Addressing teacher shortages and preventing teacher turnover are policy priorities for many states and districts. In October 2024, 35 percent of public school leaders reported one or more teaching vacancies. Teacher turnover can be costly for localities and has been shown to harm schools’ instructional quality and student achievement.

“Tutor” is the fastest-growing position in kindergarten through high school (K-12) education, and is therefore a promising avenue to introducing and potentially integrating people into the field of education. Tutoring offers an entry-level and part-time opportunity for prospective educators to experience the school setting. And as of October 2024, 78 percent of schools reported providing some type of tutoring.

A number of models for tutor-teacher pipelines (conduits to move people from tutoring into teaching) are currently being implemented. Yet there are only limited data available on how frequently tutors transition into teaching or the effectiveness of former tutors who become teachers. Given its promise as a potential source of future teachers, it is important to better understand the current tutor workforce and its members’ interest in future careers in K-12 education.

What is the profile of K-12 tutors? How do tutors feel about their tutoring experiences? What are tutors’ future career goals? How might schools and districts facilitate effective tutor-teacher pipelines? This brief addresses these questions using survey data about the experiences of over 400 tutors who worked in 81 schools across seven states that were participating in the Personalized Learning Initiative during the 2023-2024 school year. Additionally, the brief reflects on information collected from a subsample of schools about successes and challenges regarding tutoring recruitment and retention, which could promote or undercut tutoring’s potential as a source of teachers. It also provides an overview of different strategies policymakers and educational leaders are using to promote tutoring as a pipeline into teaching.