Attrition of New Teachers Among Recent College Graduates. Comparing Occupational Stability Among 1992-93 Graduates Who Taught and Those Who Worked in Other Occupations

摘要

Although researchers have predicted teacher shortages for more than 15 years, it appears that as the century came to a close, these shortages had arrived. The teacher shortages experienced in 1999-2000 were both field- and location-specific. For example, consumer sciences teachers in particular (Zehr 1998b) and vocational education teachers in general (Zehr 1998a) have been in short supply in many districts, and special education teachers are chronically difficult to hire (Sack 1999). In addition, particular states and localities are finding it harder than others to staff elementary/secondary classrooms (Archibold 1999; Steinberg 1999; Wilgoren 1999), and often these shortages occur in selected fields rather than across fields (Bradley 1999). Increasing enrollments, particularly in the elementary grades; increasing rates of retirement among teachers; and the efforts of states and localities to reduce class size may well have contributed to many of these shortages (Johnson 2001). In recent years, enrollments in public and private elementary and secondary schools have grown considerably, and most expect that they will continue to climb through 2005, after which they are expected to drop slightly through 2010 (Gerald and Hussar 2000). Nevertheless, shortages may well continue since the proportion of teachers who retire each year is expected to rise (Goodnough 2000). As experienced babyboomer teachers retire, they are likely to be replaced by young and inexperienced teachers, whose attrition rates are higher than those of mid-career teachers (Archer 1999; Grissmer and Kirby 1997).