Research suggests that the greatest point of leverage for policymakers looking to improve the quality of education is to ensure we have good teachers in our schools. Despite this, England currently faces a serious shortage of teachers in maths, science (especially physics), modern foreign languages and computer science. This shortage is due in part to the increased rates at which early-career teachers are leaving the profession. Many school systems have implemented policies that increase the pay of those teaching in subjects in which there is a teacher shortage, aiming to increase retention. T
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Research suggests that the greatest point of leverage for policymakers looking to improve the quality of education is to ensure we have good teachers in our schools. Despite this, England currently faces a serious shortage of teachers in maths, science (especially physics), modern foreign languages and computer science. This shortage is due in part to the increased rates at which early-career teachers are leaving the profession. Many school systems have implemented policies that increase the pay of those teaching in subjects in which there is a teacher shortage, aiming to increase retention. Three such policies in the US have now been evaluated using careful observational research designs - North Carolina Bonus Program; Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program; and Georgia House Bill 280.
This paper applies the findings from these studies to the teacher labour market in England. More specifically, it attempts to answer the question: would introducing a 5 per cent salary supplement for new science and maths teachers in the first five years of their career eliminate the shortage of teachers in these subjects, and how much would it cost? The effects of such a policy are simulated using data on real teachers between 2010 and 2015. The results suggest that introducing such a policy in 2010 would have: increased the supply of science teachers by 423 and maths teachers by 372 in 2015, through improving retention of those already in the profession; eliminated entirely the overall shortage of science teachers experienced since 2010; reduced substantially the deficit of maths teachers experienced in 2012 and 2013 and eliminated it entirely by 2014 - eliminating the shortages in 2012 and 2013 would have required the policy to be introduced earlier.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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