Teacher shortages continue to grow nationwide, with nearly one in eight positions either vacant or staffed by uncertified or unqualified teachers, new research concludes.
Based on available national data, 411,549 teaching positions were either vacant or filled by teachers not fully certified, according to the latest report from the Learning Policy Institute.
More specifically, 48 states plus the District of Columbia employed an estimated 365,967 teachers who are not adequately certified for their roles. Some 45,592 positions were left unfilled.
According to most state laws, teachers who are not fully certified can be hired or assigned only if a fully certified teacher is not available, the researchers note.
States vary in their requirements for teacher certification. The Learning Policy Institute’s analysis labeled teachers “not fully certified” if they were:
- Teaching without any credentials or license as defined by the state.
- Teaching on an emergency or temporary credential (including long-term substitutes).
- Completing preparation while teaching (including intern or lateral-entry credentials).
- Teaching a subject or grade level not covered by their current credential (out of field).
Compared to last year’s scan from the Learning Policy Institute, these figures represent a slight increase of nearly 4,600 teaching positions that were either unfilled or staffed by teachers not fully certified for their assignments.
“This is the second consecutive year of increases in the estimated number of unfilled positions and positions filled by teachers who are not fully certified, although these increases are substantially smaller than those observed from 2023 to 2024,” the report reads.
Teacher shortages as a national trend
The research reflects current media reports highlighting local and state trends surrounding the teacher staffing crisis. A recent report from education researchers at Penn State reveals that the number of teaching certificates issued by Pennsylvania dropped by more than 60% between the 2010-11 and 2023-24 school years, Spotlight PA reports.
According to KFOR, Oklahoma is looking to alternative solutions for finding highly-qualified teachers, including leveraging a statewide pilot program called the Oklahoma Teacher Pathway, a partnership between Fuel OKC and the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla in Puebla, Mexico.
As a result, Santa Fe South Schools has hired three new teachers from Mexico.
“They are coming in as full-fledged teachers; they had experience,” Carson Aldridge, talent director at Santa Fe South Schools, told KFOR. “Two out of the three have master’s degrees in their content areas.”
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