Time: 8:30 to 10 a.m. Pacific Time (Concurrent Session IX)

Location: The Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) 2018 Conference (Portland, Oregon)

Description: REL Northwest’s Hella Bel Hadj Amor will lead a discussion on what states and districts are doing to improve recruitment and increase retention of a teacher workforce that better reflects a rapidly diversifying student body. The session will examine how stakeholders can use education research to propose, develop, and enact effective policy solutions. Participants will also explore what additional research could help identify the specific needs of the agencies and how to best target scarce resources.

Partnership or Research Alliance: Improving teacher recruitment and retention is a priority for multiple REL Northwest partnerships:

• Alaska State Policy Research Alliance
• Idaho Educator Pipeline Alliance
• Montana Education Research Alliance
• Mountain West State Executives Dialogue
• Oregon Bilingual Teacher Pipeline Collaborative
• Washington State Vibrant Teaching Force Alliance

Audience: AEFP members, including academics, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, administrators, and teachers.

Speakers: Chair: Hella Bel Hadj Amor, REL Northwest at Education Northwest

Discussants: Cara Jackson, Montgomery County Public Schools; Sean Dusek, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District; Shannon Stackhouse Flores, Michigan Department of Education; and Carlos Sequeira, Lane Education Service District