07 Oct2024
By Illinois State Board of Education
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) today released early results from a $45 million state investment that show improved recruitment and retention in the state’s most understaffed school districts. The Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program, which was launched in the 2023-24 school year, provided 170 school districts that have the greatest teacher shortages state funds to invest in initiatives to recruit and license new hires and support retention of current educators.
Data is still being collected to assess the full impact of the funding, but ISBE and IWERC announced today that school districts participating in the Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program have hired nearly 5,400 new teachers and retained approximately 11,000 additional educators with the funds so far. The districts receiving the Teacher Vacancy Grant collectively serve approximately 870,000 students.
19 Aug2024
By AACTE
The United States is grappling with a severe teacher shortage, with a notable deficit of Black male educators. This shortfall is raising concerns about its impact on learning outcomes and the academic potential of PK-12 students across the nation.
AACTE board member and dean of the College of Education at Bowie State University, Rhonda Jeter, Ph.D., shared her insights on the Bowie Black Male Educators Project — a proactive initiative to counter the shortage of Black male educators in the U.S. The initiative is supported by the critical funding of the U.S. Department of Education’s Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence (Hawkins) Program.
According to Jeter, studies have indicated that having a Black teacher significantly increases the likelihood of Black students graduating high school and enrolling in college.
Read the full post on Diverse: Issues In Higher Education‘s website below.
12 Aug2024
By Linda Darling-Hammond
Last month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the status of the American teaching profession, emphasizing the urgent need for policy changes. Chairman Bernie Sanders noted that, because of widespread teacher shortages, “some 300,000 teaching positions—nearly 10% of all teaching positions nationwide—have been left vacant or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments.” He, and several other members of the committee, attributed these shortages to the fact that “for decades, public school teachers have been overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and maybe most importantly, under appreciated.”
Teacher shortages have been front and center in the news for a number of years, deepening during the pandemic, and continuing to be a huge issue in many states. Yet, as in all things, states differ in their education policies and in the ways that teachers are prepared, compensated, and supported. These differences can result in dramatically different levels of student access to a diverse, stable, and well-qualified educator workforce across the country.
15 Jul2024
By UNI College of Education
More than 60 new educators are ready to launch their own elementary school classrooms for the first time, thanks to an innovative new program at the University of Northern Iowa. This group of teachers are the first graduates of the Purple Pathway for Paraeducators program, which launched in 2022 to provide practicing paraeducators a pathway for earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
“This program involved a large amount of work, across multiple departments at the University of Northern Iowa. Thanks to this program, we now have 62 new elementary educators ready to lead their own classrooms,” said Colleen Mulholland, dean of UNI’s College of Education.
08 Jul2024
By New York State Education Department
The New York State Education Department and TEACH are partnering to launch TeachNY.org, a new digitally powered recruitment platform developed in collaboration with a wide coalition of New York schools, districts, institutions of higher education, and education organizations, Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced. The mission of TEACH New York (TeachNY) is to identify and cultivate the next generation of teachers throughout the state.
“We must continually design, develop, and implement innovative approaches that nurture a highly skilled, diverse teaching workforce,” Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said. “TeachNY is precisely the kind of initiative that will inspire and ignite the future generation of New York State teachers.”
26 Feb2024
By Mississippi Department of Education
Results from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) 2023-24 Educator Shortage survey show there are 5,012 vacancies among teachers, administrators, and school support staff across the state, an increase of 24 compared to the 2022-23 school year.
The survey was conducted by MDE’s Office of Teaching and Leading from August 4 – November 15, 2023 and had 100% voluntary participation from school districts. There were 5,503 vacancies reported in 2021-22 and 4,988 in 2022-23.
Compared to last year, vacancies increased by 182 among teachers, by nine among K-12 licensed educators (library/media, counselors, and speech-language positions), and by 25 among administrators (principals and assistant principals). However, vacancies decreased by 192 among K-12 support staff such as teacher assistants, nurses, custodians, bus drivers, food service staff, and administrative assistants.
06 Feb2024
By Jason Moody
The Tennessee Grow Your Own Center, a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the University of Tennessee System, has been awarded a $1.8 million grant over two years by Ascendium Education Group to strengthen the teacher talent development pipeline across Tennessee, by increasing the number of individuals enrolling in teacher education programs and improving the retention of existing teachers.
The grant will fund the development of the Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program of Study (RTAPS) which will be an online curriculum developed by faculty fellows in the Institute for Competency-Based Teacher Education (ICBTE). This program provides Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs) and Local Education Agency (LEA) leaders with secure access to standards-based curriculum, that includes topics such as planning for instruction, family and community collaboration, and learner development.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support of Ascendium Education Group. These funds equip EPPs to create flexible, high-quality, low-cost educator preparation pathways that are accessible to aspiring educators from every community. Funding also provides opportunities to use virtual simulations to enhance teacher skill development,” said Erin Crisp, executive director of the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center.
22 Jan2024
By Laura Hoxworth
This article originally appeared on the University of Virginia website and is reprinted with permission.
The University of Virginia’s (UVA) School of Education and Human Development will offer a new Education Specialist in School Psychology degree beginning this fall, a move Virginia education experts say could help expand access to mental health services by easing a shortage of school psychologists.
Graduates will receive an Education Specialist in School Psychology degree after completing the three-year program. Training includes two years of coursework at UVA and culminates with a full-time, yearlong internship in a school setting during the final year of training. Successful program completion will enable graduates to apply for state and national certification as school psychologists in PK-12 schools.
The program is now accepting students for its first class, which will begin in August. The application deadline for the first cohort of students is Feb. 1.
16 Jan2024
By AACTE
AACTE has joined the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services (NCPSSERS) to continue advancing toward solutions for the nationwide PK-12 special educator shortage.
NCPSSERS is a national coalition composed of more than 30 participating member organizations. Since 2006, NCPSSERS has been dedicated to addressing the issue of shortages in special education and related services personnel in schools.
08 Jan2024
By Martin Ackley
Ninety-six additional school districts in Michigan will be developing more teachers from within their ranks with Future Proud Michigan Educator Grow Your Own (GYO) staff grants, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced today. This is the second round of Grow Your Own grants awarded by MDE, building on the school districts awarded grants in the first round.
GYO staff grants provide opportunities for districts to increase the number of teachers in areas of shortage by supporting school employees seeking initial teacher certification or additional teacher endorsements, in response to their unique local needs for staffing. Each awardee will administer its own GYO program in partnership with one or more educator preparation providers.
“Grow Your Own programs provide an opportunity for schools to develop educators from within their districts and benefit from their successful experiences working with children,” said State Superintendent Michael Rice, Ph.D. “We continue to invest our resources to rebuild the teaching profession in Michigan in partnership with our school districts and teacher preparation providers—all in support of children.”
18 Dec2023
From the Teacher Follow-up Survey to the National Teacher and Principal Survey
By National Teacher and Principal Survey
New data provides attrition and mobility information about teachers in public and private K-12 schools during the 2021–22 school year.
The National Center for Education Statistics released a new report, Teacher Attrition and Mobility. Results From the 2021–22 Teacher Follow-up Survey to the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NCES 2023-058). The report provides new information about attrition and mobility of teachers in public and private K–12 schools including the following:
18 Dec2023
By Sara Skretta
The Nebraska Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NACTE) is proud to be a leader in the state’s efforts to address the educator workforce challenges it faces. It was thanks to an AACTE chapter grant, that NACTE was able to host the first Nebraska State Educator Shortage Summit in October of 2021.
The original summit’s 100 participants, representing PK-12 education, the State Board of Education, the Nebraska Department of Education, supporting education associations, Educational Service Unit, and educator preparation programs (EPPs) participated in fully interactive discussions designed to identify state priority areas. The day-long summit concluded by identifying four priority areas and establishing a state task force for each area. In 2022, the four task forces, composed of those who attended the first summit, focused on the areas of certification, recruitment, and retention, elevating the profession and the Praxis Core required exam. While many things were accomplished it also was apparent that there was more work to be done as a collective education community in Nebraska.
That is how the Nebraska State Educator Shortage Summit, or Summit 2.0, came to be. Funded in large part by a Nebraska Department of Education Shortage Pipeline Grant, this event convened a few months ago in October. Summit 2.0 was a two-day event with an expanded program that included interactive discussions, keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and a 100% increase in registrants. That meant we had to move to a legitimate conference facility, which was fairly daunting to our planning committee as it got very real, very quickly.
05 Dec2023
By Christi Peace
The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) highlighted two key initiatives to help attract and retain teachers as part of the Murphy Administration’s broader efforts to address the K-12 educator shortage in New Jersey. In addition to raising awareness of the recent launch of the application period for the New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program, HESAA Executive Director David Socolow met with key stakeholders at Stockton University to discuss the vital support for New Jersey’s education workforce from both the loan redemption program and the new Student-Teacher Stipend Pilot Program.
“With one of the top education systems in our nation, New Jersey is looking to grow and strengthen our educational workforce,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “Teachers are the lifeblood of our school systems, helping to prepare the future leaders of our state, country, and the world. It is of critical importance that we create competitive initiatives that attract and retain top educator talent by ensuring financial barriers don’t keep great teachers out of the classroom.”
28 Nov2023
By Advance Illinois
Illinois’ much-publicized teacher shortage crisis actually showed signs of stability and even improvement during the exceptionally challenging COVID-19 pandemic period, a new report from education policy expert Advance Illinois has found. Still, despite encouraging progress, there is much work ahead to ensure there are high-quality, diverse educators in Illinois classrooms and some concerning trends to overcome, the report finds.
At a launch event in October featuring key policy leaders in education, Advance Illinois released its latest in-depth report on one of the most significant challenges facing Illinois public schools: finding more qualified, well-prepared, and diverse teachers and leaders to guide students in every school.
The new report, The State of Our Educator Pipeline 2023: Strengths, Opportunities, and the Early Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, is the follow-up to the group’s 2022 report The State We’re In, an early examination of the impact of the pandemic on Illinois’ education system.
21 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
As the teacher shortage in Michigan continues to affect the state, national shortages like the ones for special education teachers have led to new approaches to finding solutions for the issue.
According to Lansing City Pulse, in a survey of 46 out of the 56 intermediate school districts in Michigan, most districts selected special education teachers as one of their most critical shortages.
Special education teacher pay differs by district in the United States, with 2022 median pay at $62,950 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Earlier this school year, the city of Detroit began offering bonuses to attract more special education teachers to district programs, an initiative that has shown positive results in other states.
