The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is committed to a comprehensive policy agenda to recruit, prepare, and retain a racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse and well-prepared educator workforce. This includes promoting educator diversity while recruiting, preparing, retaining, and supporting teachers, administrators, and other educators and ensuring that education is a profession that people from all backgrounds can pursue. Developing and supporting a diverse educator workforce is critical to strengthening student success. Additionally, addressing high-need shortage areas ensures all students have access to a high-quality, well-rounded education. Through Raise the Bar: Lead the World, the Department is working in partnership with States, Tribes, local educational agencies (LEAs), and educator preparation programs (EPPs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), to eliminate educator shortages in our nation’s schools and to strengthen and diversify the education profession.

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, low wages in the education profession, the high costs of educator preparation, inequitable funding practices, poor working conditions, and other factors contributed to a decline in new educators entering the field and high rates of educator attrition, particularly in schools serving large concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds and students of color.[1] The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the shortage of education professionals. These shortages have been especially acute in areas such as special education and related services; science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education; career and technical education (CTE); and those certified to teach English as a second language, heritage languages or languages of origin, a foreign language, or in bilingual education programs.[2] Raise the Bar: Lead the World employs a research-based strategy to improve and address the educator shortage, including steps to recruit and retain highly qualified and diverse educators through the ABCs: Agency to make decisions that are right for their students, Better working conditions, and Competitive salaries.

Building on these ABCs, the Department is advancing, and has called on State, Tribal, and local education leaders to use, five key policy levers to Raise the Bar and eliminate educator shortages, especially in high-need teaching areas. The five policy levers are: 1) increase compensation and improve working conditions, 2) expand access to high-quality and affordable educator preparation 3) promote career advancement and leadership opportunities for educators, 4) provide high-quality new teacher induction and job-embedded professional learning throughout educators’ careers, and 5) increase educator diversity.

This brief outlines the Department’s current efforts to support and advance educator diversity and address high-need shortage areas. It builds on the Raise the Bar Policy Brief the Department released earlier this year, which highlighted the Department’s work to support efforts to eliminate educator shortages through increased compensation, high-quality and affordable educator preparation, and teacher leadership.

The $122 billion in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds provided to States and LEAs to safely reopen schools, keep them open, and address the academic and mental health needs of students resulting from the pandemic, including ensuring sufficient staffing, have been critical to districts’ work to address educator shortages and increase educator diversity. According to one independent analysis of districts’ plans for using ARP ESSER funds, 60 percent of districts’ plans include funding for educators, including investments of roughly $30 billion towards this need – 27 percent of the total ARP ESSER funds awarded to districts.[3] While challenges remain in providing access to highly qualified teachers for all students, as of October 2023, local public education employment has nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, with only 0.17 percent fewer employees than in October 2019, the last pre-pandemic beginning of a school year.[4] At the height of the pandemic, there were 730,000 fewer public education employees than before the pandemic. This progress should be celebrated.

At the same time, the Department continues to support States and communities in their efforts to address educator shortages, both in subject areas, such as special education, STEM, and CTE, as well as in high-need areas and geographies. Teacher vacancies and staffing challenges continue to disproportionately impact schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, English learners, and students with disabilities. Data collected in August of 2023 found that the percent of schools feeling understaffed entering the 2023-2024 school year decreased overall relative to the 2022-2023 school year, however this progress varied by school type. Schools that saw a decrease in feeling understaffed included schools in low poverty neighborhoods, schools with low portions of students of color, elementary schools, large schools, and schools in suburban and rural areas. Conversely, other schools have not shown statistically significantly progress in reducing feelings of being understaffed, including schools with larger portions of students of color, schools in high poverty neighborhoods, schools located in cities and towns, and middle and high schools.[5] Additionally, 45 States projected special education as a shortage area for the 2023-2024 school year, and 26 States reported English as a second language.

The Department encourages States and LEAs to continue to use ESSER funds to address educator shortages, with an emphasis on increasing educator diversity and addressing shortage areas, whether in specific certification areas or impacting specific communities. This brief reviews the most recent data in these areas and outlines how additional Department funds can be used to advance and sustain these efforts.

Strengthening Educator Diversity

Diversity is inherently valuable. We are stronger as a nation when people of varied backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives work and learn together. Diversity and inclusion also foster innovation and help to prepare everyone for an interconnected world. Groups of more diverse problem solvers have been found to outperform groups of less diverse problem solvers,[6] and companies with more diversity in their leadership also tend to be top financial performers.[7]

Improving educator diversity can benefit all students. Diverse educators serve as positive role models for all students in breaking down negative stereotypes and preparing students to live and work in a democratic, inclusive, and global society. This brief highlights ways to develop and support a racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse educator workforce, including educators with disabilities. The Department also recognizes the multiple dimensions of diversity that may not be focused on within this resource, and yet should be attended to and supported by district and policy leaders in order to deliver a more inclusive and equitable education for all.

A racially and ethnically diverse teaching workforce has social, emotional, and academic benefits for all students, and particularly for students of color.[8] Teachers of color contribute to improved academic outcomes, including increased math and reading achievement, while also serving as strong role models for students of color.[9] Studies also find that, compared with their peers, teachers of color are more likely to (1) have higher expectations of students of color (as measured by higher numbers of referrals to gifted programs); (2) confront issues of racism; and (3) develop more trusting relationships with students, particularly those with whom they share a cultural background.[10] Research has found lower rates of suspension and expulsion among students of color when they have greater access to educators of color in the classroom, which may be due in part to the classroom management and relationship building strategies those educators employ.[11] Research shows that teachers of color are more likely to employ an approach to teaching and relationships with students and families that is culturally responsive and that can have large and lasting effects on students’ social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes.[12]

Given the critical role school leaders play in shaping school climate and educator working conditions, it is essential to support diverse and talented school leaders. Having a school leader of color can have a positive impact on student achievement, improve the recruitment and retention of teachers of color, and can strengthen relationships with school communities.[13]

Prioritizing educator diversity also means growing a linguistically diverse educator workforce. Included in the Department’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative is a goal to expand multilingual educational opportunities for all students, by increasing pathways for a bilingual and multilingual educator workforce and by increasing the number of high-quality bilingual education programs accessible to students. Ensuring equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities for English learners, who have historically been, and continue to be, underserved is a core objective within this goal. Unfortunately, 24 States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico projected a shortage of teachers qualified to teach English as a second language for the 2023-2024 school year.[14] And while more than 20 percent of students speak a language other than English at home, the teacher population has not kept pace to meet the demand for multilingual learning – less than 14 percent of PK-12 teachers speak a language other than English at home.[15] This percentage is higher for paraprofessionals, nearly 23 percent, which underscores the importance of this vital group of educators who often have strong connections to the local communities.[16]

A robust and diverse multilingual educator workforce is essential to ensuring all students have access to a high-quality multilingual education. Multilingual educators can reflect the linguistic and cultural experiences of the students they serve, particularly educators that have experiences as former English learners. These teachers can draw on their experiences as they support culturally responsive classrooms and create equitable learning environments for all students, particularly for English learners.[17] Research shows that teachers with bilingual certificates, and those multilingual teachers who speak the same language as their students, are more effective in narrowing the achievement gap for English learners.[18] These teachers are also less likely to hold deficit mindsets about the academic abilities of English learners.[19] Our bilingual and multilingual teachers can improve the education of all students through rigorous and effective language instruction and culturally responsive teaching, serving as cultural and linguistic role models, particularly for the English learners they educate.[20]

The Department also recognizes the unique talents and insights that educators with disabilities bring to the classroom. Only 6 percent of PK-12 teachers have a disability.[21] The number is slightly higher for special education teachers and paraprofessionals, at 7 and 8 percent, respectively.[22] Educators with disabilities may be in a unique position to understand and teach students with diverse needs and abilities, leveraging expertise based on their own experiences. They may also serve as role models for students and families, both with and without disabilities, particularly if they choose to disclose their disability.

Diversity matters, and all students should have the opportunity to be taught by highly qualified educators who reflect the diversity of our nation. While the benefits of diversity are clear, we still have a long way to go toward reflecting the diversity of our students in the nation’s educator workforce. As of the 2021–2022 school year, students of color made up 55 percent of the public school student population;[23] however, only 24 percent of public school teachers are teachers of color (11 percent of teachers identify as Hispanic, 9 percent identify as Black or African American, 2 percent identify as Asian, 1 percent identify as two or more races, 0.5 percent as American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.2 percent identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander).[24] There are promising trends in the future of educator diversity, given current enrollment in EPPs – 32 percent of pre-service teachers identify as people of color.[25] However, the diversity of both pre-service teachers and current teachers varies widely from State to State. The chart below shows the race and ethnicity of pre-service teachers, current classroom teachers, and K-12 students by State.

Similar trends exist among school principals and leaders; however, a larger percentage of school leaders identify as Black or African American compared to classroom teachers – 17 percent of school leaders are Black or African American, in comparison to 9 percent of teachers. The percentage of principals who are Asian, of two or more races, and Native Hawaiian are also slightly higher than the percentage of teachers who identify with these categories. Ten percent of school leaders identify as Hispanic, 3 percent identify as Asian, 2 percent identify as two or more races, 0.4 percent as American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.6 percent identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.[26] Finally, paraprofessionals tend to be more diverse than classroom teachers, with 17 percent of paraprofessionals identifying as Black or African American, 18 percent identifying as Hispanic, 3 percent identifying as Asian, 1 percent identifying as two or more races, 0.8 percent as American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 0.2 percent identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.[27] The chart below shows the race and ethnicity of paraprofessionals, classroom teachers, and school leaders by State.

Building a diverse and well-prepared educator workforce requires change at every level in our education system, from teacher recruitment, preparation, and hiring, to teacher induction and professional development, to teacher leadership, advancement, and retention. In order to continue increasing the pipeline of educators entering the profession, the Department is working to reduce and eliminate barriers to becoming an educator while upholding the quality of and improving EPPs, including by expanding access to high-quality and affordable pathways into the profession, such as Registered Apprenticeships for K-12 teachers, and reducing the burden of student loan debt. Learn more about the Department’s efforts in this area here.

The data below shows trends in enrollment in EPPs by race and ethnicity and by State. Overall, 32 percent of pre-service teachers enrolled in an EPP identified as individuals of color in 2020–21, a 4 percent increase since 2018-2019. However, this percentage varied widely by type of program, with only 28 percent of those enrolled in a traditional EPP identifying as a person of color, compared to 46 percent of those enrolled in an alternative EPP not based at an institution of higher education (IHE). This is especially true for Black pre-service teachers, who were two times as likely to be enrolled in an alternative EPP based at an IHE and three times as likely to be enrolled in an alternative EPP not based at an IHE than a traditional EPP. The chart below shows the race and ethnicity of pre-service teachers by EPP type and by State.

Traditional EPPs are usually bachelor’s or master’s degree programs at IHE that students complete prior to becoming the teacher of record.[28] Alternative EPPs primarily serve candidates who are the teacher of record in a classroom while participating in the preparation program.[29]

The Department also recognizes the importance of supporting educators throughout their careers. This support includes providing high-quality new teacher induction, job-embedded professional learning throughout educators’ careers, and promoting career advancement and leadership opportunities for educators, including compensation for these additional responsibilities. These strategies are crucial to retaining highly qualified educators, and particularly educators of color, who often experience inadequate resources and support, and are less likely to remain teaching in the same school.[30] Poor working conditions and a lack of agency are among the top reasons teachers of color leave the profession, specifically the level of involvement in decision-making and instructional autonomy.[31] Teachers of color also cite school culture and feeling undervalued as reasons for leaving the profession.[32] Though teachers of color are more likely to serve as advocates and cultural brokers than their peers, this additional uncompensated work is often seen as an “invisible tax” on teachers of color and can contribute to their reasons for leaving the profession.[33]

Grant Programs and Investments

The Department is committed to ensuring teaching is a career that people from all backgrounds are eager to and able to pursue, and the Department is working to promote educator diversity through educator recruitment, preparation, and retention. In fiscal year (FY) 2022, 14 Department grant programs incorporated priorities focused on educator diversity. In response, 486 educational institutions applied for these federal funds, and the vast majority of proposed projects were designed to address educator diversity. The Department made 165 awards, 93 percent of which were to grantees to undertake activities related to educator diversity, totaling more than $370 million in awards. In FY 2023, the Department awarded funds from 15 grant programs with priorities focused on educator diversity. These programs awarded nearly $450 million to 263 grantees, 92 percent of which were to grantees that addressed specific priorities related to educator diversity. Examples of these programs and how they can be used to support educator diversity, consistent with program requirements and established guidance, are highlighted below. Please use the links provided to learn more about the specifics of each program, including the eligible uses of these funds.

• The first-ever round of Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program (Title II of the Higher Education Act (HEA)) grants awarded a total of $23.1 million to 15 grantees. The Hawkins grants are designed to increase high-quality teacher preparation programs for teachers of color, strengthen the diversity of teacher pipeline programs, and address teacher shortages through investments in EPPs at HBCUs, TCCUs, HSIs, and other MSIs with a State-accredited teacher preparation program. Teachers trained at HBCUs have been found to provide increased academic benefits for their students, particularly Black students.[34] The program also included a priority for increasing the number of multilingual educators.
• The Department launched the Native American Teacher Retention Initiative (Title VI, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)) to fund projects that support Native American teacher retention and encourages projects that provide Native American teachers with leadership responsibilities, facilitate professional learning with peers, and help develop resources to meet students’ unique academic and social-emotional needs. In FY 2023, the Department awarded 16 grants totaling approximately $6.2 million.
• The National Professional Development Program (Title III of the ESEA) provides grants to build bilingual and multilingual teacher pipelines and develop bilingual and multilingual school staff. Activities include providing professional development, increasing the pool of teachers fully certified and licensed to serve English learners, and enhancing the skills of teachers already serving them, including their additional certification. In FY 2023 the program received a 12 percent increase in annual funding over FY 2022, for a total of $56 million.
• Teacher and School Leader Incentive Grants (Title II, Part B of the ESEA) help to support high-need schools to provide career advancement opportunities for effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders and improve the process for recruiting, selecting, supporting, and retaining effective teachers and school leaders. The most recent grant competition included a competitive preference priority for projects that focused on the critical need to increase diversity in the educator workforce. In FY 2023, the Department awarded 29 grants totaling approximately $115 million, 28 of which will support teacher diversity efforts.
• Teacher Quality Partnership Grants (Title II, Part A of the HEA) support a variety of effective pathways into teaching and seeks to improve the effectiveness of teachers working in high-need schools by providing grants to partnerships of IHEs and high-need school districts to improve teacher preparation programs and enhance professional development activities for teachers; recruit and graduate diverse and highly qualified educators; attract and prepare talented professionals from outside the teaching profession to become educators; and hold teacher preparation programs accountable for preparing effective teachers. To further strengthen educator diversity, the most recent grant competition included a competitive preference priority for projects that included partnerships with HBCUs, TCCUs, HSIs, and other MSIs and included projects designed to address teacher shortage areas. The program received $70 million in funding in FY 2023, a 34 percent increase since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• The Department awarded the first ever Personnel Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel at HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs (Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)) grants. This program provides grants to HBCUs, TCCUs, HSIs, other MSIs, and private nonprofit organizations to prepare and increase the number of personnel who are fully credentialed to serve children with disabilities. The program aims to increase the number and improve the quality of personnel, including multilingual personnel and personnel from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, who are prepared to serve this population. In FY 2023, the Department awarded 35 grants totaling approximately $6.59 million.
• The Alaska Native Education Program (Title VI, Part C of the ESEA) makes competitive grant awards to support the unique educational needs of the Alaska Native community. Funds from this program may be used for professional development programs that prepare teachers to appreciate and understand Alaska Native history, cultures, and values to effectively address the unique needs of Alaska Native students. Activities may include training and professional development activities for educators, such as pre-service and in-service training and professional development programs, recruitment and preparation of Alaska Native teachers, and programs that will lead to the certification and licensing of Alaska Native teachers, principals, other school leaders, and superintendents. The program received a 23 percent increase in annual funding over FY 2022, for a total of $45 million in FY 2023.
• Funding for the Native Hawaiian Education Program (Title VI, Part B of the ESEA) may be used to develop innovative education programs to assist Native Hawaiians through activities including professional development for educators. Activities include professional development activities for educators, such as the development of programs to prepare prospective teachers to address the unique needs of Native Hawaiian students, in-service programs to improve the ability of teachers who teach in schools with high concentrations of Native Hawaiian students, and the recruitment and preparation of Native Hawaiians and other individuals who live in communities with a high concentration of Native Hawaiians to become teachers. The program received a 23 percent increase in annual funding over FY 2022, for a total of $46 million in FY 2023.

The Department’s substantial core formula grant programs are also used to advance educator diversity:

• Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies (Title I, Part A (Title I) of the ESEA) funds may be used to help address teacher shortages in Title I schools. Teacher turnover rates are nearly 50 percent higher for teachers in Title I schools, which serve more students from low-income backgrounds. [35] Title I funding provides supplemental support to low-income, Title I schools to help close longstanding achievement and opportunity gaps and to assist school districts in delivering a high-quality education to students in high-need communities. Funding can help Title I schools with high rates of poverty and high turnover rates make critically needed new investments, including attracting, hiring, and retaining additional educators in high-need areas and increasing teacher diversity. In addition, the ESEA requires that each State and district describe in applicable State and LEA plans how they will ensure students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are not taught at disproportionate rates by ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced educators compared to their peers. These strategies could include using Title I funds to strategically design and offer financial incentives or rewards to encourage qualified and effective educators to work in Title I schools in hard-to-staff positions. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, annual funding for this program has increased by 11 percent, or an additional $1.9 billion in annual funding, for a total of $18.4 billion in FY 2023.
• Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II, Part A of the ESEA) may be used to support efforts to increase teacher diversity. The Department awarded $2.2 billion in Title II, Part A funds by formula in FY 2023 to States and school districts. These annual funds may be used to address inequities in access to effective teachers for underserved students, provide professional development, reduce class sizes, improve teacher recruitment and preparation, increase the diversity of the teacher workforce, and a wide range of other uses. Allowable activities also include establishing, improving, or supporting school-based residency programs for teachers, for educators to receive additional certifications in high-need areas, and supporting grow your own and Registered Apprenticeship Programs for teachers. The Department intends to issue forthcoming guidance on the use of these resources to support teacher diversity.
• Career and Technical Education State Grants (Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, as amended (Perkins V)) formula funds may also be used to support the development of educators and increase teacher diversity. For more detail on this program, see the next section.
• Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A of the ESEA) formula funds may also be used to support educator diversity in supporting educators to provide increased access to well-rounded educational opportunities. For more detail on this program, see the next section.

Additionally, in order to continue increasing the pipeline of diverse educators entering the profession, the Department is working to reduce and eliminate barriers to becoming an educator while improving educator preparation. These efforts include broadening the pool of individuals who are able to pursue teaching as a career by reducing the burden of student loan debt for educators and expanding access to affordable, high-quality pathways into the profession that include robust clinical experiences and often offer flexible scheduling, such as teacher residencies, apprenticeships, and grow-your-own programs. These efforts include partnering with the Department of Labor to support States and localities to expand Registered Apprenticeship Programs for K-12 teachers – which have expanded from zero at the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration to 28 States and Puerto Rico in September of 2023. Learn more about the Departments efforts to support Registered Apprenticeship Programs for K-12 teachers and to see a map of current States with such programs here.

Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken actions to address challenges with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, resulting in more than 715,000 borrowers, including educators, receiving forgiveness totaling more than $50.9 billion. You can learn more about the Department’s work in these areas in the Raise the Bar Policy Brief: Eliminating Educator Shortages through Increased Compensation, High-Quality and Affordable Educator Preparation and Teacher Leadership.

Examples from the Field

States and districts are answering the call and investing in opportunities to better prepare, develop, and retain talented and diverse educators in our schools. Some examples of these local initiatives include:

• In 2018, Clarksville Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) and Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Tennessee developed an innovative partnership to address the educator workforce shortage and a lack of diverse candidates in schools, providing 20 recent high school graduates and 20 paraprofessionals with an accelerated, free path to become full-time teachers in just three years. In 2022, CMCSS and APSU’s teacher residency program became the first registered apprenticeship program for teachers in the country. Since its launch, it has grown to serve 160 teacher candidates over the course of the program year, through a higher education partnership with APSU, Lipscomb University, and Nashville State Community College. Roughly 50 percent of CMCSS students are students of color, and currently, nearly 40 percent of the apprentices in the district's pipeline are people of color. Over 100 future teacher graduates teach in CMCSS schools today, with many serving in hard-to-fill special education positions. The program is supported by both ESSER and State funds.
• Designed with a specific focus on increasing the diversity of the teaching profession, the University of Colorado’s Pathways2Teaching® is a concurrent enrollment teacher preparation program for high school juniors and seniors offered in 11 LEAs and 40 schools in Colorado where students earn college credit. Students engage in a weekly field experience teaching elementary school students vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. College readiness skills are integrated throughout the curriculum with an emphasis on developing writing skills, as well. Students also examine historical and current education issues, write a research paper, and make a presentation on a related topic they choose. Pathways2Teaching® is recognized as a CTE program of study by Colorado’s State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education, which are programs that LEAs may use Perkins V funding to support.
• South Carolina used ESSER funds to expand the Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) program at Clemson University, which aims to increase the pool of teacher candidates from diverse backgrounds as part of its response to the educator shortage in the pandemic.

Additional Resources

The Department is providing guidance and technical assistance to State and local leaders exploring, launching, and implementing initiatives to diversify and strengthen their educator workforce. These efforts include:

• The Strengthening and Diversifying the Educator Workforce Workgroup which brings together States from across the country to share resources and discuss lessons learned and best practices for supporting the development, recruitment, and retention of a strong and diverse educator workforce.
• New guidanceon the use of Perkins V funds to improve the recruitment, preparation, retention, and growth of future educators. See the next section for additional detail.
• A collection of seven briefs outlining the most common challenges related to recruiting and retaining teachers from underrepresented backgrounds or with certain certifications.
• Diversifying the Teacher Workforce Affinity Group hosted by the CEDAR Center (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform), which focuses on promising strategies for attracting, supporting, and retaining a diverse teacher workforce.
• An automated teacher diversity district tool hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory, to help State Education Agency staff support districts in identifying gaps in the diversity of their teacher workforces. The automated tool generates district-level reports that provide the racial and ethnic make-up of a district's student and teacher populations and its three- and five-year teacher retention rates by race and ethnicity.

The Department continues to promote educator diversity through national convenings, including the Teach to Lead Summits, the Conference on Equity in Opportunity, and round tables with deans of education at HBCUs and MSIs.

Increasing the diversity of the teaching profession will require intentional policies and additional investments in educator preparation, hiring, and retention in order to ensure all students have access to a diverse and well-prepared educator workforce. The Department will continue to support Governors, State boards of education, State Educational Agencies (SEAs), and LEAs as they take on this critical work.

Addressing High-Need Shortage Areas

The educator shortage is an issue of national concern yet has impacted communities across the nation in different ways. As the Raise the Bar Policy Brief released earlier this year highlighted, the magnitude of the educator shortage varies from State to State. The specific areas in which communities are seeing the most acute shortages, or high-need shortage areas, also varies by State.

For the 2023-24 school year, 45 States projected a shortage of qualified teachers in special education; 37 States projected a shortage of qualified teachers in both math and science; 28 projected a shortage of qualified CTE teachers; and 26 projected a shortage of teachers qualified to teach English as a second language.[36] States are also experiencing shortages of other school-based professionals, such as school language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers.[37] These shortages have been a longstanding challenge in most States and have only worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chart below shows the number of States that projected shortages in each subject area for the 2023–24 school year.

Inequitable funding practices impact schools’ ability to hire and retain the educators necessary to meet the needs of every learner. These vacancies and staffing challenges continue to disproportionately impact schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, English learners, and students with disabilities.[38] Specifically, data from October of 2022 found that a larger percentage of public schools in high-poverty neighborhoods had at least one teaching vacancy (57 percent) compared to public schools in low-poverty neighborhoods (41 percent).[39] Additionally, a larger percentage of public schools with a high proportion of students of color had at least one teaching vacancy (60 percent) compared to schools with a low proportion of students of color (32 percent). [40]

In August of 2023, 74 percent of public schools reported that it was somewhat or very difficult to hire English as a second language or bilingual education teachers.[41] These educators are critical both to supporting high-quality bilingual education programs for English learners as well as to support native English speakers in learning an additional language. As part of the Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative, Secretary Cardona has called on leaders at the State and local levels to invest in, promote, and support evidence-based language practices and programs to ensure all students have a pathway to multilingualism. The ability to read and think in more than one language promotes higher levels of abstract thought, which is important in learning.[42] And in today’s global society and economy, knowing more than one language can provide tangible advantages, including job opportunities.[43] The existing shortages of teachers qualified to teach English as a second language and teachers in bilingual education or foreign language programs undermine these critical opportunities for students.

Special education staff serve a critical role in our nation’s public schools, yet 77 percent of schools reported difficulty in hiring special education teachers.[44] The population of students with disabilities in public schools continues to grow, and the number of special education staff in schools must increase to meet their needs. To effectively serve and support children with disabilities, special education staff bring specialized skills and advanced knowledge to work with a multidisciplinary team, collaboratively designing and effectively delivering evidence-based instruction aligned to the individualized needs of each student. Shortages limit schools’ ability to ensure that each child receives an education that addresses their individual needs while also being both meaningful and ambitious, which is essential for preparing them for the future.

Many States are also experiencing shortages in specialized instructional support professionals that include providers of related services under the IDEA, such as school language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers.[45] These professionals provide crucial services to the students they serve, help create positive and safe school environments, and help support other educators in the building. A shortage of related services personnel ultimately impedes the ability of children with disabilities to reach their full academic, social, and emotional potential.[46] Research shows that positive and inclusive school environments are associated with improved student learning, students’ sense of safety, and the development of trusting relationships with peers and other adults.[47] Creating positive and inclusive school environments requires increasing the number of staff who are equipped to develop meaningful and trusting relationships throughout school buildings and communities, creating affirming environments, and supporting the needs of all students. At the beginning of his Administration, President Biden called for doubling the number of school-based mental health professionals in our schools. Schools are making progress towards that goal – as of May 2023, compared with the pre-pandemic period, the number of school social workers was up 43 percent, and the number of school nurses was up 22 percent.[48]

There is also a shortage of STEM educators across the nation. In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to solve problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and make complex decisions is more important than ever before. These are the kinds of skills developed through rigorous, relevant, and engaging STEM courses. Research shows that K-12 learning opportunities and enrollment patterns in STEM affect long-term learning trajectories and post-secondary education major choices, especially for students from low-income background.[49] Moreover, STEM education can provide relevant, problem-, place-, and project-based learning experiences that support students in learning new content and concepts and re-engage them in their learning. STEM skills are also becoming increasingly valuable for an array of jobs held by workers who have not traditionally been thought of as part of the science labor force, such as welders, electricians, and farmers.[50]

Hiring the STEM educators necessary to support students in these subjects can be difficult, especially because jobs outside of education often pay substantially more in these fields. The average salary for a STEM professional is $98,000 while the average salary for teachers is only $67,000.[51] A significant majority of schools reported that it was difficult or somewhat difficult to hire teachers in subjects like biology or life sciences (63 percent), computer science (72 percent), mathematics (67 percent), and physical sciences (77 percent).[52]

The nation is also facing an educator shortage in CTE – an important pathway to success for high school students that offers each student opportunities to personalize their education based on their career interests and unique learning needs.[53] CTE experiences and programs can help students acquire challenging academic and technical skills and be prepared for high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand occupations in the 21^st century global economy, engaging young people at an economy of scale needed to address employer needs. Finding and retaining qualified teachers can be a barrier to keeping programs up to date and responsive to the labor market. Seventy-one percent of schools reported that it was difficult or somewhat difficult to hire teachers in CTE subjects.[54] Previously, LEAs have also reported that finding and retaining teachers qualified to teach in-demand CTE subjects was a large barrier to offering CTE programs, especially in the fastest-growing occupations. [55]

Grant Programs and Investments

The Department has a number of grant programs aimed at recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly qualified educators in these hard-to-fill roles. In addition to using funding under Titles I and II of the ESEA, described in the prior section, the following programs may be used for this purpose. Examples of programs and how they can be used to address high-need shortage areas, consistent with program requirements and established guidance, are highlighted below. Please use the links provided to learn more about the specifics of each program, including eligible uses of funds.

• Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Program (Part D of the IDEA) funds help meet State-identified needs for adequate numbers of fully certified personnel to serve and support students with disabilities by funding competitive awards to: provide research-based training and professional development to prepare special education, related services, early intervention, and regular education personnel to work with children with disabilities; ensure that those personnel are fully qualified and possess the skills and knowledge that are needed to serve children with disabilities; and ensure that regular education teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide instruction to students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. In FY 2023, the program received $115 million, a 28 percent increase since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration.
• State Personnel Development Grants Program (Part D of the IDEA) provides discretionary grants to help States increase the number of fully certified personnel to serve children with disabilities. At least 90 percent of the grant funds must be used for the professional development of special education and regular education personnel who work with children with disabilities to ensure they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide evidence-based instruction and services to children with disabilities. These grants can support partnerships between districts and IHE who produce educators at various levels (g., master’s, Ed.D., Ph.D.) and to directly support costs associated with credentialing teachers. In FY 2023, the program received nearly $39 million.
• Career and Technical Education State Grants (Perkins V) formula funds assist States in expanding and improving CTE in high schools, technical schools, and community colleges. States and local recipients may invest Perkins funds in supporting and recruiting CTE and other educators to serve in Perkins programs. Funds may also be used to support educator development as a CTE pathway for students in Perkins-funded CTE programs. States may use up to 10 percent of their allocations to carry out State leadership activities, which must include using funds for recruiting, preparing, or retaining CTE and other teachers and faculty. Further, Perkins V allows for eligible recipients to use grant funds for creating or expanding recruitment, retention, or professional development activities for CTE and other teachers, faculty, school leaders, administrators, specialized instructional support personnel, career guidance and academic counselors, and paraprofessionals. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, annual funding for this program has increased by 7 percent, or nearly an additional $100 million in annual funding, for a total of $1.4 billion in FY 2023.
• English Language Acquisition State Grants (Title III, Part A of the ESEA) provides formula grants to States primarily based on the State’s share of English learners. Funds can be used to support professional development for teachers of English learners and provide other strategies that support these educators and meet their needs. These funds may also be used to provide supplemental staff to support English learners and immigrant children and youth, as long as States and LEAs have already met their civil rights obligations. For additional information on how and when Title III funds can support staffing, consistent with supplement-not-supplant requirements, see FAQ D-7 of this non-regulatory guidance. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, annual funding for this program has increased by 12 percent or an additional $90 million in annual funding, for a total of $890 million in FY 2023.
• Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A of the ESEA) provide formula grants to improve academic achievement by increasing the capacity of States and LEAs to provide students with access to a well-rounded education, improve school conditions for learning, and improve the effective use of technology. Allowable uses of funds may include salaries of new personnel to carry out identified programs and services, including specialists that support safe and healthy students, such as through school-based physical and mental health services, and educators that increase access to well-rounded educational opportunities, such as additional STEM teachers. In supporting educators across these areas, LEAs may focus on improving educator diversity. In FY 2023, the program received nearly $1.4 billion.
• School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program (Title IV, Part F of the ESEA) aims to increase (by hiring or contracting for) the number of qualified, well-trained counselors, social workers, psychologists, or other mental health professionals who provide school-based mental health services to students in LEAs with demonstrated need. Grantees may work with LEAs to provide incentives for re-specialization, hiring and retention, including increased pay, and payment towards student loan repayments for service providers. Through this program, the Department has awarded $141 million to more than 100 grantees. Through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, President Biden secured $1 billion, combined, for this program and the Mental Health Professionals Demonstration Grants Program.
• Mental Health Professionals Demonstration Grants Program (Title IV, Part F of the ESEA) aims to expand the capacity of high-need LEAs in partnership with IHEs to train school-based mental health services providers with the goal of expanding the pipeline of these professionals into high-need LEAs. Together LEAs and IHEs place students in university academic programs in school-based mental health fields into schools served by high-need LEAs to complete field work, credit hours, internships, or related training for the degree, license, or credential program of each student. Grant funds may be used to support these efforts. The Department has awarded $46 million in competitive grants to 67 States, school districts, and IHEs through this program. Nearly half of the awardees included a partnership with a HBCU, TCCU, HSIs, or MSI.

Examples from the Field

States and districts are answering the call and investing in opportunities to better prepare, develop, and retain talented and diverse educators in our schools to fill these high-need positions. Some examples of these local initiatives include:

• New York City’s Success Via Apprenticeship recruits recent high school graduates who concentrated their studies in CTE and prepares them to be effective CTE teachers through a 5-year program that includes industry experience, classroom teaching under the supervision of a teacher mentor, and pedagogical instruction in the college courses necessary to be licensed by the New York State Education Department as a CTE teacher. Participants are paid a competitive salary and receive health insurance benefits, membership in United Federation of Teachers, and free college tuition. Perkins V State Leadership funds may be used to support the development and implementation of initiatives to recruit, prepare, and retain CTE educators, such as this one.
• Illinois State Board of Education announced a $4 million grant, funded with ESSER funds, to support the bilingual educator pipeline. The grant plans to cover the cost of tuition for current educators to earn full licensure to teach English learners.
• Indiana is offering three Special Education Assisted Licensure initiatives to increase the number of fully licensed special education teachers in the State. The program provides full funding for 1) current educators adding special education to their exiting license, 2) those with a bachelor’s degree to enroll in a Transition to Teaching program, which results in a special education teacher license, and 3) test-prep workshops for those who have completed a special education preparation program but have been unable to pass the State licensing exam. This program is funded in partnership with the Indiana Department of Education, which is using federal ESSER and IDEA Part B funds.
• Examples of how States are using the State Personnel Development Grants to increase the number of fully certified personnel to serve children with disabilities include:
  • Minnesota is focusing on retaining American Indian teachers in special education. In partnership with Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College, the State is working to increase the number and representation of American Indian licensed teachers, coordinators, and administrators in Minnesota’s special education workforce, in ways that support the retention of these professional educators in the State special education workforce for the long term. Learn more here.
  • Alaska is training Native Alaskan and American Indian teachers as coaches to work with up to 36 paraeducators to make progress towards earning a special education teacher certification.

Additional Resources

The Department is providing resources, guidance, and technical assistance to State and local leaders exploring, launching, and implementing initiatives to address high-need shortage areas. These efforts include:

• New guidance on how American Rescue Plan funds may be used for career pathways including how funds may be used to support strategic recruitment of educators in hard-to-fill instructional areas using targeted incentives, including hiring additional school counseling staff.
• New guidanceon the use of Perkins V funds to improve the recruitment, preparation, retention, and growth of future educators – including but not limited to career and technical educators. This guidance describes how Perkins V funds may be used strategically by States, districts, and community colleges to strengthen the pipeline of educators, including specialized instructional support personnel.
• A four-part series that focuses on bilingual education and bilingual educators including, Leveraging Flexible Teacher Certification Policies to Address the Bilingual Teacher Shortage and Addressing the Bilingual Teacher Shortage.
• A number of briefs outlining the most common challenges related to recruiting and retaining teachers with certain certifications, including Recruiting and Retaining STEM Teachers and Recruiting and Retaining Special Education Teachers.
• A blog post from on how some States are addressing the special education staff shortage crisis from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
• The CEEDAR Center supports students with disabilities in achieving college- and career-ready standards by building the capacity of State personnel preparation systems to prepare teachers and leaders to implement evidence-based practices within multi-tiered systems of support. The CEEDAR Center currently works with 19 States and 132 EPPs for Special Education.
• The Early Childhood Personnel Center assists States in building Comprehensive Systems of Personnel Development to improve outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families. The Early Childhood Personnel Center has worked with 34 States, 85 universities, and 100 faculty to enhance preservice learning systems in early learning systems.
• The IRIS Center offers free professional development opportunities for educators to gain knowledge and skills in implementing evidence-based instructional and behavioral practices to support the education of all students, particularly struggling learners and those with disabilities. IRIS Center resources are available online and continue to be widely used in programs preparing paraeducators, teachers, and providers including those teaching under alternative certification programs intended to address current shortages.
• Available on Office of Special Education Programs IDEAS That Work is a collection of resources outlining effective strategies for attracting, preparing, and retaining effective personnel with the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. This collection includes briefs addressing research and outlining innovative approaches being used to address this critical need by schools and districts across the country.
• A teacher shortage prediction model to help States understand and predict teacher shortages, including when and where schools and districts are experiencing challenges in filling hard-to-staff teaching positions, hosted by the Central Regional Educational Laboratory.

For more information on how the Department is continuing to elevate the teaching profession and eliminate the educator shortage, and specific strategies for State and local leaders, please visit Raise the Bar: Boldly Improve Learning Conditions.

Disclaimer

This document contains resources that are provided for the user’s convenience. The inclusion of these materials is not intended to reflect its importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered. These materials may contain the views and recommendations of various subject matter experts as well as hypertext links, contact addresses and websites to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The opinions expressed in any of these materials do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any outside information included in these materials.

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[2] U.S. Department of Education. Teacher Shortage Area Data (2023-24). [Data set]. https://tsa.ed.gov/#/home/.

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[14] See chart under “Addressing High-Need Shortage Areas.”

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