It Takes A Village To Recruit And Retain New Teachers

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It takes a village to recruit and retain new teachers

By Kristen Moreland and Sara Scribner

April 2025

Across the United States, there is a shortage of qualified special educators (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). The data show public schools are losing about 46,000 special education teachers every year, and fewer than 30,000 new teachers are training to enter the field (Aldeman, 2024). These trends have led to a push for alternative ways to recruit and retain special educators, including apprenticeship and residency programs (Jimenez, 2024). Trends in our state of New Hampshire mirror those at the national level. For example, the number of students enrolling in teacher preparation programs is declining across the state university system. In the Littleton School District, a small district in northern New Hampshire, we have additional barriers. While our school district is located in a beautiful

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References

Aldeman, C. (2024). Where are all the special educators? Education Next, 24(4), 38-43.

Committee to Study New Hampshire Teacher Shortages and Recruitment Incentives. (2023). Majority and minority final reports. tinyurl.com/2vu68zav

Hehir, T., Grindal, T., Freeman, B., Lamoreau, R., Borquaye, Y., & Burke, S. (2016). A summary of the evidence on inclusive education. Abt Associates.

Jimenez, K. (2024). Schools are scrambling to find special education teachers. 3 ways to address shortage. USA Today. tinyurl.com/ytnbcf46

National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). U.S. schools report increased teacher vacancies due to COVID-19 pandemic, new NCES data show [Press release]. tinyurl.com/cfavttam

Udvari-Solner, A. (1997). Inclusive education. In C.A. Grant & G. Ladson-Billings (Eds.), Dictionary of multicultural education (pp. 141-144). Oryx Press.

Kristen Moreland

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Kristen Moreland is an accomplished and dynamic facilitator, author, and educational leader with almost 3 decades of international and domestic experience. She is committed to bringing humanity back to education. A former middle school English teacher and instructional coach, she currently serves as the Director of Teaching and Learning for the Littleton Schools in Littleton, New Hampshire.