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At a time when educators are facing growing demands on their time and energy the teacher shortage expands to virtually all corners of county, , the work of attracting, supporting, growing and retaining high-quality educators is now more important than ever. A strategic approach to human capital management (HCM) plays a key role in supporting all of the people who work hard to help students meet their own growing challenges.

The most recent Monthly Absence Report (June 2018) features some surprising statistics taken from data representing 5,795 public school districts, charter schools, education service agencies and private schools across the country.

Despite the number of recent articles being posted in newsfeeds with increasing regularity, the ongoing teacher shortage crisis isn’t breaking news. But according to A Leak in the Pipeline: How Hiring Bias Might Be Compounding the Teacher Shortage, we may be missing a key contributor to the shortages plaguing many districts across the country.

By 2014-15 the number of children served under IDEA was 6.6 million or 13% of total public school enrollment.  When looking at this data, districts, schools and educators must consider equity in education and the appropriateness of the classification of special needs students in and across states.  

How well are school systems in America measuring up to ESSA’s definition of professional development? Is professional learning “data-driven” and “classroom-focused”? That question is at the heart of Bridging the Gap, a series of reports from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. Bridging the Gap looks at anonymized data from the professional development experiences of educators across the country and asks, “How close are we to this ideal?”  

A few weeks ago, my colleagues and I met with professional learning leaders from six innovative school districts from across the U.S. The districts are large and small, urban, suburban and rural — and each is at a different place along their own continuum to enhance professional learning and related outcomes.

Based on a shared belief in collegial discourse, hearing different perspectives and pulling together some of the top expertise in education, The Line was born.  

It’s no secret that professional learning is crucial to improving teaching practice. So why isn’t educator satisfaction with PD higher than it is?   Dr. Steven Ross writes from the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, highlighting a recent report from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute that examines the state of professional learning today.  

Teachers and other educational employees often have to be absent — for illness, jury duty or any number of personal reasons. But do you know how often employees are pulled out of their work for absences driven by your school or district?