Research & Insights

States must leverage strategic pay to attract and retain top teaching talent, yet current compensation policies fall short. This report reveals that while teacher salaries are a critical tool for recruiting qualified and diverse educators, few states pay teachers more for working in hard-to-staff schools or subjects, incorporate performance-based pay, or reward relevant prior work experience. Most states leave pay decisions to individual districts, resulting in inconsistent and outdated pay structures. The report calls for clearer, better-funded policies that align teacher compensation with performance and staffing needs, ensuring competitive salaries that drive teacher quality and improve student outcomes.

A new working paper provides evidence that newly credentialed teachers earn higher salaries if they enter the classroom, rather than pursuing other job opportunities.

Beyond the important areas outlined in the Secretary’s remarks, we see two big challenges to the goal of access and equity to quality teachers that have yet to be addressed.

Many states are moving to eliminate existing measures of content knowledge for aspiring teachers, citing concerns around possible teacher shortages.

Who wants someone who has not demonstrated their knowledge and skills to be trusted with landing the plane? Teaching is no different.

These states’ efforts illustrate multiple approaches to help aspiring teachers to mitigate the cost burden of testing fees.

Insights on what school districts can do to ensure every classroom is staffed with an effective teacher.

Colleges and universities must lead the way in achieving excellence and equity for aspiring teachers of color. This report digs deep into which teacher preparation programs excel at both outcomes, revealing that more than 80 institutions achieve both equity and excellence in their candidates’ performance on licensure tests. NCTQ examines trends in pass rates across institutions, and finds that any type of institution can help their aspiring teachers achieve success, whether public or private, selective or not. The report challenges policymakers and educational leaders to examine their own licensure test data and to use that information to transform teacher preparation into a pipeline that consistently delivers diverse, highly effective educators who can meet the needs of all students.

Now is the moment to chart a new path forward.

One thing we know for certain: K-12 educator workforce data is lagging, lacking, and limited.

Investing in resources, such as school guidance counselors, that help shape a positive school environment can set the stage for building and sustaining a stronger teacher workforce.

How school districts can use NCTQ’s Teacher Prep Review Elementary Math standard findings in their recruiting and hiring decisions

Do teachers who return to the district they graduated from have a competitive edge over other beginning teachers?

One concrete step districts can take to build a stronger teacher workforce is to move up their hiring timelines.

We must join together to ensure that our nation keeps children and teachers safe.

An examination of incentives offered by states and large school districts.

People have life coaches, nutrition coaches, and executive coaches. So, it’s no surprise to see schools turning to coaches as well.

Doing this job has been the privilege of a lifetime, shaping and championing better teacher policies across the nation.

New research adds important findings on the positive effects of teachers of color on the academic and life outcomes of students.

Every now and then, conventional wisdom gets it wrong.

A look at the role that the quality and character of school life plays in teacher success and retention.

Students in high-need schools deserve equitable access to effective teachers, yet persistent disparities in teacher quality continue to undermine educational outcomes. Federal law requires that states report on how students from disadvantaged backgrounds “are not served at disproportionate rates by ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers.” This report shows that few states report on all three measures of quality, that they vary widely in how they define these measures, and that the data is insufficient to understand disparities at the school or even district level. Shoring up these gaps in data reporting is essential so that states can first determine and then address inequities in students’ access to effective teachers.

As the challenge of recruiting a new generation of teachers gains increasing urgency, what’s old is being made new again.

A new working paper may be cause for genuine concern regarding the most widely-used evaluation instrument in the country, the Danielson Group’s Framework for Teaching.