Across 16 U.S. states and two countries, educators are working in teams rather than alone, creating more student-centered learning environments while building careers that are collaborative, sustainable and satisfying.
In just seven years, Next Education Workforce™ team-based staffing models have grown from a single school to 128 schools serving roughly 33,000 students. In these models, students benefit from instruction that is more personalized, rigorous and relevant, and from stronger relationships with both educators and peers. Teachers, meanwhile, gain deeper collaboration, job-embedded mentoring and clearer pathways for advancement. These dual benefits reinforce one another: supported teachers help students succeed, and student success strengthens teacher satisfaction and long-term career sustainability.
“Each number represents the work of real educators and educational leaders taking steps to create lasting, systemic change in school staffing. We’re lucky enough to work alongside them, helping plan and launch teams that enable them to better achieve their goals and strategic priorities. I’m inspired by the creativity, dedication and results we’re seeing at these schools,” says Brent Maddin, executive director of the Next Education Workforce initiative at Arizona State University.
Despite challenges — including pandemic, funding pressures and the ongoing difficulty of attracting new teachers to the profession — the adoption and deeper implementation of team-based models is accelerating.
Schools are increasingly recognizing that the conventional one-teacher, one-classroom model cannot meet the needs of all students or educators. While the contexts differ, outcomes from schools across the country point to a consistent pattern: students benefit when more adults share responsibility for their success:
- Chronic absenteeism dropped 14 percentage points in a fully teamed 9th grade in Oroville High School, Calif.
- Nine out of 10 students in teamed classrooms across Kansas City, Missouri, felt they had an adult they could speak with if they had a problem.
- Students served by Next Education Workforce educator teams in Mesa Public Schools, Ariz., made 1.4 more months of reading growth than students in traditional models.
- The freshman academy at Desert Edge High School, Ariz., saw a 57% reduction in both failure rates and suspensions in its first year.
Students in team-based models aren’t the only ones who benefit. Teachers on teams report greater satisfaction, stronger collaboration and more sustainable careers. Team-based staffing is reshaping the teaching experience, from how teachers plan and instruct to how they grow professionally and balance work with life.
- Teachers that participate in Next Education Workforce models are more likely to recommend teaching as a profession and more plan to still be teaching in five years.
- Teachers on teams also received higher teacher evaluation ratings than non-teamed teachers, even when controlling for prior evaluation ratings.
- Teachers enjoy more opportunities to specialize and advance on teams, leveraging opportunities such as North Dakota’s first-in-the-nation Lead Teacher Registered Apprenticeship.
- Teachers are also participating in programs to integrate team-based staffing and high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in ways that strengthen instruction and educator pipelines in Arizona, Michigan and beyond.
“It can be easier in some ways to close your door and operate in a one-teacher, one-classroom model. But it can be much more rewarding and impactful to break down those walls and work with others around you,” says Amanda Dahm, director of programs for Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, which partners with ASU to launch and support team-based models in Michigan.
To help schools successfully implement team-based models and sustain them over time, the Next Education Workforce team provides personalized coaching and practical tools to partner schools and systems. Educational leaders engage in structured roadmap to design and launch models tailored to their specific context. Support from the Next Education Workforce builds internal capacity, enabling schools to sustain improvements independently over time. In addition to working directly with schools and systems, the initiative also recently published a new book, Unlocking the Potential of Team-Based Staffing, with Harvard Education Press. It offers practical guidance for educators and system leaders looking to implement or scale team-based staffing.
“Team-based staffing expands what’s possible for our schools, educators and students by creating flexibility in how we organize time, roles and expertise,” said Randy Mahlerwein, deputy superintendent for leadership and learning at Albuquerque Public Schools. “Teaching has slowly become one of the hardest jobs in the country. If we are serious about student outcomes, then we have to be just as serious about improving the conditions we’re asking our educators to operate within.
“Flexibility allows us to better meet student needs while creating roles and conditions that deepen support for educators. It’s about putting the right supports around educators so they can be successful, and creating environments where they can find purpose and joy in their work. It’s a powerful reason more and more systems are leaning into this work and why the Next Education Workforce is resonating with leaders who are ready to do school differently.”
See what’s next
Join the movement to improve school staffing. Learn alongside school and system leaders, researchers, policymakers and others who are redesigning how schools are staffed at the all-virtual, two-day Strategic School Staffing Summit Feb. 4-5, 2026. Learn more.
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Learn more about partnership with the Next Education Workforce. Read about how our initiative supports schools interested in building team-based models. Email John Roberts, assistant director of partner development, at robertsj@asu.edu.
