Communities Are Built Around Their Schools
Vital Network is Helping North Dakota Keep Great Educators
North Dakota ranked in the top 20% of states for Teaching Attractiveness.
States for ability to fill vacancies and states for teachers who remained in the same school year to year.
While North Dakota has competitive starting pay, strong leadership, and dedicated professional development, the state still faces significant educator workforce strain.
of schools unable to fill teacher vacancies, or are finding it difficult to do so.
of content areas identified as a "critical shortage" in 2024–2025.
This is not isolated to hard-to-staff content areas. The pressure is system-wide in every subject and every grade level.
One in three educators leave the profession within their first five years.
reported improved work-life balance after leaving.
reported more manageable workloads after leaving teaching.
When we address work-life balance and workload pressures, schools become more attractive places to work.
“Working in education is one of the most meaningful and challenging paths you could choose. It’s not easy. There are long days, emotional demands, and moments of frustration, but the impact you make is real and lasting.”
North Dakota's educator retention challenge is fundamentally a workplace conditions issue, not simply a recruitment issue.
The state has important strengths, but improving day-to-day working conditions is essential to keeping educators in the profession.
Losing Teachers is Costing North Dakota
A student will lose up to ½ year of learning for every one teacher turnover*.
Turnover of one teacher costs North Dakota up to $20,000.
ND spends an estimated $25MM each year on costs associated with turnover.*
61% of schools reported being unable to, or finding it very difficult to, fill teacher vacancies.
students.
When teachers are burned out, or leave their school community, student learning and well-being suffers. Students can lose up to ½ year of learning with each teacher turnover (Henry & Redding, forthcoming).
Retaining experienced educators is essential: it preserves instructional quality, creates consistency, and fosters the relationships that fuel both academic achievement and social-emotional growth. Recognizing this, the state is investing in quality education personnel to advance its strategic vision of equipping every student with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need to thrive.
taxpayers.
Replacing a single teacher costs up to $20,000, totaling an estimated $25 million statewide every year.
High turnover disrupts continuity, inflating training costs and diminishing the effectiveness of every other state education initiative.
communities
Schools are often the backbone of a community. Especially in rural, remote, and frontier areas, when districts can't recruit and retain educators, communities become harder to sustain.
No teachers, no schools, no communities.
The extent to which required meetings are worthwhile.
The ability to maintain a healthy balance between school responsibilities and your life outside of work.
The experience of having enough time, resources, and support to do the job well without the work feeling unmanageable.
Strengthening ND's Educator Workforce Statewide
How and Why: Measuring Educator Experience — Pillars of Educator Experience
| Care & Support | Voice & Decision-Making | Time Management | Well-Being & Vitality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What It Measures | Quality of leadership relationships, collegial trust, and sense of community among staff and families | Educator input in school and district decisions, clarity of communication, collective problem-solving | Workload manageability, value of meetings, autonomy over time use | Hope, sense of purpose, energy, belief in school improvement |
| Why It Matters | Psychological safety and belonging are foundational for engagement, collaboration, and stability | Ownership and collective efficacy are strong predictors of motivation and retention | Sustainable time use reduces burnout and protects effectiveness | Closely linked to intent to stay and long-term career satisfaction |
Vital Districts are seeing increases in critical areas of workplace experience: Hope, Life Balance, Workload Manageability among the top ranked.
Read More:
North Dakota Interim State of the State Report
With this continued work, North Dakota can lead the nation in retaining great teachers.
Listen to Jeff McKenna, Chief Human Capital Officer, Fargo Public Schools talk about their experience working with Vital Network.