Research & Insights

The more teachers stay, the less districts need to hire and train new ones. While good working conditions play a role, new research confirms that compensation also matters—especially for certain positions.

New research examines what tools school hiring managers can use when hiring teachers and concludes that, when used well, they can help hire better teachers—but they’re not always used.

Nationally, the diversification of the teacher workforce is slowing compared to the diversification of college-educated adults, but California, Texas, and Washington, D.C. are bucking that trend. Explore what factors contribute to their relatively high rates of teacher diversity and how their policies and practices will likely affect teacher quality.

New research reveals that the share of well-prepared STEM teachers in high-need schools has been increasing over the last 15 years, though high-need schools still have a smaller share of these teachers than more affluent schools. 

NCTQ publishes our monthly District Trendline newsletter to provide district leaders with easy access to research and policy patterns. As we reach the end of the calendar year, we look back to see which topics most interested district readers.

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. 

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 Similarly, our outdated classroom model doesn’t meet the needs of today’s students and teachers.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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

In March 2023, Arkansas passed the Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and School Safety Act (LEARNS). A recent research brief from the University of Arkansas analyzes how LEARNS has influenced teacher salaries statewide in its first year of enactment.

Here’s what we learned about what’s going well and what’s been challenging in building a strong clinical practice experience, as well as which policies and supports could lead to better experiences.

Non-teaching staff can have a big impact on student outcomes, yet little research explores how their turnover rates vary and what effects that could have on the school. New research explores turnover among different staffing groups, including which conditions predict churn and which conditions prevent it.

Districts nationally are struggling to build strong pools of substitute teachers. Yet in 40% of the large districts we analyzed, entry-level substitute teachers are paid less than what they would earn hourly if they worked in retail.

Pipelines, incentives, retention strategies, and data tracking lead to greater diversity.

Do state leaders suffer from a lack of strategy? To really connect the dots and make an impact, states need to simultaneously prioritize teacher quality and learning outcomes.

To learn about state priorities in the coming years, NCTQ surveyed education leaders, advocacy groups, and researchers across the country.

Giving teachers a strong start through mentoring and induction programs has been identified as a successful approach to keeping more novice teachers in the profession.

Research shows that teachers of color positively impact all students, especially students of color, improving their academic achievement, discipline, attendance, graduation rates, and social-emotional outcomes. Despite their positive impact on students, the teaching workforce remains 80% white while students of color now comprise over 50% of public school students.

Teacher diversity is a policy area that will require sustained commitment from states to achieve progress and increase the number of teachers of color in the workforce. This report examines how states are responding to this challenge through policy and funding, providing the first comprehensive analysis of teacher diversity policies across all 50 states and D.C.

A recent working paper shows a simple hack school leaders can use to ease teaching vacancy woes: Automate data collection.  

Little is know about paraprofessionals in the classroom, but a recent study in Washington sheds some much-needed light on these important players.