Question:
What are the current trends in the teaching profession?
Response:
Pupil/Teacher Ratio
- A projected 3.7 million full-time-equivalent (FTE) elementary and secondary school teachers were engaged in classroom instruction in the fall of 2007. This number has risen 17 percent since 1997. The 2007 projected number of FTE teachers includes 3.2 million public school teachers and 0.5 million private school teachers.
- The number of public school teachers has risen faster than the number of public school students over the past 10 years, resulting in declines in the pupil/teacher ratio. In the fall of 2007, there were a projected 15.4 public school pupils per teacher, compared with 16.8 public school pupils per teacher 10 years earlier.
Salaries
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The salaries of public school teachers lost purchasing power in the 1970s due to inflation, but increased at a greater rate than inflation in the 1980s, and since 1990� the salaries have generally maintained pace with inflation. The average salary for teachers in 2005� was $49,109, about 1 percent higher than in 1995�, after adjustment for inflation.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008).
Digest of Education Statistics, 2007 (NCES 2008-022),
Chapter 2
Mobility
- At the end of the 2003� school year, 17 percent of the elementary and secondary teacher workforce (or 621,000 teachers) left the public and private schools where they had been teaching.
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Almost half of this teacher turnover was due to transfers: 8 percent of the teacher workforce (or 289,000 teachers) transferred to a different school. The remainder (9 percent of the teacher workforce or 333,000 teachers) was due to teachers who left teaching: teachers who took a job in a field other than elementary or secondary teaching (4 percent), returned to school for further education (0.3 percent), left for family reasons (e.g., to raise children or take care of other family members) (1 percent), retired (2 percent), and left for miscellaneous 搊ther�sup>1 reasons (1 percent).
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The percentage of teacher turnover at the end of 2003� was larger than at the end of 1987�, 1990�, and 1993� but was not measurably different from that at the end of 1999�00.
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In public schools, the turnover rate for high-poverty schools was greater than for low-poverty schools at the end of 2003� (21 vs. 14 percent).
1Leavers in this category left teaching for a variety of personal reasons, ranging from 搒tarting their own business� to becoming 揳 member of a contemplative religious community.� However, the most common reason reported by leavers who left for 搊ther� reasons was to take a year-long sabbatical or leave of absence from teaching.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008).
The Condition of Education 2008 (NCES 2008-031),
Indicator 31
Related Tables and Figures: (Listed by Release Date)
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 32. Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2004-05
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 61. Public and private elementary and secondary teachers, enrollment, and pupil/teacher ratios: Selected years, fall 1955 through fall 2016
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 64. Highest degree earned, years of full-time teaching experience, and average class size for teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: 2003-04
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 66. Selected characteristics of public school teachers: Selected years, spring 1961 through spring 2001
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 75. Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools: Selected years, 1959-60 through 2005-06
- 2008, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 76. Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state or jurisdiction: Selected years, 1969-70 through 2005-06
- 2007, Projections of Education Statistics to 2016: Actual and alternative projected numbers for the pupil/teacher ratios in elementary and secondary schools, by control of school: Fall 1991 through fall 2016
- 2005, The Condition of Education 2005, Special Analysis
- 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Out-of-field teaching by poverty concentration and minority enrollment
- 2003, The Condition of Education 2003: Beginning teachers
- 2003, The Condition of Education 2003: Out-of-field teaching in middle and high school grades
Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)
- 2008, An Exploratory Analysis of the Content and Availability of State Administrative Data on Teacher Compensation
- 2008, Attrition of Public School Mathematics and Science Teachers
- 2008, Findings from the Pilot Teacher Compensation Survey: School Year 2005-06
- 2008, Teacher Career Choices: Timing of Teacher Careers Among 1992-93 Bachelor's Degree Recipients
- 2007, Status of Rural Education in America
- 2007, Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results from the 2004-05 Teacher Follow-up Survey
- 2007, To Teach or Not to Teach? Teaching Experience and Preparation Among 1992-1993 Bachelor's Degree Recipients 10 Years After College
- 2006, Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States: 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey
- 2006, Teacher Qualifications, Instructional Practices, and Reading and Mathematics Gains of Kindergartners
- 2002, Qualifications of the Public School Teacher Workforce: Prevalence of Out-of-Field Teaching 1987-88 to 1999-2000 (Revised)
- 2001, Attrition of New Teachers Among Recent College Graduates: Comparing Occupational Stability Among 1992� College Graduates Who Taught and Those Who Worked in Other Occupations
- 2001, Teacher Preparation and Professional Development: 2000