Teacher Preparation and Shortage Issues

There is widespread acknowledgment that we have a teacher shortage in Colorado and around the country. This shortage is felt in every phase of workforce development: recruitment (lower interest in the field), retention (higher turnover of early career teachers) and retirement (teachers retiring earlier than expected). In addition, these problems vary somewhat across different communities, rural and urban.

Recently, the Colorado Department of Higher Education published a strategic plan to address the teacher shortages in Colorado. 

In this forum, we welcome our panel to share their perspectives on both the shortage, the various strategies in the plan or those being implemented in other states in the country.  

On the panel we have:

• Kim Hunter Reed, executive director, Colorado Department of Higher Education
• Kerrie Dallman, president, Colorado Education Association
• Steve Meyer, senior research associate, RMC Research Association 
• Shannon Hagerman, executive director of professional development and continuing education, SEHD, which includes ASPIRE to Teach, alternative teacher licensure at CU Denver

Moderator:

• Barbara Seidl, associate dean for teacher education and undergraduate experiences at CU Denver