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The objective of this study is to use nationally representative data to examine the rates, destinations and sources of math and science teacher turnover. There are four sets of research questions the authors address concerning the departure of mathematics and science teachers from their schools: (1) At what rates do mathematics/science teachers move from or leave their teaching jobs? How do their turnover rates compare to those of other teachers? Have their turnover rates changed over time? What is the magnitude of both math science teacher mobility and attrition?; (2) Which types of schools have higher levels of mathematics/science teacher turnover?; (3) What are the destinations of mathematics/science teachers who move from or leave their teaching jobs? What proportions of those departing move to other schools, quit to raise families, go to graduate school, go into non-teaching occupations within education (e.g., school administration, higher education, etc) or go into non-educational occupations?; and (4) Which particular factors, aspects, and conditions of schools and of teachers' jobs are most tied to the turnover of mathematics and science teachers? This study utilizes nationally representative data on teachers, and therefore the setting is the whole United States. Findings suggest that schools are not simply victims of inexorable demographic trends and that there is a significant role for the management of schools in both the genesis of, and solution to, school staffing problems. The data suggest that improvements in these conditions of the teaching job, such as increased teacher salaries, and enhanced faculty input into school decision making, would all contribute to lower rates of turnover, in turn, diminish school staffing problems, undermine the so-called teacher shortage and, hence, ultimately, aid the performance of schools.

Across the educational systems of the world, few issues receive more attention than the problem of ensuring that elementary- and secondary-school classrooms are staffed with adequately qualified teachers. Even in nations where students routinely score high on international exams, the issue of teacher quality is the subject of concern. It is widely believed that the quality of teachers and teaching are among the most important factors shaping the learning and growth of students, an impact that goes beyond student academic achievement. Across the world, observers routinely tie the performance of teachers to numerous, larger societal goals and problems, including economic competitiveness and productivity, juvenile delinquency, and moral and civic culture. Along with a general consensus among many nations that the quality of teachers and teaching is a vital resource, there is accordingly concern surrounding how equitably this resource is distributed within educational systems. Some nations suffer from an apparent paradox: despite an overall overproduction and oversupply of new teachers, there appear to be substantial numbers of students without access to qualified teachers. This brief summarizes the results from a collaborative, comparative study of the qualifications of elementary and secondary teachers undertaken by a group of scholars, policy makers and senior education officials from six nations and one region: United States, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. This study revealed both commonalities and differences in the preparation and qualifications of teachers among the seven systems examined. Comparative educational research can provide a useful function by placing educational systems in context. The study suggests at least three possible sources of the problem of under-qualified teachers: (1) Pre-employment requirements and standards; (2) Failure of the teaching force to meet existing requirements and standards; and (3) How teachers are utilized once on the job due to mis-assignment or out-of-field teaching. Focusing on upgrading the training requirements of teachers and teacher recruitment may overlook the impact of the organizational and occupational contexts within which teachers work. The data indicate that solutions to the problem of under-qualified teachers also must look to how schools are managed and how teachers are utilized once they are on the job. Recruiting thousands of new candidates and providing them with rigorous preparation will not solve the problem if large numbers of teachers receive assignments for which they are not prepared. (Contains 1 footnote and 3 tables.) [For full report, see ED498347.]

Across the educational systems of the world, few issues receive more attention than the problem of ensuring that elementary- and secondary-school classrooms are staffed with adequately qualified teachers. Even in nations where students routinely score high on international exams, the issue of teacher quality is the subject of concern. It is widely believed that the quality of teachers and teaching are among the most important factors shaping the learning and growth of students, an impact that goes beyond student academic achievement. Across the world, observers routinely tie the performance of teachers to numerous, larger societal goals and problems, including economic competitiveness and productivity, juvenile delinquency, and moral and civic culture. Along with a general consensus among many nations that the quality of teachers and teaching is a vital resource, there is accordingly concern surrounding how equitably this resource is distributed within educational systems. Some nations suffer from an apparent paradox: despite an overall overproduction and oversupply of new teachers, there appear to be substantial numbers of students without access to qualified teachers. This report presents the results from a collaborative, comparative study of the qualifications of elementary and secondary teachers undertaken by a group of scholars, policy makers and senior education officials from six nations and one region: United States, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. This study revealed both commonalities and differences in the preparation and qualifications of teachers among the seven systems examined. Comparative educational research can provide a useful function by placing educational systems in context. Results from each nation or region are individually presented. The study suggests at least three possible sources of the problem of under-qualified teachers: (1) Pre-employment requirements and standards; (2) Failure of the teaching force to meet existing requirements and standards; and (3) How teachers are utilized once on the job due to mis-assignment or out-of-field teaching. Focusing on upgrading the training requirements of teachers and teacher recruitment may overlook the impact of the organizational and occupational contexts within which teachers work. The data indicate that solutions to the problem of under-qualified teachers also must look to how schools are managed and how teachers are utilized once they are on the job. Recruiting thousands of new candidates and providing them with rigorous preparation will not solve the problem if large numbers of teachers receive assignments for which they are not prepared. (Individual chapters contain tables, figures, and references.) [This report by Richard M. Ingersoll was written with Ding Gang, Sun Meilu, Kwok Chan Lai, Hidenori Fujita, Ee-gyeong Kim, Steven K. S. Tan, Angela F. L. Wong, Pruet Siribanpitak, and Siriporn Boonyananta. For related policy brief, see ED498346.]

The failure to ensure that the nation's classrooms are all staffed with qualified teachers is one of the most important problems in contemporary American education. Over the past decade, many panels, commissions, and studies have focused attention on this problem and, in turn, numerous reforms have been initiated to upgrade the quality and quantity of the teaching force. This report focuses on the problem of underqualified teachers in the core academic fields at the 7-12th grade level. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, this analysis examined how many classes are not staffed by minimally qualified teachers, and to what extent these levels have changed in recent years. The data show that while almost all teachers hold at least basic qualifications, there are high levels of out-of-field teaching--teachers assigned to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. Moreover, the data show that out-of-field teaching has gotten slightly worse in recent years, despite a plethora of reforms targeted to improving teacher quality. The report discusses possible reasons for the failure of these reform efforts. My thesis is that, despite the unprecedented interest in and awareness of this problem, there remains little understanding of a key issue--the reasons for the prevalence of underqualified teaching in American schools--resulting thus far in a failure of teacher policy and reform. I conclude by drawing out the lessons and implications of these failures for the prospects of the No Child Left Behind Act to successfully address the problem of underqualified teachers in classrooms in the coming years. (Contains 1 chart, 2 tables and 4 figures.)