Teacher Recruitment & Retention

In the face of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its highly qualified teacher requirements, rural school districts are forced to confront significant obstacles to the recruitment and retention of teachers. Dwindling or static enrollment, a severe teacher shortage, and lower relative salaries for teachers all combine to threaten the ability of rural districts to both recruit and retain these qualified teachers.

The links below provide a glimpse of the extant research on teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas, as well as critiques of NCLB.

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers: Background report for the United States (PDF)
U.S. Department of Education, International Affairs Office (2004)

How Are Rural School Districts Meeting the Teacher Quality Requirements of NCLB? (PDF)
American Association of School Administrators (2003)
AASA completed a study of rural school administrators with regard to recruiting and retaining teachers and complying with the teacher quality requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in cooperation with AEL Inc.

The Competitive Disadvantage: Teacher Compensation in Rural America (PDF)
Lorna Jimerson (2003)
This report published by the Rural School and Community Trust compares rural teacher salaries with those of their urban and suburban counterparts.

Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategies in the Midwest: Where Are They and Do They Work?
Debra Hare and James Heap, with Lenaya Raack (2001)
This edition of North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's (NCREL) Policy Issues looks at the results of a survey that NCREL sent to superintendents in its seven-state region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin). In this brief, the authors of the report present an overview of the survey results with special attention to how the location and wealth of school districts affect the use of teacher retention and recruitment strategies. The authors describe effective strategies and identify where and by whom they are being used in the region. Finally, the authors offer conclusions and recommendations for state and local policymakers.

Attracting and Retaining Teachers in Rural Areas. ERIC Digest
Timothy Collins (1999)
This ERIC Digest examines the problem of attracting and retaining teachers in rural areas from a legislative and policy perspective.