Skip to main content

CALDER Recruitment and Retention Center

 

CALDER R&R supports research on K-12 teacher recruitment and retention across nine states and the Houston and Atlanta Metro areas. Launched in September 2024 with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the initiative studies policy interventions designed to strengthen America's teaching workforce and address long-standing challenges in the teacher labor market. CALDER R&R brings together researchers from CALDER at AIR and a group of university and nonprofit partners. An advisory board of leaders from CALDER R&R's partner states helps connect the research to real-world decision makers. This initiative is part of CALDER's broader portfolio of K-12 education research.

Our Partner States and Cities

 

CALDER R&R Research Partners

The research reported here is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C240007 to the American Institutes for Research. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Who We Are

CALDER R&R Research Team

CALDER R&R brings together researchers from CALDER at AIR and university and nonprofit partners. An advisory board of leaders from CALDER R&R's partner states helps connect the research to real-world decision makers.

CALDER R&R Advisory Board

The CALDER R&R Advisory Board provides strategic guidance and expertise from state education agencies and advocacy organizations across our partner states.

Arkansas

Ben Kutylo, Executive Director, Forward Arkansas

Colorado

Greg Nusz, Program Evaluation and Data Manager, Colorado Department of Education

Georgia

Dana Rickman, President, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education

Maryland

Jennifer King Rice, Senior Vice President, University of Maryland

Massachusetts

Claire Abbott, Director, Office of Educator Effectiveness, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Michigan

Kelli Brozanski, Interim Director and Strategic Implementation Unity Manager, Michigan Department of Education

Missouri

Lisa Sireno, Assistant Commissioner, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

North Carolina

Thomas Tomberlin, Senior Director, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Texas

Mark Olofson, Director, Educator Data, Research, and Strategy, Texas Education Agency

Washington

Kaori Strunk, Director, Educator Data, Washington Office of Superintendent Public Instruction

At Large

Marla Ucelli-Kashyap, Senior Director, Educational Issues, AFT

Kevin Schaaf, Classroom teacher

Research Agenda

With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), CALDER R&R studies teacher recruitment and retention interventions across the teacher pipeline, from early recruitment to retention on the job.

We are studying efforts to building interest in teaching among high school students through career pathway programs in Washington state.

We are studying financial aid programs that help career-changers and paraprofessionals cover training and licensure costs, including Massachusetts's Teacher Diversification Grants and Michigan's Grow-Your-Own initiatives.

We are studying competitive scholarships and stipends in Maryland and Michigan that fund teacher training in exchange for service commitments in high-need schools. We are also conducting information experiments testing whether labor market data influences teacher candidates' certification choices while in college and other outcomes.

We are studying pandemic-era temporary licenses and revised test score requirements in Arkansas, Maryland, and Washington state that lowered traditional barriers to entry to assess their effects on the teacher workforce.

We are studying salary floors in Arkansas, Maryland, and Missouri; targeted bonuses for high-need subjects and schools in Atlanta-area and Houston districts; and North Carolina's statewide performance pay for high-performing teachers to assess compensation as a lever for improving teacher recruitment and retention.

We are studying four-day school weeks in Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas; advanced teaching roles that restructure school staffing in North Carolina; and collective bargaining agreement provisions that address teacher working conditions in Michigan and Washington to better understand how the workforce is impacted by structures and agreements that govern teaching jobs.

If you have questions about the research agenda described above, please reach out to us here. If you'd like to keep up with the work of this center and CALDER at large, enter your email below to become a subscriber of our quarterly newsletter.