Addressing educator recruitment in Montana: creating a K-12 school culture that encourages students to choose education as a career choice

Abstract

Montana is facing unprecedented challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. The struggles to recruit licensed educators are experienced most often in Montana's most rural schools. Data suggests that Montana educator prep programs are graduating enough completers to meet demand and also that most teachers want to teach where they live. This study was designed to learn more about what Montana education leaders need to do in order to encourage students into the profession of teaching and support them in their education where they live. Interviews with the CEO of Phi Delta Kappa International, three Montana school superintendents and six Montana high school graduates studying to be teachers led to a more in depth understanding of what steps Montana law and policy makers should take to address the challenges of the state's schools in meeting their educator recruitment and retention needs. In vivo coding was used to support the finding of five main areas the state could address.