Offer targeted service scholarships, loan forgiveness, and 1-year postbaccalaureate residency programs to rapidly expand the supply of well-prepared teachers in shortage fields and locations¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report recommends state incentives that recruit candidates into high-need fields and locations: service scholarships and loan forgiveness covering tuition and living expenses, and high-retention 1-year postbaccalaureate programs "such as teacher residency models." Residents apprentice with a master teacher for a school year and commit to teach in hard-to-staff positions for at least 3 to 4 years. Evidence cited includes North Carolina Teaching Fellows retention and San Francisco Teacher Residency outcomes (80% of graduates still in SFUSD after 5 years versus 38% of other pathway hires).

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Candidates must commit to teach in high-need fields and locations in exchange for funding

Constraints¶

• Benefits from the state's recent $35 million budget investments will not be apparent for 5 years or more, so short-term initiatives are needed to supplement longer-term strategies

Target Learners¶

• prospective and practicing K-12 teachers in California, especially in special education, math, science, and bilingual education

Target Learning Goals¶

• building an adequate supply of fully prepared teachers in shortage fields and hard-to-staff schools

Claims¶

• Districts with shortages most often lack special education, mathematics, and science teachers, and most lack middle and high school teachers [+W]
• Districts attribute shortages chiefly to a shrinking supply of newly credentialed teachers, cited by 79% of shortage districts [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Develop high-retention pathways — Grow Your Own programs and teacher residencies — to build and diversify local teacher supply
• Establish high-retention preparation pathways—residencies, Grow Your Own models, service scholarships, and mentoring/induction—to stem turnover in high-need subjects and schools
• Build high-retention, supportive pathways into teaching for candidates of color
• Offer multiple pathways to the early childhood credential, including integrated bachelor's, transfer articulation, postbaccalaureate, dual certification, and residency routes
• Remove barriers to retired-teacher re-entry—earnings cap exemptions and Deferred Retirement Option Programs—to fill immediate vacancies in shortage fields
• Design service scholarships that cover a substantial portion of preparation costs, with stable multiyear funding and linked data systems
• Deploy service scholarships, loan forgiveness, and teacher residencies to staff high-need fields and schools
• A federal Marshall Plan for Teaching focused on seven areas: compensation, debt-free preparation, high-retention pathways, mentoring, expertise-sharing, school redesign, and accountability
• Provide financial support and induction mentoring in exchange for a multi-year teaching commitment
• Sustain and expand residency pathways through maintained state grant funding, financial aid, apprenticeship structures, and technical assistance
• Recruit classified school employees into teacher credentialing with braided funds plus individualized financial and non-financial supports
• Build a diverse teacher pipeline through Grow Your Own grants, teacher academies, scholarships, MSI investment, and residency pathways
• Use Teacher Residency Grant Program funds, braided with other sources, to recruit and retain a diverse teaching workforce
• Deploy a portfolio of research-based strategies — service scholarships, residencies, Grow Your Own programs, mentoring and induction, and compensation reform — to strengthen the teacher pipeline
• Expand loan forgiveness, high-retention preparation pathways, and compensation supports to reduce teacher loan burdens and strengthen recruitment and retention
• Target prospective teachers in childhood and early childhood education to earn special education certificates at first certification, and consider incentives redirecting teachers from administration toward shortage areas
• District hiring and incentive structures that prioritize certification: screening requirements, time limits for uncertified teachers, salary differentials, and designated certification staff

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Carver-Thomas, D. & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Addressing California's growing teacher shortage: 2017 update. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/ca-teacher-shortage-2017-update