The following is a list of recent resources for those focused on the professional improvement of teachers, principals, and other educational leaders.

Teacher Shortages and Surpluses Databurst This report is an analysis of states’ work to track teacher shortages and surpluses, and to implement the policy solutions to address these challenges. This resource includes an overview of promising practices currently being implemented, a snapshot of all 50 states’ and the District of Columbia’s efforts in addressing teacher supply and demand challenges, and noteworthy state policies by region across the country. Currently, 29 states maintain data systems that collect teacher supply data from preparation programs; however, only eight states address shortages and surpluses by connecting these supply data to district-level hiring statistics. Florida publishes Critical Shortage Area Reports, which outline critical teacher shortage rankings. Florida data is not broken down by program, but is used by districts for planning purposes. (National Council on Teacher Quality)

What Does WV’s School Funding Formula Have to Do With the Statewide Teachers Strike?  This Ed Note blog post discusses the teachers strike in West Virginia as it relates to school funding, and comes from Mike Griffith.

Teacher shortages in MS   There’s a teacher shortage in Mississippi, and the problem is bigger than many people might realize. According the Mississippi Department of Education from 2007 to 2017 there was a 92% decrease in the number of people who applied for a teacher’s license in the state. During that time that number dropped from 7,620 applicants to 603. Today we are talking with some local officials in search for the answer to the problem.

MO – Teacher Residency Approach Aims to Produce Educators Who Stay  For the past two years, St. Louis Public Schools leaders have been looking for answers to this question: Why do our teachers leave? School leaders think it’s largely because many first-year teachers are not adequately prepared. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Tennessee Leads Effort to Build Principal Pipelines Statewide  Building a pipeline of effective school principals isn’t solely the province of school districts. States can play an important role, too.  Tennessee is among the first states in the nation to take a comprehensive approach to building a pipeline of effective principals. The idea is to recruit and train teachers to become “effective, even transformational principals” and to provide them with support once they’re on the job. Paul Fleming, an assistant commissioner in Tennessee’s Department of Education and a former high school principal himself, joins Episode 5 of The Principal Pipeline podcast to discuss the state’s goal of having a highly effective principal in every school.

Good Leaders Make Good Schools This piece examines why principals matter and cites, among other sources, work over the years by The Wallace Foundation.  Brooks focuses on the role of the principal in school improvement. Noting the example of promising gains in Chicago public schools in recent years, he says those who have led the school district have “put a special emphasis on one thing: principals.”