Teacher Turnover, Teacher Shortages, and the Organization of Schools

This Research Report provides data and a new framework for looking at the teacher shortage problem. The author shifts the focus away from the problem's two most common explanations (teacher retirement and student enrollment growth) to examine from a sociological view how certain organizational characteristics and conditions of schools lead to low teacher retention. The analysis suggests that education policies, such as teacher recruitment programs, will not solve the staffing problems of schools if they do not also address what is going on in schools that cause teachers to leave.

Is There Really a Teacher Shortage?

In this report, Richard Ingersoll builds on his hypothesis that school staffing problems are due largely to excess demand resulting from high pre-retirement turnover and not solely or even primarily to supply-side deficits in the quantity of teachers produced. He also addresses criticisms of those who argue that concern over teacher turnover is exaggerated.