Teaching Force Becoming Less Stable, More Female, National Study Finds
The report looks at seven trends that have driven the transformation of the teaching force since 2008.
The country’s teaching force聽has changed drastically over the past few decades, including during the years since the recession, according to a from researchers聽at the .
Among the highlights: the number of teachers in private schools is ballooning,聽teachers are younger and more diverse and the teaching force is becoming more female and less stable.
The report updates the findings of a similar report in 2008 that found the teaching force had since 1987 significantly grown in size, gotten younger and become more female, more diverse and less stable.
The study’s authors include Richard Ingersoll and Daniel Stuckey of the University of Pennsylvania and Lisa Merrill of the Research Alliance of New York City Schools.
Here’s an overview of the 2014 findings:
- Leveling: Due to layoffs and little hiring, the teaching force shrank in size between 2008 and 2012 – but this decrease was small and insignificant – especially compared to the prior two decades of dramatic growth.
- Private School Teacher-Pupil Ballooning: the number of teachers in private schools has grown faster than in public schools, despite a sharp decrease in students enrolled in private schools.
- No Longer Graying: the portion of teachers 50 years or older decreased since 2008, as have the number retiring.
- Still Green: The number of first-year teachers declined between 2008 and 2012, but the teaching force still remains far greener than two decades ago.
- Continuing to Become More Female: The proportion of female teachers continued to slightly rise between 2008 and 2012.
- Continuing Diversification: The number of minority teachers continued to rapidly increase between 2008 and 2012, despite a decrease in the overall number of teachers.
- Academic Ability: From 1987 to 2012, there was a slight increase in the number and percent of first-year female teachers from the most selective and competitive colleges and universities
- Less Stable: Over 41 percent of new teachers leave teaching within 5 years. Beginning teachers most frequently cite dissatisfaction with school working conditions as their main reason for leaving. Key sources of dissatisfaction include: low salaries, inadequate classroom resources, poor school leadership, lack of input into school decisions, lack of autonomy in classrooms, and student discipline problems.
The full report can be downloaded .
