Frontline Blog

The status of absence management within school districts throughout the pandemic has been a consistent topic on Talk Data to Me. As teacher absence rates have consistently climbed back to pre-COVID levels this school year, states have had varying success in rebuilding their substitute teacher pools and increasing the proportion of available substitutes who actively fill absences.

This past year, K-12 has tackled a mind-boggling number of new challenges as COVID-19 threw a wrench into nearly every aspect of our lives. However, one obstacle that many districts continue to face has posed a problem for years: the teacher shortage. And as you can expect, the pandemic certainly did not make the shortage any easier.

Just how is the pandemic impacting hiring in schools? In previous Talk Data to Me posts (here and here), we explored the effect COVID has had on the number of people applying for jobs in education.

Previously on Talk Data to Me, we used data from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute to explore how COVID-19 has impacted K-12 hiring. In short, though January and February of this year looked almost identical to the same months in 2019 and 2018, the data quickly and markedly departed from the previous years immediately following the president’s March 13 National Emergency declaration.

Unfortunately, there is no magic spell to guarantee a school’s success. Even in J.K. Rowling’s fictional world, Hogwarts experienced a plethora of challenges.

What do you do when your teacher workforce doesn’t reflect the diversity of your student body? It’s a question many education leaders have found themselves asking. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 50 percent of public school students identify as people of color, compared to only 20 percent of public school teachers.

In many school districts, teacher recruitment efforts tend to be localized and rarely focused out-of-state — unless, of course, your district is near a border. And while localized recruitment strategies can be very effective, if you’re struggling with teacher shortages, it’s time to branch out. After all, you never know where your next best teacher will come from.

Is hiring at the top of your mind right now? If you want the most outstanding teachers in your classrooms, it should be.

Of all the districts facing a teacher shortage, 34% say it’s because they have an issue with teacher turnover. You know what that means: you have to go searching for new talent each year.