Five Michigan universities are launching a collaborative two-year initiative to address a critical teacher shortage forcing districts to rely increasingly on instructors with temporary credentials. Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University and Western Michigan University are partnering with the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative to improve teacher preparation, recruitment, retention and quality in the state.
Michigan’s teacher workforce is churning at an unsustainable rate. According to a report released this week from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University, the state had 8,000 teachers enter the field in 2024-25 but 7,900 exit during that same period, with nearly 3% of full-time equivalent teaching positions remaining vacant—the highest concentrations in urban districts and those serving economically disadvantaged student populations.
The Collaborative Response
The Education Preparation Provider Collaborative aims to create flexible and affordable pathways to the teaching profession while remaining responsive to school districts’ evolving needs, the partners announced. The collaborative draws on national models, including one in Arkansas that faced similar workforce challenges.
The Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative will provide each participating university with $100,000, using state-allocated funds.
The collaborative will establish partnerships between teacher preparation programs and pre-K-12 districts to develop scalable, high-quality teacher preparation models. Jack Elsey, CEO and founding partner of Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, outlined the shifting demands on teachers during a virtual roundtable discussion.
“Districts are expecting more and different from our teachers from literacy and math instruction to working with colleagues to how teachers analyze data to better inform their instruction,” Elsey said. “And yet, the vast majority of teachers in this state are developed in the traditional way by attending a university-based educator preparation program. The collaborative is supporting some of the state’s largest education programs to innovate and improve new teacher development across a number of areas including cost, access, retention rates, practical experiences and more.”
Why It Matters
The initiative targets improvements in program cost, access, retention rates and practical experiences for teacher candidates. Russ Kavalhuna, president of Western Michigan University, said the university is committed to creating tighter feedback loops with school districts.
“We’re excited to learn from and deepen our collaboration with school districts to create tighter connections and feedback loops to schools,” Kavalhuna said. “Not just to ensure that our teacher candidates secure a job when they graduate, but to ensure our program is being responsive to the skills and habits teachers need to be successful. School districts know what they are looking for, and we want to be a strong provider of talent for them.”
Ryan Gildersleeve, dean of the Eastern Michigan University College of Education, framed the initiative in terms of student outcomes.
“If all Michigan students are going to be successful readers, problem solvers and have access to post-secondary and career success, meeting those goals starts with how we prepare teachers,” Gildersleeve said.
The collaborative addresses challenges documented in the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative report, released the same week as the partnership announcement. The report’s findings underscore both the urgency and the stakes: without a stable pipeline of well-trained educators, student achievement and access fall first in the districts that can least afford to lose ground.