covery allowing for additional hires .
Some of California ’ s 58 counties , including those found in Central Valley and Inland Empire regions , are predicted to have a greater need for teachers due to retirements and increased enrollment . In the 2016-17 school year , more than 23,000 new teachers are expected to be needed statewide . The Central Valley and Inland Empire will need almost 30 percent , or approximately 7,300 of the new hires .
As school administrators use strategies such as signing bonuses , student loan paybacks and aggressive recruiting prior to a candidate ’ s credential completion , an even more pressing question to be asked , beyond who will teach the children of America , is will the teachers we hire stay ?
Where have all of the teachers gone ?
The teacher shortage has not crashed down on educators like a rogue wave in the ocean . This tsunami has been building over time .
The U . S . Department of Education ’ s annual report on teacher preparation shows that since 2008 , the overall number of teacher preparation candidates has decreased by approximately 31 percent ( Office of Postsecondary Education , 2013 ).
Annually , the governor and Legislature receive the report “ Teacher Supply in California ,” where teacher credentialing numbers are provided . The results from the 2015 report show that for 12 consecutive years , ending in 2013-14 , California has recorded diminishing numbers of issued preliminary teacher credentials in the area of elementary , secondary and special education .
Enrollment in teacher preparation programs in higher education institutes in California has dropped by more than 50 percent from 2009 to 2013 .
Throughout the country , many states report a similar shortage of credentialed teachers . The drop in hiring of new teachers can be attributed to factors found inside and out of education , such as the economic recession , as well as challenging factors within the field . These school-based issues include : increased teacher expectations , challenging student behavior and an overall high level of stress .
Why has California suffered from low enrollment in teacher preparation programs ? Numbers of candidates dropped due to the lack of teaching positions and lay-offs during the financial crisis beginning in 2007 . Although the recession is reported to have ended in 2009 , it has only been the last few years that increased hiring with diminished teacher pools have been experienced .
Educators are now in an all-out panic trying to secure substitute teachers for staff sick days and professional development . Even more important is the necessity to find classroom teachers to meet the colliding needs of retiring teachers , lower class sizes and increases in student enrollment in some areas .
Is the crisis real ?
Teacher retirement , student population growth and an erosion of teacher candidates have all contributed to the phenomenon of teacher shortages . Another matter of contention is the departure of novice teachers within the first five years of their employment .
In 1988 , the NCES began collecting data on teacher attrition and mobility . Results from 2013 show that 18 percent of those surveyed left education either voluntarily or involuntarily . Of those who chose to leave , 53 percent stated the conditions of their current or new position were better than the educational position they had previously held .
Some teachers move schools , retire early or leave the profession altogether . Movement of large numbers of teachers is now being credited as one more factor contributing to achievement gaps among students ( Useem , Offenberg and Farley , 2007 ).
Findings from novice teacher retention research vary from study-to-study . What has been agreed upon is that novice teachers with less than five years of experience have a higher rate of attrition than other educators ( National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research , 2009 ).
Other studies have shown between 17 percent and 50 percent of beginning teachers move schools or quit teaching all together within the first five years . Needless to say , this constant movement is disruptive to both student learning and creating staff cohesiveness , resulting in additional expenses for site and district leadership . Through attrition and mobility of teachers , billions of dollars a year are spent because of this continuous movement , according to the National Commission on Teaching and America ’ s Future .
Based on the 2014-15 results of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report , the California State University system ’ s 23 universities educate and credential approximately 50 percent of all teacher candidates in the state . Since 2008 , California has enrolled almost 26,000 fewer candidates in teacher credentialing programs .
When asked about the teacher crisis and how the university is working to help school districts meet their annual needs , Paul Beare , dean of the Kremen School of Education at California State University , Fresno , discussed a number of programs that have been designed to increase the number of teacher candidates into the hiring pipeline . Beare stated that over the past three years , Fresno State has gone from producing the third most teacher candidates in the CSU system to becoming the No . 1 producer of teachers for the 2015-16 school year .
One of the innovative approaches being implemented includes a teacher residency program with a local district , which is being expanded into two other districts due to the program ’ s success . This program provides candidates with a stipend during their course work and student teaching , a district mentor and a university liaison . At the end of the residency program , candidates become employed with the partnered district .
Other innovative programs include a summer boot camp to help potential intern candidates fulfill minimum requirements prior to being hired for the fall . The university has even reached down into local high schools to offer a teaching fellows program for high
January | February 2017 9