Two million teachers in the next 10 years. That's how many more teachers we'll need in the United States to meet the demands of educating our children. By the year 2000, schools in the United States will educate nearly 3 million more children than they do today.
Across the country, on the news, in the superintendent's office, in the faculty lounge, and during PTA meetings, people are talking about how to attract a diverse range of the best and brightest to the teaching field—and how to keep them in the classroom once they are trained.
To meet the demand for teachers—especially in urban and rural areas and in the high-needs fields of math, science, special education, bilingual education, and family and consumer sciences—districts and states are trying creative approaches. Dallas offered a $1,500 signing bonus. Baltimore paid teachers $5,000 to buy a house in the city, plus $1,200 in moving expenses.
Although these offers may seem enticing, experts advise that we should think in terms of making teaching attractive as a profession. "A warm body in every classroom is not enough," warns Elizabeth Fideler, vice president for policy and research at Recruiting New Teachers, a nonprofit organization in Belmont, Mass., dedicated to recruiting a more diverse and qualified teacher workforce.
"If we want to achieve reform goals, we need good teachers. They need a knowledge of their subject and of technology, and to demonstrate a commitment to children," says Fideler. Teachers should also represent the population they teach and be prepared to meet the diverse needs of students, she adds. The difficulty of finding this type of teacher is causing many districts and states to support programs to attract diverse candidates.
One such candidate is Thomas Calhoun, a 47-year-old who never thought about being a teacher when he was growing up. After earning a degree in business, he held a succession of jobs, including managing a furniture store. The store was open on Saturdays to receive deliveries, and Calhoun had Sundays and Mondays off. He decided to substitute teach on Mondays to give himself something to do.
"I thought they'd laugh at me when I called the school district," says Calhoun. Instead, they asked him when he could start. Calhoun soon discovered that he loved working in elementary schools. "I began to wonder what it would be like to teach full-time," he says, but he couldn't quit his job because he was married and had a mortgage. Then he got a letter from Norfolk State University about a program to help him become a certified teacher.
Helping Paraprofessionals Transition to Teaching
The DeWitt Wallace Pathways to Teaching Careers program at Norfolk State University in Virginia attracts minority candidates primarily from the paraprofessional pool in the Norfolk and Portsmouth school districts. The program's mission is to help retain the number of certified minority teachers in the district, says Denise Littleton, who directs the program.
When the program began in 1993, 58 percent of the student population in Norfolk Public Schools were minority, as were 39 percent of teachers in the district, according to Littleton. "It's helpful for students to see someone similar to them as a teacher, and it's also helpful for the nonminority students," explains Littleton. "We live in a diverse society. We need to know how to get along with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds."
To qualify for the Pathways to Teaching Careers program, a candidate must be interested in working in one of the high-needs areas identified by the district, including early childhood education, special education, math, science, foreign languages, and family and consumer sciences. Candidates must be employees of the district, have 75 transferable credits toward completing the teacher education program with a minimum 2.5 grade point average, and demonstrate a sincere commitment to working in an urban environment.
The program offers some financial assistance for tuition and books and sponsors support services such as orientation, seminars, workshops, tutoring, mentoring, and an evening learning center for children.
Based on their personal and professional responsibilities, students can decide whether to attend school part- or full-time. Upon completing the degree program, most students remain in the Norfolk and Portsmouth Public Schools as teachers. A minimum of two years of follow-up occurs through networking and district conferences.
Littleton advises other districts "not to overlook a pool of possible candidates who are right in front of you." Although she concedes that not every teachers' aide or substitute should become a teacher, "a large number of them have the potential to become very effective teachers."
Gaining Classroom Experience
Hundreds of miles away from Norfolk, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the Teacher Opportunity Program (TOP) is also training talented minority teaching candidates. One way to attract minority teachers, says Loretta Clark, coordinator of TOP, is to recruit people into teaching from other careers.
To enter TOP, candidates must meet the definition of minority under federal guidelines, demonstrate an interest in working with elementary and middle school students, and have a baccalaureate degree with a minimum 2.5 grade point average. "We've had architects, business persons, retired military folks, and lawyers in the program," says Clark. "These people have life experiences, a college degree, and have worked in a variety of settings." What they lack, however, is experience in classrooms.
And experts agree that field experience is invaluable for preservice teachers. While he completed courses toward certification at Norfolk State, Calhoun worked full-time as a substitute teacher and went to school at night. "I couldn't have gone from telling grown men what to do to talking to children," he explains.
To help ease that transition for its students, TOP partners with Fayette County Public Schools and the University of Kentucky to place students in schools as teaching assistants so they can work with mentor teachers. Students are in the classroom an average of three days a week for 20 hours, for which they are paid and also receive health benefits.
TOP graduates are guaranteed employment in the district once they've completed course requirements and passed teachers' exams. Although they must take part in the same interview process as all candidates, Clark says, "principals will often ask to interview TOP graduates because they are well-prepared and well-trained." So far TOP has proven successful. Since 1992, all graduates of the program are still teaching.
Grow Your Own
A common theme of these alternative teacher certification courses is to look in your community for teaching candidates. But rather than wait until potential teachers have completed all or some university coursework, the South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment in Rock Hill, S.C., works to attract high caliber teachers before they enter college.
"We looked at national research, which showed that by the age of 14 kids have decided what they don't want to be when they grow up," explains Janice Poda, director of the Center. "Many have ruled out education because they think that's what they know best. But they may only see it from one perspective, not from the other side of the desk."
To help students see education from a teacher's perspective, 158 high schools participate in the Teacher Cadet program, which is funded by the state. Each school selects an outstanding teacher to be a role model. That teacher is trained for three days in the 600-page curriculum and training materials that make up the yearlong course.
Students then apply to become Teacher Cadets. To participate in the course, students must have a 3.0 grade point average or higher, receive five teacher recommendations, and write an essay about why they want to be in the class. Teachers urge minority students to apply. "We want the class to reflect the student population of the school," says Poda. In addition, they encourage students who can fill high-need areas in the state. "South Carolina has the lowest percentage of male teachers of all states, so we try to interest boys in teaching," Poda explains.
The Teacher Cadet curriculum consists of three parts: (1) The Learner—students learn about themselves, learning styles, team building, and stages of child development. (2) The School—students study the organization of schools and the history of education in the state; attend school board meetings; and shadow administrators, cafeteria workers, and teachers. (3) Teachers and Teaching—students study methodology and teach lessons to peers.
Finally, Teacher Cadets complete a four- to eight-week field experience in an elementary or middle school. Just as with older preservice teachers, "it's critical to give students hands-on experience, rather than just [making them] sit in a room and read about teaching," says Poda. "Field experience is make or break. Either the student comes back knowing he wants to teach or he knows that he doesn't."
Win-Win Situation for All
After her field experience, Kimberly Sowell, now a math teacher at Lancaster (S.C.) High School, decided to enter teaching. When she went to college, she felt more confident about her major than others did because she knew what being a teacher entailed. "The self-exploration component of the course means a lot when you first enter college and try to decide what to do with the rest of your life," she says.
Education as a whole in the state has reaped the benefits of the Teacher Cadet program. "We have doubled the number of people in teacher education courses and raised the SAT scores for teacher candidates by 100 points," Poda reports. She estimates that about 35 percent of kids in the Teacher Cadet program go into education in their state. "And those who don't, gain a respect for the teaching profession, become advocates for public education, serve on school improvement councils, or become PTA officers," Poda continues. "They become leaders in their communities who support and respect the teaching profession—they know its challenges and rewards."
Ultimately, these benefits directly affect the achievement of thousands of students who are taught by well-qualified and well-trained teachers, Poda says.
Teacher Retention and Professional Growth
Once high-quality, well-trained teachers find their way into the classroom, the battle is only half won, experts say. "Districts need to look at recruiting and retaining as linked," Fideler recommends. "You'll spend a lot of time and money if your attrition rate is high."
"We know that nationwide we lose half of all new teachers during the first five years of teaching," says Lynn Nordgren, facilitator of the Professional Development Process in the Minneapolis Public Schools. To meet the needs of new teachers, the district instituted a tenure process.
During the first year, each new teacher works with one of the district's full-time teacher mentors. And at each school site, professional development teams of colleagues serve as coaches to help the teacher set and reach goals.
First-year teachers also take two days of new teacher orientation to learn "everything they need to know to make life work," including how to get their paychecks. They attend 10 professional development opportunities that focus on topics of interest to new teachers. New teachers also receive a thick handbook of information on the district and a newsletter with tips for surviving the first year in the classroom.
During their second year, teachers remain in their professional development teams, which all teachers participate in, and they take a 20-hour peer coaching class for college credit. While in their third year, teachers develop and conduct action research plans.
Doing the Right Thing
These kinds of activities "are the right thing to do," says Nordgren. The district started its mentoring program 10 years ago because it needed to look to the future. "Now the future is here," she notes.
"We need to look at substance—what makes a teaching career attractive," says Nordgren. One way to do this is to create leadership positions within teaching—including financial rewards for assuming leadership roles—so good teachers don't have to become principals. "We want to retain people throughout their careers, whether they are at the 5-, 10-, or 15-year mark."
To do this, the district has built in ways for teachers to take risks. For example, if a teacher decides to change from teaching 5th grade to kindergarten, she can participate in the professional support process, choosing people to mentor her. One of the district's five professional support mentors will work with the teacher and her professional support team, made up of the teacher's principal and colleagues and university professors she has chosen.
"In the past, the principals would fire teachers who were struggling. Now teachers can select people to help," says Nordgren. Such a plan also encourages the district to review the position, not just the teacher, she adds. "Sometimes new teachers, especially, are put into untenable positions, so it gives us a chance to look at the position and ask, Can anyone do this job?"
Challenges and Rewards
Despite the professional help and encouragement available to those interested in teaching, many people say they were discouraged from becoming teachers because of low public perception of the profession.
Kimberly Sowell, the teacher from South Carolina, was always gifted in math and was encouraged to use it in a high-paying technical career. But she decided she wasn't suited for that kind of job and switched her college major from industrial engineering to education. Although her family supported her decision, others didn't—especially her peers. "My peers told me I'd lose the ability to make more money, that I was selling myself short, financially."
Sowell reports that as a student in her high school's gifted and talented program, she "heard a lot about law school, being a doctor." But these gifted students should consider education as a challenging career, too, she says. "In the right atmosphere, teachers are given lots of autonomy to try new things. You can flourish in this atmosphere."
One in Two Million
As for those who are considering becoming one of the 2 million teachers we need in the next decade, Thomas Calhoun, the teacher from Virginia, says, "go ahead and do it. I've had a lot of jobs in my 47 years. But I love teaching. I didn't not enjoy my other jobs, but they were jobs. There's nothing in the world like what the children give you."
Resources for Future Educators
In 1937, the NEA started Future Teachers of America (FTA) in hopes of attracting high school and college students to teaching. FTA clubs now exist at the state, college, and high school levels and have more than 300,000 members (contact your state Department of Education to find a chapter in your area). Here are a few other programs designed to educate and attract future educators:
Teach for America: This program selects recent college graduates of all academic majors to attend a five-week summer training session and teach in underresourced urban and rural public schools for two years. Selected individuals receive guidance from veteran teachers and professional development, and they remain connected through an alumni association. For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.teachforamerica.org/ or call 800-832-1230, ext. 225, for an application.
Troops to Teachers (TTT): Designed to help former military personnel enter public education as teachers, this program has helped more than 3,000 service members to make the military-to-classroom transition. TTT is managed by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Support and has placement assistance offices in 20 states. For more information, visit the TTT Web site at http://voled.doded.mil/dantes/ttt/ or call 800-231-6242.
Future Educators of America (FEA): Developed and maintained by Phi Delta Kappa International, FEA helps middle and high school students explore careers in education. FEA is a national effort to organize existing state and school programs, like FTA, and provides students with resources, an annual summer camp, scholarships, and Prospective Educator Scholarship Grants. For more information, visit the FEA Web site at http://www.pdkintl.org/studser/sfea.htm or call 800-766-1156.
Recruiting New Teachers (RNT): This national nonprofit organization was formed in 1986 to raise esteem for teaching and improve the nation's policies and practices for teacher recruitment and development. RNT has resources for prospective teachers, including minorities and those seeking midcareer transitions. They offer networking opportunities, national conferences, technical assistance to state agencies and local school districts to improve teacher recruitment, and products and services to assist individuals interested in pursuing careers in teaching. For more information, visit RNT's Web site at http://www.rnt.org or call 617-489-6000.
Pathways to Teaching Careers Program: Funded by the DeWitt Wallace–Reader's Digest Fund, this program offers wide-ranging assistance to people already working in schools, such as classroom aides and substitute and emergency-certified teachers, to complete degrees and teaching certificates. After receiving their certification, they take on full-time teaching jobs in low-income urban or rural public schools for up to three years. For more details, visit the Pathways Web site at http://www.dewittwallace.org/focus/pathways or call 212-251-9800.