Teaching Profession

Research shows teachers are the most influential in-school factor in student achievement. Creating opportunities for strong teacher preparation, meaningful licensure, quality and supportive working environments, career growth and other items that lead to job satisfaction among teachers is paramount to the success of teachers and in turn, students.

Though many of the decisions impacting teachers are made at the district and school level, state policy plays an important role in setting benchmarks, guidelines and incentives that lead to effective and well-supported teaching professionals.

Recently Published Resources

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Policy Levers to Advance Credential Transparency

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Policy Brief

Six Policy Priority Areas Prepare State Leaders for Impact

As state education leaders face changing contexts, Education Commission of the States developed six policy priority areas to serve state policymakers' most critical needs. These policy priority areas will inform our organization’s work over the next two years.

Governors’ Top Education Priorities in 2025 State of the State Addresses

In a critical year for state education policy, State of the State addresses offer time for new and incumbent governors to outline policy priorities and elevate successes. For the past […]

Advancing School Leadership Through State Policy

School leaders play a pivotal role in school and student success. Effective principals boost student outcomes — from attendance to academic achievement — and may have a greater impact on […]

Ed Note Blog Posts

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K-12

Recruiting and Retaining Successful CTE Teachers

We know that strong teachers are crucial to the success of a career and technical education program. However, some schools find filling these roles difficult. According to data from the […]

K-12

Elevating the Teaching Profession With Data-Driven Salary Increases

This guest post comes from Ellen Sherratt, president of the board at Teacher Salary Project and Lisa Lachlan–Haché, director of the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders at the American Institutes for Research. All views in guest […]

K-12

Several young students in a special education class sit in a circle while a teacher reads and acts out a story.

How Georgia is Tackling Special Education Teacher Shortages

In 2019, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp elevated the need to better recruit and retain special education teachers after a listening tour with State School Superintendent Richard Woods and district superintendents. […]

Postsecondary

Bridging Computer Science Pathways From K-12 to Postsecondary

Several states are ramping up to expand students’ access to computer science courses and career pathways, and 50 governors signed the Governors’ Compact for Computer Science. Comparably, in the postsecondary […]

K-12

How Residencies Support a Sustainable Teacher Pipeline

Research indicates that teacher residencies can address teacher shortages in ways that provide schools and classrooms with high-quality and diverse teachers, and with teachers who are less likely to turnover. […]

K-12

Governors Celebrate Teachers in Their State of the State Addresses

In recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week, we are highlighting some of the many celebrations of teachers in governors’ State of the State addresses this year. Policies related to teachers, particularly […]

Early Education (P-3)K-12 Postsecondary

How ECS Can Support You and Your State in 2023

A new year brings us new opportunities to share our in-depth education policy research that we provide here at Education Commission of the States (ECS). Whether you’re deeply familiar with […]

K-12

Filling in the Gaps of Teacher Compensation

Salary, retirement and health benefits are key components of a teacher compensation package, but state leaders have taken additional steps to address compensation along the teacher pipeline, from preparation to […]

K-12

Affordable Health Benefits Are Key to High-Quality Teacher Compensation

When I worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia, I was offered a variety of health benefit plans sponsored by the state. All had great coverage options for different healthcare needs […]

K-12

Using Data to Understand Teacher Retention in Minnesota

Data collection can be a powerful tool for policymakers in crafting and implementing targeted, effective and sustainable policy solutions. In Minnesota, the Department of Education and the Professional Educator Licensure […]

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