By the Numbers: Phase One Analysis of the Teacher Workforce in South Dakota

Working with the South Dakota Department of Education, the authors have begun collecting data to pinpoint where potential shortages and turnover of teachers are as a way to lay the foundation of targeted solutions in specific areas. Given the data collection process, they have broken the study into two phases: (1) Phase one: is a district-by-district analysis of teacher shortages and turnover in the South Dakota public school system; and (2) Phase two: will add teacher-level data to enable them to map a more finely grained analysis to better understand the attributes of teachers who flow into positions, move among schools, and exit from South Dakota's public schools. In this initial analysis, the focus is on the indicators of potential shortages as conveyed in a recent, one-year snapshot. This report lays out some of the challenges and opportunities districts face filling positions. It does not offer policy prescriptions but suggests some directions for consideration, based on the preliminary findings.