Wisconsin’s Rural Schools Confront Teacher Shortages: UW–Madison Study Explores Challenges, Solutions

December 11, 2025   |   By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research & Scholarship

A recent working paper from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), part of UW–Madison’s School of Education, highlights the persistent challenges rural schools face in attracting and retaining teachers — while also examining how educator preparation programs across the state are working to strengthen the pipeline of future educators.

The paper, “The Current and Future Educator Workforce in Wisconsin’s Rural Schools,” is co-authored by Jenny Seelig of NORC, an independent, nonprofit research institute at the University of Chicago, and Bradley Carl, co-founder and co-director of WCER’s Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative, with funding provided by UW–Madison's Tommy G. Thompson Center for Public Leadership. The paper provides a detailed look at both the declining rural educator workforce and ongoing efforts to prepare tomorrow’s teachers.

Teacher shortages in rural schools affect more than staffing numbers: they shape the educational experiences of students across the state, the researchers noted. When schools struggle to fill positions, students may face larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, and limited access to specialized instruction. By strengthening partnerships between districts and educator preparation programs, Wisconsin can build a more sustainable educator pipeline supporting both current and future teachers.

“With stronger support from educator preparation programs and state-level policies, these efforts can be scaled and sustained to ensure every student in Wisconsin, no matter where they live, has access to well-prepared teachers,” said Seelig.

Rural Schools Educate Nearly Half of Wisconsin’s Students

Rural districts make up almost three-fourths of Wisconsin’s 400+ school districts and serve nearly half of all students statewide. Yet these communities continue to struggle with staffing shortages. The study shows that the number of teachers working in rural districts has declined over the past 20 years, even as the need remains high.

The number of rural teachers in Wisconsin dropped nearly 3% between the 2006–07 and the 2023–24 school years, state figures show, while the count in suburban districts rose by 12.3%. City schools saw a 1.7% increase in teachers, while town-based teachers fell 2.5%.

Key workforce trends highlighted in the report include:

• Declining numbers of rural teachers despite the large share of rural districts.
• Greater reliance on emergency teaching licenses, which have increased by more than 200% in rural areas over the past decade.
• Limited diversity among teachers. About 95% of rural teachers are white, even as student populations grow more diverse, raising concerns about representation and cultural responsiveness in classrooms.
• “Teachers in rural districts have remained overwhelmingly white over the past two decades, despite increasing student diversity,” said Carl. “Among other implications, this means that the racial/ethnic ‘diversity gap’ between rural teachers and rural students more than doubled between 2006–07 and 2023–24.”
• Distance from training programs: Many rural districts, especially in northern Wisconsin, are far from educator preparation programs, making it harder to access student teachers and professional learning opportunities.

How Educator Preparation Programs are Helping

The study highlights the importance of investing in rural educator pipelines to ensure that every student, regardless of location, has access to well-prepared teachers.

Wisconsin has more than 40 approved educator preparation programs, ranging from public universities to private institutions and regional service agencies. They are vital in supplying new teachers to rural schools, with campuses within the Universities of Wisconsin System — particularly UW–River Falls — among the largest contributors.

Promising efforts include:

• Dual-credit courses that introduce high school students to teaching careers.
• State-funded stipends such as the Rural School Teacher Talent Grant, which help student teachers afford placements in rural districts.
• Partnerships and programs that place student teachers in rural schools and offer professional learning opportunities, often supported by grant funding.

The report notes that addressing rural teacher shortages is about retaining current instructors, too. Professional learning tailored to rural contexts is essential, yet many such programs rely on short-term grant funding that can make sustainability difficult. Long-term investment and support is needed to prevent schools from losing experienced teachers critical to community stability and student success.

The study closes with a call for continued collaboration among districts, universities, policymakers, and community organizations. Addressing rural teacher shortages will require a mix of strategies from growing local talent through “grow-your- own” initiatives to expanding financial and professional supports for educators, researchers said.

About the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative

The Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC) conducts and supports program evaluations within education and community systems through partnerships with school districts, professional associations, state agencies, education-based community organizations, and Cooperative Educational Service Agencies. WEC is a community of evaluators with diverse content and methodological expertise. WEC also includes an outreach clinic that provides services to small projects through applied training of graduate students in evaluation and research methods. For more information, visit wec.wceruw.org.

About the Wisconsin Center for Education Research

The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at UW–Madison’s #1-ranked School of Education is one of the oldest and most productive education research centers in the world. It has assisted scholars and practitioners in developing, submitting, conducting and sharing grant-funded education research for over 60 years.

WCER’s mission is to improve educational outcomes for diverse student populations, positively impact education practice, and foster collaboration among academic disciplines and practitioners. Learn more at wcer.wisc.edu.