5 No-Cost Ideas to Improve Teacher Recruitment and Retention
| by Hannah Sparling
What if you could improve teacher recruitment and retention at your school without spending a dime?
Moreland University hosted a webinar with a panel of teachers to get their ideas and expertise. What attracts teachers to a particular school or district in the first place? What would keep them at that school long-term, and what might push them out the door?
Below are 5 practical, no-cost ideas from that conversation.

Idea #1: Add some oomph to your job post.
It all starts with the job description. Before you interview top candidates, before you select the best-of-the-best, before you empower them to build a long career in your district — you first have to attract the right candidates to apply.
Dr. Eddie Johns, a Moreland University instructor who did his dissertation on teacher recruitment and retention, said he looks for a clear mission and vision from the school along with a detailed description of what the job will entail.
“If there’s too much, then maybe it gets overwhelming,” he said, “but if there’s too little, then I think there’s not enough to really make a decision.”
Some job posts are like a “stock photo,” said Philip Brede, an English language arts teacher in Wisconsin. They’re so generic and vague that it could be any teaching job at any school in the U.S.
A good job post will include details on the position, the responsibilities, the school, the community, and the type of candidate the school wants. If a job post is full of positive buzzwords but light on specifics, Brede said, that’s a red flag.
Bottom line: Create a detailed description for each job opening. If you’re using the same template for each post and merely swapping out the job title, you’re likely missing out on great candidates.
Idea #2: Let your current teachers recruit for you.
An interview goes two ways: You’re interviewing the teaching candidate, but they’re also interviewing you. What’s the school culture? Are you, the administration, supportive? Are there opportunities for professional development and growth?
You can, and should, speak about this during the interview process, but when a candidate asks to speak with current teachers at your school, say yes. Even better, make the suggestion yourself.
When Brede was switching jobs during the 2024-25 school year, he did a shadow day at his new school before taking the job, and it was incredibly helpful in the decision-making process.
“I could see firsthand, as much as you can see in a day,” he said, “how does the administration interact with the staff? How are the staff with the students? What’s, just, the feeling in the hallway?”
Moreland Curriculum Manager Fayth Buriff remembers a Moreland grad who was applying for jobs and was told no when she asked to talk with other teachers at the school. That told her immediately, Buriff said, “This isn’t a school I really want to work at.”
Bottom line: Make your current teachers available to speak with candidates. If you’re worried about what your teachers might say, think about why, and address the root of the problem rather than shutting off access.
Idea #3: Create a community guide for new teachers.
Imagine a teacher who grew up in a rural area but is considering a job in a bigger city. He might be uneasy about navigating public transit.
Or maybe it’s a teacher from a larger city moving to a rural area. She might be worried about finding housing with a reasonable commute to work.
Especially if you’re wanting to attract diverse candidates, putting together a guide to help teachers navigate the community no matter their background could go a long way.
Some points to consider including:
- What are the best local restaurants?
- Which grocery stores tend to have the best prices or the freshest produce?
- Is there a neighborhood near the school that’s tailored toward young professionals or families with children?
- Where are the best playgrounds, the best pickleball courts, the most active book clubs or running groups?
- Maybe you’re in a mountainous area that gets lots of snow, and you could guide teachers on when to install snow tires.
- Maybe you’re in an area where the county fair is significant and school breaks for fair week — you could include a section about that.
Bottom line: You’re hiring a teacher to work at your school, but they’re also going to live in and play an active role in your community. Do whatever you can to make them feel welcome and to make that transition more comfortable.
Idea #4: Let teachers drive professional development.
We expect teachers to be engaging in the classroom. But ironically, if you look at some of the professional development opportunities offered to teachers, they’re “kind of boring,” Johns said. “Just PowerPoint presentations filled with words.”
“If it’s not interactive, if it’s not engaging, then we’re just doing it to click buttons to get out of it,” Johns said.
Ask your teachers what they’re interested in learning, what they’re passionate about, and base professional development on those topics or skills.
(If you have a professional development budget, you could even offer a small stipend to teachers interested in creating or leading sessions themselves.)
Bottom line: There will always be state-mandated, check-a-box style professional development. But for the rest? It should be inspiring. It should be meaningful. It should be fun. Ask your teachers what they want to explore, and go from there.
Idea #5: Protect teacher planning time.
Most teachers have planning periods, but do they actually get to use them to plan? It’s so easy for that time to get eaten up covering another teacher’s class, for example, or meeting with a principal or parent.
If you could truly promise protected planning, even just once a week, that would sweeten the deal for any teacher, said Dr. Elizabeth Dubberly, a dual language academic support specialist in Georgia.
In Dubberly’s current district, they do extended planning once a quarter by discipline.
“It’s a half day, you get a substitute, and it’s very meaningful,” she said. “People really get a lot done.”
Bottom line: If you don’t have the money to increase teacher salaries, you have to find other ways to increase job satisfaction. Protecting planning time is a seemingly small action that can have a big impact on teacher happiness.
Moreland University partners with school districts across the country to help educators grow their careers and earn professional certifications and master’s degrees. Learn more at Moreland.edu.