Even as districts strain to recruit and retain teachers, the challenges for educators stack up — high rent, long commutes, rising cost of living. Teachers find a position somewhere more affordable, and they take it. Leaders in Mountain View Whisman School District took a novel approach to this challenge: creating a teacher and staff housing facility. Here’s what they learned.

Principal turnover has a negative effect on school climate, teacher retention and student achievement. Understanding the work motivation of principals can aid public school districts in improving principal retention, yet few studies examining administrator motivation exist. In his doctoral studies, the author set out to find what motivates principals to persevere through the challenges of the job and remain in the principalship.

The attrition of teachers of color can be attributed to a number of factors, including feeling isolated or alone, lacking collaborative opportunities, not having access to safe discussions about race, and few or no opportunities to participate in decision making. Fortunately, administrators can leverage their social-emotional competencies in ways that facilitate belonging for teachers of color.

Schools compete with every other employer to attract quality support staff. The hiring challenge is prompting leaders in two California school systems to shift their core strategies for recruitment and retention for hard-to-staff positions, such as bus drivers, paraeducators and special educators.

A grant to support the recruitment, preparation and retention of BIPOC educators in CSU teacher prep programs led to an ambitious goal: increase the employment rate of Latinx candidates from 24 percent to 50 percent. To achieve this “North Star” objective, two Cal Poly professors forged relationships with school district human resources directors and centered their work around equity in hiring.