A shortage of teachers to staff primary and secondary schools is a common occurrence internationally. The fact of, or potential for, teacher shortages is a major consideration in any nation's aspirations of attaining, or maintaining, an educational system of high quality. To study and understand the nature of teacher shortages, it is first…

The purpose, design, and key findings of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) are discussed. The SASS is a triennial set of unified surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. In conjunction with a teacher follow-up survey, the SASS profiles the nation's elementary school and secondary school teaching force and analyzes…