While anecdotal accounts of substantial teacher shortages are increasingly common, we present evidence that such shortages are not a general phenomenon but rather are highly concentrated by subject (e.g., mathematics, science, and special education) and in schools (e.g., those serving disadvantaged students) where hiring and retaining teachers are chronic problems. The authors discuss several promising, complementary approaches for addressing teacher shortages.
Little Evidence for a National Teacher Shortage
The authors describe evidence that teacher labor supply has generally risen over time (see figure 1). Not shown in the figure is that the supply of new education graduates exceeds the number of new hires.
Teacher shortages are typically concentrated in schools serving economically disadvantaged students, in urban and rural schools, and in schools serving a
larger concentration of minority students. As a result, students in these schools are more likely to be taught by teachers without conventional certification. Dee and Goldhaber also observe that teachers without conventional credentials are especially common in hard-to-staff subjects such as STEM and special education.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Understanding and addressing teacher shortages in the United States | Brookings Institution
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