Donna McCaw teaches in the Department of Educational Leadership and Darlos Mummert is interim department chair and teaches in the Special Education Department at Western Illinois University, Macomb. They can be contacted at DS-Mccaw@wiu.edu or DK-Mummert@wiu.edu.
The stronger the teacher is in content knowledge and classroom management, the higher the student achievement … or so research tells us. Thus, every school board, superintendent, principal and parent wants the best teacher in every classroom.
Yet, a shortage of teachers may be limiting the implementation of such desires. But does this shortage exist unilaterally across all disciplines, or only in certain content areas and at certain grade levels? Is it confined to smaller districts or do large districts struggle to find teachers, too?
The topic lends itself to numerous questions around teacher shortages, teacher recruitment, teacher retention and hiring retired teachers.
First it is important to determine if a teacher shortage really exists in Illinois. Education researchers at Arizona State and many others have stated that there is no shortage of teachers. That would appear true when the annual number of newly certified teachers exceeds the number of open teaching positions. Yet, the federal government and the state of Illinois have identified some specific teaching certificates that are, in fact, in short supply.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, all states (except Nevada) identified shortages of special education teachers during the last four school years. In 2003, the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) also reported consistent shortages in special education teachers over a 25-year period.
Shortages in special education teachers come in a number of areas:
An additional and serious concern is related to recent interpretations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 and the percentage of time students with individual education plans (IEPs) are in regular education.
To meet the required ratios of teachers to IEP students, a large urban district foresees the possible need to significantly increase the number of special education teachers and/or aides next year.
Although districts of all sizes are struggling to fill positions for bilingual education, math, reading and science, rural and small community school districts are finding it extremely difficult to recruit highly qualified teachers in those areas.
Chris Sullens, superintendent of Kewanee and Neponset school districts, reported that the pool of available math and science teachers is both small and shallow for them.
"When a position is unfilled," Sullens said, "the district first attempts to hire a qualified retired teacher. But due to state rules, retired teachers can only teach one semester and still retain their pension."
The district has also been forced to hire individuals who do not have a teaching certificate, he said, and like a retired teacher, they may only teach for one semester.
"While these individuals are usually paid at the beginning of your salary schedule," Sullens said, "there are increased costs associated with additional staff development in areas such as student discipline and teaching methodology. Because of the demands of NCLB, the district doubles the amount of time a new math or science teacher spends in our mentoring program."
That means both the mentor and the teacher being mentored will spend more time out of their respective classrooms observing each other teaching.
"As a result," he added, "district costs are more than double. The district also spends additional dollars providing students' tutoring, by our experienced math and science teachers, both before and after school."
Shortages in the above teaching areas are seen across the state. Three representative regional offices of education would also add library media specialists to that list.
Julie Wollerman, assistant regional superintendent of schools for Bond, Fayette and Effingham counties (ROE #3), has authentic concerns for her districts and their students as they struggle to fill positions. Her concern is shared by Rock Island ROE #49's John Flaherty, who identified additional shortages in vocational/technology and early childhood education, and John Meixner, ROE #26 for Hancock and McDonough counties, also reports shortages in driver's education teachers.
Reasons for shortages
In a survey by the National Center for Educational Statistics in 2007, four reasons for teachers leaving the profession were identified:
It is tempting to simplify the myriad of reasons for the special education teacher shortage and for difficulties in retaining special education teachers. Reasons may be relatively simple (retirement) or rather complex (job dissatisfaction).
Special educators note additional areas of dissatisfaction as well. Special education teachers who stated that they intend to leave the job, according to The Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education, cited the paperwork and management responsibilities of IDEA, difficulties in caseloads and in serving children in multiple disability areas as reasons they will choose to leave teaching.
It is interesting that the reasons cited for leaving special education and teaching did not focus on the challenges of the students in their caseloads, to the same degree as other job-related issues.
Nine obstacles
Maybe we should examine some of the obstacles that stand in the way of filling these shortage areas.
Obstacle One: The most challenging part of leading today is the speed with which things need to happen. Large bureaucracies must step back and ask themselves: "Are we part of the solution or part of the problem?"
The Illinois State Board of Education has tried to make the process more user-friendly, working with the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) to allow retired teachers to return to teaching (in high needs areas). But the paperwork that the district and the individual are currently required to complete is time intensive.
Solution One: Create a simple on-line process for districts to apply for exceptions to the retired teacher's penalty clause for working. Because it is often just as difficult to find a teacher mid-year as it was during the summer, allow this exception to be for the entire academic year.
Obstacle Two: Teachers moving from one state to another often find the certification process frustrating. A veteran Iowa special education teacher, relocating to Illinois, sent her transcript to an ROE, had numerous conversations with people at ISBE, and ultimately decided that it was not worth the frustration.
Solution Two: The best solution would be the availability of a truly portable National Teaching Certificate. Why do we not have a national standard for teaching? Why do we not honor the national discipline specific standards that already exist?
If a teacher is certified through an accredited program that has national Specialized Professional Association (SPA) approval, why would that not be enough for states to honor that certificate? Certainly, in special education, for example, certification is configured differently state to state. However, if a program has national SPA approval from an accredited institution, what is gained by combing through transcripts? Without a doubt, teacher preparation varies in all content areas. But if the program and institution meet national discipline-specific and accreditation standards, are those differences sufficient to prompt the mounds of paperwork that currently exist?
One regional superintendent had this to say to ISBE, the U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois legislature: "Quit making it so difficult. We need experienced teachers to have the opportunity to expand their teaching areas. Currently, many requirements are so restrictive and the opportunities to gain the necessary credit hours, degrees or endorsements simply do not work with a full-time teacher.
"We certainly want our students to have the best education possible with the most qualified teachers. However, don't limit our choices to the point that we have to hire a poor, inexperienced teacher simply because he or she is the only one with the correct certificate. ISBE needs to work closely with higher education to provide more opportunities for our current teachers and give teachers time to get the training they need."
Obstacle three: Second-career baby boomers, interested in finding meaning and purpose, are increasingly turning to public school education, according to a study by educational researcher Peter D. Hart. Additionally, during an economic downturn, educated unemployed professionals consider teaching as a new career option.
Solution three: Design quality and affordable alternative certification programs and make them available to those who have life experience and a passion to teach.
Obstacle four: The recruitment process is antiquated. Too many districts, operating under old systems of conducting business, wait until summer to begin filling their positions. Applicants also report that districts are often slow in following through on the process. Applicants leave interviews and sometimes wait for weeks to hear if they did or did not get the job. In some cases they accept another position because it is offered first.
Solution four: Districts may need to review their hiring practices and streamline those processes when possible. While identifying the best candidate necessitates thorough reference checking and follow-through, it also requires quick and expedited decision making to get the best teachers before another district offers them a job.
Obstacle five: Small, rural districts have become the training grounds for larger districts. Smaller districts are having greater difficulties with attracting applicants and retaining teachers.
Solution five: Some districts have started sending representatives to university job fairs with material and information related to openings within their district. Smart districts would offer possible recruits a DVD, a podcast on a thumb drive, or send a follow-up text message of the benefits of teaching in a smaller district and living in a smaller community. As part of the interview process, have a veteran teacher who fell in love with the benefits of teaching in a small district talk about the positives.
Obstacle six: New graduates frequently enter into teaching with a huge debt. Because of salary differentials, education loses math, science, technology and foreign languages candidates to business and research.
Solution six: Loan forgiveness programs exist for teachers employed in high-poverty districts. Some incentives and/or assistance are also needed for those not teaching in high poverty districts but whose specialties are needed.
Obstacle seven: The number of graduates from Illinois colleges and universities in the areas of teacher shortage needs to be increased. In some cases, colleges and universities have eliminated certification programs in these areas because of the expense and work to obtain and/or retain accreditation. The credentialing process is time consuming and costly, and during hard economic times, institutions evaluate the return on their investments. If, for example, a program has only graduated 15 special education majors in the last two years, it is not worth faculty and administrative time to maintain credentialing for that program.
Solution seven: Legislators, ISBE, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education need to work together to create incentives for colleges and universities to support increased numbers in these programs while decreasing the cost of credentialing.
Obstacle eight: There is a need to recruit teachers through incentive packages that might include signing bonuses and quality, yet affordable, individual and family health care. Especially in smaller districts, the board of education and/or the collective bargaining agreements resist giving new recruits a signing bonus. Districts from states as far away as Alaska come to Illinois to recruit teachers. They come prepared to conduct on the spot interviews, offer tentative written agreements and signing bonuses of up to $10,000.
Solution eight: Increase awareness of the need for financial incentives such as signing bonuses and salary schedule differentials for shortage areas.
Obstacle nine: Reports range from one in five to three out of five new teachers leave the profession within the first year. New teacher mentoring programs are mandated but the question of quality remains.
Solution nine: Districts should evaluate their mentoring program for effectiveness and impact. While mentoring may have a very positive impact on both participants, schools must provide guidance and training to both.
Currently, each district creates its own mentoring materials. Some have suggested that ISBE create quality mentoring materials and make them available for all districts. Each district/school then could customize these materials to fit their unique needs.
To minimize burn-out and create a supportive environment, careful assignments of extracurricular responsibilities would also be recommended.
Additional solutions
Complex issues require complex solutions. The following "big picture" solutions have been identified through the research and feedback from individuals directly affected by teacher shortages.
Without encouraging the development of yet another committee, it would seem that it is time to convene a group interested in creating systemic solutions that work across P-12, higher education, legislation, teacher certification, Business Roundtable, IPA, IASA, IASB, ISBE and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
In an era where change is the mantra, reform has moved from being a verb to a noun to a mandate. It would seem that now is the time for the development and implementation of a vision for effective public schools. Certification is one piece, recruitment of the best teachers in the nation and subsequent retention of good teachers is yet another. But a true vision takes long-term planning, commitment to implementation and follow-through — regardless of who is in office.
Some state legislatures financially support a minimum annual salary for all teachers by supplanting district contracts to an established minimum. What is being done on the state and local level to attract and retain future teachers to Illinois?
The facts are that a teacher shortage exists in certain geographical and content areas and that the teacher shortage is a serious inhibitor toward the attainment of excellence for every child. Much work needs to be done at all levels to improve the candidacy pool, retain great teachers and truly treat all students and teachers within public education as important.
References
Rebecca Gau, Louann B. Palmer, Rob Melnick and Rick Heffernon, Is there a teacher shortage? Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs, Morrison Institute for Public Policy, 2003, http://www.morrisoninstitute.org
Peter D. Hart, Teaching as a second career: Conducted on behalf of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Peter D. Hart Research Associates Inc., September 2008
Robert J. Marzano, What works in schools: Translating research into action, Alexandria, Virginia, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003.
Donna S. McCaw and Robert Freeman, "Teachers: Why they choose the jobs they do and how you can effect that decision," American Association for Employment in Education, Columbus, Ohio, Summer 2001
Barbara Nye, Spyros Konstantopoulos and Larry V. Hedges, "How large are teacher effects?" Educational Evaluation and Policy Analyses, 2004
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Policy & Budget Development Staff, Teacher shortage areas: Nationwide listing 1990-91 through 2007-08, March 2008