A study of 25 of the world’s top-performing and fastest-improving school systems conducted by the business consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, concluded that almost universally, the world’s top school systems do two things: develop effective mechanisms for selecting teachers for teacher training and pay a competitive starting compensation.

While many leaders in the United States dismiss significant teacher salary increases as unrealistic, this assumption is challenged by models in other countries that pay teacher salaries comparable to those of similarly educated professionals.

As policy leaders and experts at the local, state, and federal levels in the United States push for research-based solutions to recruit and sustain effective educators, this brief can help inspire refreshed dialogue on investing in competitive teacher salaries through real-world examples from across the globe of sustainable, competitive teacher salary models.