Teacher Shortages: How They Are Measured, Framed, and Addressed (or Not)

• In Event: 16.039 - Teacher Shortages, Fact or Fiction? New Perspectives on Tracking Trends in the Teacher Workforce

Abstract

This paper examines the historical recurrence of teacher shortages and the common pitfalls in how they are discussed and measured that have hindered our ability to address them. The paper provides strategies to develop a collective understanding and consensus around teacher supply and demand at the state level to provide a road map for policy makers to promote well informed dialogue and plan targeted interventions.

Teacher shortages have gained recent prominence in policy conversations around the country. Media coverage of shortages has raised concerns about staffing difficulties. Some characterize the problem as a crisis, while others discredit these claims and characterize the issue as overblown or exaggerated. There is a deficiency of data on shortages, which leaves many states with a muddled picture of the teacher labor market and few implications for direct policy action. This paper outlines what is necessary to develop a greater understanding of teacher shortages at the state level.

The paper is based on a systematic historical document review of policy documents, school board journal articles, and educator supply and demand reports which were systematically coded using the constant comparative methodology to iteratively test emerging themes related to the conceptualization, measurement, and “naming and framing” of teacher shortages. This analysis was supplemented by a comprehensive review of the historical and contemporary scholarly literature on the topic in the U.S. and United Kingdom and an informal review of contemporary world-wide news media. These data were used to develop a framework to understand teacher shortages in the research and policy space.

After careful analysis data described above, this paper puts forth five common pitfalls when addressing shortages: the assumption that there is a simple answer to whether there is a teacher shortage; a lack of consensus on the data that defines teacher shortages; imprecise characterization of subject-specific, or geographically specific shortages; the misuse of teacher shortage terminology; and the absence of teacher shortage goals or targets. Using academic literature this paper provides clarity to these pitfalls and synthesizes what is known about teacher shortages. Research indicates shortages never impact schools uniformly, but rather unevenly distributed amongst different regions, subjects, and student populations. Moreover, although many teachers may be entering the profession, a much smaller number are retained. Additionally, as much as we do know about shortages, there are lots of unknowns including the behavior of the reserve pool of former teachers and what types of people can be effectively recruited into the profession.

Finally, this paper provides three recommendations for state level policy makers to investigate and mitigate their shortages. These recommendations include: kickstart collaborative data informed discourse; support rigorous teacher supply and demand studies; and avoid waiting for the perfect data to begin to resolve teacher shortages.

Because teacher shortages are localized by nature, it is crucial for states to monitor data and start data-informed conversations to stay on top of and ahead of teacher shortages. This work does the important job of consolidating research and developing a common framework to discuss and address teacher shortages.

Author

• Ellen J. Behrstock-Sherratt, American Institutes for Research