Episode 8: How States Can Attract and Sustain Teachers
“If we can’t build an educator workforce, then we are not going to be effective in solving any of these other problems—closing the achievement gap, effective instruction, all these other pieces.” – Kate Wright, Director of the Region 15 Comprehensive Center
Teachers are leaving the educator workforce at alarming rates, and the trend has intensified in recent years. What explains teacher attrition and how can state education leaders help districts attract and retain new teachers?
In this episode, host Marley Arechiga talks with Caitlin Beatson, Deputy Director of the Region 2 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, and Kate Wright, Director of the Region 15 Comprehensive Center, about the importance of sustaining the educator workforce and how the federally funded Comprehensive Centers partner with states to address challenges and implement evidence-based and actionable solutions.
Their conversation covers the following topics:
- The state’s role in supporting districts to recruit and sustain teachers
- The 4Cs—a construct that represents four ways that state education agencies, in partnership with WestEd Regional Comprehensive Centers, are conceptualizing how to help their school districts strengthen educator workforces
- Teacher residency programs
- Differentiated staffing in the classroom and distributed leadership
Learn more about WestEd’s Region 2 Comprehensive Center and Region 15 Comprehensive Center.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- K–12 Teachers Are Quitting. What Would Make Them Stay? (McKinsey & Company Article)
- The State of the Teacher Workforce (Learning Policy Institute)
- The Case for Differentiated Staffing in the Classroom
- How States Are Building District Capacity to Overcome Teacher Shortages (Part I)
- How States Are Building District Capacity to Overcome Teacher Shortages (Part II)
- How States Are Building District Capacity to Overcome Teacher Shortages (Part III)
- How States Play a Key Role in Strengthening the Teacher Workforce
- Arizona State University’s Next Education Workforce Website
- Equitable & Inclusive Hiring Practices: A Reference Guide of Strategies to Grow & Diversify the Educator Workforce
- Going Beyond the Data in Diversifying the Teacher Workforce
- Teacher Compensation Reform Decision Guide
Listen to more Leading Voices Podcast episodes.
Featured Guests
Caitlin serves as Deputy Director of the federally funded Region 2 Comprehensive Center, supporting state education agencies—and their regional and local constituents—in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island.
Kate serves as Director of the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, supporting state education agencies in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.
Resource Details
Format: Podcast
Minutes: 17
Publisher: WestEd
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