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In recent years, increases in public school enrollment and possibility that teacher shortages exist or will exist in specific geographic regions and subject areas have raised questions about the supply of and demand for public school teachers. Information submitted by Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Pennsylvania and certification records were examined to determine the supply of and the demand for teachers by Pennsylvania public schools and to determine if the state is experiencing a teacher shortage. Analysis of this data yielded the following results and conclusions: (1) in general, a more than adequate supply of certified teachers exists to meet the demand for classroom teachers; (2) although there was a demand for elementary teachers to fill new positions generated by increasing enrollments and teachers leaving their positions, there was little or no demand for secondary teachers to fill new positions; (3) because only minor differences existed in the demand for teachers by certification area, it appears that special incentive programs to influence prospective teachers to enter special areas are unnecessary; (4) hiring patterns related to newly certified teachers suggest that there was a significant surplus of available teachers; and (5) overall study results appear to indicate that there is no unmet demand for classroom teachers based on data for 1989-1990 and 1990-1991. (IAH)

Compared in this document are the post-high school activities of the 1972 and 1973 graduates from public and nonpublic high schools in Pennsylvania. Areas of comparison were (1) enrollment in a postsecondary degree-granting institution (PDGI) vs. other activities (enrollment decreased by 5,172 students from 1972 to 1973; the number finding work increased slightly; 750 fewer students entered the military); (2) public vs. nonpublic high school graduates (40% public vs. 54.5% private school graduates entered a PDGI, and 3.5% vs. 1.7% entered the armed forces); (3) public high school graduates by sex (an almost equal number graduated, but 2,180 fewer women entered a PDGI and left the state, more entered an associate degree-granting business school); (4) 1973 public high school graduates by race and sex (regardless of race, more males attended a PDGI; the majority of Oriental Americans went to college, whereas the percentage of Blacks was below that of all graduates); (5) post high school activities of public academic program graduates (of the 38% in academic programs, 50.1% were male; the majority of Oriental Americans were in academic programs; Black and Spanish Americans were underrepresented); (6) post high school activities of public vocational-technical program graduates (35% of 1972 graduates and 40.4% of 1973 graduates were vocational-technical students, but only 12.5% attended PDGIs); and (7) 1973 graduates and employment (31% employed with 13% of that total from nonpublic schools; more females had received vocational training; the proportion of Blacks and Spanish Americans who entered the labor force was about the same as for all graduates, though a much smaller proportion of these were from academic programs; and less than 8% of Oriental American public school graduates worked immediately.) Data tables are appended. (VB)

A survey was conducted to assess the various forms of articulation practiced by the Pennsylvania community colleges, including horizontal articulation (involving the movement of students from a program at one institution to another at the same level), vertical articulation (involving movement of students from one competency level to a higher level, e.g., high school/community college and community college/college or university), and administrative articulation (the achievement of financial savings through sharing of facilities and services). Presidents of all 14 community colleges responded to the survey. The following conclusions resulted from the findings: (1) programmatic/curricular forms of articulation which facilitate the flow of a student from or to the community colleges had been implemented by a majority of the colleges; (2) the colleges had established good communication with their sponsoring high schools and vocational-technical schools; (3) most of the colleges were making every effort to grant prospective students credit for work/life experiences; (4) with few exceptions, students were permitted to proceed at their own pace, step-out to work, and repeat courses to improve their grade point average; (5) respondents felt articulation agreements must be initiated by local administrators and staff; and (6) many forms of cost-effective administrative articulation agreements had been developed. The questionnaire and documentation from selected early admissions and advanced placement programs are appended. (Author/MB)

This paper analyzes the age composition of Pennsylvanians. An analysis by specific age groups shows the types of pressure that will be exerted on both basic and higher education. In conducting the analysis, the following are closely examined: age bracket 5-15 years in relation to elementary enrollment, age bracket 14-17 in relation to secondary enrollment, age bracket 18-22 in relation to colleges and universities, age 22 as a source of persons entering the job market as teachers in basic education, and age bracket 35-44 in relation to nontraditional students who may be searching for education retraining opportunities under the pressure of the anticipated job-promotion squeeze caused when the 1975 bulge of 20-24 year olds attains this age. The decline in the elementary population should bottom out in 1985, in secondary in 1990, and in the higher education population in 1995. While the schools find themselves under the stress of declining enrollment, Pennsylvania will also face pressure on the job market due to a sudden increase in the number of persons aged 20-34 in the 1980s. (Author/IRT)