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From Missing Out to Moving Up: Addressing Teacher Shortages in Arkansas

The view from above of students walking through a door and up a flight of stairs.

Arkansas, like many states across the country, is facing teacher shortages and seeking solutions to keep its classrooms fully staffed. Three years ago, TNTP proposed recommendations for Arkansas to address teacher shortages in our report Missing Out: Arkansas’ Teacher Shortage and How to Fix It. 

Since then, Arkansas has implemented our recommendations by sustaining existing and creating new programs, as well as by establishing additional policies in the Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking, and School Safety (LEARNS) Act, signed in March of 2023.  

In our latest report, Moving Up: Promising Strategies to Address Teacher Shortages in Arkansas, we assessed the impact of those programs and policy shifts on the state’s teacher pipelines. We then propose a second set of recommendations to continue this essential effort, building on those from the 2021 report.  

We hope other states and school systems will find useful action steps to address teacher shortages, inspired by Arkansas’ strong start. To learn more, download the full report.  

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A close-up photograph of a young woman with dark, curly hair and glasses, leaning in to assist a young boy with his schoolwork. The woman, likely a teacher or tutor, is smiling and pointing at a paper with a pencil while the boy, who is wearing a dark hoodie, looks intently at the work. Word flashcards are visible on a blue background in the distance.

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About TNTP

TNTP is the nation’s leading research, policy, and consulting organization dedicated to transforming America’s public education system so that every young person thrives.

Today, we work side-by-side with educators, system leaders, and communities across the nation to reach ambitious goals for student success.

Yet the possibilities we imagine push far beyond the walls of school and the education field alone. We are catalyzing a movement across sectors to create multiple pathways for young people to achieve academic, economic, and social mobility.

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