Research & Insights

A diverse teacher workforce benefits all students, especially students of color. Students of color who have experiences with teachers of color are more likely to achieve life milestones like high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion.

Many states and districts have been trying to diversify their teacher workforces. Still, NCTQ’s Teacher Diversity Dashboard reveals a troubling trend: Even though the racial diversity of college-educated adults is increasing, the teacher workforce is not keeping pace. In other words, people of color who could be teachers are increasingly opting out.

This brief outlines how to explore the workforce trends in your state and consider possible policy solutions to create a more diverse teacher workforce.

When teacher layoffs are necessary, districts with thoughtful policies can minimize disruptions to schools and students, especially those facing greater disadvantages. 

We are failing to give children daily opportunities to engage with a broad spectrum of people and their identities, perspectives, and experiences; and some children see no reflection of themselves in their teachers.

The Ford Model T: revolutionary 100+ years ago, impractical now. Similarly, our outdated classroom model doesn’t meet the needs of today’s students and teachers. We explore the evidence driving schools to reimagine the teaching role.

How much does reading policy work its way into classrooms? A new study exploring the state of reading across the U.S. underscores the need for consistent support and monitoring of reading policy implementation to make waves in classrooms.

A new study finds that this cost-effective evaluation system could improve math outcomes in districts with fewer students, teachers, and resources.

What can the education field learn from Netflix? How to revolutionize staffing to better meet the needs of those you serve. Our outdated model of teaching makes it hard for schools to hire and keep great teachers.

This research summary examines the research behind key components of strategic staffing models, such as formalized teacher leadership and mentorship, differentiated compensation, teacher working conditions, teacher collaboration, and class size adjustments.

Reimagining teaching roles often requires revising teacher contracts and district policies. This tool is designed to help.

Our classrooms haven’t kept pace with the changing world. The Ford Model T represented breakthrough technology in its day—more than 100 years ago—but it wouldn’t serve us well today. Likewise, our traditional classroom model from the same era doesn’t work well for far too many students and teachers. In fact, as a result of this outdated model, it is more difficult for schools to find and keep great teachers, which ultimately hurts student learning.

This interactive resource answers questions and provides guidance about reimagining teaching based on your leadership role. It contains a scan of state policies that impact whether districts can make strategic staffing a reality, case studies from innovative states and districts that are leading the way, and advice for leaders on how to get started.

Districts miss an opportunity to improve teacher effectiveness and strengthen their hiring pipelines if they don’t support strong student teaching experiences. New NCTQ data identifies which large U.S. school districts use smart policies to get the best ROI on clinical practice.

A strong clinical practice (or student teaching) experience can make a new teacher as effective as one in their second or third year in the classroom—a big gain for those teachers and, more importantly, their students. Providing every aspiring teacher with a strong clinical practice experience requires collaboration from prep programs and districts, often supported by their state.

In this action guide, you can review the six essential focus areas of a strong clinical practice experience; use the self-assessment tool to help you identify where to start; and read case studies from prep programs, school districts, and states that are getting it right.

In the past four years, almost every state has lowered its standards for entry into teaching. I know this all too well, as I was a policymaker in one of those states.

Some suggest that teachers are “lured” out of the profession into more lucrative fields. But a new study of pre-pandemic data paints a more complex picture of who leaves the classroom and how much they earn afterward.

Classes are shrinking, but student performance is stagnant. NCTQ examines class size policy changes in the largest U.S. districts to see how the landscape has changed in recent years.

Teachers improve rapidly in their first years in the classroom. New research seeks to identify strategies that can move more of this growth to their pre-service training.

As districts face impending fiscal cuts and teacher layoffs, states and districts should take this opportunity to reexamine their approaches to attracting and retaining teachers—especially those who do the most good for students.

New research examining ESSER’s impact on school district hiring in Washington state confirms potential teacher layoffs as the funding wanes.

District incentives to recruit and retain teachers will likely fall short if they lack specific attention to the needs of hard-to-staff subjects and schools. In this District Trendline, we examine how large U.S. districts pay teachers differently based on district needs to fill these critical gaps.

Here’s how state education agency (SEA) leaders in seven states are monitoring the classroom-level implementation of their literacy policies.

New research suggests that targeted and timely AI feedback on teachers’ instruction is possible and can improve instruction—but teachers still have their doubts.

This reading teacher wasn’t prepared to teach students who struggled to read. Thanks to a training program that taught her structured literacy, she can now help all students become strong readers. She describes why teachers need support in implementing scientifically based reading instruction.

The proportion of individuals in educator-support roles (paraprofessionals, counselors, etc.) has consistently grown over the last decade. Compare state and national changes in school staffing across support and teaching roles.

As ESSER funding depletes and teacher layoffs set in, school districts should consider teacher performance and other alternatives to last-in-first-out.