Chong, Sin Wang; Oxley, Emily; Negrea, Violeta; Bond, Melissa; Liu, Qi; Kong, Ming Sum; (2024) Teacher recruitment and retention in schools in socio economically disadvantaged areas in England – review of practice. Education Endowment Foundation (EEF): London, UK.

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Abstract

This review of practice was driven by the need to understand and improve the recruitment and retention of state sector teachers in socio-economically disadvantaged areas in England. The impetus for the study was the recognition that schools in these areas often face significant challenges in attracting and retaining high-quality teachers, which can impact the quality of education provided to students. The study was conducted in two concurrent phases. The first phase involved the analysis of 526 job advertisements for teaching positions in the Education Investment Areas (EIAs) in England. This analysis aimed to identify the strategies and incentives currently advertised to attract potential teaching and leadership candidates. The second phase consisted of an online questionnaire distributed to teachers and school leaders in these areas (n = 62). The online questionnaire allowed for the collection of data to provide a preliminary indication of which strategies might be considered most important for the recruitment and retention of teachers. The inclusion of open responses in the questionnaire also ensured that the study could identify any additional recruitment strategies. The small sample size means that findings from the second phase should be treated with caution. The output of this review of practice is a typology of teacher recruitment and retention strategies used in English state schools located in the EIAs. The typology includes five overarching themes most frequently mentioned in the job advertisements: working environment, career development, staff welfare, financial incentives, and work/life balance. Working environment, including information about school facilities, school reputation, and ethos and policies was the most frequently occurring theme, mentioned in over 90% of advertisements, followed by information about career development opportunities including promotion and additional training.

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