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Michigan’s students who are the most underserved face the highest rates of inexperienced teachers, teachers who have emergency or temporary credentials, and educators who are teaching classes that are not in their field of expertise, according to troubling new analyses and data released today.

For instance, in 2022-23, more than 16.5% of teachers in high-poverty school districts were teaching out-of-field – twice the state average. And students in school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty are sixteen times more likely to learn from a teacher with temporary or emergency credentials than their peers in Michigan’s wealthiest school districts, a new EdTrust-Midwest analysis revealed.

In districts where a majority of children are Black, students are nearly four times more likely to learn from an out-of-field teacher. They are also four times more likely to learn from a teacher with emergency credentials and nearly twice as likely to learn from a beginning teacher than in districts serving primarily white students, EdTrust-Midwest researchers found.

The uneven distribution of effective, experienced, highly qualified teachers contributes to troubling and persistent disparities in reading and math outcomes for Michigan’s students who have long lacked access to strong educational resources. These new findings, along with other troubling research and data, are being released in a report by EdTrust-Midwest, Closing the Opportunity Divide: Addressing Michigan’s Teacher Shortage Problem for Students Most in Need. Importantly, the report also includes five priority solutions to begin addressing the crisis.

To address the crisis and provide a roadmap for policymakers, the report includes five key priorities to address Michigan’s inequitable teacher shortage problem. EdTrust-Midwest is also launching a new campaign called #TeachersWeNeed to uplift the voices of educators, parents, and students across the state. The goal is for Michigan to become a Top 10 state for education, which has long been one of EdTrust-Midwest’s top priorities.

Among the other findings and research cited in the report:

  • Students who learn in school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty are nearly three times more likely than their peers in low-poverty districts to learn from a beginning teacher with fewer than three years of teaching experience.
  • Districts with the highest concentrations of poverty only employ 13.5% of all the teachers in the state, yet they account for 38% of all teachers with emergency credentials in Michigan.
  • Districts with the highest concentrations of poverty accounted for more than a third – 33.5% – of all out-of-field teachers in the state despite only employing 13.5% of all teachers in the state.
  • Teacher attrition in Michigan is worse than the national average, and teacher turnover is far higher for students living in concentrated poverty. While all districts are having a harder time retaining teachers following the pandemic, the challenges remain most acute in high-poverty districts. These factors can inhibit student growth.

Read the full report and detailed recommendations here.