Districts across the country are facing two urgent challenges: persistent literacy gaps and high rates of teacher turnover. While often tackled separately, these challenges are interconnected. Teachers are more likely to remain in schools where they feel effective, supported, and part of a shared mission—and few missions are more galvanizing than helping every child and young person become a confident, capable reader.
Rather than searching for solutions to each challenge in isolation, district leaders can take a strategic, multipronged approach that improves literacy outcomes while strengthening teacher satisfaction and retention. Research suggests that by investing in strong teacher preparation, sustained professional learning, and positive working conditions, districts can accelerate students’ literacy growth and improve teacher retention simultaneously.
A path forward points to four actions district and school leaders can take:
Unfortunately, too many teachers enter the profession underprepared to teach reading effectively. A 2023 analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality found that only 25% of teacher preparation programs fully cover the five pillars of evidence-based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Even fewer address how to meet the needs of students with dyslexia or multilingual learners.
Preparation gaps often leave teachers—especially new teachers—feeling overwhelmed. Up to 50% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years, often citing challenging working conditions and a lack of support. Strong support, guidance, and orientation programs, including mentoring programs, can change that trajectory and lead to higher levels of teacher retention (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004).
Districts can strengthen both retention and literacy outcomes by ensuring that new teachers—or those new to teaching reading in alignment with the science of reading (SOR)—receive professional learning in the science of reading (SOR), high-quality instructional materials built on the SOR-based Structured Literacy approach, and ongoing job-embedded coaching. It is equally important to attend to the needs of upper elementary and secondary teachers who work with students lacking strong foundational reading skills, such as decoding. These educators must also be empowered with the knowledge, resources, and instructional strategies necessary to incorporate Structured Literacy practices into their classrooms, enabling them to help students close skill gaps and accelerate growth.
Teachers are more likely to stay when they feel part of collaborative professional community. Even participation in a single, collaborative team within a school can foster greater commitment and job satisfaction. (Meredith et al., 2022).
Literacy instruction lends itself well to collaboration. Grade-level and cross-grade teams can analyze student performance data, implement targeted interventions, and problem-solve together around instructional challenges. Research emphasizes that the context for professional learning—namely, a culture of trust, respect, and enthusiasm—is just as important as the content (Weston et al., 2021).
Districts and schools can help drive positive outcomes by protecting time for literacy-focused professional learning communities (PLCs), aligning collaborative work to clear goals, and celebrating collective progress in reading achievement.
According to How Leadership Influences Student Learning (2004), school leadership is second only to teaching in its impact on student outcomes. Strong school leaders make their greatest impact by setting clear directions, developing people, and designing organizational systems to support teaching and learning.
In the context of literacy, this means principals and instructional leaders can:
Adopting an evidence-based literacy program grounded in the science of reading is essential, but not enough. According to implementation science research, professional learning, coaching, and leadership alignment are all critical to achieving lasting impact for both teachers and students.
Districts should prioritize evidence-based programs that include support for educators to implement them successfully. When solution providers serve as true partners—offering initial training, ongoing coaching, and data tools—teachers grow more confident as literacy instructors and their sense of self-efficacy increases. Research shows that a teacher’s belief in their own effectiveness is one of the most powerful predictors of job satisfaction, a key factor in long-term retention.
SPIRE and Reading Accelerator exemplify this model:
By selecting evidence-based programs that are easy to implement and come with robust support, districts can reduce turnover and build an empowered group of literacy educators.
When teachers are equipped to teach well, they stay. When schools retain experienced, skilled educators, student outcomes improve. These goals are not separate—they are inextricably linked.
By investing in teacher preparation, professional collaboration, instructional leadership, and evidence-based literacy programs with strong implementation support, district leaders can address two pressing challenges with one multi-pronged strategy.
The path to better literacy begins with strong teacher support. The path to higher retention starts with empowering teachers to do the deeply satisfying work of helping every student become a confident, lifelong reader.