Recruitment & Retention
Staff shortages. Grow-your-own programs. Turnover. Learn more about recruiting and retaining teachers and other school and district staff
The State of Teaching
New national data on the teaching profession, vivid reporting from classrooms, and resources to help support this essential profession.
Special Report
STEM Teachers: How to Find the Good Ones and Keep Them
See how schools are making progress, and where they are falling short, in addressing chronic teacher shortages in STEM fields.
Special Report
Strategies for Building a Diverse Staff
Delve into the link between diverse staff and students’ academic performance and explore strategies to recruit and retain diverse staff.
Staffing Our Schools
Special Report
Tackling the School Staffing Crisis
Modifying schedules, expanding the use of contractors and emergency certified teachers, and other tactics schools are trying.
Recruitment & Retention Principals Can Make or Break Schools. How Districts Find the Right FitGauging job candidates' readiness for the challenges of running a school is not easy.
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says Do 4-Day School Weeks Attract and Retain Better Teachers? What the Largest Study Yet SaysShortened schedules may do less than district leaders hope to improve turnover and teacher quality.
Recruitment & Retention Opinion What Trump's $100,000 Visa Fee Could Mean for SchoolsAn expert on teacher migration explains the possible consequences for international teachers.
Recruitment & Retention: Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best ways to recruit good teachers?
The ways that teachers find school jobs has changed in recent years. But recruitment hasn’t gone all virtual. According to a 2022 EdWeek Research Center survey of job seekers, only 5 percent said they find out about K-12 jobs through virtual job fairs. Many more job seekers find jobs by looking at district websites (54 percent), word of mouth (47 percent), and education-focused job websites (42 percent).
Some districts are turning to decidedly non-digital recruitment methods, like highway billboards, flyers in grocery stores, and reaching out to parents to ask them to become substitute teachers.
Some districts are turning to decidedly non-digital recruitment methods, like highway billboards, flyers in grocery stores, and reaching out to parents to ask them to become substitute teachers.
What qualities do principals look for when hiring teachers?
Many principals place the most weight on how a teacher will fit in with their school’s culture. That attribute was more valued by principals than whether the teacher’s certification aligned with their school’s needs, according to a 2022 survey by RAND.
The number of years of teaching experience a teacher had ranked relatively low in principal’s desired teacher qualifications, with less than a quarter of principals saying it was in their top three.
The number of years of teaching experience a teacher had ranked relatively low in principal’s desired teacher qualifications, with less than a quarter of principals saying it was in their top three.
How can schools retain teachers?
Here is some advice on retaining teachers from Principal David Arencibia of Colleyville Middle School in Texas:
· Be clear with teachers about job expectations.
· Create a positive school culture.
· Celebrate your staff.
· Listen to your staff.
· Be clear with teachers about job expectations.
· Create a positive school culture.
· Celebrate your staff.
· Listen to your staff.
- Recruitment & Retention Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Teacher Retention?Answer 7 questions about Teacher Retention.
Recruitment & Retention Want to Keep Top Teachers? Consider More Flexible Work ArrangementsThe pandemic increased employees' desire for flexibility. Acting on it can help schools hire and keep good educators.
Recruitment & Retention Part-Time Teaching Gigs Help Keep Experienced Educators. But the Approach Is RareThe strategy might be one way to deal with an aging teacher force and a limited supply of new teachers.
Recruitment & Retention All Teaching Shortages Are Not Equal: 4 Takeaways From New ResearchTeacher shortages aren't the same everywhere. But they're real, and they haven't subsided.
Recruitment & Retention Schools Don't Embrace Flexible Work: Ideas From 3 Superintendents on How to Do ItSchools' traditional schedules and practices can be adapted to support some flexible work options, even for teachers.
Recruitment & Retention Foreign Language Teachers Are in Short Supply. How to Find, Attract, and Retain ThemStart with competitive pay and respect for their unique skills, an expert says.
Recruitment & Retention Letter to the Editor Schools Are Choosing Money Over Experience. Educators Are Fed UpA special education instructional aide shares her frustration with the lack of appreciation for and low pay of her position.
Recruitment & Retention Video One District’s Transformative Solution to Its Staffing ShortageA suburban Virginia school district overhauled its hiring process, enabling it to address a bus driver and teacher shortfall simultaneously.
Recruitment & Retention Opinion How My District Overcame Our Dire Bus Driver ShortageNow, the district is applying the lessons to support staff in classrooms and cafeterias, writes Superintendent Mervin B. Daugherty
Recruitment & Retention Why You Should Survey Your School StaffAnd what you should do after the results are in.
Recruitment & Retention Q&A Could Educator Shortages Affect the Future Workforce? Here's What Business Leaders ThinkKelly Education, a school staffing agency, surveyed business leaders about their concerns.
Recruitment & Retention New Guide Pairs Research and Policy on Recruiting, Retaining Teachers of ColorThe new handbook from the American Educational Research Association features new research, guidance, and testimonies for educators.
Recruitment & Retention Opinion A Better Plan for Addressing Teacher ShortagesBe careful that stopgap staffing solutions don’t endanger our long-term goals of placing experienced teachers where they are needed most.Recruitment & Retention Webinar Cultivating Long Term Success and Retention for New Teachers and ParaprofessionalsSponsorThis content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.Accelerate and ease the learning curve for new teachers with innovative professional support that leads to long term success and retention.
Recruitment & Retention Q&A Answering a District's Call for Bilingual Teachers, a Mother and Daughter Leave Puerto Rico for VirginiaLesliean Luna and Gabriela Muriente answer a school district's call for their language skills and teaching expertise.
