Access to highly effective teachers is essential for student achievement. However, growing evidence suggests students have unreliable and inequitable access to effective educators, with many school districts reporting high levels of teacher vacancies. This series examines the challenges facing Tennessee’s educator labor market and highlights innovative practices to strengthen it.
Strategic School Staffing: Tennessee’s Opportunity To Sustain And Elevate Great Teaching
In the fall of 2022, Tennessee had 1,000 vacant teaching positions. Adding to this concern is a decade-long trend of declining completion in educator preparation programs (EPPs) in Tennessee, signaling the need for a more comprehensive solution to the gap in Tennessee’s educator pipeline. This paper presents a vision for how Tennessee can respond to the teacher shortage in a more comprehensive way, offering research-based solutions and actionable steps to help districts and schools attract and retain teachers.
Key takeaways:
- Longstanding research connects student access to effective educators with improved outcomes, highlighting the need for a more reliable, effective, and diverse educator workforce.
- Innovative staffing models can help districts and schools attract and retain teachers, strengthening the health of the educator pipeline.