Recruitment and Retention

Rising student enrollment levels and the possibility of a wave of teacher retirements has led some to fear that a teacher shortage is looming. "More than one-quarter of teachers are at least 50 years old, and nearly half will retire over the next decade" (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp citing National Center for Education Statistics, Projection of Education Statistics to 2008). At the same time, student enrollment levels are increasing in most states, and some states, such as California, Nevada, and New Mexico, are projected to have double-digit enrollment increases (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp citing National Center for Education Statistics, Projection of Education Statistics to 2008).

Although the number of prospective teachers enrolled in teacher-preparation programs exceeds the number of teacher vacancies (200,000 enrolled compared to 150,000 vacancies), many prospective teachers do not actually enter the teaching profession. Approximately 60 percent of those prepared to teach actually enter the profession, and of those, 30-50 percent leave within the first five years (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

It is unclear whether the combination of these factors will lead to an overall teacher shortage. Nevertheless, shortages exist now in certain subject areas and geographical locations. These staffing needs are generally most pressing at the nation’s high-poverty schools (Archer 2002).

As Lynn Olson (2000) reports, "the United States does not have an overall ‘teacher shortage’," but instead has "problems of distribution in the supply of teachers." "Too few teachers are available in such subjects as special education, bilingual education, mathematics, and science. And too few people are willing to work in schools that are under-funded or in rundown or isolated areas" (Olson 2000). Other researchers have identified shortages in these same areas (Darling-Hammond 2001; Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

In addition to geographical and subject-matter shortages, schools also face a shortage of minority teachers. "Ethnic teachers currently represent about 9 percent of U.S. public school teachers, but that number is expected to drop to less than 5 percent in the coming years. Meanwhile, ethnic students constitute 40 percent of the total student body in the United States, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly" (Jorgenson 2001).

Jorgenson attributes this shortage, in part, to educational inequities in today’s schools. Underprivileged and minority students who attend the nation’s most impoverished schools, he argues, are not prepared to aspire to teaching careers and have little incentive to return to the schools they attended.

To attract more minority candidates to the profession, Jorgenson suggests that districts:

• Prioritize the recruitment of ethnic educators.
• Consider nontraditional sources of teacher recruitment.
• Expedite the application materials of ethnic applicants.
• Discuss the possibility of offering hiring bonuses for ethnic candidates.
• Develop a paraprofessional-to-teacher program.
• Understand how ethnically diverse employees perceive the district.
• Create a support network for educators of color.

To attract more teachers generally, raising salaries is imperative, many people believe. Lynn Olson (2000) reports that young teachers with bachelor’s degrees earned $8,192 less in 1998 than nonteachers with a comparable education. This salary gap was even more pronounced for older teachers with master’s degrees, who earned $32,511 less than their nonteaching counterparts did (Olson 2000). "‘You cannot be living in the United States. . . and not believe that teacher salaries are a great disincentive to educated people entering the profession,’ argues Sandra Feldman, the president of the American Federation of Teachers" (Olson 2000).

In response to these concerns, some states have raised salaries across the board or offered increased salaries to beginning teachers (Olson 2000). States also increasingly offer scholarships and loan-forgiveness programs to new teachers, as well as cash bonus incentives (Olson 2000).

Critics argue that these approaches may fail to draw teachers to areas where they are most needed. Many believe that districts should offer additional compensation to those who teach hard-to-staff subjects, such as science and math, as well as to "those willing to work in hard-to-staff schools or districts; those who graduate from better colleges or post higher test scores; and those who possess greater knowledge and skills or raise student achievement" (Olson 2000). Some states have begun addressing these concerns and "are offering signing bonuses, housing assistance, free graduate courses and other incentives to attract teachers to the hardest to staff areas" (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

Many states are also seeking to expand their applicant pool by establishing alternative pathways into the profession. The National Center for Education Information (NCEI) reports that forty-one states and the District of Columbia have some type of alternative teacher certification (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001). There are over one hundred such programs available nationwide for those with a bachelor’s degree seeking to become licensed teachers (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001). "NCEI estimates that 75,000 people have been licensed through these programs, with 25 states reporting an increase in the number of alternative licensees over the last five years" (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

In the same vein, a recent study indicates that teachers from nontraditional backgrounds, such as paraprofessionals, uncertified teachers, Peace Corps alumni, and others, are often "eager but overlooked prospects" (Blair 2002). Once certified, however, they "outperform their colleagues. . . and stay longer in teaching positions than their peers" (Blair 2002). Researchers found both larger and more racially diverse groups of potential recruits than they had expected, and found the individuals to be of exceptionally high caliber (Blair 2002). Similar programs allowing prospective teachers to pursue alternative routes to teaching have also shown promise in attracting more "minority teachers, math and science teachers, and candidates willing to work in urban schools" (Olson 2000).

Other reasons for teacher shortages may include cumbersome hiring practices, "redundant requirements" for qualified and credentialed teachers from other states, "late budget decisions and teacher-transfer provisions. . . , a lack of pension portability across states, and a loss of salary credit for teachers who move" (Darling-Hammond 2001). States are addressing some of these concerns by creating uniform hiring and application processes statewide and establishing centralized state education-employment databases on the Internet (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

Darling-Hammond (2001) offers the following additional suggestions for addressing teacher shortages:

• Link teacher standards with salaries.
• Create service scholarship programs to prepare high-ability candidates in shortage fields.
• Establish licensing reciprocity across states.
• Create national recruitment initiatives.
• Streamline hiring procedures and develop online information technologies.
• Expand teacher education programs in high-need fields.
• Provide incentives for more extended (five-year and fifth-year) teacher education programs.
• Provide incentives for college pathways that prepare paraprofessionals for certification.
• Create high-quality induction programs.
• "Just say no" to hiring unqualified teachers.

Richard M. Ingersoll, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, argues that administrators should focus on stemming teacher turnover rather than trying to increase the applicant pool (Viadero 2002). Ingersoll found that teachers leave their jobs at a rate of 13.2 percent a year, compared with 11 percent in other professions (Viadero 2002). Most teachers, approximately 20-30 percent, depart within the first five years (Viadero 2002, Wadsworth 2001, Darling-Hammond 2001).

High turnover rates cost school districts money in recruiting, hiring, and training replacements and diminish schools’ ability to carry out long-term planning, curriculum revision, and reform (Brewster and Railsback 2001). As Ingersoll explains, "It doesn’t really solve the problem to recruit thousands of new people into the occupation if, in a few short years, many of them leave. The data tell us that the vast majority of hiring that takes place in any given year is simply replacements for teachers who have just left" (Olson 2000).

Job dissatisfaction is a major reason why teachers leave the profession, with "low salaries, problems with student discipline, and lack of support from school administration given as primary factors" (Protheroe, Lewis, and Paik 2002). Other related reasons teachers give for leaving the profession include "poor working conditions, lack of support, bureaucracy, weak financial incentives, and growing job demands" (Darling-Hammond 2001).

Research shows that providing high levels of support for beginning teachers, through mentoring or teacher-induction programs, can lead to higher rates of retention (Brewster and Railsback 2001, Olson 2000). In California, for example, implementation of a comprehensive teacher-induction program–"California’s Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program" (BTSA)–proved highly successful in reducing turnover rates (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001). Researchers found that those schools participating in BTSA had an attrition rate of 9 percent for beginning teachers within five years compared with a 37 percent turnover rate at schools without BTSA or a similar induction program (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001).

Support programs can also result in higher student achievement levels, higher quality teaching, and stronger connections among the teaching staff (Brewster and Railsback 2001). Through such programs, teachers learn effective teaching strategies and develop stronger classroom-management skills, often resulting in increased job satisfaction (Brewster and Railsback 2001).

As of 1999, "38 states and the District of Columbia had established some sort of induction program targeted at supporting beginning teachers" (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001). The substance of such programs varies widely from state to state, as does the percentage of teachers actually participating in such programs (Hirsch, Koppich, and Knapp 2001). Reasons that some districts do not provide induction programs may include inadequate funding or a lack of staff training and administrative support (Brewster and Railsback 2001).