Underwrite comprehensive preparation, improve teaching conditions, raise compensation, and expand induction to retain teachers of color¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 5 studies (3 review, 2 associational), q2 · 0 of 5 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The report's policy implications section recommends four levers for policymakers: "Provide Greater Access to Comprehensive Preparation", "Improve Teaching Conditions", "Increase Teacher Compensation", and improve access to mentoring and induction. Concrete mechanisms include underwriting preparation cost "through service scholarship and loan forgiveness programs as well as supporting high-quality teacher residencies and apprenticeships", equitable school funding formulas, working conditions surveys, salary increases, refundable tax credits, housing subsidies, and strong induction programs for early-career teachers of color.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Federal, state, and local agency action to fund preparation, conditions, compensation, and induction supports

Constraints¶

• The report notes 2020–21 NTPS teaching conditions data may be idiosyncratic at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic

Target Learners¶

• Teachers of color in the U.S. public school workforce
• Early-career teachers in their first 5 years

Target Learning Goals¶

• Teacher retention
• Access to comprehensive preservice preparation
• Supportive teaching conditions and mentoring

Claims¶

• Few teachers receive regular mentoring, and early-career teachers of color report less access to mentoring and induction than White peers [+W]
• Teachers with little preparation leave teaching at two to three times the rates of comprehensively prepared teachers [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Seven-policy comprehensive approach to equalizing student access to certified and experienced teachers
• Build high-retention, supportive pathways into teaching for candidates of color
• Sustain and expand residency pathways through maintained state grant funding, financial aid, apprenticeship structures, and technical assistance
• A federal Marshall Plan for Teaching focused on seven areas: compensation, debt-free preparation, high-retention pathways, mentoring, expertise-sharing, school redesign, and accountability
• State and federal policy recommendations: recruit and prepare more candidates, retain new teachers through early-career mentoring, and improve working conditions
• State policy actions across the career continuum: attract, prepare, and develop/support/retain educators
• Make retaining teachers of color a district priority: compensate the invisible tax and place teachers in cohorts to reduce isolation
• Districts use financial, personnel management, and working-conditions strategies to recruit and retain teachers, including leadership compensation, mentoring, and collaboration time
• Invest in retention efforts for teachers of color that improve working conditions and provide personal and professional growth opportunities
• Retain teachers of color through leadership pipelines, multi-year induction and mentoring, and culturally responsive school climates
• State policy levers for sustaining yearlong, stipended clinical preparation: require or incentivize full-year stipended clinical experience, fund partnerships, and reduce testing fees
• Invest in high-quality induction and mentoring programs, which are associated with higher retention particularly for teachers of color
• Invest in retention of teachers of color through residencies, affinity groups, and induction/mentoring
• Institutional, state, and federal actions to increase faculty diversity

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Carver-Thomas, D., Leung-Gagné, M., & García, E. (2025). Supporting and sustaining a diverse teacher workforce. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/216.666