Why Do High-Poverty Schools have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers?

This report, written by Richard Ingersoll and prepared for Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future: A National Task Force on Public Education, highlights findings from Ingersoll’s study investigating the possibility that factors such as the characteristics and conditions of schools are behind the teacher shortage crisis. Unlike earlier research, this analysis focuses on those kinds of schools deemed most disadvantaged and most needy—those serving rural and urban, low-income communities. The findings show that school staffing problems are primarily due to a "revolving door"—where large numbers of qualified teachers depart from their jobs long before retirement—contrary to the previous belief that staffing problems were due to an insufficient supply of qualified teachers.