Recruitment & Retention

Why It Matters
Ensuring that all children have access to a competent and qualified teacher is essential to improving student learning; however, preparing and attracting a sufficient number of teachers with the knowledge, skills, and desire to teach in all of our nation’s classrooms remains a daunting challenge. Alarming numbers of new teachers, who do not receive the support they need, pass through what amounts to a revolving door in and quickly out of the nation’s classrooms.

High rates of teacher turnover are costly in their detrimental impact on students—most often poor students and those of color who are already at-risk —and to districts that must spend on average a minimum of $11,000 to replace a teacher who leaves.

What We're Doing
The Center for Teaching Quality endeavors to increase teacher recruitment and retention through the following efforts:

Distributed Leadership for Teacher Retention

Improving Teacher Recruitment and Retention in North Carolina

Recruiting and Retaining Accomplished Teachers to Hard-to-Staff Schools

A Series of Summits for National Board Certified Teachers

Research Examining Retention of California Science Teachers