Changing Expectations for the K-12 Teacher Workforce Policies, Preservice Education, Professional Development, and the Workplace (2020) / Chapter Skim
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4 Trends and Developments in the Teacher Labor Market
4 Trends and Developments in the Teacher Labor Market
Pages 63-88
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From page 63... ...
This chapter also considers the perceived desirability of the teaching profession. It is important to recognize that descriptions at the national level ignore how states and local entities have control over many factors in the teacher labor market.
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From page 64... ...
Additionally, for some aspects of the teacher labor market, when the data are available, earlier datasets are drawn upon if they help to describe important longterm trends. It is challenging to say definitively how changes to state regulations for who is eligible to teach would affect the teacher workforce in general, or in particular school systems (Boyd et al., 2007)
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From page 65... ...
TEACHER SUPPLY AND DEMAND AND LONG-STANDING LABOR MARKET MISALIGNMENT Reports of teacher shortages, also characterized in the broader literature as staffing challenges, have been widely reported in recent years (Dee and Goldhaber, 2017)
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From page 66... ...
. 4 Though as we elaborate below, it is probably misleading to look exclusively at national figures because the regulation of teacher labor markets is a state function and there are considerable barriers to cross-state teacher mobility.
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From page 67... ...
Staffing challenges arise in part because heterogeneous state regulations make it more difficult for teachers to cross state borders. As noted above, states regulate teacher labor markets through licensure, seniority, tenure, and pensions in ways that create barriers to cross-state teacher mobility (Dee and Goldhaber, 2017)
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From page 68... ...
The long-standing misalignment of teacher supply and demand across subject areas and school types (e.g., private, public, charter) might be considered a feature of the teacher labor market.
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From page 69... ...
t Yet despite these small increases in teacher diversity, the "diversity gap" -- measured by the percentage point differential between teachers and students of color -- has increased because the racial/ethnic diversity of the student body has risen more quickly than the diversity of the teacher workforce. PATHWAYS INTO THE PROFESSION AND THE LOCALNESS OF TEACHER LABOR MARKETS The difficulty of filling some teaching specialties or staffing schools that have been considered traditionally disadvantaged may be an important impetus for the creation of specific pathways into the profession or programs designed to address the misalignment issues we described above.
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From page 70... ...
Still, a striking change to the structure of the teacher labor market over the past 35 years is the increased proportion of teachers who are entering the profession through alternative routes. In the mid-1980s, fewer than a dozen states had any type of alternative route programs, but by 2000 the great majority did (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2004)
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From page 71... ...
. The Localness of Teacher Labor Markets One consistent feature of the pathway a teacher candidate takes into the profession -- whether traditional or alternative -- is that it tends to be localized; teachers tend to work close to where they did their training and/or went to high school (Khalil and Chao, forthcoming)
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From page 72... ...
. It is not clear precisely why teacher labor markets are so localized, because it is difficult to distinguish between the preferences of hiring officials from those of teacher candidates.12 Nevertheless, this strong connection between specific teacher education programs and schools has important equity implications (Goldhaber, 2018)
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From page 73... ...
, the annual turnover rate for U.S. public school teachers is 16 percent (Goldring, Taie, and Riddles, 2014)
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From page 74... ...
. Turnover rates and exit rates are also substantially higher for teachers of some subjects, with particularly high turnover rates for mathematics, science, special education, and English language development teachers as compared to general elementary teachers (Carver-Thomas and DarlingHammond, 2017)
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From page 75... ...
. Research conflicts on how race/ethnicity correlates with turnover, with some studies finding higher turnover rates among White teachers and others finding slightly higher turnover rates among teachers of color, depending on what other factors are adjusted for (e.g., Achinstein et al., 2010; Borman and Dowling, 2008; Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond, 2017; Guarino, Santibañez, and Daley, 2006)
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From page 76... ...
State-specific licensing requirements, seniority rules, and the lack of portability for teachers' defined benefit pensions appear to constrain teacher labor markets to be local and segmented (Dee and Goldhaber, 2017)
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From page 77... ...
. In other words, the available evidence suggests that inequity in the distribution of teacher quality, however it is measured, is a consistent feature of the teacher labor market.
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From page 78... ...
"College graduates" excludes public school teachers. SOURCE: Adapted from Allegretto and Mishel (2018)
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From page 79... ...
. Although we have less evidence about working conditions and entrants to the teaching profession, it is likely that more positive working conditions allow for attracting a higherquality teacher workforce by raising the overall desirability of teaching.
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From page 80... ...
. However, a study of evaluation implementation in Chicago Public Schools found no effect on teacher turnover for the average teacher but higher turnover among low-rated teachers, suggesting that schools used evaluation information to make staffing decisions (Sartain and Steinberg, 2016)
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From page 81... ...
The complexity of many factors at different layers makes it difficult to determine causality between the factors in the labor market and how individual teachers and teacher candidates make decisions regarding their careers. REFERENCES Achinstein, B., Ogawa, R.T., Sexton, D., and Freitas, C
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From page 82... ...
. Localism and teacher labor markets: How geography and decision making may contribute to inequality.
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From page 83... ...
Tracing the evolution of teacher quality gaps in US public schools. American Educational Research Journal, 55(1)
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From page 84... ...
. Teacher Pensions and Labor Market Incentives.
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From page 85... ...
. Teacher applicant hiring and teacher performance: Evidence from DC public schools.
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From page 86... ...
. Disrupting teacher education: High costs for brick-and-mortar degrees create opportunities for online programs.
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From page 87... ...
. Teachers' labor market responses to performance evaluation reform: Experimental evidence from Chicago public schools.
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From page 88... ...
. The dynamics of teacher quality.
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