Teacher, Early Childhood Provider, Faculty, and Staff Well-Being, Professional Development, and Supports

In the wake of the pandemic, PreK-12, early childhood program, and higher education administrators, teachers, providers, faculty, and staff; counselors and advisors; custodians; school bus drivers; and information technology, housing and food service, and other staff mobilized to go above and beyond to support the well-being and safety of all our children and students. This community of educators and education staff continues to rise to the occasion despite many challenges as they continue to help students and staff recover from the pandemic.

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However, teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, and staff are also susceptible to issues such as loss, isolation, significant family challenges, unemployment, or financial distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Serving as a support system for students, young children, and families with a wide range of needs while recovering from the negative effects of the pandemic can be mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing and result in compassion fatigue. Teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, and staff may require mental and behavioral health supports, assistance with childcare or eldercare, or other forms of supports.

In addition, pandemic recovery and the return to in-person schooling have presented opportunities for professional development as educators quickly adapt to the shifting needs of students and adopt new and varied educational technology to support engaging and effective instruction to help students recover from significant academic losses. These development-centered initiatives are vital for supporting teachers, early childhood providers, and staff as they do the essential work of helping the nation’s students recover from the pandemic.

The resources on this page share school, early childhood program, and campus strategies to address the social, emotional, health, and other needs of teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, and staff. Teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, staff, schools, districts, early childhood programs, institutions of higher education, other places of educational instruction, and States may use these lessons learned, best practices, and Federal resources to ensure equity within all aspects of their education systems and to provide ongoing supports to those most impacted by the pandemic.

Supporting Students With Dyslexia Toolkit

This toolkit provides a series of video tutorials, tools, videos, infographics, and other resources about dyslexia for parents and educators. Topics include school-based screening for dyslexia, student support services, and intensified instructional practices.

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REL Resource | Webinar: Improving Rural Teacher Retention: Developing Localized Strategies to Address Teacher Working Conditions

In August 2023, REL Northwest hosted a webinar to engage rural school leaders and staff in identifying strategies to improve working conditions and teacher retention. Based on previous work from REL Northwest’s partnership with Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) in Alaska, this webinar shared valuable lessons learned from research and work with LKSD on monitoring and improving working conditions in the district.

Impact Stories From the Comprehensive Center Network

This webpage features success stories from collaborations between the Comprehensive Center Network and state and local education agencies across the country. Each story shares key strategies, important lessons, and innovative solutions and celebrates school districts and state education agencies as they work to drive change and make an impact in education. It can be filtered by topic, Center, or state/jurisdiction to gain new ideas and to cheer for the great work happening in the area.

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Selecting Speakers for Professional Development Programs

This tool provides guidance to help education agencies select high-quality professional development opportunities related to educational equity.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice focused on helping teacher, early childhood provider, and faculty continue to recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

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Leveraging Flexible Teacher Certification Policies to Address the Bilingual Teacher Shortage

This brief is the third of a four-part series that focuses on bilingual education, bilingual educators, and addressing the bilingual teacher shortage in contexts across the United States. This research was commissioned by the New Jersey State Department of Education, which is committed to providing quality bilingual education to its linguistically diverse student population.

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Evidence-Based Practices for Improving Adolescent Literacy Training Toolkit

This toolkit for training educators to improve adolescent literacy was developed around four topic recommendations: explicit vocabulary instruction, direct and explicit comprehension instruction, extended discussion of text meaning and interpretation, and motivation and engagement in literacy learning. A practice guide directs work in each of the four modules and tool sets.

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Developing Educator Expertise to Work With Adolescent English Learners

These modules provide educators with the training they need to support English learners in the classroom. They were created based on a conversation between Aída Walqui, the Director of the National Research and Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners, and renowned linguists and educators from around the world who have made significant contributions to the study of multilingualism.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice focused on helping teacher, early childhood provider, and faculty continue to recover from the pandemic ? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

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