A new report from the Southern Regional Education Board provides a strategic framework for teacher career pathways to address shortages, improve student achievement and support local economies.

Teacher Career Pathways and Advancement Options asks education leaders to focus on clear routes to attract more people into the profession and prepare them for the classroom. It also asks leaders to focus on quality models for teachers to advance throughout their careers. The report describes the current landscape, lays out essential elements for high quality pathways and shares local examples to watch.

“Teachers are critical for a healthy economy,” SREB President Stephen L. Pruitt said. ”They deserve career pathways so they know how to become teachers and have good reasons to stay engaged and motivated.”

Preparing for the Profession

Essential Elements of High-Quality Teacher Pathways

All careers need pathways that expose students to the jobs, clarify how to earn the credentials for those jobs, and show the route to advancement once students are on their way. Today’s routes into teaching include the traditional undergraduate degree in education, alternative programs to prepare future teachers offered by nonprofits, companies and universities, or federal and local school district apprenticeship programs.

The number of people completing traditional education degrees is declining in the South, while the number of people completing alternative pathways is increasing.

The report highlights the importance of routes that are accessible to potential teachers in terms of schedule, location and cost. States can encourage or require all teacher prep programs, traditional or alternative, to provide thorough preparation that includes:

• Content knowledge in the subjects teachers will teach
• Pedagogy focus on how to teach and manage a classroom
• Practice teaching opportunities with students under the supervision of an effective mentor

Advancing in the Profession

Essential Elements of Advanced Teacher Roles

The report emphasizes the need for career opportunities that do not require teachers to leave the classroom and become administrators. In these models, teachers are paid for increased responsibility in leadership roles such as content leader, lead teacher, mentor or multiple-classroom leader.

• Selection criteria should be deliberate and require basic qualifications.
• Rigorous training specific to these roles is critical.
• Policy and process should be clearly documented for consistency and accountability.

“Making the teaching profession attractive requires action across the career spectrum ─ preparation, licensure, professional growth and compensation,” said Megan Boren, SREB project manager and one of the report’s authors. “We hope this report gives states, districts and preparation programs a road map to work together on one strategy to elevate the profession.”

Teacher Absences

What Makes Teachers Come to Class?  
  
Teacher absenteeism costs school districts nationwide billions of dollars and risks student learning. In Principals magazine, SREB’s Megan Boren reviews what we know from research and offers ideas for schools, districts and state policymakers to improve teacher attendance. The article features successful strategies from districts in Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas. Read the article >

Contact: Janita Poe, SREB News Manager, at Janita.Poe@sreb.org or 404-879-5516, ext. 216

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states, districts and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. An interstate compact and a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.