Question 1

Teacher Time, Workload and Wellness

Accepted Answer

Protect teachers' time by ensuring that the work day and work year includes ample time for reflection, collaboration, and building individual connections with students without requiring long after hours work.

The Gift of Teacher Time: Making teachers' time a valued resource in your school (https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/19/09/gift-teacher-time)
by Harvard Graduate School of Education

School leaders can reference this resource when making decisions about how to structure the school day to prioritize and protect the time teachers need to improve their instruction and build relationships with students.

Give teams professional time and engage student learning through “PLUS” days (https://unlockingtime.org/time-strategies-for-schools/Give-Teachers-Professional-Time-Through-PLUS-Days)
by Unlocking Time by Abl

A PLUS day is a full day dedicated to collaboration and planning. This resource provides a detailed rationale for shifting to the PLUS day model and offers a case study to show the strategy in action.

Finding Time for Collaborative Planning: Connected Professional Learning Case Study (https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/finding_time_for_collaborative_planning)
by Education Resource Strategies

In this guide, ERS provides context around how American teachers currently spend their time and offers actionable strategies for school leaders looking to increase the amount of time teachers have to collaborate.

Individualize student learning paths by reducing teachers' student loads in core subjects. This will allow teachers to build more meaningful connections with students, deeply engage in student work, and will help make teachers' workloads more manageable. 
 
The Freshmen Academy of Revere High School: Revere High School Turnaround Focuses on 9th Grade(https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/the_freshmen_academy_of_revere_high_school)
by Education Resource Strategies

Following the story of The Freshman Academy at Revere High School, this resource showcases how school and district leaders currently facing staffing challenges can look toward alternative models to support students in the highest-impact grades and subjects.

What schools can learn from learning pods about supporting effective teacher-student relationships (https://crpe.org/what-schools-can-learn-from-learning-pods-about-supporting-effective-teacher-student-relationships/)
by Center for Reinventing Public Education

For those with access to them, COVID learning pods facilitated personalized learning and strong teacher-student relationships. This resource reviews the strengths of the pod model and can help leaders increase personalized learning opportunities for students.

Promoting Personalization through Learner Pathways (https://practices.learningaccelerator.org/strategies/promoting-personalization-through-learner-pathways)
by Learning Accelerator

Learner Pathways are crafted around student choice, time for small group interventions, and differentiated learning. This resource provides instructional leaders with strategies to facilitate teacher-student connections and promote differentiated learning opportunities through the Learner Pathways model.

Leverage district buying power, community partnerships, and in-house expertise to organize wellness supports for teachers, such as in-school mini-substitutes or physical and mental health programs. These supports will make teaching more sustainable and will help reduce teacher turnover and burnout.

Structural Supports to Promote Teacher Well-Being (https://annenberginstitute.org/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_19.pdf)
by Annenburg Institute & EdResearch for Recovery

Positive school culture and strong staff relationships are important in retaining teachers. This resource explicates clear strategies to provide sustainable support to teachers.

Supporting the Whole Teacher: Developing educators’ social and emotional skills lays the foundation for success with students (https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SupportingWholeTeacherUpdate.pdf)
by Aspen Institute

This report outlines strategies that school and district leaders can implement to both support teacher wellbeing and equip staff to meet students' varied social emotional needs.

Prioritizing People: Purposeful investments to better support student and teacher mental health (https://teachplus.org/sites/default/files/publication/pdf/prioritizing_people.pdf)
by TeachPLUS

This resource highlights specific, teacher-recommended ways in which school and district leaders can organize their resources to prioritize teacher and student mental health and wellbeing.

Enhancing Relationships and Morale: A Back-to-School Toolkit for Administrators (https://barrcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Administrator-Toolkit-1-1.pdf)
by BARR Center

By implementing strategies from this toolkit, school leaders can initiate and sustain healthy and uplifting relationships with their staff.

Question 2

Teacher Pipeline and Retention

Accepted Answer

Partner with local schools of education and teacher preparation programs to integrate teacher-residents, student-teachers, or practicum/field-work students into targeted classes on a part-time basis.

Ensuring High-Quality Teacher Talent: How Strong, Bold Partnerships between School Districts and Teacher Preparation Programs are Transforming the Teacher Pipeline (https://education-first.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Ensuring-High-Quality-Teacher-Talent.pdf)
by Education First

The concrete examples and roadmaps presented in this resource can support school, district, and teacher prep administrators looking to initiate or strengthen their teacher preparation partnerships.

Partnerships Toolkit: Creating a Comprehensive Student Teaching Partnership (https://www.doe.mass.edu/edprep/domains/partnerships/toolkit.docx)
by the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

This toolkit from DESE provides concrete resources and tools to help district administrators plan and execute robust student teaching partnerships that help sustain a healthy new teacher pipeline.

Develop new teachers using “shelter-and-develop” models that lighten their workload and leverage strong mentorship to accelerate their development. This allows new teachers to rapidly develop their skills in a supportive environment and may help schools retain teachers in the long term.

Toolkit: New Teacher Support (https://www.erstrategies.org/toolkits/toolkit_new_teacher_support)
by Education Resource Strategies

This resource, designed for school and district leaders, provides guidance on building a "shelter and develop" model of new teacher training.

Sustaining Teacher Training In A Shifting Environment (https://www.annenberginstitute.org/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_7.pdf)
by Annenberg Institute & EdResearch for Recovery

This brief offers strategies that can support early-career teachers and/or those who did not complete a traditional student teaching program.

Mentor Practice Standards (https://newteachercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Mentor-Practice-Standards_RB21.pdf)
by New Teacher Center

This resource provides research-based foundational, structural, and instructional standards to maximize the impact of school-based teacher mentorship programs.

Increase staffing stability by investing in teacher retention strategies. By actively developing staff and cultivating a culture of collaboration, shared learning, and professionalism, schools can increase the quality of teaching and learning and retain their most successful teachers for the long term.

If You Listen, We Will Stay: Why Teachers of Color Leave and How to Disrupt Teacher Turnover (https://edtrust.org/resource/if-you-listen-we-will-stay/)
by Education Trust & TeachPLUS

Diversifying the teacher workforce requires intentional efforts to hire and retain teachers of color. This report investigates underlying reasons why teachers of color leave their classrooms and identifies solutions to this complex problem.

Planning Teacher Stay Conversations (https://tntp.org/teacher-talent-toolbox/view/planning-teacher-stay-conversations)
by TNTP

“Stay conversations” are discussions in which a school leader inquires about the conditions under which teachers feel incentivized to stay in their current roles/schools. This resource is a roadmap and planning guide for effective stay conversations.

4 Strategies to Increase Teacher Retention (https://wasa-oly.org/WASA/images/WASA/6.0%20Resources/Hanover/4%20STRATEGIES%20TO%20INCREASE%20TEACHER%20RETENTION.pdf)
by Hanover Research

This resource outlines four specific strategies that school and district leaders can implement to support teacher retention.

Teacher Retention Planning Guide (https://tntp.org/assets/teacher-talent-toolbox-resources/Planning_Guide_-_Teacher_Retention.pdf)
by TNTP

This document offers a structured process that school administrators can follow when planning to retain specific teachers.

Ensure that compensation is highly competitive with other professional roles and can grow based on one’s contribution and impact (for example, through teacher-leadership roles). Budget for significant stipends to incentivize and reward teachers who assume new responsibilities.

Teacher Compensation Calculator (https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/teacher_compensation_calculator)
by Education Resource Strategies

This interactive calculator helps district leaders create compensation packages that will attract, retain, and leverage teacher talent. It is designed for districts with traditional salary structures and accounts for teacher experience, leadership roles, education levels, and teacher effectiveness.

Do More, Add More, Earn More: (https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/do_more_add_more_earn_more)
Teacher Salary Redesign Lessons from 10 First-Mover Districts(https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/do_more_add_more_earn_more)
by Education Resource Strategies & Center for American Progress

This report investigates the specific ways in which ten districts restructured teacher compensation to both reward their strongest educators and raise salaries overall. It is most useful to district leaders in the early phases of planning for compensation redesign.

Financially Sustainable Staffing Models: Shifts in time and money that allow schools to build Next Education Workforce models (https://workforce.education.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Financially-Sustainable_Whitepaper_Final_Digital-v2.pdf)
by Arizona State University & ERS

Through examples, diagrams, and budget breakdowns, this resource helps school and district leaders to reimagine staffing models and plan for competitive compensation.

Question 3

Teacher Leadership

Accepted Answer

Give teachers opportunities to share their strengths and extend their impact through meaningful leadership roles that allow them to continue working with students. This keeps strong teachers in the classroom and develops high-quality school-leadership pipelines.

Leading from the Front of the Classroom: A Roadmap to Teacher Leadership that Works (https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Leading-from-the-Front-of-the-Classroom.pdf)
by The Aspen Institute

This report is an actionable guide to creating a strong teacher leadership pipeline. It is most relevant to school and district leaders in the early stages of designing teacher leadership plans.

Creating and Sustaining Teacher Leadership Roles: Lessons Learned from Districts(https://www.doe.mass.edu/edeffectiveness/leadership/create-sustain-roles.pdf)
by the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

This resource presents lessons learned from teacher leadership pilots across Massachusetts. It can inform school and district leaders who are currently planning formalized teacher leadership programs.

Guide to Creating Teacher Leader Positions (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED583866.pdf)
by U.S Department of Education for Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF)

This resource is targeted toward school and district leaders currently in the process of defining, finalizing, and hiring for teacher leadership roles. It includes detailed information about roles and responsibilities, and addresses the need for sustainability.

Question 4

Teacher Tools

Accepted Answer

Provide teachers with state-of-the-art technology tools that will help streamline administrative duties, aid instructional planning and delivery, and enable teachers to focus on what matters most - engaging with students.

Digital Instructional Materials: What Are Teachers Using and What Barriers Exist? (https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2575z17.html)
by RAND Corportation

This resource highlights technology practices and popular tech tools that teachers use most. Because it centers teacher preferences, this report can inform school and district leaders in the process of selecting technology tools.

Realizing the Promise: How can education technology improve learning for all? (https://www.brookings.edu/essay/realizing-the-promise-how-can-education-technology-improve-learning-for-all/)
by Brookings Institute

School and district leaders can use this resource, and its accompanying materials, to ensure that they have chosen the appropriate technology for their schools and that these resources are being used effectively.

Question 5

Reimagining the Teaching Job

Accepted Answer

Reimagining the Teaching Job (https://www.erstrategies.org/tap/reimagining_the_teaching_job)
by Education Resource Strategies

This toolkit provides a vision for the future of the teaching job, with high-impact strategies that districts can use to begin this work. Topics include increasing the sustainability of the teaching job, developing and retaining new teachers, and strengthening compensation and career pathways.

Resource Toolbox

Empowering, Adaptable Instruction

Time and Attention

Relationships & Social-Emotional Supports

The Teaching Job

Family and Community Partnerships

Do you know of a resource to support schools and districts in making high-leverage ESSER investments? Tell us about it here for possible inclusion in the Resource Toolbox!