[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-587921-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":73,"doc-detail-587921-en":122},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":66,"head_meta":68,"extra_data":70,"updated_unix":72},105,"en","the-current-and-future-educator-workforce-in-wisconsins-rural-schools-wcer-working-paper-no-2025-4","The Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools - WCER Working Paper No. 2025-4","","This paper examines Wisconsin’s rural educator workforce by summarizing key characteristics of the current teacher workforce and how they have shifted over time, then documenting how the state’s approved educator preparation programs (EPPs) attract, prepare, and retain future rural educators. Findings indicate uneven access to EPP relationships driven largely by geographic distance, plus many rural staffing-oriented program models that warrant further intentional rural focus. The study closes with issues and potential policy recommendations.",{"@graph":14,"@context":65},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-current-and-future-educator-workforce-in-wisconsins-rural-schools-wcer-working-paper-no-2025-4/587921/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-current-and-future-educator-workforce-in-wisconsins-rural-schools-wcer-working-paper-no-2025-4/587921.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Bintang","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the paper say about the demographic composition of teachers in rural districts?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Teachers in rural districts have remained overwhelmingly (95%) white over the past two decades despite increasing student diversity, with implications discussed in the findings.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":67,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":69,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":71,"site_id":7},587921,1792190650,{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":75},"success",[76,80,84,88,93,98,102,106,111,114,118],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":77,"show_sort_weight":78,"slug":79},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":81,"show_sort_weight":82,"slug":83},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":89,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":94,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},8,30,"research-report",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":113},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":117},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":121},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":123},{"doc_id":71,"user_id":124,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":103,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":131,"language":132,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":136,"read_time":137,"preview_page_count":4},962085564381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","The Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools  \nWCER Working Paper No. 2025-4  \nOctober 2025  \nJenny Seelig1 and Bradley Carl2  \n1NORC at the University of Chicago Education and Child Development  \n[seelig-jenny@norc.org](seelig-jenny@norc.org)  \n2Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC) Wisconsin Center for Education Research  \nSchool of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison  \n[bradley.carl@wisc.edu](bradley.carl@wisc.edu)  \nKeywords: Rural schools, educator shortages, teacher recruitment  \nSuggested citation: Seelig, J. & Carl, B. (2025) . The current and future educator workforce in Wisconsin’s rural schools (WCER Working Paper No. 2025-4). University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.  \n© 2025 by Jennifer Seelig and Bradley Carl. All rights reserved. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies, WCER, or cooperating institutions. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for noncommercial purposes by any means, provided that the above copyright notice appears on all copies. WCER working papers are available at [https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers](https://wcer.wisc.edu/publications/working-papers)  \nThe Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools  \nJenny Seelig and Bradley Carl  \nABSTRACT  \nThis paper builds upon previous work investigating Wisconsin’s rural educator workforce by (a) summarizing key characteristics of the current teacher workforce in Wisconsin’s rural schools and how these may have changed over time; and (b) documenting ways in which the state’s approved educator preparation programs (EPPs) are helping attract, prepare, and retain future rural educators. We find that rural districts have uneven access and relationships with the state’s EPPs, which is largely (although not exclusively) a function of their physical distance from EPPs. We also find a wide range of programs and partnerships that EPPs have developed to help meet the staffing needs of rural schools statewide, such as dual-credit courses and placements specifically in rural districts for practicum and student teaching experiences, although we recommend that EPPs and other postsecondary institutions review the extent to which these are intentionally rural-focused. We close by summarizing several key issues that emerged from our inquiry into how Wisconsin’s EPPs and other organizations are supporting both current and future rural teachers and offer potential policy recommendations for addressing these issues.  \nThe Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools  \nJenny Seelig and Bradley Carl  \nExecutive Summary  \nDespite increased awareness in recent years of staffing challenges faced by rural school districts in Wisconsin—which comprise nearly three-fourths ofthe state ’s 400+ local school districts and educate nearly half of all students statewide—rural communities continue to struggle with attracting and retaining educators. This is the second of two papers by the authors exploring staffing challenges facing Wisconsin’s rural educator workforce. Our first paper (Carl & Seelig, 2023) looked at the rural educator workforce primarily from the demand side, and found that rural districts are not waiting on state or federal policymakers to solve longstanding staffing challenges for them but instead are actively implementing a mix of strategies (such as“grow your own,” or GYO, initiatives) to address teacher shortages.  \nOur first report also confirmed, however, that we lack important contextual information about key characteristics of our state’s current rural educator workforce, and how those have changed (or not) over time. Importantly, there has also not been a review of the supply side of the rural educator pipeline, in the form of what Wisconsin’s 40+ approved educator preparation programs (EPPs) are doing to help addr","cbCaigoHYX05AgUU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigoHYX05AgUU","pdf",1567823,54,"English","# Abstract\n# Part 1: Demographic Trends in the Rural Educator Workforce\n## Declining teacher numbers in rural districts\n## Distance from educator preparation programs and remote subtype limitations\n## Growth of emergency credentials in rural districts\n## Teacher racial composition and student diversity implications\n# Part 2: EPPs and Partners Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Rural Educators","[{\"question\":\"What does the paper say about the demographic composition of teachers in rural districts?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers in rural districts have remained overwhelmingly (95%) white over the past two decades despite increasing student diversity, with implications discussed in the findings.\"}]","The Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools - WCER Working Paper No. 2025-4 | PDF",1792063744,136]