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Implemented by Pfeiffer University, REPERTOIRE: Recruiting Educators, Preparing Educators, and Retaining Teachers to Optimize Interest in Rural Education was a collaborative partnership with Montgomery and Stanly County Schools in rural North Carolina. Pfeiffer University and the Division of Education and Division of Arts and Sciences provided undergraduate education for the teacher education program. In addition, the districts implemented a teacher cadet program as a component of a "Grow Your Own" pathway. The REPERTOIRE impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental design (QED) to examine the effect of an undergraduate teacher program to train highly qualified teachers to teach high-need students in rural school districts, along with retaining these teachers for at least four years. In addition, the study assessed the impact of induction and mentoring support as evidence by state teacher evaluations conducted by a principal or assistant principal during the first one to three beginning teacher years. Our beginning teacher sample was too small to measure the impact on student academic achievement or growth. Our undergraduate program graduated 59% of students that earned licensure; however, only 8% of those graduates pursued a teaching position in one of our two districts. A total of 10 teachers from before and during the grant cycle were hired by the two districts. At the start of three years, 75% were still teaching and of those far enough into their career to be counted for a fourth teaching year, just 50% remained in the two districts. The teachers were still teaching, but they had transferred to another district. Challenges with data collection and recommendations for future evaluation studies are discussed. [This report was co-produced by Pfeiffer University.]

Background: The Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program aims to increase the number of highly effective educators by supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of educators. The three central goals of this program are: (1) Recruit, prepare, and retain effective and diverse educators with local ties to serve in underserved schools; (2) Build a sustainable pipeline of aspiring teachers; and (3) Advance the field of education by enhancing, evaluating, and disseminating a research-based approach to teacher preparation that improves students' outcomes and provides a sustainable model for others. SEED's implied theory of change assumes evidence can be used to solve a specific program. Grantees are expected to draw from research evidence to design programs that address the insufficient number of highly effective educators. Implicitly, SEED assumes that the grantees will effectively implement evidence-based practices, and if they do so, the program will generate positive outcomes. This implementation evaluation is aimed at documenting the extent to which the grantee and its Educator Preparation Program (EPP) partners adhered to evidence-based practices. Information regarding fidelity to the evidence and implementation challenges will provide important context when interpreting the results from the impact evaluation of this study. Research Questions: This evaluation is intended to (a) measure impact on teacher and student outcomes using a rigorous quasi-experimental design that meets What Works Clearinghouse standards with reservations, and (b) provide formative feedback on the extent to which SEED is implemented as intended and meets specified performance objectives. We address (b) through two questions aimed at understanding implementation and providing feedback for continuous improvement. (1) To what extent is SEED implemented as intended? (a) Are participants receiving intensive, integrated pre-service in-service induction support? (b) What obstacles inhibit, and what factors enable, successful implementation of the program? (2) To what extent is SEED meeting performance objectives regarding: (a) attracting and retaining diverse participants, (b) improving teachers' capacity to use culturally responsive teaching methods, and (c) increasing teachers' capacity to meet students' social-emotional learning needs? The implied theory of change assumes grantees implement evidence-based practices as intended, and that doing so results in meeting performance objectives. Setting: This SEED program is being implemented in a majority Black city in the southeastern region of the United States. Participants Across the three EPPs, there were 120 active participants in SY 2023-24. Most participants (90%) are currently teachers of record, enrolled to obtain a graduate degree or licensure. Program: This SEED program aims to expand and enhance one city's non-traditional EPPs and resident induction with strategies found to have evidence of effectiveness. The grantee seeks to attract candidates, particularly people of color and local residents, through financial incentives and recruitment strategies. Strategies to develop effective educators include coursework, coaching, and feedback as part of field experiences. For participants in teaching positions, continuing support includes coaching and feedback, professional development, and mentoring, consistent with the strategies described in Young et al. (2017). Research Design: We drew upon culturally responsive and equitable evaluation principles and have been reflective throughout the study. Through a case study approach, we aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of each EPP. We collected administrative data on all program participants from each EPP. We sought to ensure diversity in perspectives by interviewing EPP employees and school staff and surveying participants. Interviewees included EPP staff, clinical faculty and coursework instructors, instructional coaches, and school-based mentors. To minimize non-response bias, we offered incentives to program participants who completed the survey. Data Collection and Analysis: To gather perspectives about how partners have been implementing SEED to date, we posed questions on program management, recruitment, instruction, coaching, and mentoring. We conducted 15 interviews per EPP with 23 interview participants, ranging from 15 to 60 minutes in length, in-person and virtually. The study team thematically coded interview data to identify common patterns and unique attributes of each case. Most survey items were closed-ended to reduce burden on participants and maximize response rates, which ranged from 75 to 100%. We conducted validation checks on both the online and paper-based versions of the survey and re-coded as needed to ensure consistency. We analyzed the data in Excel, using pivot tables to cut across different groups and variables of interest and generate tables and visualizations that summarize the data collected. Findings: Participants appear to be receiving intensive, integrated pre-service and multi-layered in-service induction as intended. EPP faculty described integrating culturally responsive teaching and social emotional learning practices in coursework. Participants concurred that programs included culturally responsive teaching (65% Strongly Agree; 34% Agree) and social emotional learning (54% Strongly Agree; 45% Agree) strategies. All EPPs are conducting observation and feedback cycles. Participants reported receiving coaching and feedback from their program to implement these strategies. The interviews shed light on some common obstacles and factors that contributed to success. All EPPs perceived the financial incentives offered to participants as facilitating success in recruiting and retaining teacher candidates. School-based mentors receive programmatic level support from all EPPs; however, the level of support provided varied. All partners base frequency of informal observations on participant needs. To date, SEED has documented success in attracting diverse candidates to their programs. Of the 120 participants, 80% are people of color (70% are Black or African American); over half (53%) are first-generation college graduates, and 83% are local participants. Partners successfully recruited racially diverse candidates by leveraging relationships with schools; most SEED participants are currently uncertified teachers. By recruiting existing teachers, they are not necessarily expanding the local pool of educators as intended. Conclusions: SEED partners have made progress toward implementing the program as intended. Many characteristics of these programs seem likely to advance goals to support teachers and improve student outcomes. The end-of-year data collection, scheduled for June 2024, will provide additional information on teachers' capacity to use culturally responsive teaching methods and meet students' social-emotional learning needs.

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in the profession is a matter of significant policy concern. Increasing teacher salaries and creating more attractive compensation packages are often proposed to achieve this goal. However, average real teacher salaries have remained stagnant over the past decade and have not fully recovered from the impact of the Great Recession (Kraft and Lyon, 2022). Public school teachers' wages also appear lower or at most on par with those of college graduates in other professions (Allegretto and Mishel, 2020; Taylor, 2008; Richwine and Biggs, 2011; West, 2014). Alongside a decline in prestige in the profession and lower rates of enrollment in traditional teacher preparation programs (Kraft and Lyon, 2022), this puts the teaching profession in a challenging position. Increasing teacher salaries could be a solution to attract more and higher-quality teachers to the profession and help alleviate teacher staffing challenges that rural and high-poverty areas most. In addition to increasing pay, more flexibility in designing teacher compensation policies could also assist school districts in hard-to-staff areas in finding better ways to attract teachers to these positions (Biasi, 2021). Most public schools in the U.S. employ rigid schedules and do not provide differential pay based on teacher performance or working conditions. This becomes a significant hurdle for schools serving a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds or in poverty. This situation may have been exacerbated by the pandemic (Camp, Zamarro, McGee, 2023). To date, lawmakers in at least 23 states have proposed bills that increase minimum teacher salaries and offer other bonuses to improve teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in shortage areas. Six of these bills have been signed into law, including the Arkansas LEARNS Act. Signed in March 2023, the LEARNS Act increased the state's minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, guaranteed all teachers a minimum raise of $2,000, and removed requirements that salary schedules offer incremental pay based on experience and education. While the state is providing the necessary funds to meet these requirements, districts have the flexibility to adjust their salary schedules to reward educators based on experience and education or implement more creative approaches to teacher compensation. We collected information about Arkansas districts' teacher compensation policies one year before the implementation of the LEARNS Act (2022-23) and during the first year of implementation (2023-24). Through web searches and direct communication with school districts, we obtained data from nearly all school districts (231 out of 235 traditional public-school districts). We then merged this information with other district characteristics from the Arkansas Department of Education data system and the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data. Finally, we integrated this district-level data with teachers' administrative data provided by the Arkansas Department of Education. This dataset covers the universe of public-school employees, enabling us to track individual teachers throughout their time in the Arkansas education workforce. We use this comprehensive dataset to address the following questions: (1) How have Arkansas school districts adjusted their teacher compensation policies in response to the LEARNS Act? How has the comparison of teacher salaries changed across different regions of the state? (2) How have the relationships between teacher salaries and district characteristics changed due to the LEARNS Act? (3) How have new salary schedules impacted teacher retention and mobility patterns, particularly in geographic and subject shortage areas?(4) How have new salary schedules affected the first job location of new teachers? Is it helping alleviate teacher shortage areas in the state? Our results reveal that, in 2022-23, starting teacher salaries in most districts in Arkansas were significantly lower than the new minimum salary of $50,000. The average entry-level teacher salary for those holding a bachelor s degree was about $38,000, with 39% of districts paying the minimum salary of $36,000. Consequently, the LEARNS Act elevated beginning teacher salaries to $50,000, eliminating much of the variation in starting teacher salaries across districts (97% of districts now pay entry salaries for those holding a bachelor's degree at the new minimum). We found that districts followed three approaches for adjusting teacher compensation in response to the LEARNS Act: Districts whose salaries were all lower than the new minimum for all steps during the 2022-23 school year transitioned to flat salary schedules in 2023-24 that pay the minimum of $50,000 regardless of teachers' years of experience (55% of districts). Districts with pre-LEARNS salary schedules that had some steps with salaries below $50,000 and others above adjusted by increasing pay to $50,000 for the cases paying below the minimum and providing a $2,000 raise for those cases paying above (36% of districts) Districts whose salary schedule was almost entirely above the new minimum of $50,000 adjusted after the LEARNS Act by keeping their existing schedules but increasing salaries by $2,000 for all their teachers (9% of districts). As a result, starting salaries for beginning teachers are now more equally distributed, with minimal variation across districts. However, more differentiation in pay reappears as teachers gain experience, and it remains advantageous to work in more urban districts that continue to offer higher salaries to their experienced teachers. The Learns Act also provides substantially more funding to rural and higher-poverty districts. The legislation eliminates the previously observed negative and significant association between starting teacher salaries and higher rates of district poverty. However, although half in size, this association re-emerges among teachers with higher levels of experience. In contrast, despite these positive improvements to teacher salaries, an interrupted time series with dosage analysis reveals that the immediate effects on teacher retention and mobility have been limited in this first year of implementation of the new legislation. Next, we will study the reform's effects on new teachers' location for their first job as well as the potential effects in alleviating teacher shortages. Our work will inform education leaders as they navigate new flexibility in designing teacher compensation policies.

Background/Context: School districts across the United States face persistent difficulties recruiting and retaining teachers (García & Weiss, 2019; Schmitt & deCourcy, 2022). Over the last decade, every state in the south has faced a growing teacher shortage, with some facing shortages in all grades and subjects (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). The current shortage of teacher candidates is reflective of shifting perceptions of teaching as a career. Nationwide, interest in teaching has dwindled to historically low numbers among high school and college students (Bartanen & Kwok, 2023; Kraft and Lyon, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated concerns with teacher recruitment, as undergraduate students' have become less inclined to consider a career in education (Bill et al., 2022). Teacher shortage concerns, compounded with declining interest in teaching as a career, place teacher recruitment and preparation in the policy and research spotlight. Traditionally, we look to high school and college students as our pool of future teachers. States across the country have embraced early teacher recruitment efforts, such as "Grow Your Own" (GYO) initiatives, to improve interest in the profession (Edwards & Kraft, 2024). However, additional research is needed to understand how prospective teachers interact with recruitment efforts and progress through pipelines into the profession. Research Questions: This study describes how interest in a career in education has shifted in terms of high school students' aspirations to pursue a career in teaching, as well as recent trends in preparation pathways among newly hired educators. We ask: (1) What percentages of high school juniors and seniors intend to major in education?; (2) What percentages of high school juniors and seniors intend K-12 teaching as their occupation; (3) What does enrollment in "teaching as a profession" courses look like over time?; and (4) How have the certification pathways of newly certified teachers changed from 2017 to 2023? Setting: This study investigates interest in the teaching profession across eight southern states, with in-depth analysis of teacher labor markets in two states. Data & Analysis: This study combines numerous data sources. Analyses are descriptive. The first two research questions focus on analyses exploring student interest in education across eight southern states: Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. We use ACT survey data to examine occupation choice trends and interest in teaching among high school students. ACT data (2013-2022) include responses to student surveys about planned college major and occupation, as well as student demographic information. Analyses primarily focus on the 525,600 Kentucky and Tennessee students who took the ACT test in 11th or 12th grade between 2013-2022, enrolled in a 2-or 4-year postsecondary institution, and provided data on their college major and occupational plans. The third and fourth research questions examine trends in the educator workforce across Kentucky and Tennessee. We draw on administrative data for Kentucky (provided via KYSTATS) and for Tennessee (provided via the Tennessee Education Research Alliance) that cover the 2016-17 to 2022-23 school years. Data include information on staffing assignments, preparation programs, and licensure. We also examine participation in "Teaching as a Profession" courses among Tennessee high school students, tracking their participation in these courses from high school into educator preparation programs (EPPs) and entry into the teacher workforce. Tennessee administrative data includes high school course-taking and student demographic data. Preliminary Findings: Across eight southern states, interest in pursuing a career in education has declined over the past decade (Figure 1). The downward trend is similarly steep among high school students regarding interest education majors in college. Over a 10-year period, interest in education occupations in Kentucky declined from 8% to 5% and in Tennessee interest dropped from 7% to 4%. Given that interest was small to start, declining interest in teaching among high school students is concerning. Although high school students' interest in education careers has declined, the racial and gender backgrounds of students indicating interest in the profession have remained unchanged. Between 2013 and 2022, students who plan to major in education and express interest in an education career in both Tennessee and Kentucky have remained predominantly white. Eighty percent of intended education majors in Tennessee and 86% in Kentucky identify as white. In 2022, students intending to major in education were 83% female in Tennessee and 77% female in Kentucky. Students interested in pursuing careers in education mirror the current racial and ethnic composition of teachers across both states (which are both majority white and female), but students signaling interest in teaching careers are not racially representative of the current student populations in Tennessee and Kentucky. Both states have increasingly diverse student populations. In Kentucky and Tennessee, students of color represent 25% and 40% respectively. Declining interest in teaching is not promising for ongoing calls and efforts to diversify the teaching workforce. However, state efforts to recruit teachers through "Grow Your Own" initiatives tell a different story. Figure 2 shows trends for high school student enrollment in Tennessee's TAP courses. Enrollment has increased as course offerings have expanded across the state, particularly among high school students of color and male students. Conclusions: While interest among high school students in education careers has declined steadily across numerous southern states, localized recruitment strategies, such as Tennessee's "Teaching as a Profession" courses, show promising results for expanding the supply of prospective teachers. It is possible that interest in becoming teachers among high school students may have declined even more over this period had these courses not been available. It is also possible that by taking an introductory teaching course, some high school students may decide that the positive aspects of becoming a teacher, such as a desire to work with young people, may outweigh the negatives, such as low salaries or student disciplinary challenges. These courses targeting high school students could be a potential avenue for revitalizing the teacher pipeline and fostering diversity within the profession. Overall, this research contributes to empirical insights into the complex landscape of teacher recruitment, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to reverse declining interest in the profession.

Background: Federal lawmakers passed the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program in 2008 to incentivize enrollment in bachelor's and master's degrees in education and to reduce teacher labor supply issues in high-need fields at low-income schools. The program offers undergraduate and graduate students up to $16,000 and $8,000, respectively, in grant aid. TEACH Grant recipients are required to teach in high-need fields at low-income schools for at least 4 out of 8 years after completing their program; otherwise, grants convert to unsubsidized Stafford loans. Despite its good intentions, and as a result of program complexities, TEACH may not be fulfilling its goals of improving the supply of qualified and credentialed teachers. Purpose & Research Questions: This study attempts to better understand which institutions participate in TEACH and its effects on undergraduate and graduate degree production in education. I focus on the following research questions: (1) Did TEACH increase education degree production for participating versus non-participating schools?; and (2) Did TEACH differentially improve education degree production for minority-serving institutions? The questions hold direct implications for whether TEACH has achieved its primary goal of alleviating teacher labor supply issues as well as for whether TEACH is a viable policy solution for improving teacher diversity. Setting: TEACH is a US-based policy and, accordingly, this study focuses on the US. Population: The population of interest is college and university enrollment and degree completion from 2000 through 2022. Intervention/Program: The TEACH Grant program was passed in 2008 with the expressed intent of improving teacher recruitment and retention in high-need fields at low-income schools. The program attempts to achieve this goal by providing undergraduate and graduate students grant aid to support the cost of attendance and to cover any program fees associated with teacher certification. Colleges with eligible teacher education programs can participate in the program and are responsible for counseling prospective TEACH Grant recipients on the various program stipulations and requirements. In the 15 years since TEACH was initially implemented, the program has faced a series of challenges, including high grant to loan conversion rates among grant recipients and stagnant institutional participation. For instance, more than 1 in 2 TEACH Grant recipients ultimately see their grants converted to loans as a result of failing to meet all program requirements. The Department of Education implemented more lenient grant to loan conversion policies in 2021, but institutional participation in TEACH has stagnated. Research Design: I use a synthetic difference-in-differences (SDID) design to causally estimate the effects of TEACH on education degree production. This approach compares outcomes for TEACH participating and non-participating institutions before and after policy implementation. Compared to a more traditional difference-in-differences analysis, SDID is advantageous in this context for several reasons. First, SDID reweights and matches observations using observables of treated units in the post-adoption period and time-period weights to construct a control group with parallel trends in the pre-period (Arkhangelsky et al., 2021). This is important, as participating and nonparticipating institutions may have differed along key characteristics and experienced different trends in outcomes before the implementation of TEACH. Second, SDID can offer unbiased estimates even when staggered treatment adoption is present. While TEACH was implemented in 2008, institutions had discretion on when they started to participate in TEACH. I use subgroup analysis to estimate effects for early adopters, or institutions that implemented TEACH within the first 3 program years, and for minority-serving institutions. Data Collection & Analysis: I use publicly available data on bachelor's and master's degrees awarded in education from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). These data include institution by year level information on the number of degrees awarded in education as well as institutional characteristics such as student enrollment demographics, institutional finances, and college type and sector. I merge in data from the Office of Federal Student Aid, which include institution by year level information on the number of TEACH Grant recipients and disbursement totals from 2008 to 2022. Results: Preliminary findings suggest that TEACH has had limited effects on the number of degrees awarded in education and no differential effects for minority-serving institutions. Muted effects appear to be driven by two factors: declining or stagnant institutional participation and persistently high grant to loan conversion. Even after taking into account recent changes to cut down on grant to loan conversion, only about 1 in 2 eligible institutions participate in TEACH. Minority-serving institutions are just as likely as non-minority serving institutions to receive TEACH, but do not appear to differentially produce more education degrees. Program complexities and stipulations around grant to loan conversion may limit the reach and effectiveness of TEACH in recruiting and retaining teachers. Conclusion: Amid ongoing conversations on how best to improve teacher recruitment and retention, I offer causal estimates on the federal TEACH program. I find that the program had limited effects on education degree production. By functioning more as a backdoor loan program, TEACH has yet to reach its potential in supporting the teacher pipeline. Reducing grant to loan stipulations might help to improve institutional and student participation in TEACH. TEACH Grant aid alone might also fall short of addressing the myriad of issues contributing to labor supply issues in high-need fields at low-income schools.

In the fall of 2021, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) requested assistance from the Region 8 Comprehensive Center in finding research-based strategies for effectively recruiting teachers, especially teachers of color. This request stemmed from Indiana's growing difficulty in fully staffing schools, especially in high-need areas. This research report provides techniques and approaches to recruiting teachers that IDOE, districts, and schools might consider when planning recruitment efforts, especially those related to diversifying their teacher workforce. These include establishing educator pipelines for high schoolers and paraprofessionals, as well as financial incentives, innovative credentialing programs, and creatively connecting with potential teacher candidates, among others. While districts may not be able to utilize all of these approaches, this report provides information on a wide range of possibilities for teacher recruitment.

Most school and district leaders have a wealth of information available to them before, during, and after the hiring process, but they might not analyze it regularly or use it to inform their recruitment and retention plans. However, using data strategically is key to positively impacting teacher recruitment and retention. This brief discusses different types of recruitment and retention data, potential uses of the data, and questions to help guide data analysis. District talent managers and principals can use this brief to inform their own action planning around recruitment and retention. [Alex Moseman and Lauren Dachille contributed to this brief.]

The need to address teacher pipeline challenges has never been more urgent--and doing so will require bold, systemic changes to how teachers are recruited, prepared, compensated, supported, and respected. Teacher Preparation Partnerships are one promising strategy to help address the state's significant teacher pipeline challenges through collaboration between educator preparation programs (EPPs), school districts, community colleges, and workforce development partners. The Public School Forum of North Carolina is working to build awareness of these partnerships, to share and document programs and best practices, and to propose recommendations for policy and practice to strengthen and grow these efforts to improve teacher recruitment, preparation, retention, and diversity in actionable, sustainable ways. This brief summarizes the Forum's work thus far on a statewide landscape analysis of existing Teacher Preparation Partnerships and promising practices.

Grow your own (GYO) programs are designed to recruit, prepare, and place community members as teachers in local schools. They do this through partnerships between educator preparation programs, school districts or local educational agencies, and community-based organizations. The nation is currently seeing new and thoughtful uses of the approach. This policy brief examines models with an explicit commitment to advancing justice and equity in teacher development, which can be leveraged to open doors to the profession for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) teachers with roots in, and understanding of, the community.

Racial diversity within the school workforce is valuable in 'fostering social cohesion and most importantly, in supporting pupils to grow and develop in an environment of visible, diverse role models' (DfE, 2018c, p.2). A diverse workforce is likely to promote greater cultural understanding and inclusion when educating pupils from diverse ethnic backgrounds, including white. Ensuring there are equal opportunities for people to enter the teaching profession, and progress within it, is a necessary condition for ensuring the profession is representative of society. This requires a shared commitment from many individuals and organizations across the system and a willingness to listen to voices from diverse communities as well as using evidence to bring about improvements in racial equality and ultimately racial equity. There is a substantial and growing base of qualitative evidence exploring the lived experience of teachers and leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds. However, the quantitative evidence base on the extent to which there are equal opportunities within teacher career paths is limited. This NFER research, in partnership with Ambition Institute and Teach First, aims to establish the extent of ethnic disparities and where they occur in the teacher career pathway. Teacher census data is used to explore the representation and career progression opportunities in the teaching profession among people from different ethnic minority backgrounds, from applications to initial teacher training through to headship. This report also analyses differences across regions, training courses and schools. Focusing on the numbers of teachers from different ethnic backgrounds is a necessary, but by no means sufficient, first step towards establishing racial equity. However, understanding more about where ethnic disparities occur within the teacher career pathway and which groups are most affected will support the education system to focus on the areas where action to address them can have the greatest impact. [This report was co-funded by Teach First and Ambition Institute.]

Recruiting and retaining effective teachers is critical to school turnaround. However, research on how improving educator quality in low-performing schools contributes to school improvement is largely situated in urban settings. This study examines staffing practices through a descriptive analysis of the first cohort of Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools in North Carolina. In the 94 schools slated for turnaround, ineffective teachers in rural schools were less likely to turn over than in non-rural schools. Instead of filling vacancies with more effective teachers than they lost, rural schools tended to assign their more effective teachers to tested grades and subjects. [This is the online version of an article published in "Leadership and Policy in Schools."]

Offering competitive teacher compensation is an important part of the solution to recruit and retain a strong and diverse teacher workforce. The maps and associated tables that follow show three teacher wage indicators for the nation and each state: (1) average annual starting salary for public school teachers; (2) average annual starting salary for public school teachers adjusted for cost-of-living differences across states; and (3) average weekly wage competitiveness--how much teachers earn relative to other college-educated workers in that state. Together, these indicators signal the overall wage conditions underlying efforts to attract and retain well-prepared teachers across a state. The final table in the series shows all three indicators for each state. Teacher starting salaries and cost of living vary by district, so within states (with the exception of Hawaii and Washington, DC, which each comprise a single school district), there are districts that will be higher or lower than their state average on these indicators.

As the COVID pandemic has led many Americans to reevaluate the status quo and expand their sense of possibility about new ways to organize work, it's time to reimagine the fundamentals of the teaching job. Reimagining the teaching job demands that leaders at all levels reconsider the ways in which people, time, and money in schools and school systems are organized in pursuit of a bold, new vision that has the potential to elevate both the teaching profession and outcomes for all students. This paper provides an overview of this vision through the sections: (1) The crisis of the teaching job; (2) A new vision for the teaching job; (3) What this looks like in practice; and (4) How we get there.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 560,000 prospective teachers attended more than 21,500 teacher preparation programs (TPPs) housed in more than 2,100 institutions in the United States. Some will either never complete their program or fail to seek or secure teaching positions, but the majority will, and they will become a substantial part of the future U.S. teacher workforce. But what is known about these teacher candidates? Who are they? Where do they come from? Why are they attracted to teaching? What factors shape enrollment and completion patterns across the diverse set of programs that constitutes our current system of teacher preparation? The answers to these questions are crucial to efforts designed to enhance the U.S. teacher workforce; local efforts to improve programs; state and national policies concerning teacher quality; and the collective understanding of how teacher supply and demand is both forged by and reflects economic, social, historical, and cultural trends. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current landscape of candidates applying to and enrolling in TPPs, and to summarize what is known about who pursues teacher certification. To this end, it examines (1) the large-scale data available on TPPs; and (2) culled additional data from historians' analyses of the teacher workforce, contemporary large-scale studies of TPPs, papers on local design and program histories, and case studies of particular programs as well as examining information on programmatic innovation in local contexts. Here the paper summarizes efforts--through programs and policies--to recruit new candidates to the teacher workforce.

Early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) provide more than 5.5 million secondary learners annually an intentionally designed authentic postsecondary experience (such as dual or concurrent enrollment) leading to college credit that counts toward a recognized postsecondary degree or credential. Career Technical Education (CTE) courses make up approximately one-third of all EPSO enrollments and are a critical component of a high-quality CTE program of study, bridging secondary and postsecondary learning. Advance CTE's vision, Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of CTE, calls on states to ensure that each learner's skills are counted, valued and portable. At the state level, systems are needed to translate competencies and credentials into portable credit. One key way to accomplish this goal is to expand, simplify and standardize early postsecondary credit, articulation and transfer policies to better facilitate high-quality EPSOs for every learner. To this end, Advance CTE, in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, surveyed State CTE Directors to better understand state policies that support EPSOs in CTE. This report reveals key findings from the survey data and highlights examples of promising practices and opportunities to improve the quality of CTE EPSO programs and expand equitable access to and success in EPSO programs for historically marginalized learner populations. [This report was prepared with the support of the College in High School Alliance.]