Teaching Research Spotlight

Recruitment and Retention

NEA Teacher Quality and Research Departments are providing this online venue highlighting professional research on best practices in educational issues.

As the baby-boomers begin to retire and more students enter school, America faces a serious dilemma: a shortage of teachers. Yet, the research suggests that teacher retirement and an increased number of students entering school are not the primary reasons for the impending crisis. It's retaining teachers that's the greatest problem. Over 40 percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. We must address these high levels of attrition or face a projected need to fill 2.2 million vacancies by 2010.

Much of the research shows that poor working conditions and lack of on-the-job training are the root cause of this situation. Many states and school districts offer incentives, professional development (which often lacks follow-up), and increased salaries, but the reality is that the factors that determine whether a teacher remains in the profession is dictated by what happens at the school site. The school is their world, not the state or district office.

The Education Commission of the States (ECS 2005) conducted recruitment and retention research based on eight questions:

1. What are the characteristics of those individuals who enter teaching?

2. How do those individuals who remain in teaching compare with those who leave?

3. What are the characteristics of schools and districts most likely to be successful in recruiting and retaining teachers?

4. What impact do the working conditions in schools have on their ability to recruit and retain teachers?

5. What impact does compensation have on the recruitment and retention of teachers?

6. What impact do various strategies related to teacher preparation have on teacher recruitment and retention?

7. What impact do induction and mentoring have on teacher retention?

8. What is the efficacy of particular recruitment strategies and policies in bringing new teachers into the profession, including specifically targeted populations?

These questions—and their answers—must be considered by education policy makers as they prepare to address the pending teacher shortage.

To learn more, read Eight Questions on Teacher Recruitment and Retention on the ECS Web site. This report is designed to help policymakers gain a better understanding of both the nature of the teacher workforce and of promising recruitment and retention strategies. The report is also available in PDF form as

Summary (  PDF, 208 KB, 12 pp)  

Full Report ( PDF, 519 KB, 158 pp)

Related Links

» Teacher Working Conditions - Research makes clear that learning conditions in the classroom are of more importance to a teacher than salary, benefits, school locale, or even parent involvement.

» Teacher Turnover, Teacher Shortages, and the Organization of Schools (  PDF, 165 KB, 40 pp)—This research suggests that a major cause of inadequate school performance is the inability of schools to adequately staff schools with qualified teachers, due to the shortage of teachers. R. M. Ingersoll, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, January 2001.

» The Wrong Solution to the Teacher Shortage ( PDF, 183 KB, 6 pp)—Loss of new teachers plays a major role in the teacher shortage, but pouring more teachers into the system will not solve the retention problem. R. M. Ingersoll & Thomas M. Smith, Educational Leadership, May 2003.

» The Workplace Matters: Teacher Quality, Retention, and Effectiveness ( PDF, 504 KB, 34 pp)—This brief describes workplace conditions in "learning centered" schools, where practices are consistent with the research about learning and its context. Its purpose is to support fundamental, long-term change by offering a vision of best practice for educators to consider, discuss, and adapt to their circumstances. Susan Moore Johnson, NEA 2006. Summary (  PDF, 314 KB, 6 pp).

»  Keeping New Teachers in Mind ( PDF, 43 KB, 5 pp)—Research from the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers reveals the importance of site-based, ongoing, rich teacher collaboration across experience levels for effective new teacher induction. Susan Moore Johnson & Susan M. Kardos, Educational Leadership, March 2002.

» Retaining the Next Generation of Teachers: The Importance of School-Based Support—Clever incentives may attract new teachers, but only improving the culture and working conditions of schools will keep them. Susan Moore Johnson et al., Harvard Education Letter, 2001.

» Status of the American Public School Teacher 2000-2001 ( PDF, 1.3MB, 384 pp)—Comprehensive report of surveys conducted every five years since 1961 provides current and trend data on the professional and personal characteristics of teachers, their teaching conditions, attitudes toward the profession, education reform activities, and their community and civic activities. NEA Research 2003.

» Mentoring and Supporting New Teachers ( PDF, 245 KB, 13 pp)—State policymakers have directed much attention to programs aimed at recruiting new teachers but less attention to teacher attrition rates, the reasons teachers leave, and the policy strategies that could help retain them in the profession. National Governors' Association 2002.

» Professional Community and Professional Development in the Learning-Centered School (  PDF, 527 KB, 34 pp)—Provides a research-based blueprint for teacher learning, including the goals it can serve, strategic content priorities, and effective approaches or strategies. The focus is on "learning-centered" schools where both the student and teacher are engaged in learning. Judith Warren Little, NEA 2006. Summary (  PDF, 223 KB, 6 pp).

» Using Data to Improve Teacher Induction Programs ( PDF, 70 KB, 8 pp)—"If induction programs are to help meet school staffing needs and raise the quality of teaching, they must provide comprehensive school-based support consistent with the instructional practice and school transformation models. The first and subsequent steps along this path involve better collection, management, and analysis of data, so that decisions about new teacher assistance are no longer based only on theory and assumptions." NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education 2002.

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