HELP WANTED: IF YOU BREATH YOU CAN TEACH!
Attention all job seekers! Are you tired of the same old boring career paths? Do you want to try something new and exciting? Well, have we got the job for you! Introducing the wonderful world of teaching!
Yes, that's right folks, teaching! The profession that has been bashed and belittled by billionaires and privatizers for the past 30 years. But don't let that discourage you, because if you can breathe, you can teach!
According to a new report from the Learning Policy Institute, school districts across the United States are in desperate need of teachers. And when we say desperate, we mean they're hiring anyone with a pulse. The report found that the share of teachers with three or fewer years of experience has increased from 18% to 24% in the past decade. And if that's not enough to make you want to jump on board, the share of teachers with emergency permits has also increased from 4% to 7%. So basically, if you have a heartbeat and can spell your name correctly, you're hired!
But why is there such a shortage of teachers, you ask? Well, it's simple really. Low pay, high stress levels, and a lack of support for teachers are just a few of the contributing factors. And let's not forget about the pandemic, which has caused many teachers to leave the profession due to burnout or health concerns. But hey, who needs experienced and qualified teachers when you can have someone who just graduated high school teaching your kid algebra?
Now, we know what you're thinking. "But won't these inexperienced teachers be less effective in the classroom?" Well, yes. But who needs effectiveness when you can have someone who's just happy to have a job? And sure, these teachers may leave the profession within a few years, but that just means more job openings for the next round of inexperienced teachers!
But fear not, because there are solutions to this teacher shortage. We could increase teacher pay, reduce teacher workload, provide more support for teachers, and make teaching a more attractive career. Or we could just keep hiring anyone who walks through the door. It's really up to you.
And if you're still not convinced that teaching is the career for you, just think about all the wonderful benefits. You get to spend your days with kids who may or may not listen to you, deal with parents who may or may not blame you for their child's lack of success, and work for a system that may or may not value your hard work and dedication. What's not to love?
So come on down and join the wonderful world of teaching! Because if you can breathe, you can teach. And who needs experience anyway?
The State of the Teacher Workforce | Learning Policy Institute https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/state-of-teacher-workforce-interactive
Pennsylvania school districts are hiring teachers with limited experience amid shortage, new report finds | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2023/08/09/pennsylvania-teacher-shortage-limited-experience-new-report/stories/202308080120
THE DEFT DIVE
FROM BARD AI
A new report from the Learning Policy Institute found that school districts across the United States are increasingly hiring teachers with limited experience amid a nationwide teacher shortage. The report found that the share of teachers with three or fewer years of experience increased from 18% in the 2011-12 school year to 24% in the 2020-21 school year. The report also found that the share of teachers with emergency permits, which are temporary teaching licenses, increased from 4% to 7% during the same period.
The teacher shortage is a complex problem with many contributing factors, including low pay, high stress levels, and a lack of support for teachers. The pandemic has also exacerbated the shortage, as many teachers have left the profession due to burnout or health concerns.
The hiring of teachers with limited experience is a concern because these teachers are less likely to be effective in the classroom. They are also more likely to leave the profession within a few years, which can lead to further instability in the teaching workforce.
There are a number of things that can be done to address the teacher shortage, including:
- * Increasing teacher pay
- * Reducing teacher workload
- * Providing more support for teachers
- * Making teaching a more attractive career
The hiring of teachers with limited experience is a symptom of the teacher shortage. It is important to address the root causes of the shortage in order to ensure that all students have access to a quality education.
In addition to the above, here are some specific things that can be done to address the teacher shortage:
- * **Increase the number of teacher preparation programs:** There is a shortage of teachers in part because there are not enough teacher preparation programs. States and school districts should work to increase the number of teacher preparation programs in order to produce more teachers.
- * **Make it easier for people to become teachers:** The process of becoming a teacher can be long and expensive. States and school districts should make it easier for people to become teachers by providing financial assistance and by streamlining the application process.
- * **Attract more people to the teaching profession:** The teaching profession needs to be more attractive to people from all backgrounds. States and school districts should work to make teaching a more attractive career by providing competitive pay and benefits, and by creating a positive work environment for teachers.
By taking these steps, we can address the teacher shortage and ensure that all students have access to a quality education.
The State of the Teacher Workforce: A State-by-State Analysis of the Factors Influencing Teacher Shortages, Supply, Demand, and Equity is a report by the Learning Policy Institute that provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the teacher workforce in the United States. The report examines a wide range of factors that influence teacher shortages, including teacher pay, working conditions, school resources, teacher turnover, and teacher qualifications.
The report found that there are significant disparities in the teacher workforce across states. Some states, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, have relatively strong teacher workforces, with high levels of teacher pay, strong working conditions, and low rates of teacher turnover. Other states, such as Oklahoma and South Carolina, have relatively weak teacher workforces, with low levels of teacher pay, poor working conditions, and high rates of teacher turnover.
The report also found that there are significant disparities in the teacher workforce within states. In some schools, teachers are well-paid and have strong working conditions. In other schools, teachers are underpaid and have poor working conditions. These disparities can have a significant impact on the quality of education that students receive.
The report concludes by calling for a number of policy changes to address the teacher shortage. These policy changes include:
- * Increasing teacher pay
- * Reducing teacher workload
- * Providing more support for teachers
- * Making teaching a more attractive career
The report also calls for states to collect more data on the teacher workforce in order to better understand the factors that influence teacher shortages and to develop effective policies to address them.
Here are some of the key findings of the report:
- * The teacher shortage is a growing problem in the United States.
- * The shortage is most severe in high-poverty schools and schools with large populations of students of color.
- * The shortage is due to a number of factors, including low pay, high stress levels, and a lack of support for teachers.
- * The shortage is having a negative impact on student learning.
- * There are a number of policy changes that can be made to address the teacher shortage.
The report is a valuable resource for policymakers, educators, and anyone who is interested in the state of the teacher workforce in the United States. It provides a comprehensive overview of the problem and a number of policy recommendations that can be used to address it.
FROM BING AI
The topic of teacher shortages and the impact of hiring teachers with limited experience. This is a complex and multifaceted issue that affects many schools and students across the country. Here are some key points from the web search results that I found:
- - According to a report by Ed Fuller, an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Penn State’s College of Education, Pennsylvania school districts are hiring teachers with limited experience, those who are not fully certified, and others with temporary teaching permits to help ensure there are adults in the classroom throughout the school year¹².
- - The report found that 19% of high schools, 12% of middle schools, and 6% of elementary schools across the state hired out-of-field teachers, or those who are instructing a subject or grade they were not fully certified for, in the 2020-21 school year¹².
- - The report also found that students of color and students from low-income backgrounds were more likely to attend schools with higher rates of underqualified teachers, which could limit their opportunities and outcomes¹².
- - The teacher shortage in Pennsylvania is part of a larger national trend that has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused many teachers to retire early, quit, or take leave due to health and safety concerns, burnout, stress, and attacks on honest teaching of history³⁴⁵.
- - The teacher shortage has negative effects on students, teachers, and the public education system as a whole. It can harm students' academic achievement, social-emotional development, and access to rigorous and relevant curriculum. It can also reduce teachers' effectiveness, satisfaction, and retention. Moreover, it can undermine the quality, equity, and stability of the education system⁴⁵⁶.
- - To address the teacher shortage, experts and advocates recommend a range of short-term and long-term solutions that focus on both recruitment and retention of qualified and diverse teachers. Some of these solutions include: increasing teacher pay and school funding; improving working conditions and professional support; providing targeted incentives and scholarships for teaching in high-need areas; expanding teacher preparation programs and pathways; strengthening mentoring and induction programs; enhancing teacher diversity and cultural competence; and engaging educators in decision-making and policy-making⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸.
Bing, 8/10/2023
(1) Pennsylvania school districts are hiring teachers with limited .... https://districtadministration.com/pennsylvania-school-districts-are-hiring-teachers-with-limited-experience-amid-shortage-new-report-finds/.
(2) Pennsylvania school districts are hiring teachers with limited .... https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2023/08/09/pennsylvania-teacher-shortage-limited-experience-new-report/stories/202308080120.
(3) Colorado school districts are hiring teachers to start work before they .... https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/07/colorado-education-schools-teacher-shortages-teacher-preparation-programs/.
(4) The teacher shortage is real and has serious consequences. https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/.
(5) What's behind the teacher shortage in US schools? - Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-teacher-shortage-schools.html.
(6) Causes And Effects Of Teacher Shortage - 865 Words | Bartleby. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Causes-And-Effects-Of-Teacher-Shortage-PJWXLMK54WR.
(7) A Look at Solutions to Teacher Shortages | UWA Online. https://online.uwa.edu/news/teacher-shortages/.
(8) The Teacher Shortage Is Real and about to Get Much Worse. Here's Why. https://fee.org/articles/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-and-about-to-get-much-worse-heres-why/.
(9) Addressing Teacher Shortages in the Short- & Long-Term. https://edtrust.org/resource/addressing-teacher-shortages-in-the-short-long-term/.
(10) Solving Educator Shortages by Making Public Education an ... - NEA. https://www.nea.org/resource-library/solving-educator-shortages-making-public-education-attractive-and-competitive-career-path.
(11) How to Solve the Teacher Shortage (3 Possible Solutions). https://mrstockford.com/how-to-solve-the-teacher-shortage/.
(12) Tackling Teacher Shortages: What Can States and Districts Do?. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/teacher-shortage-what-can-states-and-districts-do.
The topic of the state of the teacher workforce in the United States. This is an important and timely issue that affects the quality and equity of education for millions of students. Here are some key points from the web search results that I found:
- - The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) is a nonprofit organization that conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve education policy and practice¹²³. One of their main areas of focus is the teacher workforce, which they examine through various indicators of teacher supply, demand, shortages, and equity across states².
- - The LPI has created an interactive state-by-state map that highlights key factors that reflect and influence the supply and demand for teachers in each state, including conditions of teachers’ work and equitable access to qualified teachers². The map includes more than 40 indicators describing teaching conditions for the more than 3 million public school teachers in the United States. They can be used to inform policy strategies addressing shortages and ensuring equitable access to qualified and diverse teachers².
- - The map also assigns each state two ratings: a teaching attractiveness rating and a teacher equity rating. The teaching attractiveness rating builds on measures of teacher compensation, working conditions, school resources, qualifications, and teacher turnover to indicate how supportive each state appears to be of teacher recruitment and retention. The teacher equity rating indicates the extent to which students have equitable access to a well-qualified teaching workforce within a given state based on school composition of student race/ethnicity and family income².
- - Based on these ratings, the map shows that teaching conditions vary substantially across states, as do teacher supply and turnover. Generally speaking, teaching conditions in northeastern states—like Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey—rank in the top tier. In these states, salaries are more competitive and working conditions are more supportive, based on teachers’ views of their schools¹. On the other hand, teaching conditions in southern and western states—like Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii—rank in the bottom tier. In these states, salaries are less competitive and working conditions are less supportive¹.
- - The map also shows that students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are more likely to attend schools with higher rates of underqualified teachers, which could limit their opportunities and outcomes. For example, in California, 62% of students in high-poverty schools are taught by uncertified or out-of-field teachers, compared to 25% of students in low-poverty schools². Similarly, in Texas, 47% of students in high-minority schools are taught by uncertified or out-of-field teachers, compared to 18% of students in low-minority schools².
- - The LPI also provides a technical supplement that summarizes additional factors influencing teacher supply and demand, such as information about the teacher pipeline, current teacher workforce, student enrollment, and teacher financial strain. The supplement also includes state-reported data on teaching positions left vacant or filled by teachers without full certification—key indicators of the extent of shortages².
- - The LPI's research on the state of the teacher workforce is based on a larger national study that they conducted in 2016, titled A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S.³. This study examined the causes and consequences of the emerging teacher shortage at the national level and projected future trends based on various scenarios. The study found that four main factors were driving the shortage: a decline in teacher preparation enrollments, district efforts to return to pre-recession pupil-teacher ratios, increasing student enrollment, and high teacher attrition³.
- - The study also found that the shortage was not evenly distributed across subjects or regions. Some subjects—such as mathematics, science, special education, English language development, and foreign languages—had chronic shortages for decades. Some regions—such as urban and rural areas—also faced greater challenges in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. Moreover, the study found that the shortage was likely to grow worse over time unless policy actions were taken to address it³.
Bing, 8/10/2023
(1) Tracking the State of the Teacher Workforce Across States. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/tracking-state-teacher-workforce-across-states.
(2) The State of the Teacher Workforce | Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/state-of-teacher-workforce-interactive.
(3) A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in .... https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/coming-crisis-teaching.
