How Teacher Vacancies Impact Student Achievement

18, Dec 2024 1:39 PM

As concerns grow around K-12 teacher shortages, estimates show at least 49,000 teacher vacancies and 400,000 under-qualified educator roles as we look towards the 2024-25 academic year. There’s a lot of pressure on K-12 schools, considering nearly half (44%) of public-school students began the 2023-24 school year behind in at least one subject.

More than half of all school superintendents strongly agree that recruiting and retaining teachers is a challenge for their district, with 51% agreeing in suburban districts and up to 65% agreeing in rural districts. We know that teacher vacancies have a negative impact on student learning outcomes — and superintendents view the improvement of student academic performance as a challenge, especially in city and large school districts.

Although some turnover is to be expected, teachers who switch schools or leave the profession early take school-specific knowledge with them, creating gaps that are filled by overworked coworkers or less experienced teachers. Alongside the burdensome administrative costs of teacher turnover, long-term it can also impact overall charter school performance. 

The good news is, a dedicated staffing agency can help you quickly fill these roles and chart a better course for your school.

a couple of people that are standing in front of a building

Why do teachers leave charter schools?

Each year, about one-third of teachers retire. Another third are new teachers who leave the profession before their fifth year due to lack of motivation and job dissatisfaction.

One of the most frequent reasons teachers give for leaving is a perceived lack of administrative support. For example, one study found that educators who saw their school’s administrators as unsupportive were more than twice as likely to leave.

A lack of teachers often leads schools to increase class sizes, which can create a vicious cycle. Larger classrooms lead to more work and more stress, which tends to increase dissatisfaction and discourage the teachers that remain. Plus, students that are subject to more classroom distractions and fewer educational resources — like less 1:1 time with their teacher — are less likely to achieve their full potential. 

This situation can also exacerbate educational quality and equity: According to a survey of New York State school superintendents, turnover among new teachers is about 50% higher in high-poverty districts versus more affluent districts. 

How do teacher vacancies impact student achievement?

When schools struggle to recruit and retain qualified educators, it lays the groundwork for overwhelmed educators as well as educational disparities. An Economic Policy Institute report shows that high-poverty schools have the largest shortage of credentialed teachers. The growing lack of qualified teachers limits how effective they can be in the classroom, which can ultimately limit student engagement and academic achievement.

For example, a study that analyzed 2011-2015 data from Tennessee’s Innovation Zone (iZone) intervention for its lowest-performing schools found that when higher-quality teachers moved schools, they brought positive student outcomes with them. At the same time, the learning outcomes in their former classrooms suffered.

At a minimum, we can see that teacher vacancies harm student achievement by:

Disrupting classrooms, creating an unstable environment for students to learn and limiting students’ ability to form positive relationships with their teachers.

Reducing educational opportunities when class size increases, classes are canceled, or teachers who are already spread thin cannot provide proper recognition for motivated students.

Creating learning disparities that widen societal gaps, making it harder for under-resourced students to graduate, join the workforce, and achieve fulfilling and well-paid work.

group of people wearing white and orange backpacks walking on gray concrete pavement during daytime

How to reduce K-12 teacher turnover

Some public and charter schools have found increased success by engaging a full-service staffing firm that specializes in education — the way 200+ schools across the US and Canada have by partnering with Teachers On Demand, INC. 

Recruitment has changed drastically in the digital age, and school HR departments face major challenges finding qualified candidates through traditional methods. Our experience shows that the majority of job seekers use large online platforms and job alerts to begin their search, and you can work with us to offer job postings directly to the network of experienced teachers that we’ve spent decades building. 

What’s more, we fill most vacancies within 30 days — a much shorter period than average for schools doing it on their own.

Beyond hiring teachers, successful schools are also taking a look at their ability to retain high-performing teachers long-term. According to the UNESCO-Teacher Task Force’s global report on teachers, schools must find ways to frame teaching as a collaborative and lifelong profession with good compensation, development opportunities, and decision-making autonomy. Schools should always invest in teacher well-being and professional development, which can attract new graduates, enable early-stage teachers to gain experience, and motivate seasoned teachers to stay in the profession. 

In the meantime, partnering with Teachers On Demand, INC eases the pressure on you to retain the highly skilled and RARE educators that you hire through us. We’ll help you onboard new hires and set them up for success on their first day. Afterwards, we stay in regular touch to enable a two-way feedback loop that helps us catch any issues early, while providing our teachers with support for mental health.

Here’s where to start

You can count on Teachers On Demand to find qualified candidates for your vacancies in less time and with less stress on already stretched resources. Our range of flexible staffing options, like temp-to-perm hiring, allows you to create a better educational experience for your student body while ensuring you meet necessary compliance and certification requirements. Contact us to find the best option for your school.