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Educator Shortage Survey Results
Overview
As part of the strategic action plan developed in response to Colorado House Bill 17-1003, the Colorado Department of Education surveys the state’s school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) about the employment of teachers, special services providers (SSPs), principals/assistant principals and paraprofessionals. These shortage data allow CDE to identify educator shortage areas across the state and report to the Colorado Legislature to inform decisions regarding support for recruiting and retaining educators. Results from the annual shortage survey are also used for federal educator shortage reporting.
Information regarding Educator Shortage Survey results, including the survey highlights, are available below. Summaries of prior year shortage survey results are also available on this page.
2026-2027 Shortage Survey Highlights
Detailed information about the number of positions filled by specific shortage mechanisms and unfilled positions are available through the interactive dashboard above and/or in the downloadable Excel file.
- Teacher Openings Decreased Across Colorado
Open teacher positions declined from 7,704 in 2024-25 to 6,447 in 2025-26. - Use of Shortage Mechanisms Varied Significantly by Region
Statewide, 27.8% of open teaching positions were filled using a shortage mechanism.- In rural districts, more than half of open teaching positions were filled using a shortage mechanism.
- In non-rural districts, about 1 in 5 open positions were filled using a shortage mechanism.
- Shortage Mechanism Use for Special Service Providers (SSPs) Increased
Districts filled 327 SSP positions using shortage mechanisms in 2025-26, up from 256 positions in 2024-25. The most commonly used shortage mechanism for SSPs was contracted services. - Unfilled Positions Remained Relatively Stable
Colorado reported 271.5 unfilled teaching positions in 2025-26, similar to the previous year. These unfilled positions represented 0.5% of all teaching positions statewide.
Federally Reported Educator Shortage Areas
Each year, the Educator Talent Division reports educator shortage areas to the US Department of Education in the Teacher Shortage Area report. The 2026-2027 list below is based on the 2025-26 teacher shortage data and was approved by the Colorado State Board of Education in its June 2026 meeting. This list is updated annually in the summer for the following school year.
2026-2027 Statewide Shortage Areas
Teachers*
- Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Business/Marketing
- Computer Science/Instructional Technology
- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education*
- Dance
- Drama Theater Arts
- Early Childhood Education*
- Early Childhood Special Education*
- Elementary Education*
- English Language Arts*
- Family and Consumer Sciences
- Gifted Education
- Health Education^
- Industrial Arts
- Mathematics*
- Music
- Physical Education*
- Science*
- Social Studies*
- Special Education*
- Special Education Specialist: Deaf and Hard of Hearing^
- Special Education Specialist: Visually Impaired^
- Teacher Librarian
- Visual Art
- World Languages
Special Services Providers*
- School Audiologist
- School Counselor*
- School Nurse
- School Occupational Therapist*
- School Orientation and Mobility Specialist^
- School Physical Therapist
- School Psychologist*
- School Social Worker*
- School Speech-Language Pathologist*
*Indicates the most severe shortage areas as determined by the number of positions using shortage mechanisms overall (more than 50 statewide in the content area).
^Indicates the most severe shortage areas as determined by the percentage of positions filled using shortage mechanisms within the content area (more than 25% of positions within a content area).
Educator Shortage Data for Prior Years
- View a summary of state-level educator shortage results for the years below: