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TEACHING MATTERS: Statistics on Teaching in America

Projections of Education Statistics to 2020 [PDF]

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2021/

This edition of Projections of Education Statistics provides projections for key education statistics, including enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary public and private schools, as well as enrollment and degrees conferred at postsecondary degree-granting institutions. Included are national data on enrollment and graduates for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2021.

This publication provides projections for key education statistics. It includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment, earned degrees conferred, and current-fund expenditures of degree-granting institutions. For the Nation, the tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2013. For the 50 States and the District of Columbia, the tables, figures, and text contain data on projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2013. In addition, the report includes a methodology section describing models and assumptions used to develop national and state-level projections.

2012

Too Few Resources Go Toward Teacher Development and Salaries
School districts spend only 1% to 3% of their resources on teacher development, as compared to much higher expenditures in most corporations and in other countries' schools. Teachers earn substantially less than other professionals, including accountants, sales representatives, and engineers. Even teachers with higher education degrees (Doctorate of Education) earn less than people in other fields that have a similar level of education. Average salaries for teachers range between $20,354 in South Dakota to $43,326 in Connecticut -- with salaries in affluent suburban districts much higher than those in cities or rural communities within the same area. The resources needed to make recommended reforms to the American school system constitute less than 1% of the amount spent for the federal savings and loan bailout. Reallocate $40 billion from nonteaching functions to classroom teaching. This is half of the annual $80 billion currently spent on nonteaching costs, excluding costs of transportation, building maintenance, and food service. Reallocations of resources should aim for staffing patterns in which at least 60% of staff are classroom teachers. Reallocate $10 billion to restructured compensation systems that reward teacher knowledge and skill. Of an estimated $19 billion spent annually on the portion of teacher salaries granted for education credits, we recommend that one-half be gradually redirected to restructured compensation systems that incorporate salary steps for performance based licensing and National Board Certification along with experience and other education. Spend $4.8 billion on improved recruitment, teacher education, and professional development. This amount is less than 1% of the amount spent for the federal savings and loan bailout of several years ago and less than the annual interest on school debt.

2007

WHY DO TEACHERS QUIT pdf ?
A new study from the Center for Teacher Quality at California State University boldly states that bureaucracy is the single biggest reason why teachers stop teaching, even more important than pay. The researchers surveyed more than 1,900 current and former teachers in an effort to understand why 18,000 California teachers quit every year.


December 2006

UNCERTIFIED TEACHERS PERFORMING WELL, STUDY FINDS
According to a new study, uncertified teachers end up performing just as well in the classroom as certified teachers and alternatively trained teachers. The study's results appear to challenge requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act that every classroom have a "highly qualified" teacher, instead suggesting that schools should put more emphasis on weeding out bad apples after the teachers have been hired. "These are people who have no prior experience in teaching and they go into the lowest performing schools, and they do just as well," said Jonah Rockoff, a Columbia University Business School professor who co-authored the study. "Where you went to college and what your GPA was doesn't seem to tell you how good you're going to be in the classroom." In the study, reports Sarah Garland in the New York Sun, researchers at the Hoover Institution used standardized test scores to measure the performance of New York City students taught by traditionally certified teachers, uncertified teachers, and teachers who enter the profession through alternative programs such as Teach for America and Teaching Fellows. They found that while alternatively certified and uncertified teachers do worse at first, they appear to improve at faster rates than traditionally certified teachers in their first years on the job. By the teachers' third year on the job, students of alternatively certified and uncertified teachers are performing just as well as those of traditionally certified teachers.

September 1996

Too Few Entering Teachers Have Adequate Preparation http://www.glef.org/php/resources.php?id=Item_202348

More than 12% of all newly hired "teachers" enter the workforce without any training at all, and another 15% enter without having fully met state standards.
More than 50,000 people who lack the training required for their jobs have entered teaching annually on emergency or substandard licenses. Only 500 of the nation's 1,200 education schools meet common professional standards.

Too Many Current Teachers Are Under qualified
Fewer than 75% of all teachers have studied child development, learning, and teaching methods, have degrees in their subject area, and have passed state licensing requirements Nearly one-fourth (23%) of all secondary teachers do not have even a college minor in their main teaching field. This is true for more than 30% of mathematics teachers.
More than half (56%) of high school students taking physical science courses, 27% of those taking mathematics courses are taught by teachers who don't have backgrounds in these fields. The proportions are much higher in high-poverty schools and in lower track classes.

Number of Teachers Has Declined While Non-Teaching Staff Has Risen
The proportion of school staff classified as classroom teachers has fallen from 70% in 1950 to 52% in 1993 -- while the number of non-teaching staff increased by over 40%. For every four classroom teachers, there are nearly six other school employees in the United States, indicating that teachers make up only 43% of total school employment. Conversely, teaching staff in other countries comprise 60% to 80% of school employment. A recent eight-nation study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that the U.S. has by far the lowest ratio of core teaching staff to non-teaching staff (less than 1:1), well behind the leaders, Belgium (4:1), Italy (3,5:1), and Japan (3,4:1).

Teachers Have Too Little Time and Too Heavy Workloads
Most elementary school teachers have only 8.3 minutes of preparatory time for every hour they teach, while high school teachers have just 13 minutes of prep time per class hour. Teaching loads for high school teachers generally exceed 100 students per day and reach nearly 200 per day in some cities Nationally, there is one staff member for every nine children, but fewer than half of them are actual classroom teachers. Consequently, the average class size is 24 students, with some areas having as many as 30 students per classroom.

Too Few Resources Go Toward Teacher Development and Salaries
School districts spend only 1% to 3% of their resources on teacher development, as compared to much higher expenditures in most corporations and in other countries' schools Teachers earn substantially less than other professionals, including accountants, sales representatives, and engineers. Average salaries for teachers range between $20,354 in South Dakota to $43,326 in Connecticut -- with salaries in affluent suburban districts much higher than those in cities or rural communities within the same area. The resources needed to make recommended reforms to the American school system constitute less than 1% of the amount spent for the federal savings and loan bailout. Reallocate $40 billion from nonteaching functions to classroom teaching. This is half of the annual $80 billion currently spent on nonteaching costs, excluding costs of transportation, building maintenance, and food service. Reallocations of resources should aim for staffing patterns in which at least 60% of staff are classroom teachers. Reallocate $10 billion to restructured compensation systems that reward teacher knowledge and skill. Of an estimated $19 billion spent annually on the portion of teacher salaries granted for education credits, we recommend that one-half be gradually redirected to restructured compensation systems that incorporate salary steps for perforrnance based licensing and National Board Certification along with experience and other education. Spend $4.8 billion on improved recruitment, teacher education, and professional development. This amount is less than 1% of the amount spent for the federal savings and loan bailout of several years ago and less than the annual interest on school debt.

Type of Investment Basis of Estimate Cost per Year
Scholarships for able recruits in high-need fields and areas 25,000 candidates at $20,000 per candidate for a four-year commitment to teaching $500 million $4.875 billion Investments For Improving Teaching. In its report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, the Commission has described how to reallocate resources and make strategic investments to increase teacher knowledge and improve the quality of teaching. Among its recommendations are the following: Reallocate $40 billion from nonteaching functions to classroom teaching. This is half of the annual $80 billion currently spent on nonteaching costs, excluding costs of transportation, building maintenance, and food service. Reallocations of resources should aim for staffing patterns in which at least 60% of staff are classroom teachers. Reallocate $10 billion to restructured compensation systems that reward teacher knowledge and skill. Of an estimated $19 billion spent annually on the portion of teacher salaries granted for education credits, we recommend that one-half be gradually redirected to restructured compensation systems that incorporate salary steps for perforrnance based licensing and National Board Certification along with experience and other education. Spend $4.8 billion on improved recruitment, teacher education, and professional development. This amount is less than 1% of the amount spent for the federal savings and loan bailout of several years ago and less than the annual interest on school debt.
Type of Investment Basis of Estimate HOW MUCH DO WE SPEND ON EDUCATION
While these may sound like substantial amounts of money, they represent only a modest investment in teachers and teaching in light of other U.S. expenditures. For example, In 1994-95 total expenditures for education were $50.3 billion ($307.5 billion for elementary and secondary schools) 1994 national defense and international relations: $333.4 billion l994 interest on national debt:$202.7 billion 1995 federal support for education: $100 billion 1994-95 appropriations for compensatory education: $7 billion l992 interest on school debt: $5.1 billion We give more to other countries than we do to teaching.. and to kids.. our future.

2001

Investigation of failing teachers