Introduction
Regardless of their race, family income, or ZIP code, every student has the right to a rich, engaging, and challenging education that prepares them with the knowledge and skills necessary to graduate from high school with academic and career options. Achieving this goal requires adequate and equitable investments in the resources and supports essential to a high-quality, culturally affirming education. Among these resources are well-prepared and supported teachers who represent the rich racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of our communities, sovereign tribal nations, and country.
Decades of research have affirmed that teachers are the most critical school resource to advance student achievement. Teachers also play an integral role in students’ developing sense of themselves and their world. Policymakers should rely on evidence-based policies and practices—tailored to address the particular needs and challenges of their district or state—to support a thriving and diverse teacher workforce. Tailored solutions should address the underlying conditions that contribute to persistent teacher shortages and include comprehensive strategies for recruiting and developing teachers and advancing their leadership.
This Playbook provides tools for addressing shortages and supporting and diversifying the teacher workforce. It draws upon decades of research into effective practices for recruiting, preparing, supporting, and retaining teachers; provides examples of state legislation and local and state-level policies and initiatives, curated from research reviews and recommendations from a broad cross-section of national experts; and includes other helpful resources. This guide, designed for policymakers and those who seek to influence policy, has benefited from the review and input of a broad cross-section of experts from 26 local and national organizations.
A Note on Language Inclusivity and the Use of “Teachers of Color”
Throughout this playbook, different language is used to describe what diversity really means in the teaching profession. Often the phrase “teachers of color” is used, but the reality is that there is much more at stake when it comes to teacher identities and experiences. For that reason, it Is important to highlight at the very beginning that teacher “diversity” includes, but should not be limited, to a range of identities and experiences.
This includes racial and ethnic identities such as Black, Indigenous and Native American, Latine/o/a/x, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Arab/Middle Eastern/North African, biracial and multiracial, and more. It includes gender identities and sexualities such as transgender, gender non-conforming, nonbinary, intersex (TGNCI), queer, and more. And it includes other identities and experiences often excluded from traditional establishment spaces, such as disabled, non-citizens, cash poor, experiencing houselessness, and more. Where it is not feasible in this playbook to list all of these identities and more, imperfect shorter versions are used.
Language around identity is constantly evolving, so Playbook developers invite ongoing discussions about how best to be inclusive in the language we use and expand beyond categories wherever possible.
Federal COVID-19 Aid: Funding to Support District/State Teacher Workforce Initiatives
States and districts can use the three federal COVID-19 relief laws passed in 2020 and 2021 to grow a well-prepared, supported, and diverse teacher workforce. Funds can be used for supporting comprehensive and diverse pathways into teaching, such as the high-quality teacher residency and Grow Your Own (GYO) programs discussed in this Playbook, as well as for state and district strategies to develop and retain teachers.
All three laws fund an Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund, which provides aid to states and districts. States can reserve some of each ESSER allocation (the percentage varies) to build their teacher pipeline and support new teachers’ entry into the profession. Tennessee used ESSER funds to expand its Grow Your Own Competitive Grant program. Illinois, for its part, created an induction program for new teachers, many of whom were unable to complete in-person clinical training in spring 2020.
The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the December 2020 Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) also created Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds. Governors have discretion over how to use these funds, including using them to support the teacher pipeline. In Minnesota, for example, Governor Tim Walz allocated up to $5 million to support teacher preparation candidates and programs.
Districts also have authority to use ESSER funds to help grow and retain a pipeline of diverse and well-prepared teachers. All three laws allow districts to use their ESSER funds (except for those dedicated specifically to addressing lost instructional time in the American Rescue Plan Act) toward any activity authorized in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. This flexibility means that districts can utilize rescue funds to address the root causes of teacher shortages and advance partnerships and strategies to build a stable and diverse teacher workforce. Districts can do so through induction and mentoring programs; professional growth and development opportunities for teachers, including National Board Certification; support and professional learning for principals; and other strategies and practices elevated in this Playbook.
Why Invest in the Teaching Profession?
Across the country, schools and districts are grappling with teacher shortages. In some subject areas—such as mathematics, science, and special education—nearly every state is experiencing shortages.[1] The disruption, stress, and health and safety concerns associated with teaching during COVID-19 have exacerbated pre-pandemic shortages, with early reports of fewer individuals entering the profession and significant numbers of teachers leaving the profession. For example, in one survey, nearly 1 in 3 teachers overall and 43% of Black teachers indicated they would be choosing to resign or retire early due to COVID-19.
Without an adequate supply of fully prepared and qualified teachers, districts are turning to individuals who have not earned the credentials to teach the subjects and students they are being hired to teach—and sometimes without any formal preparation at all. For example, in the 2017–18 school year, more than 100,000 classrooms were staffed by teachers who were not qualified—that is, did not hold a credential—for the position they held.[2] This practice’s impact is significant because underprepared and unqualified teachers are both less effective, on average, and more likely to leave the profession than fully prepared teachers.[3] The result? A revolving door that perpetuates shortages and undermines students’ ability to learn and thrive academically. Without the strategic investments detailed in this Playbook, that revolving door of teachers coming in and out of the profession will continue.
These investments are particularly urgent given the disproportionate placement of underprepared and unqualified teachers in schools serving students of color and students from low-income families.[4] Continuing to underinvest in the teaching profession undermines students’ opportunity to learn and build caring and trusting relationships critical to their development. Schools and districts cannot effectively address long-standing opportunity and achievement gaps without investing in a diverse and effective teacher workforce. Educators and policymakers at every level have a role to play in this effort.
Black students who have a Black teacher at least once in third, fourth, or fifth grade are half as likely to drop out of school and more likely to want to go to college.
In addition to investing in the teaching profession broadly, there is also an urgent need to increase the representation of teachers of color, including multilingual individuals, who bring a range of benefits to students, schools, and the teaching profession. Research highlights their positive contributions to all students’ social, emotional, and academic development and the particular benefits to students of color, especially Black students. Benefits include boosts in academic achievement, graduation rates, and aspirations to attend college. For example, studies show that Black students who have a Black teacher at least once in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade are half as likely to drop out of school and more likely to want to go to college.[5] Also, students of color and White students highlight positive perceptions of teachers of color that include feeling cared for and challenged academically.
Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, the former Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes the broader benefits of a diverse profession this way: “I know we keep hearing … we need more Black teachers, we need more Latinx teachers, but we say that as if we need Black teachers for Black students, or we need Latinx teachers for Latinx students. We need these teachers, period. We need White students to have an experience in a classroom with a teacher from a different background or group different from their own so that they can begin to shift some of their thinking about hierarchy and who’s capable, who has authority, who has knowledge.”[6]
Despite the broad benefits of students being taught by racially diverse teachers, the profession remains predominantly White. In the 2017–18 school year, teachers of color comprised just 20% of the teacher workforce.[7] That is up from 12% 30 years ago,[8] but is still disproportionately low considering that students of color comprised 58% of public school students in 2017. [9]
And, while the percentage of teachers of color as a collective group is increasing, the share of Black and Native American teachers is declining, according to a report from the Learning Policy Institute. Black teachers comprised more than 8% of teachers in 1987 but just 6.7% in 2015. Similarly, the share of Native American teachers declined from 1.1% in 1987 to 0.4% in 2015. Meanwhile, the percentage of Latinx teachers increased from 2.9% of teachers in 1987 to 8.8% in 2015. The share of Asian American teachers rose from 0.9% to 2.3% over the same period.[10]
A report from The Education Trust–New York documented how the scarcity of teachers of color plays out in New York City public schools. Authors analyzed student and staffing data for the 2015–16 school year and found that 1 in 10 Latinx and Black students attend schools with no teachers of the same race or ethnicity, and nearly 50% of White students attend schools without a single Black or Latinx teacher.[11] This gap, which plays out to varying degrees across the United States, holds clear implications for students and the country. On an individual level, it denies all students in our school systems the benefits of being taught by a teacher of color. For the country and our communities, it denies an important opportunity for students to learn and grow with a racially diverse group of mentors and teachers—opportunities that can contribute to the cross-cultural awareness and understanding needed in an increasingly diverse and multiracial United States.
High-Impact Strategies to Promote a Stable and Diverse Teaching Profession
In the chapters that follow, the Playbook delves into the key elements of a comprehensive strategy to recruit, retain, support, and develop skilled and diverse teachers in every school and district in the country. Communities, regions, and states will want to analyze their particular needs and challenges and tailor strategies to meet their circumstances. The Teaching Profession Playbook offers examples of research-based, high-leverage local, state, and federal policies and provides snapshots of exemplary programs from around the country in the following areas that span the “pipeline” of teaching careers:
Chapter 1: High-Impact Recruitment Strategies
There is no single program or initiative that will effectively increase the number of teachers—and particularly teachers of color—entering the profession and continuing to teach for the long term. Increasing the number of individuals entering the profession requires a comprehensive approach that includes:
early exposure and incentives for high school students to explore the teaching profession;
financial incentives, such as service scholarships and forgivable loans, to underwrite the cost of high-retention preparation; and
district-based initiatives that include high-touch hiring and recruitment practices.
Chapter 2: High-Retention and Culturally Responsive Preparation
New teachers who receive thorough and high-quality preparation before entering the classroom are more likely to continue teaching. They are also better able to improve student learning and engagement across a range of subject areas. Research points to key features of high-quality preparation, including opportunities to observe experienced teachers; receive regular feedback; participate in intensive clinical practice in a classroom; and take courses in topics such as teaching methods, learning theory, child development, and student assessment.
This type of comprehensive training is typical in teacher residencies, which provide aspiring teachers the opportunity to work alongside an experienced mentor teacher for a year while they take coursework , and other high-quality professional certification programs, including Grow Your Own (GYO) programs. These types of preparation programs also represent culturally responsive pathways to teaching. Not only are they effective at recruiting more teachers of color to the profession (including community members), but the programs highlighted in this Playbook also prepare individuals to teach in racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse communities.
Chapter 3: Effective Retention Strategies
Teacher turnover contributes to shortages, and teacher movement out of schools and out of teaching has adverse effects on the students and schools they leave behind. Teacher churning—the term used to describe a revolving door of teachers—is destabilizing for the students, staff, and community. Churning also undermines efforts to build a strong school culture rooted in trusting relationships—a leading factor in student and school success. Turnover rates are higher in Title I schools and schools serving the largest concentration of students of color.[12] Strategies explored in this chapter include improving teaching and learning conditions through adequate and equitable investments, including in community schools; providing mentoring and induction for new teachers; creating opportunities for ongoing professional learning and growth; and establishing collaborative leadership structures and practices.
Chapter 4: The Critical Role of Principals
Principals play a crucial role in recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse and high-quality staff, including establishing a positive school climate. In surveys, teachers consistently rate the quality of principal support as more important than salaries or workload in their decision to leave or continue teaching in a particular school. School districts, in turn, are instrumental in providing principals with the professional learning and supports needed to be effective and empowering leaders who create safe and inclusive schools for students, staff, and families. This chapter discusses key elements of effective principal development programs and highlights examples.
Chapter 5: Competitive and Equitable Compensation
All else being equal, teachers are more likely to leave their position—either for another district or another profession—when wages are low. Increasing compensation is vital to both attracting more individuals to the profession and retaining teachers. First and foremost, that means providing teachers with a competitive and equitable salary that aligns with the cost of living and teacher salaries in a region and that is comparable to the salaries of professionals with similar education levels in the area. In addition to initiating salary increases, local and state policymakers have explored other compensation strategies that would improve teachers’ overall standard of living. These strategies include bonuses and stipends, such as for increased responsibility and leadership or advanced skills, or different types of economic support, such as housing subsidies.
High-Impact Strategies to Promote a Stable and Diverse Teaching Profession
This Playbook offers a comprehensive set of strategies that work together to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain high-quality teachers and bring greater racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity to the profession. Read it cover to cover or, depending on your local or state circumstance, explore a single chapter or strategy. Additional resources include examples of legislation; a curated list of publications, by topic, for further reading; a guide to talking about teacher shortages and strengthening the profession; and examples of research-based policies.