The United States education system is confronting a staffing dilemma. Studies indicate that many veteran teachers will retire over the next decade and new teachers aren't sticking around very long. To alleviate the challenge of recruiting and training new teachers to fill workforce gaps, several education programs are tapping career changers and using alternative certification routes to prepare them for the classroom.
According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, about 53 percent of the teaching workforce in the United States is likely to retire in the next nine years. Many U.S. schools desperately need qualified math, science, and special education teachers. But, with so many experienced teachers retiring and new teachers fleeing the field, what are administrators and state and education agencies doing to recruit new educators and get them into the classroom? Some education organizations are seeing the economic downturn as an opportunity to scoop up career changers.
It's not surprising, with unemployment rates skyrocketing, that people are looking at teaching with fresh eyes. Teach for America accepted 3,600 teachers into its program last year; this year, it had 35,000 applicants. The New Teacher Project (TNTP), another popular program that brings high-quality teachers to urban classrooms, stopped accepting applications for a number of programs because it had already met its target numbers. In Washington, D.C., alone, TNTP saw an 81 percent increase in applications.
In the face of the current chaotic economic landscape, some professionals—even those who are still employed—have chosen to reevaluate their life choices. David Keeling, TNTP's director of communications, has seen this happen before. "There seem to be historical moments where people reassess and reconsider their lives, like after 9/11," he says. Keeling says he is grateful for the extra applications because it allows for even more selectivity.
Dave Saba, president of The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), which has been offering certification programs in nine different states for only the last couple of years, says enrollments are up by 50 percent over last year. Saba agrees that it's not just the unemployed who are considering new careers in education; plenty of people are reflecting on their lives and careers and thinking about trying something new.
Even major corporations understand the need to pursue a new career path. Through its four-year-old Transition to Teaching program, IBM encourages employees to become math and science teachers in their local communities, offering up to $15,000 for tuition or stipends while participants student-teach. Participants can also access online mentors from partnering universities and school districts.
Approximately 200 former IBMers in California, New York, and North Carolina are in the program. "A large group of students finished in May, and they tell us it's harder to be a good teacher than to work at IBM," says Robin Willner, vice president of global community initiatives. Willner says IBM is committed to improving student achievement and "supporting quality math and science teachers is one of the best approaches." IBM also sees the initiative as a way to encourage employees to meet their personal goals and fulfill their potential, says Willner.
With teacher recruitment at least temporarily on the rise, the challenge becomes getting these eager recruits trained and into the classroom.
Alternative Pathways to the Classroom
Most incoming teachers are trained through traditional university programs in which they complete all of their certification requirements before beginning to teach. According to the National Center for Education Information's (NCEI) report Profile of Alternative Route Teachers, in the last decade, more than 250,000 people in the United States have been licensed through alternative routes. Some of these training programs allow students to begin teaching before completing their certification requirements. Today, every state offers at least one alternate route to the classroom, and about 600 providers of such alternate programs exist throughout the United States, according to C. Emily Feistritzer, president and chief executive officer of NCEI in Washington, D.C.
Barbara Thompson, who heads up teaching quality and leadership at the Education Commission of the States, says growth of alternative programs has exploded largely due to people looking to switch career fields who need to be trained and placed at a faster pace. Thompson says the reputation of alternative programs is gradually changing. "Although they may have been seen as lower quality than university programs in the past, [schools] are accepting them more readily and now realize that they are accountable," she notes.
The U.S. Department of Education study An Evaluation of Teachers Trained Through Different Routes to Certification, released in February, found no statistically significant difference in the performance of students taught by teachers certified through alternative programs versus those taught by teachers from traditional routes to certification. Therefore, alternative programs may be a viable option for people interested in joining the profession.
Gaining Classroom Experience Through Alternative Programs
Alternative certification programs often give students a chance to gain classroom experience and tap into mentors' expertise while getting trained. Chicago's Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) is modeled after the medical school residency program. Teaching candidates apprentice for a year with a mentor teacher in the Chicago Public Schools while studying for their master's degrees on Fridays, weeknights, and during the summer. To recruit, the organization advertises on career-changer Web sites and attends college job fairs. "This year, our applications have practically doubled," says Laura Couchman, director of human resources and recruiting.
Programs like CalStateTEACH train recruits using a combination of integrated curriculum delivered online and field placements that allow students to gain real classroom experience. Students work independently across the state and meet with faculty who guide their online education and review their fieldwork. Crystal Gips, the systemwide director of CalStateTEACH, sees the program as an important solution to filling workforce gaps in the state, especially in high-needs subject areas such as math and science.
Traditional Training Programs Shake Things Up
Some education schools are looking for new ways to effectively prepare their students for the reality of the classroom. Taking cues from alternative programs, education schools have considered integrating residency models and building strong partnerships with local schools. Anissa Listak, director of Urban Teacher Residency United in Chicago, works with eight alternative programs that recruit and train teachers. She says that universities have approached her and other residency program directors to discuss changing the way they prepare teachers. "We want to work with university members to innovate their programming and help them become more relevant," says Listak, who has also spoken with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education about new ways to prepare teachers for the classroom. She notes that the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education has introduced panels and workshops at its conferences on how to build teacher-residency programs in a university setting. "I hope it will inspire real change for teacher education," she says.
Some education schools are heeding the call for innovation. At the University of Washington College of Education in Seattle, students and faculty meet at partner schools for daylong sessions that include collaborating on ways to connect with students in high-needs schools. Meanwhile, the Hunter College School of Education in Manhattan has partnered with three urban charter school organizations to design a teacher-preparation program that prepares students to work in charter schools.
"You can't produce a teacher by sitting in a university classroom," says special education professor Jay Shotel of the George Washington University. GWU's school of education has nine partnerships with schools in two states, as well as in Washington, D.C. Shotel and his colleagues regularly spend time in the field with their students.
Thomas Rock, the executive director of enrollment services at Columbia University's Teachers College, the largest and most comprehensive graduate school of education in the country, receives calls almost every day from people who have never before considered teaching, including Wall Street executives interested in teaching math. "Programs like ours need to start thinking outside the box," he says. To that end, Teachers College is evaluating certification and noncertification programs and considering offering online classes. The school has also begun connecting with outplacement agencies in New York City to reach out to professionals in transition.
Where many see only the challenges of the current economic downturn, numerous education programs across the United States are seeing opportunities. As people pursue professional change, a number of such programs are responding accordingly—aiming to attract and train talented people and turn out high-quality educators with the experience, skills, and knowledge to succeed in the classroom.
South Carolina Develops Statewide Recruitment Initiatives
In South Carolina, officials hope to groom middle and high school students to take the teaching reins. The South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has developed a number of initiatives to find, train, and place teachers. CERRA also developed Teacher Cadets, a program that recruits outstanding high school seniors from 179 schools for the teaching profession, letting them work in the field and take relevant courses. College partners sponsor cadet classes, invite cadets to campus, and host conferences. Nearly 40 percent of Teacher Cadets eventually enter the education profession.
CERRA’s Pro Team program encourages exemplary 7th and 8th graders to consider teaching. Since the program began in 1990, nearly 13,000 students have participated.
The Teaching Fellows Program, established in 1999, provides scholarship funding for up to 175 high school seniors who have exhibited high academic achievement, a history of service to their school and community, and a desire to teach in South Carolina. According to Gayle Sawyer, executive director of CERRA, 1,100 students applied for Teaching Fellows scholarships last year. Of those applicants, 882 were participants in the Teacher Cadets program.
