Research suggests that teacher quality is a key influence on pupil attainment (Coe et al., 2020), second only to pupil background (OECD, 2015) and that sustained access to high quality teachers is a significant challenge. In England 30% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years and 40% leave within 10 years (Long & Danechi, 2022). Recruiting and retaining high quality teachers in disadvantaged schools is a particularly urgent need (see also Tereshchenko et al., 2020 and House of Commons, 2017). Recent systematic reviews of quantitative studies of teacher quality (Bradford et al., 2021) and on ‘what works in attracting and retaining teachers in challenging schools and areas’ (See et al., 2020) have evaluated where the strongest evidence currently exists. In this paper, we will present findings of a conceptual review that set out to scope opportunities for new research in this area and to find and recommend promising leads for future studies. The review takes a Rapid Evidence Assessment approach, focusing on recent grey literature and review articles, and peer-reviewed articles identified from a targeted search of relevant databases. The review identified 25 proxies or measures for teacher quality used in the literature. These proxies were categorised as Professional Capital, Qualification and Training (8 proxies), Interpersonal and psychosocial (8 proxies), and those to do with School and Environment (9 proxies). 28 factors associated with recruitment and/or retention of teachers in disadvantaged schools were identified and classified as being system-level (5 factors), school-level (15 factors) or individual-level (8 factors). Key messages from the review include the importance of manageable workload, induction support and mentoring, effective principals, relationships within and beyond the school and teacher agency and autonomy. Challenges for this area include the lack of high quality research relevant to the English context and the limited amount of research addressing both high quality teachers and recruitment or retention of teachers in disadvantaged schools.

Bradford, K., Pendergast, D., & Grootenboer, P. (2021). What Is Meant By ‘Teacher Quality’ In Research And Policy: A Systematic, Quantitative Literature Review. Education Thinking, 1(1), 57–76. Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2020). Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review. Evidence Based Education. https://assets.website-files.com/5ee28729f7b4a5fa99bef2b3/5ee9f507021911ae35ac6c4d_EBE_GTT_EVIDENCE%20REVIEW_DIGITAL.pdf?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greatteaching.com%2F House of Commons. (2017). Recruitment and retention of teachers fifth report of session 2016-2017. HCC 199. Long, R., & Danechi, S. (2022). Teacher recruitment and retention in England. House of Commons Library. OECD (2018), Effective Teacher Policies: Insights from PISA, PISA, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264301603-en See, B.H., Morris, R., Gorard, S. & El Soufi, N. (2020) What works in attracting and retaining teachers in challenging schools and areas?, Oxford Review of Education, 46:6, 678-697, DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2020.1775566 Tereshchenko, A; Mills, M; Bradbury, A; (2020) Making progress? Employment and retention of BAME teachers in England. UCL Institute of Education: London, UK.