Quality Educators Matter

Educator Attrition

Educator Supply

Cost of Losing Educators

Educator Supply

National and local data point to the disparity between the number of new educators needed now and for the future and those preparing for and entering the field. This disparity, along with the alarming rates of attrition for new educators, suggests that there will be more competition among school districts for qualified educators.

• Some researchers and policymakers estimate that school districts will have to hire about 200,000 teachers annually over the next decade to keep pace with rising student enrollments and teacher retirements for a total of 2.2 million additional teachers. (Fideler & Haselkorn, 1999)
  
  
• The distribution of teachers across states and regions in the United States is uneven. Some states have historically produced more teachers than they need, while others have needed more than they produce. (Yasin, 1999)
  
  
• Nationally, 95-98% of urban districts have an immediate need for teachers in mathematics, science, and special education. (Recruiting New Teachers, Inc., 2000)
  
  
• Top-performing students are becoming far less likely to enter teaching. Longitudinal data shows that the likelihood that a female from the top of her high school class will eventually enter teaching has fallen dramatically from 1964 to 1992, from almost 20% to under 4%.
  (Corcoran, Evans and Schwab, 2002)
  
  
• Graduates of New Hampshire educator preparation programs do not align with critical shortage areas. In 2004-2005, almost half of all graduates were seeking an elementary education endorsement, not a critical shortage area; whereas critical shortage area endorsements for Mathematics and Science, World Languages, and General Special Education represented 8%, 2%, and 9% of graduates, respectively. (Smith and Mackin, 2006)
  
  
• In 2004-2005 there were no graduates from NH professional educator preparation programs in the critical shortage areas of Chemistry, Family Consumer Education, and Career and Technical Education, while Earth Space Science, Physical Science, Physics, ESOL, and Special Education-Mental Retardation had only one or two graduates. (Smith and Mackin, 2006)

Richard M. Ingersoll, Holes in the Teacher Supply Bucket, School Administrator, March 2002

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