Elementary School Teacgers

Has the elementary and secondary teaching force changed in recent years? The answer is most

certainly yes—and in a number of important ways. It has become far larger. It has simultaneously

become both older and younger and far less experienced. It has simultaneously become less

diverse, by gender, and more diverse, by race-ethnicity. It does not appear to be suffering from

a decline in the academic ability of females entering teaching; indeed, the number of new

teacher hires coming from the top-ranked colleges and universities has increased. Finally, it has

become less stable.

For each of these trends, or non-trends, large questions immediately arise. What are the reasons

for, and sources of, the trend? Will the trend continue, and what impact will it have? In this

preliminary report we have offered some hypotheses for these questions.

It is also striking that while these trends raise important questions, until recently we have seen

little awareness or discussion of them or their implications—whether by researchers, by policy

makers, by educators, or by the public. But there are good reasons to investigate the sources and

continuation of these changes—because if these trends do indeed continue, there will be large

implications, with serious financial, structural, and educational consequences for America’s

educational system.

For instance, will the teaching force continued to outgrow the student population it serves,

and, if so, why? If the teaching force does continue to balloon in size, the expense to local

school districts could become unsustainable, and without an increase in funds, districts may

increasingly turn to cutting teacher salary levels.

Will the hiring, and thus the greening trend, continue? In turn, will an increasing number of

new hires decide not to stay in teaching, making teaching increasingly an occupation practiced

by the young and inexperienced, and if so, why? If this trend continues, the expense to local

school...