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Strategic Staffing

State policy can help or hinder a district’s ability to implement strategic staffing policies.

Data updated: September 2024

Go to a policy priority Elementary Reading Strategic Staffing Teacher Compensation Teacher Diversity Teacher Evaluation
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Why focus on Strategic Staffing?

Students need a well-prepared, diverse teacher workforce, yet shortages persist in some schools and subjects.1 To address shorter teaching careers2 and overall job dissatisfaction,3 states can reimagine teaching through innovative strategies like team teaching, formalized teacher-leader roles, and flexible class sizes. These approaches have the potential to improve student outcomes and create a more sustainable profession.

How well is each state implementing Strategic Staffing policies?

NCTQ conducted a comprehensive scan of state strategic staffing policies in 2024. This analysis revealed:

  • Few states explicitly focus on reimagining the teaching role as a strategy, despite its powerful potential to attract and retain talented teachers.
  • Less than half of states allow for “innovation zones” where districts can apply for waivers from existing policy to implement innovative staffing models.
  • Only about a quarter of states offer grants that could be used by districts to innovate with strategic staffing models.
  • Less than 20% of states provide some type of supplemental pay for teacher leadership roles beyond mentoring novice or aspiring teachers.

Explore the key policy levers below to learn more about how each state is implementing policies to support Strategic Staffing. (NCTQ does not assign rankings to states for this policy area.)

Key policy levers to improve Strategic Staffing

Seeding Innovation
Removing Barriers

Key Resources

Reimagining the Teaching Role

Explore NCTQ’s detailed 2024 analysis of strategic staffing policies.

Explore resource

Outdated models won’t drive future success : Six reasons to reimagine the teaching role

Read more about why some state leaders are investing in strategic staffing policies.

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Reimagining the Teaching Role: Research Summary

Dive into the research leading states and districts to innovate with strategic staffing models.

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Reimagining the Teaching Role: Models and Approaches

Learn more about popular national models for restructuring schools to better meet student and teacher needs.

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References
  1. Institute of Education Sciences. (n.d.). School pulse panel. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/
  2. Ingersoll, R. M., Merrill, E., Stuckey, D., & Collins, G. (2018). Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force – Updated October 2018. CPRE Research Reports.
  3. Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher turnover: Why it matters and what we can do about it. Learning Policy Institute. https://reimagineteaching.nctq.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/NCTQ_RT_NL_Teacher-Turnover-Why-it-Matters.pdf