Teacher Retention And Recruitment Has Become A National Problem

Across the United States, schools are facing a major teacher shortage as they try to fill positions in science, math, special education, bilingual education, and other fields. The shortage mainly lies in the schools serving low-income or colored students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the student population will increase by about three million in the next decade. While the number of students is multiplying, teacher enrollment in preparation programs is down remarkably, falling 35 percent nationwide in the last five years (Long 2). Not only are more people not entering the teaching profession, multiple teachers are reaching retirement age. Because of the shortage, several states have been loosening their certifications

The Houston R-I School District needs to focus on teacher quality. We need to be actively pursuing teachers with diverse backgrounds that can contribute to our goal of becoming a school with a pluralistic mindset. It is important that we look outside of our community for potential employees that can bring a unique and diverse perspective to our school.

Education is the most vital part of man’s existence. The concept of education started in the ancient days and continues to the modern age. Education has existed before this current age, but modern education has been labeled as the most significant part of any possible profession. This assumption is not making waves in the United States of America only, but in the whole world wide. Despite the unique and distinct languages that exist throughout the world, young and developing minds still seek education and new knowledge as technology keeps changing. Education is the backbone and the platform in which we build and develop our own unique ideas that has become

To understand the lack of African American teachers, an exploration of Black teacher’s reasoning and experience when going into teaching can be beneficial. A study conducted by Farinde, LeBlanc, and Otten (2015) sought to understand what contributes and hinders Black females from pursuing a career in education. They found an assortment of factors positive and negative that lead to their decision to becoming a teacher. However one of the most hindering factors contributing to a lack of diversity came at an institutional level. From a policy standpoint, more institutional support within teacher education programs is needed in order to increase the pool of Black female teachers, lack of institutional support…obstructs the pipeline from teacher education program to K-12 classroom, with little or no support in higher education, the number of Black female teachers will either remain constant or will gradually decline (Farinde, LeBlanc, & Otten,

The state of Arizona is facing a serious education crisis in the retention of qualified teachers. Personally, my school in Yuma, Arizona encountered an average of seven new teachers every year. Yuma High School District allowed for a teacher to teach chemistry when his/her Bachelor’s degree was in mathematics. According to the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ enacted in 2001, schools are required to provide “highly qualified” teachers to teach at all times (Educator Excellence). Having quality, long-term teachers is imperative to develop students in becoming productive members of society. Unfortunately due to federal budget cuts directly affecting education, Timothy L. Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, says, “Arizona has faced the most dramatic cuts to K-12 education spending of any state in the nation” (Lopez). As a result, administration is forced to have teachers make up for the lack of a certain subject by teaching it without qualifications. Due to this, out-of-state teachers leave within the first 5 years, and 25% all leave within the first year. Some reasons for this include a

America has encountered a change within the teaching profession: concerning, experience, age, credentials, and ethnic background (Feistritzer, 2011). It is almost as if the year of 2005, overturned the trend of older employed teachers (Feistritzer, 2011). A six-year survey shows that the amount of teachers under the age of thirty has increased drastically, and that most teachers have earned master degrees. Also, although teaching has been a predominately white profession, more Hispanic and African American teachers were hired between the years of 2005 and 2011 (Feistritzer, 2011).

California is facing not only teacher shortage but teachers that are diverse. While the Hispanic and Asian population are increasing, there are hardly any teachers that are diverse. According to American Association of College for Teacher Education “that students of color made up more than 45% of the PK–12 population, whereas teachers of color made up only 17.5% of the educator workforce." (Deruy). While many may argue that the lack of diversity is happening because majority of the diverse population is going towards jobs that pay more such into technology and other occupations, one has to look also on how schools are encouraging those students into the teaching profession. Old schools like Mesa Verde High School that have been providing

Colorado’s population, employment, annual pay, and GDP have been above the national average and ranked top among the nation in 2015 (Leeds School of Business). This trend should continue, and Colorado’s economy is expected to grow within the next year (Leeds School of Business). However, to continue this growth Colorado must solve this teacher shortage problem, or it will begin to affect the

However, how we educate our teachers currently affects generations of people to come. Because of the influx of teachers, we need to metamorphose how we educate our educators. How are we doing in terms of educating our teachers now? Not as great as we could be doing. In a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality, going to a certain school for a teacher’s education could be a never-ending path of sorrow and pain.The failing college in undergraduate education for elementary teacher education was Jackson State University, a public university in Jackson, Mississippi. This university has a population of 9,802 and sits at #537 out of 660 universities on the Forbes Magazine America’s Top Colleges List. If a public university harbors such scores, it cannot be accepted as a viable path for teacher training. In a study done by Dan Goldhaber, Lesley Lavery, and Roddy Theobald (Goldhaber and Theobald of American Institutes for Research and Lavery of Macalester College) it was found that students in currently disadvantaged demographics in Washington State get the teachers with the least experience and of the lowest quality. The study judged disadvantagement in three ways: by race, by income, and by academic success. All the teachers that were put to these disadvantaged groups were deemed to be extremely novice and not effective at all. Experience is key, as a

This article emphasizes on the diversity gap that exists between non-white teachers and non-white students. Data shows that only 18% of teachers are color, which can affect color students who are looking for a teacher of their same race to understand cultural or racial issues the student might face. Moreover, the date shows that this number will increase 9% by 2060, but what this data cannot predict factors that might stop the increase of color teachers. Furthermore, some of the problems for shortage of color teachers is not just the salary, but the racial differences they experience in school that might stop them to pursue an education major. The question should not be whether color teachers should increase to fill the gap of teacher diversity,

“The Teacher Retention Program is committed to supporting the development and retention of Arizona top teachers increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of Arizona’s school, and improving educational opportunities for all students” ("Teacher Retention Project," n.d., para. 1) . By retaining exciting dedicated educators who achieve in their field of expertise, the residents of Arizona will bring stability into the classroom which will result in higher academic test scores, increase graduation rates, and a positive school experience for our future citizen of the state of Arizona. This initiative will address the disastrous deterioration within the Arizona school district due to increasing numbers of teachers either relocating or vacating the teaching profession all together by providing a mentor program between effective teacher in high achieving schools with those in lower academic settings. As teachers leave the profession a void between seasoned experienced teacher and those beginning their career becomes noticeable, particularly in the low income school districts. By putting forward this initiative the residents of Arizona will comply with Brown vs. Board of Education ruling which address the issue of segregation in tangible

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s

The main argument made by Ingersoll and May is that the reason for the perceived teacher shortage is not about the colleges and universities not being able to recruit minority students or minority students not being able to pass the assessments to get accepted into the education programs, but that once minorities are in the classroom they leave because of the poor working conditions. The point of this article was to highlight why minority teachers leave the teaching profession after three years or less. This article was a bit more refreshing in that it looked at minority educators in the classroom and what schools are doing or not doing to attract and/or retain them. There were a few cost effective ideas like faculty decision-making influence

In the first year of teaching, four out of ten teachers quit. An educators job is not a walk in the park. In Kansas, we are facing a shortage of teachers. The most areas that are facing these shortages are Special Education, Adaptive and Functional Special Education, Early Childhood Handicapped, and hearing and visual impaired. It has been reported that Fewer students have chosen to major in education. There are many reasons that are causing the shortages, lack of