RESEARCH_FILE
Richard M. Ingersoll
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Known for:National data analyses reframing the 'teacher shortage' as primarily a turnover and retention crisis
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I’m just a teacher”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I teach middle school science.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
On a scrap of paper or note app, write three ways you’ve described your job recently, and circle every word that made it sound smaller. Then rewrite each line once without “just,” “only,” or an apology.
Key findings
- 2001
Using national Schools and Staffing Survey data, found that school staffing problems are driven far more by organizational turnover than by an insufficient supply of newly trained teachers. Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis ↗
- 2010
With Perda, traced the widely reported math and science teacher shortage to a 'revolving door' of attrition rather than insufficient production of new teachers, calling recruitment-only policy responses a wrong prescription for the wrong diagnosis. The Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage: Fact and Myth ↗