New research from Richard Ingersoll and Henry Tran

New Study Brings to Light Teacher Shortage Crisis in Rural Schools

In an illuminating study, Richard M. Ingersoll (University of Pennsylvania) and Henry Tran (University of South Carolina) have provided fresh insights into the teacher shortage crisis in Rural schools across the United States.

Utilizing large-scale national data from the U.S. Department of Education, their study shifts attention from urban to rural educational challenges, which have historically received less focus. Contradicting common beliefs, their research documents that rural schools, especially in high-poverty areas, have more serious teacher shortages than do urban schools. Moreover, their study contradicts the expected narrative — the problem in rural schools is not an aging teacher workforce or growing student populations, but rather a "revolving door" of teachers seeking opportunities elsewhere.

To read the full research article, see Teacher Shortages and Turnover in Rural Schools in the US: An Organizational Analysis.

The research points to high teacher turnover driven by job dissatisfaction as the primary source of problems, rather than a mere lack of new teachers entering rural schools. rural teachers are leaving their jobs for reasons other than low salaries, such as limited classroom autonomy and little input into school decision-making processes.

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(Full article)

Richard Ingersoll reveals surprising causes of rural teacher shortage

(Penn GSE Newsroom)

The rural teacher shortage

(Phi Delta Kappan)

AUTHORS

Richard M. Ingersoll is Professor of Education and Sociology at University of Pennsylvania and a leading expert on America’s elementary and secondary teaching force. His research examines teaching as a job, teachers as employees, and schools as workplaces—from a teacher’s pre-employment training through their last day in the classroom.

Henry Tran is an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina’s Department of Leadership, Learning Design, and Inquiry who studies issues related to education human resources (HR) and finance.

About the Consortium For Policy Research In Education (CPRE)

The Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) is a community of researchers from renowned research institutions and organizations committed to advancing educational policy and practice through evidence-based research.

CPRE's mission is to contribute to the output of new, scholarly, evidence-based research.

Our goal is to make education policy research openly accessible to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and other interested readers.

CPRE's vision is to disseminate research that can be the catalyst for informed decision-making and action in educational policy and practice.