Snapshot of The Teaching Profession –10 Demographic and PD Data Points

Data taken from largest and most comprehensive source of information on teachers – School and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS,50,000 educators across diverse settings). Richard Ingersoll, Upenn; and Learning in

the Learning Profession by Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford

#1 Huge increase in teaching force • Student enrollment increased 19% while teaching force grew 48% •Why? Class size reduction, growth of special education linked to IDEA, increase in elementary enrichment (art, music, etc), HS grad requirements

The Ballooning Teaching Force, 1987-88 to 2007-08

#2 - Teaching Force becomes older— and younger• 1987 – mode age 41; 2007/8 – mode = 55•2011/12 – retirement will reach peak•Gen Y teachers (born between 1977-94) have doubled in 4 years and now account for 1/5 of teaching population

#3 – Teaching force is becoming less stable•Between 12-15% (28% increase since early 90’s) turnover every year•45% of all public school teacher turnover took place in ¼ of public schools

#4 Holding steady in academic abilities• In 2007/8 – fewer than 10% of first year teachers graduated from “most competitive” or “highly competitive” colleges (top 2 tiers). • 25% of first year teachers graduated from less competitive or not competitive colleges (bottom 2 tiers).

#5 Alternate certification programs now produce about 20% of teachers in the US• 49 states have alternate cert programs; varies by region

#6 Teaching Force is becoming more female-dominated• 76% in 2007/8; if trend continues than it will reach 80% by 2012

#7 Teachers spend about 80% of their total working time teaching students• By contrast most teachers in European and Asian countries spend 60% of their total working time teaching students

#8 Teachers spend about 3-5 hours per week lesson planning•Usually scheduled independently•By contrast, most teachers in European and Asian countries spend 15-20 hours per week in collaborative lesson planning

#9 95% of teachers have participated in formal professional development (workshops, conferences or training sessions) in the past year. 25% observed another teacher as part of PD.

#10 Teachers top priorities for additional PD1 – Content-specific expertise in subject taught2 – Classroom management3 – Differentiated Instruction strategies4 – Use of technology (with students)5 – Content standards