Retaining Teachers Through Building Confidence in Collaboration Skills: Promoting 21st-Century Teaching Skills in Teacher Education

In 2023, the United States faces a monumental teacher shortage. Murdock (2022) has quoted an estimated 36,504 full-time teaching positions as unfilled, with another 163,650 positions filled by underqualified individuals or by those teaching outside of their field of study. Although this figure falls short of the 53 percent of all schools reported by the National Education Association (NEA) as understaffed, it is a figure of consequence for educators and schools (Walker, 2022). The NEA has also reported that 55percent of those in teaching and in educational support positions have considered leaving the profession earlier than planned. In 2018, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducted their Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and found similar results. In the survey, 14 percent of teachers aged 50 years or younger stated their desire to leave the profession within the next five years.