy Institute 1530 Page Mill Rd Ste 250 Palo Alto, California 94304

Launch Event: Essential Resources for Driving Community Schools Forward

An item from a California-based policy shop that may be of interest to readers.

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Webinar Essential Resources for Driving Community Schools Forward Hosted by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Thursday, January 12, 2023 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET REGISTER The pandemic intensified the already deep economic and racial inequalities in the United States and in our schools but it also surfaced community schools as a highly effective strategy for supporting the most highly impacted students and their families living in neighborhoods facing concentrated poverty. This webinar, Essential Resources for Driving Community Schools Forward, will launch a critical set of community school resources developed over the past year by the Community Schools Forward initiative. These resources, which reflect the consensus of research and the deep experiential knowledge of diverse practitioners, are designed for policymakers, administrators, educators, and organizations to understand what community schools are, how to implement them to suit local needs, what potential costs might be for implementation, and how to assess and improve their impacts over time. Community schools have existed for more than a century but have become more widespread in recent times, with an estimated 5,000 now serving students nationwide. In recent years, the federal government has also recognized them as a powerful, research-based strategy for schools. The Community Schools Forward initiative was launched in response to this growing momentum and investment and a task force was convened through the initiative to bring together national and local community school practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and advocates to identify and create resources that can be used to align, build, and scale effective and sustainable community schools. Community schools strategies have proven to be effective because they create hubs where educators, local organizations and agencies, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. These schools help students to overcome the challenges of poverty and inequality, improving their educational outcomes by removing out-of-school barriers to learning. The project is a collaboration between LPI, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, the Children’s Aid National Center for Community Schools, and the Coalition for Community Schools and is funded by the Ballmer Group. The webinar will explain the work of Community Schools Forward to develop a set of essential resources and highlight their most important aspects. Following a keynote conversation and a framing presentation, a moderated panel discussion of experts will share their perspectives on why this approach has proven to be deeply effective at addressing the barriers many students face to learning and thriving and how the resources can be used to implement and scale up community schools. Speakers: Abe Fernández, Vice President, Collective Impact at Children’s Aid; Director, National Center for Community Schools at Children’s Aid Elson Nash, Director, School Choice and Improvement Program Division, U.S. Department of Education Cindy Marten, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education Jose Muñoz, Director, Coalition for Community Schools, Institute for Educational Leadership Jeannie Oakes, Presidential Professor Emeritus in Educational Equity, University of California, Los Angeles; Senior Fellow in Residence, Learning Policy Institute Fabiola Patricio, Next Generation Coalition, Coalition for Community Schools, Institute for Educational Leadership Karen Sanchez-Griego, Superintendent, Cuba Independent Schools, New Mexico Rebecca Winthrop, Director, Center for Universal Education; Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development (moderator) REGISTER Registration is required. Can’t make it during the scheduled time? Register anyway, and we’ll email you the recording afterward. Click to tweet: Jan 12 at 3 pm ET | Learn about the work of the past year of the #CFForward initiative to support research- and practitioner-informed implementation and scaling up of community schools. Via @LPI_Learning @BrookingsInst @natcenterforcs @CommSchool https://brook.gs/3X42y0R

Copyright © 2023 Learning Policy Institute, All rights reserved. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness. Information you provide to us is used exclusively by LPI to communicate our news to you. We never share your information with third parties. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here. Our mailing address is: Learning Policy Institute 1530 Page Mill Rd Ste 250 Palo Alto, California 94304

2022 Year-In-Review: LPI Blogs

Several items in this review piece that may be of interest to readers.

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A Year in Review, as Told Through LPI Blogs Throughout 2022, the Learning Policy Institute blog provided timely and accessible research and analysis as schools and districts across the country weathered ongoing shifts in COVID-19 safety and recovery, grappled with teacher shortages, and prioritized student wellness and academic acceleration. Tackling Teacher Shortages: What Can States and Districts Do?  January 11, 2022 | Throughout the year, the teacher shortage crisis took center stage in communities across the country, as long-standing shortages combined with COVID-19-related absences stretched schools to the breaking point. In this blog, LPI Chief of Staff and Director of State Policy Tara Kini shared research that provides a clear roadmap to guide the efforts of policymakers to strategically address the crisis and build for the long-term. READ THE BLOG >> Teacher Salaries: A Key Factor in Recruitment and Retention April 14, 2022 | As teacher shortages posed challenges for districts around the country, LPI research illustrated the importance of teacher salaries in recruiting and retaining an effective and diverse teaching workforce. Researchers Susan Kemper Patrick and Desiree Carver-Thomas highlighted findings from LPI’s state-by-state analysis of teacher salaries, which provided policymakers and others with a valuable tool for understanding how their state’s compensation metrics compare to those of other states. READ THE BLOG >> More Guns in Schools Is Not the Answer to School Shootings June 2, 2022 | The horrific school shooting on May 25 in Uvalde, TX, led some people to again call for arming teachers or increasing security officers in schools. In this blog, LPI President & CEO Linda Darling-Hammond explained the research showing that more guns don’t make schools safer and shared evidence-based strategies for actually increasing school safety. On June 24, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to increase gun safety and protect schools from mass shootings, including increased funding states and districts could allocate toward these evidence-based strategies. READ THE BLOG >> Back to School: 10 Steps Schools and Districts Can Take to Address New and Ongoing COVID-19 Challenges August 31, 2022 | This fall, schools and districts encountered a range of new challenges as the pandemic landscape continued to evolve. LPI Senior Researcher Jennifer Bland synthesized 10 of the most important COVID-19-related actions schools can take to support the health, safety, and wellness of students and staff. READ THE BLOG >> Attendance Is An Essential Ingredient for Educational Equity September 28, 2022 | Early data on chronic absence during the pandemic suggest that sixteen million students—or one out of every three—are now missing so much school that they are at risk academically. In this blog, Hedy Chang, Executive Director and President of Attendance Works, offered effective strategies for addressing chronic absences, which will be essential to recovering from the pandemic and mitigating its impact on communities already struggling with educational and social inequities. READ THE BLOG >>

Copyright © 2022 Learning Policy Institute, All rights reserved. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness. Information you provide to us is used exclusively by LPI to communicate our news to you. We never share your information with third parties. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here. Our mailing address is: Learning Policy Institute 1530 Page Mill Rd Ste 250 Palo Alto, California 94304

Webinar: Educator Preparation Laboratory Second Annual Policy Summit

An upcoming event from a California-based policy shop that may be of interest to readers.

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Webinar Educator Preparation Laboratory Third Annual Policy Summit Hosted by Educator Preparation Laboratory (an initiative of the Learning Policy Institute and Bank Street College of Education) Tuesday, January 24, 2023 1:30–3:00 p.m. ET REGISTER As education systems implement COVID recovery strategies and policymakers and the public grow increasingly concerned about teacher shortages, high-quality, high-retention educator preparation pathways hold promise for reducing attrition, enhancing diversity, and increasing effectiveness for state educator workforces. Expanding intensive preparation pathways may also produce more teachers with the skills and knowledge to apply the findings of the science of learning and development (SoLD) in classrooms. Taking root across multiple states, these varied models share an emphasis on clinical experience and close partnerships between K-12 schools and preparation programs. At the virtual summit, Building the Teacher Pipeline: Emerging Models for High-Quality Educator Preparation, educator preparation policy and practice experts will discuss the design, implementation, and early outcomes of residency, grow-your-own, and apprenticeship models. A Q&A session will follow the presentation. Speakers: Carole Basile, Dean, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University Linda Darling-Hammond, President & CEO, Learning Policy Institute Lynn Gangone, President and CEO, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (moderator) Roberto J. Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, U.S. Department of Education Additional speakers to be announced. REGISTER Registration is required. Can’t make it during the scheduled time? Register anyway, and we’ll email you the recording afterward. Click to tweet: Webinar | January 24, 2023 at 1:30 pm ET | Join the third annual #EdPrepLab policy summit to hear experts discuss effective and sustainable approaches to teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention. Register: http://bit.ly/3FIZzFu

Copyright © 2022 Learning Policy Institute, All rights reserved. The Learning Policy Institute conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Working with policymakers, researchers, educators, community groups, and others, the Institute seeks to advance evidence-based policies that support empowering and equitable learning for each and every child. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the Institute connects policymakers and stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels with the evidence, ideas, and actions needed to strengthen the education system from preschool through college and career readiness. Information you provide to us is used exclusively by LPI to communicate our news to you. We never share your information with third parties. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here. Our mailing address is: Learning Policy Institute 1530 Page Mill Rd Ste 250 Palo Alto, California 94304