Solving the Teacher Shortage How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators Anne Podolsky, Tara Kini, Joseph Bishop, and Linda Darling-Hammond SEPTEMBER 2016 Solving the Teacher Shortage How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators Anne Podolsky, Tara Kini, Joseph Bishop, and Linda Darling-Hammond Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the many people who contributed to this report. First, thanks go to our colleagues Channa Cook-Harvey, Madelyn Gardner, Roneeta Guha, Elise Levin-Guracar, and Leib Sutcher for their valuable research assistance. We also thank the following colleagues at the Learning Policy Institute for their contributions to the research and writing process: Desiree Carver-Thomas, Michelle Chin, Livia Lam, Charmaine Mercer, and Patrick M. Shields. In addition, we appreciate the insights and feedback offered by our colleague Roberta Furger. We would like to thank Deborah Orr and Penelope Malish for their editing and design contributions to this project, and Lisa Gonzales for overseeing the editorial process. We are grateful for the generous time and support that made this work possible. Research in this area of work is funded in part by the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. Core operating support for the Learning Policy Institute is provided by the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Sandler Foundation. External Reviewers This report benefited from the insights and expertise of two external reviewers: Susan Moore Johnson, the Jerome T. Murphy Professor of Education at the Harvard School of Education; and Janice Poda, Ph.D., Consultant at the Council of Chief State School Officers and Learning Forward. We thank them for the care and attention they gave the report. Any remaining shortcomings are our own. The appropriate citation for this report is: Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. This report can be found online at https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/solving-teacher- shortage. And follow the conversation on Twitter at #SolvingTeacherShortages. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE | SOLVING THE TEACHER SHORTAGE ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................ii Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................. v I. The Challenge ....................................................................................................................................1 II. Factors Influencing Teacher Recruitment and Retention ...........................................................3 Influences on Teacher Recruitment ............................................................................................3 Influences on Teacher Retention .................................................................................................3 Costs of Teacher Turnover ...........................................................................................................7 III. Salaries and Other Compensation .................................................................................................9 Salaries and Other Compensation in Hard-to-Staff Schools .................................................... 10 Policy Strategies to Increase Salaries and Other Compensation ............................................ 13 IV. Preparation and Costs to Entry .................................................................................................... 19 Entry for Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools ............................................................................. 21 Policy Strategies to Improve Preparation and Costs to Entry ................................................... 22 V. Hiring and Personnel Management ............................................................................................ 28 Timing of Hiring ........................................................................................................................ 28 Information in the Hiring Process ............................................................................................. 29 School and District Support for Mobile Teachers .................................................................... 29 Hiring and Personnel Management in Hard-to-Staff Schools .................................................. 30 Policy Strategies to Improve Hiring and Personnel Management ............................................ 31 VI. Induction and Support for New Teachers ................................................................................... 34 Induction and Support for New Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools ......................................... 35 Policy Strategies to Increase Induction and Support for New Teachers .................................. 35 VII. Working Conditions........................................................................................................................ 38 School Leadership ................................................................................................................... 39 Professional Collaboration and Shared Decision-Making ........................................................ 41 Accountability Systems ............................................................................................................ 43 Resources for Teaching and Learning ...................................................................................... 45 Policy Strategies for Improving Working Conditions ................................................................. 47 VIII. Policy Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 51 1. Salaries and Other Compensation ...................................................................................... 51 2. Preparation and Costs to Entry ............................................................................................ 53 3. Hiring and Personnel Management ..................................................................................... 53 4. Induction and Support for New Teachers ............................................................................ 55 5. Working Conditions .............................................................................................................. 55 LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE | SOLVING THE TEACHER SHORTAGE iii IX. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 57 Endnotes ................................................................................................................................................. 58 About the Authors ................................................................................................................................. 79 Figures Figure 1: U.S. Public School Teachers in the 2011–12 School Year .................................................5 Figure 2: Why Do Teachers Leave? ....................................................................................................6 Figure 3: What Would Bring the Leavers Back? .................................................................................7 Figure 4: Beginning Teacher Preparation ........................................................................................ 20 Figure 5: Percentage of Teachers Who Remain Teaching in North Carolina Public Schools .......... 23 Figure 6: Percentage of First-Year Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) and Non-BTR Teachers Who Remain Teaching in Boston Public Schools (BPS) ................................................ 25 Figure 7: Percentage of First-Year Teachers Who Received Various Induction Supports, 2008 vs. 2012 ............................................................................................................. 36 LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE | SOLVING THE TEACHER SHORTAGE iv Executive Summary One of the most pressing issues facing policymakers is how to staff classrooms with a stable teaching force responsive to complex student needs and the growing demands of the knowledge economy. Recurrent teacher shortages are a function of both declines in entrants to teaching and high rates of teacher attrition, especially in low-income schools. This turnover is costly, and undermines student achievement and school improvement efforts. A better understanding of why teachers enter and leave the profession, and what might encourage them to stay or return, is critical to improving the educational opportunities for all students, especially those attending the most disadvantaged schools. This paper reviews an extensive body of research on teacher recruitment and retention, and identifies five major factors that influence teachers’ decisions to enter, stay in, or leave the teaching profession, generally, and high-need schools, specifically. Those factors are: 1. Salaries and other compensation. 2. Preparation and costs to entry. 3. Hiring and personnel management. 4. Induction and support for new teachers. 5. Working conditions, including school leadership, professional