Education Drivers

Outreach

More than 30 years of research strongly supports the link between teacher quality and increased student achievement. Studies identify teaching as one of the most challenging professions, requiring teachers to make an average of 1,200 critical decisions a day. It is not surprising that preparation programs must attract the best and brightest candidates if students in the American school system are to succeed. Exemplary international education systems recruit 100% of teachers from the top third of university students. In the United States only 25% meet this standard. U.S. preparation programs exacerbate the problem with easy grading, awarding students significantly higher grades than students in other academic departments. Effective outreach in the United States is further hindered by a perceived lack of respect for the profession as teachers are often blamed for failing schools. The undervaluing of the profession is apparent in teacher compensation. American teachers earn significantly less than other college graduates. Recommendations for improving this situation include increasing admission standards, making pre-service more rigorous, and compensating teachers commensurate with the demands of the job.

Data Mining

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SYNOPSIS
CITATION
Are Schools Adequately Attracting and Retaining Teaching Staff?

This analysis looks at retention and experience data for teachers in the United States.

Keyworth, R. (2010). Are Schools Adequately Attracting and Retaining Teaching Staff? Retrieved from are-schools-adequately-attracting927.

Which credential process produces better teachers: traditional or alternative?
This analysis examines research comparing the impact on student achievement for traditional routes to receiving a teaching credential to alternative credential paths.
States, J. (2011). Which credential process produces better teachers: traditional or alternative? Retrieved from which-credential-process-produces.
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SYNOPSIS
CITATION
Closing the Talent Gap: Attracting and retaining the top-third graduates to careers in teaching

What would it take to systematically attract—and retain—top students to a teaching career in the United States?

Auguste, B. G., Kihn, P., & Miller, M. (2010). Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching: An international and market research-based perspective. McKinsey.

A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US

Recent media reports of teacher shortages across the country are confirmed by the analysis of several national datasets reported in this brief. Shortages are particularly severe in special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions. Shortages are projected to grow based on declines in teacher education enrollments, coupled with student enrollment growth, efforts to reduce pupil-teacher ratios, and ongoing high attrition rates.

Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2016). A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US. Washington, DC: Learning Policy Institute. Available at: https://learningpolicyinstitute. org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT. pdf.

The adequacies and inadequacies of three current strategies to recruit, prepare, and retain the best teachers for all students

This paper analyzes the research base on recruiting, preparing, and retaining good teachers being implemented in U.S. teacher education.

Zeichner, K. M. (2003). The adequacies and inadequacies of three current strategies to recruit, prepare, and retain the best teachers for all students. Teachers college record, 105(3), 490-519.

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