Educator shortage report

Shortage report (2021)

Addressing Washington’s educator shortage

The impact of teachers on student outcomes cannot be overstated. Teachers are the most influential in-school factor contributing to student success and are often the first role models that young people encounter outside of their homes. Given the magnitude of their influence, every student in Washington deserves to have excellent, effective, equity-minded teachers and an education system that fully supports their learning and growth. A persistent statewide shortage of teachers, however, creates challenges to achieving this.

What can we do, collectively, to ensure that every student in every classroom has the teacher they deserve? This report will address that important question by examining teacher shortage indicators, current approaches to alleviate them, and introduces policy recommendations and investment opportunities for systemwide impact.

Download our 2021 educator shortage report.

Educator shortage is a critical issue; it impacts almost every aspect of the education system in Washington. Spanning specific content areas, geographic regions, and disproportionate racial, ethnic, and linguistic demographics between educators and their students, the educator shortage is a complex issue that cannot be summed up or explained by a simple set of data points or research excerpts.

Educator shortages can broadly relate to access to preparation programs and certification, as well as a person’s interest and motivation in pursuing teaching. This report examines data on indicators of the educator shortage and highlights current approaches to addressing it.

Download the 2019 educator shortage in Washington State report (PDF).

Interactive data displays

To support education stakeholders in understanding and using data, we have produced online interactive data displays regarding shortage-related topics. These displays are organized by district and include data on demographic hiring, in-district teacher persistence, use of limited certificates, and percentage of students enrolled in courses with teachers out-of-endorsement. Interact with these tools.

The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) has produced a series of reports and information relating to the educator shortage:

• An exploration of educational staff associates (ESA) shortages (2012)
• Commissioned report on best practices to improve recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations (2014)
• “Addressing the Recurring Problem of Teacher Shortages” report (2015)
• In addition, PESB produces an annual federal report on educator shortage areas.