Attracting teacher candidates from regional and rural areas to initial teacher education (ITE) programs: Initiatives and evidence of impact

To address teacher shortages in regional and rural areas, a number of initiatives have been implemented to attract teacher candidates, particularly from regional and rural areas, to teach in these areas. This systematic literature review aims to identify such initiatives reported between 2000 and 2022 and the evidence of their impact. Of the 15 articles identified, this review revealed that federally and state-funded alternative pathways, as well as university–school partnerships, have initiated promising teaching pathways for teacher candidates from regional and rural areas. Despite this, however, there is limited systematic evidence of the impact of these initiatives.