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This report summarizes teacher workforce challenges and recent initiatives in Texas that are shaping the state of the educator workforce in important ways. Ongoing teacher shortages have led to the creation of a wide range of pathways into the profession, featuring varying types and amounts of training. A growing body of research demonstrates that these differences in pathways are associated with meaningful differences in teachers' knowledge, skills, and effectiveness, as well as the rates at which they enter and leave the profession. These differences have implications for student learning, school management, and equity, since the districts that have the most difficulty hiring fully prepared teachers are those that serve the most students of color and students from low-income families. This report reviews the emerging research; describes the substantial efforts Texas leaders and institutions are making to address concerns about workforce preparation and stability; and provides additional actionable, research-based policy recommendations. [Funding for this report was provided by the Charles Butt Foundation. For the Research Brief, see ED630217.]

Systemic challenges for the Texas teacher workforce result from a large yearly demand for new teachers, exacerbated by high and climbing teacher attrition rates. As a result of these challenges, a large majority of new teachers are now hired before they complete preparation. Assigned disproportionately to students from low-income families and students of color, these less-prepared teachers are demonstrably less effective and less likely to stay than fully prepared teachers, stimulating further shortages. This study examines these conditions; describes the substantial work underway in Texas to address teacher shortages and stabilize the teacher workforce; and synthesizes evidence about policy interventions that can help address the key factors influencing workforce stability. These include investing in high-quality preparation models; reducing financial barriers to entry for teacher candidates; increasing teacher compensation; supporting improvements to teacher induction and working conditions; and improving state educator workforce data. [Funding for this report was provided by the Charles Butt Foundation. For the full report, see ED630218.]

Phenomena of free-electron X-ray radiation are treated almost exclusively with classical electrodynamics, despite the intrinsic interaction being that of quantum electrodynamics. The lack of quantumness arises from the vast disparity between the electron energy and the much smaller photon energy, resulting in a small cross-section that makes quantum effects negligible. Here we identify a fundamentally distinct phenomenon of electron radiation that bypasses this energy disparity, and thus displays extremely strong quantum features. This phenomenon arises when free-electron transverse scattering occurs during the radiation process, creating entanglement between each transversely recoiled electron and the photons it emitted. This phenomenon profoundly modifies the characteristics of free-electron radiation mediated by crystals, compared to conventional classical analysis and even previous quantum analysis. We also analyze conditions to detect this phenomenon using low-emittance electron beams and high-resolution X-ray spectrometers. These quantum radiation features could guide the development of compact coherent X-ray sources facilitated by nanophotonics and quantum optics.