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Racially and ethnically minoritized students are now the majority in U.S. public schools. This demographic change, along with heightened attention to racial injustice and evidence regarding the importance of Black teachers, has renewed a decades-old push to increase their numbers. Redesigning teacher education and development to support the recruitment and retention of Black teachers requires ongoing critical understanding of their racialized experiences. Uncritical approaches to workplace diversification perpetuate deficit attitudes toward Black students and unfairly burden Black teachers. Authors Christopher J. Cormier, Elizabeth Bettini, and Kristabel Stark describe challenges novice Black teachers often face, and they suggest critical considerations for this conversation within teacher education programs and schools.

Traditional teacher education and alternative teacher preparation programs struggle to recruit and retain prospective and early-career educators of color. To address this challenge, Jalene Tamerat and Clifford Lee recount their experiences as teachers and teacher educators-of color. They propose a reframing of pedagogies, curricula, and programmatic structures so they will more effectively center the cultural assets and critical perspectives among future educators of color. They share their personal reflections and offer an overview of the current educational landscape to contextualize and ground their recommendations for how teacher training programs can be more attuned to the needs of teacher candidates from minoritized and historically marginalized backgrounds.

Violet Jiménez Sims, Kerry Lord, Marlene Megos, and Ushawnda Mitchell describe a new approach to addressing the gap between the racial diversity of teachers and students in U.S. public schools. The Connecticut Teacher Residency program (CT-TRP) is a grow-your-own approach to teacher training, certification, and retention that combines an academic program with a residency model while centering cultural competency. The program breaks down common barriers to the teaching profession by covering the cost of tuition, paying a living wage to candidates during their one-year residency, and helping them prepare for certification exams.

The academic achievement of Black boys in the U.S. has been declining, and Black male mentorship can positively change these outcomes. Schools have tried many interventions to help Black boys receive the academic, social, and emotional support they need to close the performance gap. Some case studies have proven that Black male mentorship works. Bobby J. Rodgers Jr. and Devery J. Rodgers examine Black male student academic performance and propose Black male mentoring as a solution that offers promise in closing the performance gap.

Amid already critical teacher shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many teachers to leave the profession, but we know little about how it may affect teacher recruitment. Kayla Bill, Amanda Bowsher, Betty Malen, Jennifer King Rice, and Jason Saltmarsh conducted a survey and focus groups to explore how COVID-19 has influenced undergraduates' interest in and perceptions of teaching. The pandemic has had mixed but troubling effects on undergraduates' interest in teaching, and while it has increased their respect for teachers, it has also magnified their concerns about salary, safety, workload, and the disrespect teachers endure. Addressing these long-standing concerns may increase the likelihood that this sizable pool of prospective teachers will pursue teaching and help alleviate teacher shortages.

The specific needs of rural schools and communities have received limited attention from state policy makers, and many state programs have only added to the challenges that school districts in rural areas face. Michigan State University researchers surveyed and interviewed rural superintendents in Michigan to learn more about their situations. Superintendents identified teacher recruitment and retention, the need for mental health services, limited broadband access, and insufficient funding as their most pressing challenges. The researchers note that addressing these challenges will require state leaders to pay specific attention to rural needs and develop rural-conscious education policies.

Two decades ago, at a time when much of the country faced looming teacher shortages, a number of states invested in comprehensive strategies for strengthening the teaching profession. For example, and drawing upon recommendations from the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, both California and North Carolina built statewide teacher recruitment centers, launched new mentoring and induction programs for beginning teachers, and created incentives for veteran teachers to seek national board certification. However, while such efforts were successful, they were gradually dismantled, mainly for political reasons--and it will take effective political advocacy to reinstate them.

Teachers in Japan earn tenure on their first day of employment--not after two years of experience based on evaluations of teaching performance or student test scores. This is almost too good to be true. If tenure is so easy to attain, how do the Japanese make sure their teachers, especially novice teachers hired with little teaching experience, provide effective instruction? How do they embed accountability among teachers? An equally amazing fact about Japan is the high retention rate of beginning teachers. In 2006, merely 1.35% of 1st-year teachers in Japan left the profession, compared to the U.S. where almost half leave teaching sometime during the first five years. Why is there such a difference? Is teaching any easier in Japan than in the U.S.?

Teacher educators have not been sitting quietly by the side as others have demanded changes in teacher preparation programs. Across the nation, scores of efforts are underway to recruit, train, induct, and retain a highly skilled class of professionals for American schools. The stories presented in this article cover just a fraction of the initiatives, projects, and programs launched by school districts, universities, foundations, and others, all aimed at advancing student learning by improving teaching. These are: (1) "A Program for Math Teachers Requires a Complex Formula" (Alice F. Artzt, Frances R. Curcio, and Alan Sultan: Queens College); (2) "Preparing Urban Teachers: Working Outside the University Box" (Mary C. McMackin, Susan Rauchwerk, Joseph Cambone, Mary E. Curtis, Katryna Andrusik, and Dionn N. Brown: Leslie University); (3) "Bring Student Teaching Into the 21st Century" (James W. Fraser and Audra Watson: Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship); (4) "Let's Learn Together" (Rebecca West Burns, Diane Yendol-Hoppey, James F. Nolan, and Bernard J. Badiali: Penn State University); and (5) "FEA Recruits and Supports Aspiring Teachers" (Jeanne Storm: Future Educators Association). The article concludes by stating that what is new in teacher preparation is: (1) More clinical work--Get teacher aspirants into classrooms by their freshman year so they experience the reality of being a teacher; (2) Longer student-teaching runs--Provide longer and deeper student teaching experiences more akin to the clinical experiences for physicians; (3) A focus on diversity--Ensure that teachers are prepared for the changing demographics of American schools as the U.S. moves rapidly toward becoming majority-minority; and (4) Grappling with STEM--Close the gaps in math and science achievement by ensuring that more highly skilled teachers for those disciplines are available.

Research on teacher quality is not definitive. But, we know that developing high-quality teachers requires a multipronged approach: We need to recruit promising teachers. We need to retain and reward effective early career teachers. We need mechanisms to dismiss those who don't improve. We need to focus teacher preparation on the foundations of skilled beginning practice, and we need to invest in systems of professional development that effectively improve the practice of experienced teachers. We also need to invest in working conditions, which are fundamentally tied to school climate and resources.

This research examines national data on the status of the minority teacher shortage--the low proportion of minority teachers in comparison to the increasing numbers of students of color in schools. The authors show that efforts over recent decades to recruit more minority teachers, and place them in disadvantaged schools, have been very successful. But, these efforts have also been undermined because minority teachers have lower retention--largely because of poor working conditions in their schools. (Contains 2 figures.)

After earlier plans fell out of favor, pay for performance plans are becoming more popular. Factors that make those plans more viable include new data systems and ways to measure performance, increased attention on the importance of effective teaching, the need for efficiencies in salary schedules during tough economic conditions, and a change in attitudes among teachers and other stakeholders. Taken as a whole, pay for performance is now poised to become more reality than simple rhetoric, but much work must be done to ensure pay for performance programs are effective. (Contains 2 tables.)

Virtual bug-in-the-ear technology presents one tool that allows practitioners and university educators to use to attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers. The experience of Project TEEACH--which stands for Transforming Elementary Educators into Advocates, Change Agents, and Highly Qualified Special Educators--based at the University of Alabama suggests that simple technology tools could be used effectively to support teachers through their most challenging instructional situations. Such coaching provides the kind of at-the-elbow support that can be most beneficial to young teachers. (Contains 1 table.)

The authors present six strategies that constitute a comprehensive approach appropriate for federal teacher policy. These strategies are designed to reform policy in accountability, teacher recruitment, teacher education and development, teacher qualifications, pay incentives, and policy management.

The quality of the teacher in the classroom is the most important factor in raising student achievement, as Linda Darling-Hammond noted, and educators should offer their students nothing less than well-trained and well-supported teachers. Providing high-quality teachers is of particular importance in low-income communities of color, where the most underprepared teachers are consistently placed and where students continually underperform in comparison to their middle-class white counterparts. Ms. Darling-Hammond describes the detrimental outcomes of the present system, one that continues to fail its students. In this article, the author argues that with its current approach, Teach for America (TFA) is not patching the "hole in the bucket" of America's teaching supply. When almost one-third of new entrants to the teaching profession leave within three years and nearly half leave within five years, TFA's two-year approach may do little more than offer a temporary plug. The author believes that in order to maintain a teaching force, particularly in the nation's most underserved communities, and to ensure this force is of the highest quality, a "systemic solution'' must be put forward. Such a systemic solution includes recruiting, preparing, and retaining excellent teachers for all students. (Contains 14 endnotes.)

In this article, the authors, deans of three universities, provide their response to Megan Hopkins' article that talked about what Teacher for America (TFA) should do to help train teachers. The authors discuss that their schools maintain a deep commitment to preparing and placing effective, knowledgeable, and caring teachers in every classroom. Thus, they seek out viable partners who can help in their efforts to counteract the impact on students of extreme teacher shortages and diminishing confidence in the positive outcomes of teacher education programs. Their schools partner with TFA to provide "comprehensive" teacher preparation programs--not mere backdoor or emergency approaches. Here, the authors describe how their schools provide comprehensive teacher preparation programs to TFA corps members. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

One of the most important strategies for stopping school decline is recognizing its signs early on and promptly applying appropriate interventions. In this article, the author identifies 11 indicators of school decline that are associated with inadequate and inappropriate responses to the challenges of budget cuts, state and federal mandates, loss of key personnel, and an influx of at-risk students. These are: (1) Undifferentiated assistance; (2) Inadequate monitoring of progress; (3) Unadjusted daily schedule; (4) Alignment problems; (5) Ineffective staff development; (6) Lost focus; (7) Lack of leadership; (8) Hasty hiring; (9) Increased class size; (10) Overreliance on untrained helpers; and (11) More rules and harsher punishments. (Contains 6 notes.)

For decades, the supply of qualified special educators has been critically low. In 1983, the shortage of special educators was highlighted in "A Nation at Risk," and the situation remains much the same 25 years later. The most recently available data indicate that just 0.86 teachers were prepared for each available position in special education, while more than twice as many teachers were produced for each available position in elementary education. In this article, the authors emphasize that there is a pressing need not only to recruit and retain qualified special education teachers, but also to diversify the special education teaching force. Failure to address these issues will mean that the most vulnerable individuals, children with special needs, are the ones most likely to suffer the most. (Contains 6 notes.)

"A Nation at Risk" sounded the call for school improvement and offered recommendations for bringing it about. "No Child Left Behind" was even more prescriptive in its approach to raising student achievement. However, as the author of this article points out, for all their recommendations and strategies, both reform efforts neglect the essential conditions for improving teaching. Both efforts do not mesh well with what we know about good teaching, what makes people want to become teachers, and why they stay. This article presents five conditions for improved teaching: collaboration, empowerment, reflection, time, and training. It then presents five actions teachers must take to earn these conditions. These are: (1) improve current educational standards; (2) develop standards for the resources needed to meet educational standards; (3) develop assessment systems to show that students and schools are meeting standards; (4) develop a definition of highly qualified teachers and enforce it; and (5) develop processes for recruiting, inducting, retaining, and rewarding highly qualified teachers. (Contains 17 notes.)

In early 1999, when it was formally launched, the Massachusetts Signing Bonus Program (MSBP) for New Teachers attracted nationwide attention. The Bonus Program's efforts were greeted with acclaim and its favorable attention continued into the second year. When problems began to appear in 2001, however, only local eyes were watching. No national outlets published the stories about high attrition rates, ineffective recruitment, and inadequate training that appeared in the local press. Nor did the national media notice when the state legislature eliminated the Bonus Program's funding altogether in spring 2003. In this article, the author discusses the background and performance of the Massachusetts Signing Bonus Program, its design and founding assumptions, and the rise and fall of the program. The author also offers lessons for policy makers who may be considering whether to adopt any of the three elements that brought the MSBP to national attention: (1) signing bonuses; (2) high-profile recruitment; and (3) fast-track preparation. (Contains 32 endnotes.)

America's most highly qualified teachers are underrepresented in America's most challenging schools. Across the nation, only about 15% of America's expert teachers teach in high-poverty, underachieving schools. Most expert teachers teach in schools with fewer racial minority students, fewer students from low-income households, and fewer students who are English-language learners. And they teach in schools with smaller than average student/teacher ratios. Teacher quality is the biggest school-level factor related to the success or failure of students in hard-to-staff schools. To improve substandard levels of student achievement, more expert teachers must be recruited to teach in these schools. Because these schools are hard to staff, policies must be devised to attract expert teachers to them and then to retain those teachers. In addition, the voices of expert teachers should be heard loud and clear when such policy debates occur. Expert teachers have been officially distinguished and validated as experts, so it is of utmost importance to hear and act on what they have to say about why they do not teach in high-needs schools and what might convince them to do so. To explore these issues, the author surveys the most highly qualified teachers in the state of Arizona to understand their job-related preferences and the policy changes it would take to recruit them into hard-to-staff schools and then to retain them. These teachers included National Board Certified teachers, teachers recognized for having extraordinary success in teaching students in high-needs schools, and teachers named Teacher of the Year or Ambassador of the Year. (Contains 10 endnotes.)

To an unprecedented degree, this is the era of educational entrepreneurship. Unconventional thinkers have waded into the world of K-12 education, founded influential organizations, and upended conventions. They have developed new models for delivering instruction or recruiting teachers and have applied old-fashioned practices with inspired fidelity. While their efforts constitute a still-minuscule portion of schooling, they are responsible for many of the most exciting developments in 21st-century education. Entrepreneurial ventures always carry the risk of failure. The author believes that the education system is far more endangered by conventional approaches to school reform that have merely preserved the status quo. In this article, he discusses why entrepreneurship is important in education and presents three sets of obstacles blocking the way to creating an entrepreneurial environment: (1) barriers to the entry of new providers; (2) a lack of venture capital; and (3) a pinched pipeline for human capital. (Contains 32 endnotes.)

Across America today, school districts face a problem of numbers: too many students, too few educators. In some areas, the shortage of classroom teachers is approaching crisis proportions. Attempts to address the problem of teacher supply have focused on either bringing new people into the field of education or keeping beginning teachers in the profession for a significant period of time. One solution designed to address the recruitment side of the problem is found in the creation of Non-University Certification Programs (NUCPs). In this article, the authors explore a little-examined, but significant aspect of the current teacher shortage: the effect of the NUCP phenomenon and similar stopgap measures on those who are charged with inducting alternatively certified individuals into the classroom: America's experienced classroom teachers. Having obtained this alternative certification for new teachers and letting them arrive in schools with neither the theoretical nor the field-based knowledge, the authors question both the fairness and the advisability of burdening experienced teachers with the task of bringing these newcomers up to speed. (Contains 12 endnotes.)

In this article, the author shares her mother's teaching career without any college education or teacher training and discusses what it conveys about teachers who are not fully certified. While the author favors more traditional paths to teaching, culminating in full certification, she admits that there are other viable options. Just as 60 years ago when her mother was hired, the author suggests that schools that are not able to attract and keep a staff of fully certified teachers may resort to hiring provisionally certified or uncertified personnel. However, before schools resort to the tactic of employing persons who are not fully certified, all efforts should be made to "cast a wider net" in order to hire the best new teachers. (Contains 7 endnotes.)

Based on information from interviews with 50 first- and second-year teachers in Massachusetts, proposes a mixed model for the teaching career: one that would be responsive to the needs of both teachers who envision long-term careers and those who envision short-term stays in teaching. Draws implications for teacher recruitment and retention strategies. (Contains 15 references.) (Authors/PKP)

To attract and retain high-quality teachers, the education system must address science teachers' sense of professional isolation, administrators' lack of receptivity to thoughtful teachers' ideas, egalitarian salary compensation schemes, and lack of professional recognition. An outstanding chemistry teacher-turned-pharmaceutical saleswoman is profiled as an example of wasted talent. Two Internet programs may reduce isolation. (18 references) (MLH)

South Carolina's Teacher Cadet Program, an "experiencing education" class offered to proficient high school students, is helping attract top students to teaching and is renewing teachers without exhausting them. The course enables students and teachers to engage in profound discussions about growing up and stimulates critical analysis of social problems and the state of teaching. (MLH)

Those who are entrusted with the economic and social future of the U.S. should be unnerved with what is happening and not happening in the essential areas of teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention. Mindful of the facts, the College Board's Center for Innovative Thought, whose members include academic and business leaders, assessed the matter for over a year and came up with a series of recommendations.

Describes a Nebraska case where a signing bonus awarded to a new teacher was contested by the teachers' association. Provides a two-part legal reminder to school authorities. Does the state have a collective bargaining law that mandates bargaining in such situations? If so, negotiate the matter into a clearly provable agreement. (Author/MLF)

Today's shortage of talented teachers--possibly a cyclical phenomenon--results largely from low teacher salaries, many survey indicate; moreover, a computer simulation confirms, recent institutional decisions aggravate the problem. Consequently, reforms that focus exclusively on teacher training practices and/or certification must ultimately fail. Instead, education schools should redefine their missions. (MCG)

Having undergone major improvement in recent years, state governments were able to respond decisively when the public showed alarm over the condition of education. Since educational reform depends on leadership by teachers, enhancement of the teaching profession in terms of status, participant quality, and training must be encouraged. (PGD)

Describes the essential characteristics, development, implementation, and anticipated benefits of an innovative New Jersey program that will allow local districts to hire and train for certification prospective teachers who have college degrees and subject area expertise. (PGD)

Lists 10 premises affecting the future of teaching, including trends toward teacher shortages, declining entry standards, unattractive salaries and working conditions, and standardized curricula. Presents three scenarios: business-as-usual, two-tiered (permanent senior teacher cadres instructing temporary teachers), and a professional scenario demanding comprehensive reforms. (several references) (MLH)

The percentage of black teachers in the teaching force has been declining since the 1970s. While academic performance of black college students has been steadily improving, there has been a steep decline in black college enrollment, and few of those limited numbers of black college students are interested in teaching as a career. Includes references. (MD)

The likely consequences of different educational policies affecting teacher supply and demand are examined in relation to the predicted teacher shortage. Includes a table describing 23 policies and practices of schools that attract qualified teachers. (MD)

Recent reforms (such as New Jersey's alternative certification requirements) aimed at attracting higher quality teacher candidates, combined with a predicted teacher shortage and changes in professional attitudes and values, are providing increased opportunities for all kinds of teachers. Suddenly, private schools are valuing candidates with pedagogical training, and public schools are considering liberal arts majors. (MLH)

With annual salaries for Head Start and other nonpublic school child care programs in the $11,000 to $15,000 range, it is impossible to recruit and retain qualified teachers. This article discusses the rationale for improving and appropriately financing all early care and education programs. Includes nine references. (MLH)

Minorities educated in urban school systems are unlikely to select themselves into teacher training programs. This article shows the direct connection among societal conditions, the quality of schooling offered minority children, and minority teacher recruitment. Suggestions for developing alternative certification and recruitment approaches are presented. Part-time teaching and job sharing may help. Includes 22 references. (MLH)

Data indicate that teaching attracts and retains a disproportionately high percentage of those with low measured academic ability and fails to attract and retain those with high ability. If policy makers wish to change this situation, they must be prepared to pay the price. (Author)

The U.S. is facing a serious shortage of math and science teachers. Worse news is that we are not now training enough new teachers to remedy the problem. Solutions may include differential pay, inservice staff development, school-industry cooperation, improved work environments, and computer-assisted instruction. (Author/JM)

Discusses major findings and recommendations in recent report entitled "Aboriginal Education in Winnipeg Inner City High Schools," published by the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives. (PKP)

The Commonwealth Teacher Training Study conducted shortly after World War I and the activities of the Commission on Teacher Education from 1938 to 1944 addressed the problems of recruiting and motivating higher quality education majors. The findings of these studies could prove highly relevant to today's concerns in teacher education. (PGD)

Since 1979, when International Schools Services held its first International Recruitment Center (IRC) in New York City, these job fairs have become the preferred way for international schools to recruit staff members. This article describes the recruitment process, outlines desired teacher and administrator qualifications, and provides information concerning three IRCS held in February 1992. (MLH)

An introductory college course in teaching offered for credit to high school students in Louisville, Kentucky, improved the students' attitudes toward teachers and teaching, a first step toward attracting good students to teaching careers. (PGD)