Topic: Teacher Workforce Policy
Teacher Workforce Policy
State Policies to Elevate the Profession and Address Shortages
The most important thing schools can do for students’ education is ensure they have good teachers. States need a strong teacher workforce to increase student learning and to build a stronger economy. SREB helps state leaders address teacher shortages and improve policies that affect teachers across their careers — including recruiting, supporting and retaining great teachers.
A Comprehensive Approach to Teacher Workforce Policy
Click on an area below to explore publications, resources, data and more.
These four elements support teachers at every stage of their careers — from candidates and early career teachers, to professional teachers and teacher leaders.
SREB’s Educator Workforce Initiative
SREB is committed to improving the educator workforce as one of its top priorities through the end of the decade. A cross-collaborative team of staff are working on this initiative and have developed the following to lead their work over the next five years.
Vision
Every child deserves a great teacher. Educator shortages hurt our students, exhaust our educators & drain our economy. To sustain our economy, we must have enough quality teachers and school leaders to fully prepare the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs and workers.
SREB is a leader in solving the complex issue of building and maintaining a first-rate educator workforce.
SREB strives to support policy and practice leaders in states, P-20 and postsecondary education to comprehensively improve the educator profession through the following priority goals:
- Make teaching more attractive
- Enhance educator pathways and preparation
- Cultivate strong educator support programs
- Modernize the teaching profession and educator workday
To address teacher shortages, elevate the profession, and fuel the economy, a key first step is unpacking the data.Teacher Labor Market Research
SREB partners with Vanderbilt University to produce new research about educator workforce trends, educator experiences and perceptions using data from some of our member states. The goal is to help provide further insights, solutions and ideas for states and districts to better attract, support and retain strong educators.
Explore our research studies:
Pathways and Retention for New Teachers: Insights from Southern States (May 2025)
Teacher Labor Market Trends: Insights From Two Southern States (May 2024)
The Next Generation of Teachers: A Study of Generation Z’s Interest in the Teaching Profession (April 2024)
Teacher Career Pathways and Advancement Options
We need more high-quality pathways to ensure a skilled teacher workforce so that all students have prepared, certified teachers in every class. This report reviews the data on teacher shortages and quality and shows the four main pathways into the profession. It details the essential elements of quality teacher career pathways and offers examples to look toward from states around the nation.
Perspectives
Read SREB's Teacher Workforce Blog
From shortages to solutions, find thoughtful articles about policies and data that affect educators, written by SREB staff and guest authors.