--- Presented by Lucy & Keiny

Introduction

It is clear that throughout the world, the teaching profession is in crisis because of the increase in population growth and a decrease in the number of people wanting to become teachers. It is widely accepted that teacher quality is one of the most important factors for students achievement. It is fortunate to have many highly qualified individuals in America’s classrooms today. However, the United States is clearly in need of many more highly qualified teachers and must continue to work over the next decade to meet the goal of filling the classrooms.

2008

public school

enrollment 54m

17%elementary school

high school 26 %

2010 Teachers Needed 3.35 m

Acute Teacher Shortage

Urban Districts

Some Rural Areas

Many Branches of Special Education

Math and Science in Many Districts

Bilingual Education.

It is clear that the percentage of beginning teachers having left teaching occupation is increasing by years of experience.

46

40

33

24

14

0 10 20 30 40 50

After 5yrs.

After 4yrs.

After 3yrs.

After 2yrs.

After 1 yr.

percent

Reasons of Teacher Turnover

lack of student motivation

student discipline problems

low salaries

lack of support from school

administration

lack of teacher influence over decision

making

Based on many studies, it is concluded that salary and teacher morale are the real problems.

To begin with, salary is the major barrier to entering the profession when compared to other professionals.

Average Salary with 16 years Experience

Teachers $40,000

Accounts $49,200

Computer scientists $66,700

Engineers $68,200

No one ever said that getting into teaching would make one wealthy, but teachers should expect to have a life of economic dignity. Teachers should be able to purchase a home, send their children to college, and retire with enough assets to maintain a modest standard of living.

Many new teachers are finding that they are ill equipped to deal with today's increasingly challenging classroom situation. Many more are lured away by higher paying jobs in other fields. And as a result, more and more high quality individuals are leaving the classroom within their first two years of teaching.

Morale has been connected to a variety of issues ranging from discipline policies to academic support. Many view teaching as low-status work, with teachers being semi-skilled workers. It should also be noted that teacher morale is associated with a sense of respect and appreciation.Teachers must be viewed as professionals who are part of a team that helps students succeed. This view allows teachers to be supported and in turn to be supporters of parents and the schools teachers and parents serve.

Teacher Morale or Satisfaction

To Recruit & Retain Teachers

“The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001”, signed into law by President Bush, did mention “Teacher Qualifications” . Happily, the “highly qualified” requirement is already in effect for newly hired paraprofessionals. Thirty-four states have now required prospective high school teachers to demonstrate subject-matter expertise by passing a test in the subject they plan to teach.

Salary Incentives

Better Programs

Grow-your-own Programs

"Poaching" Teachers

Recruiting overseas

Rehiring Retirees

Help With Housing Problems

        Increasing salaries for all teachers and developing differentiated pay scales that reward expert teachers and those who take on specialized roles and responsibilities. Reward those willing to teach in high-need areas where teacher retention is problematic by giving them higher salaries than those teaching in areas and fields in which there is a glut of qualified teachers.

Salary Incentives

Ø Several cities in Texas offer signing bonuses between $1,500 and $2,000 for teachers of secondary mathematics and science.

States such as Nevada and New Jersey have raised average teacher salaries to compete with other districts and other careers.

Salary Incentives

        Though low pay remains a concern for teachers in many districts, raising salaries alone will not solve the overall problem. Better programs to initiate and support new teachers are also critical. It is widely thought that beginning teachers who have access to intensive mentoring by expert colleagues are much less likely to leave teaching in the early years.

Better Programs

Better Programs

Ø    some examples of school districts in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo, Ohio, who have been able to reduce the attrition rates of new teachers by more than two-thirds by connecting new teachers with expert mentors and providing both with joint release time. Such programs not only encourage new teachers to stay in the profession, but also enable them to become competent more quickly.

Rural and high-poverty districts and schools should encourage graduates and paraprofessionals already familiar with the culture and challenges associated with those environments to become certified.

"Poaching" Teachers

California recruiters lure teachers from Colorado and other states with benefits such as higher salaries, smaller classes, and hiring during the first interview at job fairs.

"Poaching" teachers from other school districts or other states is one solution to the teacher shortage that some say is unethical but which still happens frequently.

Rehiring Retirees

        In Georgia, school districts may hire retired school teachers but only to fill positions in low-performing schools. Only 1 percent of a school district's full-time staff can be retirees.

Recruiting overseas

       In New York City, school officials recruited teachers from Italy, Spain, Barbados, Jamaica, and Austria and conducted a $6 million ad campaign to tempt teachers into the classroom for the 2001-2002 school year.

Help With Housing Problems

        Chicago offers a resource center to help teachers find housing discounts, receive counseling on home buying, and research city neighborhoods. Cities like Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Chattanooga offer housing loans, below-market-rate mortgages, reduced closing costs, and free counseling to teachers.

Situations In China

---Comparison and Contrast

Compared with the problems in the United States, China is also faced with the same situation. It is estimated that senior high school education should reach a 60 percent gross attendance rate and there will be a shortage of 1.16 million people in the teachers’ ranks in 2005. It has also become an important factor hindering the sustained and healthy development of China's educational undertakings.

Both countries share most of the factors contributing to teacher shortages, such as low salaries, low social status and students’ discipline problems.

Moreover, various strategies to attract and keep teachers applied in both nations are significantly alike. To attract more teachers, China is trying to make teaching a more desirable and respected profession as well.

Similarity

To cope with the shortage of teachers, the China Education Commission declares that senior-middle-school teachers should be graduates with two years' training in professional institutes.

The government designated September 10 as Teachers' Day and made teachers' colleges tuition free. As for the problem of the teacher shortages in schools located in remote and poverty-stricken areas, the central government sends teachers to underdeveloped regions to train local schoolteachers.

Dissimilarity

Conclusion & Expectation

Teacher shortages would melt away.

Our schools would improve.

Our children would learn more.

Our teachers would get better, thus easing our quality problem at the same time we met the quantity challenge.

--- July.26th, 2004