In One Giant classroom, Four Teachers Manage 135 Kids – and Love It

By Neal Morton

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

A teacher in training darted among students, tallying how many needed his help with a history unit on Islam. A veteran math teacher hovered near a cluster of desks, coaching some 50 freshmen on a geometry assignment. A science teacher checked students’ homework, while an English teacher spoke loudly into a microphone at the front of the classroom, giving instruction, to keep students on track.

One hundred thirty-five students, four teachers, one giant classroom: This is what ninth grade looks like at Westwood High School, in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school system. There, an innovative teaching model has taken hold, and is spreading to other schools in the district and beyond.

A ‘National Teacher Shortage’? New Research Reveals Vastly Different Realities Between States and Regions

First national comparison of unfilled, full-time teacher roles shows that nine states are experiencing high vacancy rates

By Marianna McMurdock

This story was produced by The 74, a non-profit, independent news organization focused on education in America.

A new report casts doubt on the narrative of a widespread “national teacher shortage,” finding instead that thousands of vacancies appear to be localized so far in nine states across the country. 

Mapping the vacancies nationally, a recently published working paper and website crafted by three education researchers offers the latest, though incomplete, snapshot of reported teacher shortages.

Pinning Hopes on Future Educators

Colleges of education hope that celebrating teaching candidates with pinning ceremonies will help validate their decision to enter an increasingly demanding field.

By Johanna Alonso

This article originally appeared on Inside Higher Ed.

Savannah O’Connor, a junior in Rowan University’s College of Education, doesn’t have much free time. She balances her regular classwork with weekly classroom observations, all while studying for the challenging Praxis Subject Tests, which she must pass to become a certified teacher.

College of Education Receives $9.6 million Federal Grant to Diversify Teaching Workforce

By Kyle Sears

Mercer University’s Tift College of Education will partner with five local school districts on a three-year, $9.6 million U.S. Department of Education grant project aimed at strengthening the teacher pipeline in order to increase and diversify the teaching workforce.

The award is the largest federal grant in the history of the College of Education, which was formed by the merger of Tift College with Mercer in 1986 and is the largest private preparer of teachers and other educators in Georgia.

Traditional University Teacher Ed Programs Face Enrollment Declines, Staff Cuts

As higher ed enrollment lags, colleges try to make teacher preparation more enticing, sustainable to ward off local shortages

By Marianna McMurdock

This story was produced by The 74, a non-profit, independent news organization focused on education in America.

The pandemic has exacerbated a troubling national trend: Fewer potential teachers are entering the profession. 

Nearly every state lost a large proportion of teaching candidates between 2010 and 2018, according to a Center for American Progress report — and the pandemic has further strained traditional colleges and universities programs, many of which face declining enrollment and were forced to recently cut staff.

PVAMU Receives $300K Grant to Increase Educator Diversity in Texas

By Karen B. Cotton

This article was originally published by Prairie View A&M University.

The teacher population in Texas does not reflect its student population. Beverly Sande, Ph.D., plans to change that statistic with $300,000 in funding from Texas Tech University–Texas Education Agency in collaboration with the University-School Partnerships for the Renewal of Educator Preparation (US PREP) National Center. The award will position Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) to lead innovative efforts to increase diversity among the number of teachers.

Can Apprenticeships Help Alleviate Teacher Shortages?

By Javeria Salman

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

As much as she wanted to, Karol Harper hadn’t planned to go back to school to get her teaching license. With a full-time job and a family — she couldn’t afford it. It would have meant a loss of income and benefits.

Harper, a teacher’s aide in the special education department at Farragut Intermediate School in Knoxville, Tennessee, was interviewing a candidate for a position at her school when she learned about her state’s new teacher apprenticeship program.

The program enables participants to get licensed as teachers through an apprenticeship, instead of paying out of pocket for the degree. Many apprentices work in a school, gradually taking on more teaching responsibilities, while studying for an education degree at night. Other students, like high schoolers and college students, work as student teachers in their local districts, while taking working toward their bachelor’s degree. The tuition and fees are paid for through the program, but in addition student apprentices get tutoring and coaching.

Teacher Education Programs Desperately Seek Students

By Liam Knox

This article originally appeared on Inside Higher Ed.

As the school year gets underway, a national teacher shortage has K-12 districts scrambling and job boards lengthening. The president of the National Education Association called the lack of classroom teachers a “five-alarm crisis.” Some students are returning to full-time in-person learning only to find their instructors teaching through screens, often from hundreds of miles away. Many teachers are overburdened by large classes, and in some cases, they are teaching without a degree. Some districts will start the school year with a four-day week to accommodate a lack of staff.

The flow of new teachers through the pipeline has slowed to a trickle, in part due to years of declining enrollment in education programs. Now higher education institutions are looking for ways to reverse what has become an alarming national trend.

AACTE Participates in White House Discussion on School Staffing Shortage

Strengthening the Teaching Profession Through Public and Private Sector Actions

By AACTE

AACTE met with the Biden-Harris Administration today to discuss the nationwide school staffing shortages.

“It was an honor to have AACTE at the table with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other key decision makers, such as the Secretaries of Education and Labor,” said AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. “There are solutions to this crisis, and I am confident that in working together we will accelerate our work to recruit and retain highly-qualified and diverse teachers. Education is an exciting and worthwhile profession, and I believe that today’s conversations, alongside members of the talent industry, will take us far as we lead collaborative and solutions-based work. To have this spotlight today on the education profession from the White House elevates the importance of teachers and education in the U.S.”

AACTE Applauds Biden Administration’s Decision to Forgive Federal Student Loans

By AACTE

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) announced its support for the Biden Administration’s decision to forgive a portion of the federal student aid debt certain individuals have incurred to attend college.

“The federal government’s decision to forgive a portion of federal student debt is long overdue,” said  AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. “Many students are overwhelmed with student debt, preventing them from beginning families, purchasing homes, or achieving other life milestones. This announcement is a significant step in helping these students. However, much more needs to be done to help students interested in pursuing a career in education finance their college degree. As a nation, we must address the high cost of a college degree and the low compensation of teachers, both of which have contributed to a nationwide shortage of profession-ready, fully licensed educators.”

Local Public School Ratings Rise, Even as the Teaching Profession Loses

By PDK International

The 54th annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools finds record-high ratings for local public schools — but record low support among parents for their children becoming teachers. Only 37% of respondents say they would want a child of theirs to become a public school teacher in their community. This is the lowest level of support the profession has seen since 1969, when support for teaching as a career choice peaked at 75%.

Overall, 54% of adults give an A or B grade to the public schools in their community, the highest percentage in PDK Polls since 1974, up 10 points since the question was last asked in 2019.

Bellarmine will Prepare STEM teachers with $1.45 million NSF Grant

By Carla Carlton

Bellarmine University will recruit and prepare highly qualified science and mathematics teachers for high-need Kentucky middle and high schools with the support of a five-year $1.45 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce program.

Pathways Alliance Releases a Shared Vision for Diverse, High-Quality Teachers

By Natalie Khairallah

Teacher residency programs seek to offer an innovative approach to teacher certification, shifting the landscape of education to better recruit and retain high-quality teachers. These residencies can help attract a diverse pool of teachers — aiming to offset the shortage crisis and address the immediate staffing needs — by offering a supportive and affordable path to teaching.

Salem State University Receives Largest Cash Gift to MA State University

Cummings Foundation donates $10 million to Diversify and Strengthen Teacher Pipeline

By Salem State University and Cummings Foundation

Cummings Foundation has donated $10 million to Salem State University’s School of Education to support programs and initiatives aimed at diversifying, strengthening, and sustaining the next generation of educators. The gift represents the largest cash contribution ever made in the history of the nine Massachusetts state universities.

AACTE to Participate in Department of Education Webinar

By Michael Rose

On August 31, AACTE representatives will participate in a webinar sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (register here). Officially titled, “Helping Teachers Afford Comprehensive Pathways into the Profession and Achieve Loan Forgiveness,” the webinar will discuss TEACH Grants and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs, valuable tools to help attract and retain individuals interested in pursuing a career in education.