FOR CASPLANO JUST
Running head: COMPARING THE SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS IN US AND UK 1
COMPARING THE SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS IN THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM
Abstract
Statistics reveal that the world is facing a teacher shortage. It may be assumed that the shortage only exist in developing countries. Yet the United States and the United Kingdom also are experiencing are record number of shortages. Do these countries have the same problems recruiting teachers? This research is comparing the causes of the teacher shortages and looking for possible solutions for it by reviewing the literature. The review revealed both countries have shortages of teachers related to subjects taught and where schools are located. Better pay is just one part of solving this problem. The review found governments, organizations, and higher education institutions have responded slowly to the crisis. Also, a clear solution to the shortage situation may not exist.
Shortage of Teachers in the United States and the United Kingdom
Education can improve people in all walks of life everywhere in the world. Education gives individuals a sense of direction and purpose for life giving most people hope for a brighter future. A country’s development is directly proportional to the level of education its leaders and citizens have.
Teachers provide valuable and significant roles for society by teaching knowledge and skills to students. They do this when children are at the most impressionable time in their lives. Therefore, teachers can be a major inspiration and encouragement to students’ academic life by accepting and showing compassion to students to make learning enjoyable.
Because teachers are so vital for educating our young people, of course parents and governments want the most effective teachers teaching their young people. But, what happens when there are not enough teachers, effective or ineffective, to fill classrooms?
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics estimates that for a maximum pupil-to-teacher ratio of 40:1, 24.2 million primary teachers are needed by 2030 and 21 million of those will simply replace teachers that will be leaving the workforce. An additional 3.4 million are needed to for new schools and growth in school-age population. At the secondary level where the average ratio is 25 students per teacher there is a need for 44.4 million teachers and 27.6 million of those will be replacing teachers leaving the workforce. This means there is a need for an additional 16.6 million teachers worldwide.
The United Nations statistics are looking at the world situation which includes places teachers may not prefer working. Is the teacher shortage problem as great in countries such as the United States and United Kingdom?
A look at the survey by Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in both local and rural areas shows that the United Kingdom is facing an acute shortage of teachers. The shortage is more prevalent in poor areas where statistics shows that since 2010 there has been a steady increase in the number of vacancies in teaching the public schools to double and the figure currently stands at 1.2 percent of the teachers required (Martin & Mulvihill, 2016). For instance, an anonymous head teacher says that the teacher shortage is so great in his region that they can only manage by using agencies to help supply teachers. In fact, some of the teachers from the agencies prefer to work on a part time basis and the teachers have to teach the same class to cover the syllabus. The head teacher says that they cannot select teacher they want because there is no one to interview to do since whenever they advertise for interviews no one attends (Martin & Mulvihill, 2016). Eleanor Harding in the Daily Mail claims that there has been a looming shortage in the number of British teachers and the United Kingdom has opted to recruit teachers from abroad The shortage is also more for sciences and mathematics subjects and the authorities have no choice but to recruit from abroad.
The main cause of this problem is that the government in the past years has failed to recruit more mathematics and sciences instructors. Another cause for the shortage of the teachers is due to the poor working condition and a low pay package making most professional teachers seek alternative career path for a better pay (Smithers & Robinson, 2005). Statistics shows that the United Kingdom has been experiencing a shortage in the number of the student joining the teaching profession over the last four years in running (Smithers & Robinson, 2005). From a national audit report on teacher supply shows that around 28% of the people teaching physics are A level student. Furthermore, statistics from the national audit on teacher supply shows that 54% of the head teachers from the poor areas had difficulties in recruiting and retaining professionally trained teachers, in comparison to the 33% overall response from the other region claiming the same thing.
In the United States, the situation is similar. There is an endemic shortage of teachers and researchers say that the issue is not about to stop and could lead to a crisis. The shortage of teacher in the United States has been increasing since the 1990 recession and by the year 2016 the shortage was 60,000 teachers (Lugg, 2016). The shortage however varies from one state to the other but overall the shortage of teacher in the United States is surprisingly high. If the trend continues the shortage will have grown to 100,000 teachers by the year 2018 this shortage is very disproportional especially for math and sciences subjects.
This issue has plagued leaders’ minds in almost all states. In 2015, the Nevada State Board of Education president termed the shortage horrific, and if measures were not taken, the country would sink. The Education Commissioner of Texas in the same year said that shortage posed great threats to schools. The Labor market for teachers lacks supply with recent reports from ACT indicating that few students in colleges are pursuing education and few students in secondary schools pursue major subjects. The number of students interested in teaching declined from 15% in 2010 to 12% in 2014 (Boser, 2014). The United States Department of Education (USDOE, 2015) also indicated a decline in the total number of teachers being enrolled in a preparation program from 719,081 in 2008 to 465,536 in 2014 (Boser, 2014). This decline depicts the actual shortage of teachers in the United States. (US Department of Education, 2016). These reports show that there is real evidence of shortage of teachers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The USDOE annually publishes reports on teacher shortages since 1990. The most current report indicates the 2016-2017 teacher shortage in the states, but because of different reporting standards of shortage in different states, the report does not give a full analysis of the statistic. For instance, the report does not give an up-to-date or a good analysis of how the teacher shortage has progressed or evolved from one year to the other. This means that there is no clear or precise figure of the shortage and the number of teachers needed to feel the gap so that the United States can comfortably say it does not have a shortage of teachers as the USDOE proposes (US Department of Education, 2016).
Even with this meager information, it is clear that some states still scramble for teachers. These include; Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Arizona, and Kansas. California is the most affected having been forced to lay off over 80,000 teachers during the previous recession which was a big blow to the education sector (USDOE Office of Postsecondary Education, 2015). This led to a great decline in the number of college students pursuing education related courses. In Indiana, the state struggles to meet the student teacher ratio in both poor rural and urban communities which are in dire need of teachers. Teachers in Kansas are reported to be migrating to other states due to budget cuts on their salaries which yielded great dissatisfaction and led to deteriorated work conditions (USDOE Office of Postsecondary Education, 2015)
The teacher shortage problem however is not the same in all states around the United States as some states, like New York, the number of graduating teachers is more than the state can absorb. Reports indicated that only 7% of the certified teachers got a job with the New York states in 2012/13 academic year. It is even worse for art and language specialty as many teacher preparation programs produce a large number of elementary teachers in subjects like English and History where only a third can be absorbed in the states available job.
Why so many variations across states and districts? As the example in Indiana illustrated, geography contributes to aggravating the issue with rural areas having a harder time recruiting and retaining trained teachers in comparison to cities. There is a desperate need for teachers in regions like Philadelphia, Newark, and Baltimore where there are great concerns about security among other urban challenges, where research shows that there may be a great shortage in future. Rural districts lack the power to entice young professional teachers to relocate to those localities where they lack modern housing and other recreational facilities. Therefore, about a third of Mississippi’s Districts in 2013 recorded a looming shortage of teachers in rural areas (Monk, 2007). Apart from the geographical aspect, bureaucracy also contributes to poor allocation of teachers, and if this is not observed closely, the United States and districts may face detrimental effects of teacher shortages.
The United States Department of Education (US, DOE, Office of Post-Secondary Education, 2015) indicates that colleges contribute to staffing inconsistencies since most produce English and special education teachers and fewer teachers in sciences. English and elementary subjects, therefore, have enough but chemistry, mathematics, and physics are highly understaffed. Despite government’s emphasis on STEM subjects, public schools are highly understaffed with these teachers because they lack competitive edge with the private sector which can hire and retain young minds. There should be across-board deliberation on the issue of teacher shortages. The government and trainers should inform college students on areas requiring more teachers to avoid the unemployment since virtually about 14%-20% of teachers in common subjects are unemployed.
The research shows that it is such an awkward and tedious process in obtaining and retaining specialized teachers by school heads. From the exploration, it is clear that the arithmetic educators are popular. Then again, there is a deficiency of science instructors accessible for enrollment. The analysts utilize socio-demographic strategies to gather the information that is utilized to demonstrate this speculation. Obtaining and holding educators in state-funded schools is a test in many establishments. The examination utilizes both measurable and subjective ways to deal with decision elements that are huge in holding the educators in schools. The examination utilizes reviews and center gatherings to build up results. The discoveries recommend that great working conditions and better pay are the motivating forces and are urgent in pulling in and holding the instructors. The approaches that influence staffing in state-funded schools incorporate approach variables, authoritative components, and the individual manager's perspectives (Liu, Rosenstein, Swan, & Khalil 2008). Therefore, schools manage to staff and retain their staff by carefully incorporating these approaches. For instance, in search for teacher managers should not recruit with the aim of just getting teachers but rather getting teachers who are ready and willing to join the service with the current working conditions.
According to Education Commission of the States May 2016 report (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond & Carver-Thomas, 2016). There are several incentives used to acquire more teachers depending on the causes and circumstances leading to the shortage. These include; alternative certification, financial incentives, mentorship and induction, teacher leadership and assessment and feedback. Research data shows that there has been a major and steady decline in the interest of students teaching in the major subjects with the trend being; 15% in 2010, 13% in 2011, 12% in 2012, 2013 and 2014 (ACT, 2015). This is a major decline of supply in teachers’ labor market. Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research’s (CALDER, 2015) report showed two consistent trends in the long term on the issue of teachers training. First, the production of teachers is cyclical and responds to economy’s state. Second, there has been a steady growth in the number of teachers produced since 1985. A report from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicated that the state was likely to increase the number of teachers hired by 29% in 2011-2012 with 12% going to secondary schools. This could have been goaded by a report showing declining student teacher ratio in public schools from 1985 to 2012. The report indicated that ratio declines from 17.7% in 1985 to 15.3% in 2013 (NCES, 2015).
Different bodies have been established in setting standards for training and retaining teachers in the United States. Some of these organizations for setting teacher quality standards include; Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). INTASC is a consortium firm that helps education agencies promote reforms which are standard-based by developing licensing standards for teachers beginning their profession. It helps states work efficiently towards assessment and licensing standards for teachers beginning their profession. NCATE helps strengthen standards for accreditation of teaching and education programs. NBPTS has set standards for issuing advanced certifications, outlining what quality teachers ought to know and ability to implement their knowledge (National Research Council).
On the off chance that the working states of the educators are enhanced, there would be a lessening in the rate of instructor turnover. This should deal with the issue of staffing and enhancing the execution. The yearly turnover rates and sheer size of showing brotherhood demonstrate inflow and surge of educators in the calling (Ingersoll, and Smith, 2003). The instructor deficiency issue offers issues to the teachers. They think that it is hard to persuade students to come and stay in internal schools. Paying, motivators, pay rates and offering elective accreditation can lessen the educator deficiency brought on by retirements, classroom approaches and instructor attrition (Howard, 2003). Different states have sorted out various techniques to handle instructors preparing administrations, consequently accomplishing distinctive results. However, a comparative stage of preparing exercises is not available for all the states.
Just like in the United States, the United Kingdom has a similar experience with shortage of teachers. Research indicates that there has been a cumulative shortfall in the number of teachers in England, Wales, Liverpool, and Scotland. In 2015, 71% out of the possible 100% target was achieved in training physics teachers ("The long and short of the United Kingdom teacher crisis", 2017)). In 2011, a report by Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) showed that the expected target through issuing incentives for mathematics specialist was not achieved. There was a shortage of about 4,075 between 2000 and 2010 of mathematics teachers which means the target was not reached. Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) in Scotland reported difficulties in training teachers for some subjects, for instance physics which recorded a shortfall over the years ("The long and short of the United Kingdom teacher crisis", 2017). TWPAG in 2013 indicated a shortage of teachers in subjects such as chemistry, computing, physics, and mathematics with computing reporting an average of 2.81% that was lower than the target of 5.85%.
Data on vacancies of teachers in England showed that most schools feared to report long-term teacher vacancies since there is a notion that schools would appear unattractive for learners. Teachers would also fear subscribing to teaching in such institutions since there would be work overload and low pay. In Wales, for example, newly qualified teachers would receive extra pay along with additional departmental responsibilities for mathematics and science subjects. In England, bursaries of up to £30000 are available for mathematics and science graduates with lower bursaries for other subjects. This indicates that these major subjects are less attractive. Most physics and mathematics graduates end up in other professions which are more rewarding in terms of salary other than teaching. A report released in 2011 indicated that teachers in poor regions worked an extra unpaid 10 hour compared to those in well to do areas of England where they only worked an extra 6 hours a week.
Another report released in 2015 on the state of secondary schools revealed there were 1/5th the vacancies for the training of secondary teachers. In the same year, only 82% places had been filled compared to 2014 where 94% places had been allocated for secondary teachers. This decline exacerbates the issue of shortage of quality teachers. Targets for 2015 teachers’ training were only achieved in three subjects only; English, history and physical education. Non-English Baccalaureate courses were only able to meet 2/3 of their target with technology and design being hit the most since they only raised 41% of the set target. Huge targets in mathematics, computing, science and geography were missed. The missed targets were; 93%, 70%, 85%, and 83% respectively.
The shortage is there, despite an increase in the number of individuals enrolling for postgraduate training in the teaching field. Reports showed that the enrollment to postgraduate courses increased from 25,753 in 2015 to 28,148 in 2016. This comes after a series of under recruitments since 2010 and therefore this one-time increase cannot offset the shortage. The government’s aim is to train as many teachers as possible to offset the deficit in mathematics and physics.
The shortage for mathematics and physics teachers is a worldwide problem and not just in England, but England’s shortage is attributed to poor pay. The government of United Kingdom seeks to offset the issue of this shortage through training about 15,000 teachers in general subjects and have them specialize in physics and the mathematics each year. Some incentives would help achieve this target. These would include: getting A level teachers training in mathematics and physics get involved in teaching; increase scholarships for the subjects; and offering to pay off student loans for physics and mathematics.
The supply model by National College indicated that the demand for new teachers would not peak until 2019, but it also showed there was a consistent national shortage of quality teachers. According to the model, the shortage arose as a result of increased birth rate with a decline in recruitment of teachers. Retention of experienced and qualified teaching staff proved difficult as per the model since most teachers considered quitting their profession with a good number having already done so.
A report by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) showed that about 49% of school heads considered quitting the teaching profession, 85% of who cited work overload as the main reason. 43% of head teachers complained of working an extra 25 hours of the normal schedule and 29% worked an extra 35 hours of the normal schedule.
According to Cameron David, the former prime minister of United Kingdom, little happens in the United Kingdom in promoting the quality of teaching profession despite its importance ("Teacher shortages in England, spending watchdog confirms - BBC News", 2017). Teachers are important in determining the direction of the economy. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Program for International Student Assessment OECD PISA survey of 2006 showed that the United Kingdom declined from being 4th to 14th all over the world in sciences, from 7th down to 17th in literacy and from 8th to 18th for mathematics from 2003 to 2006 ("About - PISA", 2017). Only quality teachers can do this and, therefore, pushing for reforms to the margin in teaching and education sector is the only option (FORUM, 2016).
A report by ACME also predicted that more science and mathematics teachers would be required in the coming decade. The government’s ambition is providing more mathematics teachers to more balanced approach to deficit reduction. This would entail more teaching hours for students in this area. Poor quality mathematics and science students would mean that the whole economy would suffer since Cogent Skills (a strategic organization for science industries in the UK) predicted that the UK would require 37,000 graduates and 33,000 apprentices by 2020. There is a shortage since the projected skill production is 18,000 and 21,000 respectively (Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, (ACME), 2015).
The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) report in 2013 indicated an overall decline in teachers’ satisfaction with their profession. In this report, 35% of teachers pointed out that their profession is valued by the society. This is a low turnover, but it is actually higher than in most countries. The low turnover indicates a shortage in teachers. Poor morale results in poor teaching. About 73% of teachers in England felt underpaid.
Shortage of teachers in the UK is affecting the whole nation. Understanding the causes of the teacher shortage is critical in resolving this problem. The number of teachers rose by almost 1.3% in the previous years, but student population has increased tremendously. The UK graduates are finding alternative opportunities that pay better than the teaching profession. The UK is facing shortages of qualified and experienced STEM teachers due to poor remuneration, unfriendly working environment, and low enrollment in training schools.
UK graduates find it easy to secure the few jobs available in the private sector. Back in 2009 and 2010, teaching was a pleasing job, and many candidates were willing to join the few available slots in training colleges. A work overload has also led to shortage of teachers. About 1,100 schools have become funded academies over the last few years with the help of the government. People have transformed the learning institutions to business empires, with particular targets exerting pressure on teachers to perform.
In the US, a study on urban district schools indicates that high levels of teacher turnover play a fundamental role in teacher shortage by increasing demand. Teachers are leaving the teaching profession primarily due to work conditions, lack of support, and unsustainable compensation. These are important since teachers’ decisions are motivated by both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Teachers’ motivation depends on the conditions found within the school and districts. Education policy makers in the US should put more effort on retaining teachers by improving support and working environments in their areas. Reports indicate that the US is facing teacher shortages in high proportions. States responded quickly by raising and implementing incentives and teaching programs to attract new teachers to the profession. The visible problems facing the education system in US in the society is downplayed by state agencies (Eckert1, 2013). Researchers believe that the increasing number of learner enrollment, new laws requiring small class sizes and low fertility rates in first world countries justify the need to recruit more teachers. Researchers and recent data released in these reports allow precise evaluation of trends and shortages in the education sector and the feasible actions.
Researchers also quarrel about the predictable knowledge that the shortage exists since there are no sufficient capable and qualified teachers to fill up the number of empty positions (Monk, 2007). If we judge just some qualified candidates and some employment openings, there is surplus of skilled people. The shortage lies in the allocation of teachers. There are not sufficient teachers who are both experienced and eager to teach in inner-city and countryside schools. There is moreover a shortage in definite geographic regions of the country, and there are not sufficient qualified persons in exacting specialties, such as for bilingual, special education and as well as for the sciences.
In the UK, few students are enrolling for technology driven courses. Earlier studies have shown that fewer students wish to follow careers in technology. The primary challenge the UK is facing is employment and retention of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers in learning institutions. There are shortages of STEM secondary teachers since most of the teachers are finding other alternative lucrative opportunities. There are fears that low numbers of teachers will compromise the quality of graduates from learning institutions (Barmby, 2006). Gatsby Technical Education Projects (GTEP) were established in the UK to support educational opportunities that will enable wealth creation through technology application and effective technology transfer from colleges and research centers to productive industry. The UK government also provided tax-free grants to trainee teachers of STEM.
The US faces similar challenges in recruitment and retention of high-quality mathematics teachers in urban districts. Policy makers and educational stakeholders understand that it is essential to have a quality teaching fraternity. The US finds it difficult to staff urban schools with quality STEM teachers (Eckert, 2013). Restricted district flexibility, reduced district competitiveness and reduced number of acceptable candidates has exacerbated the challenges of staffing in the US. Universities and colleges are producing insufficient graduates with strong mathematics background. Policy makers have recommended for strengthening math teachers’ education and attracting more students by providing them with incentives to join STEM teaching profession.
Teacher shortages have a rich history in the UK. Education field has been of greater interest for scientific discussion and research around the world for decades. Schools in the UK have not been able to address teacher shortages in the compulsory education. In 1950, Archibald identified unfilled teaching positions and two decades later, the position remained unfilled. He noted the challenges of recruiting teachers by the administrators. Schools in the UK have employed different strategies to address teacher shortages such as networking, hiring overseas teachers, curriculum adjustment to be teacher friendly, employment of part-time teachers and requesting available employees to teach a broad range of subjects. These measures require changes that affect the students’ performances. The teaching fraternity has been exposed to exacerbated expectations through allocation of extensive education sessions and the increase of the student teacher ratio. This may affect the teachers’ profession through excessive stress and push them out of the profession, consequently aggravating shortages of professional teachers. Unsustainable remuneration is a principal cause of teacher shortage. Several appeals have been made to improve the teachers' compensation.
In the US, the traditional pay scale rewards teachers on the basis of the educational level and the years of teaching experience and does not reflect the relative supply and demand of teachers in various subjects (Gray & Behan, 2005). The districts are unable to offer competitive salaries to teachers with strong math backgrounds and qualifications. These graduates have many career options, and this forces them to look for alternative well paying jobs. In this case, insufficient pay and incentives are the cause of inadequate supply of math teachers. Until all the above contributing factors have been addressed, the teaching fraternity will continue to be insufficient.
In the US, the debate is shifting from supply to retention. Over the next two years, the US will require over 2.2 million teachers. Policy makers have responded to this demand by increasing the supply of new teachers, but little attention has been given to training new teachers who will remain in urban schools; the retention of the existing workforce should also be addressed (Gray & Behan, 2005). Massive teacher shortages have been created by policy responses aimed at converting demographic trends such as teachers’ retirements and increased student enrollment. Many of the young, best and brightest teachers are likely to leave. The policy makers should study reasons for this exit at the micro level and address the specific concerns of the teachers. This will help the conversation to move to the macro level. Factors at micro level include the salaries and supportive workplace environments. Professionalizing the teachers will create more learning opportunities and career advancement for them.
Teachers serving poor minorities in urban centers face a myriad of challenges related to the fact that children are living in poverty stricken areas. These children are likely to be taught by less experienced and less qualified teachers. Most of these schools’ employ novice teachers, and there is a need to provide the necessary support and incentives to lure and preserve the best talents (Liu, Joseph, Khalil, Rosenstein, Aubrie, & Khalil, 2008). Students from these schools suffer from significant disadvantages in elements such as funding and parental love. These students come from societies characterized by gang violence and highest rates of school drop outs and pregnancies. There is a need to place the most qualified and experienced teachers in these areas to handle these schools. It will help attract and retain the best talents who will be able to neutralize these difficulties and provide the best education in unfriendly environment.
A survey published by Durham University reported the reasons why active teachers were considering leaving the profession in the next decade. 27% of the teachers sampled were considering quitting teaching professions while 3% were undecided. The responses were similar, and more than 86% of them said workload, family responsibilities, stress, and pupil behaviors were the main grounds for considering quitting (Quartz, 2008). This analysis was used to identify the categories of suggestions to improve the teachers’ welfare. These categories are: school management, finances, flexibility, society’s view, workload and work conditions.
In an article published by William Peterson University, Paterson Teachers for Tomorrow (PT4T) project was created to lure gifted high school students from Peterson to teaching careers and preparing them for teaching professions. This project aimed at solving educational policies on recruitment and retention of teachers. The project sought to understand the factors that constitute teachers’ competence and ethnic match between the teacher’s stakeholders and dispositions to teach all the students. PT4T also trained teachers to survive in poor urban districts, by giving them a strong knowledge base and ability to teach in different ways and their commitment to their parents, students and the community they serve.
In this analysis, teachers gave a view on the shortage subjects in the UK with views on recruitment and retention. Salary emerged as the most influential factor affecting teachers’ recruitment were both quantitative and qualitative people’s behavior and workload. These factors emerged as the most dissuading issues to teachers to remain in the profession. Any policy drafted to improve teachers’ recruitment and retention in the UK must take into account these factors.
Teacher shortages in U.K and U.S are caused by social-economic changes which threaten the future of education in many first world countries (Monk, 2007). Literature review indicates the shortage of STEM teachers, design and home economics fields is the worst. A report by Northern Ireland Teachers Education Committee (NITEC) revealed that the country had experienced an acute shortage of teacher’s enrollment for STEM which was insufficient to meet the national demand. STEM teachers seem to be older than teachers in other subject areas.
The statistics indicated that between 1995 and 2000 the average number of recruitment fell from 530 to 360 for STEM teachers. Lack of graduates taking these courses presents future problems. A study released by Northern Ireland Steering Group for Numeracy, at least more than 20 mathematics posts were unfilled in post primary institutions due to difficulties in recruiting teachers for these subjects. Technology and design fields were facing acute shortages over the last decade. There was a significant reduction in new students in STEM training institutions, which have led to the current shortage in supply.
Teachers shortage begun in the early 1980s, particularly in urban areas. Currently, urban districts lose one-sixth of newly hired teachers within their first five years of the service. Educators are expected to examine the selection process of students joining teacher's training institutions, recruitment, and retention (Monk, 2008). In urban schools, differences in social-cultural identities between the students and educators affect retention and success of a hiring process. Most of the kindergarten teachers are middle-class women from rural and suburban areas while more than 40% of the students are children of color living in poverty stricken areas. Less than 20% of the teachers are fluent in foreign languages. In 2000, there were less than 2 million limited English proficient teachers, and the number keeps on rising due to immigration. This may affect teacher retention and quality of education delivered to the students.
Urban schools have a high student population, subjected to different social, economic and political disparities and due to immigration, political differences and economic diversity. Population diversity and economic challenges have led to segregated schools with dilapidated infrastructure and large student populations. These schools face minimal levels of performance, parental participation, discipline, student health and inadequate learning resources. These factors affect the teachers’ performances, motivation and retention in these schools. Social and cultural awareness is critical for a teacher’s success in an urban setting. This is an affirmation of one’s own cultural identity. The teachers also possess strong contextual interpersonal skills which enable them to perceive and respond to challenges of the urban environment. This calls for proper and in-depth training of teachers preparing them for urban settings.
The national audit office report indicated a teacher recruitment crisis in the UK. The department of education failed to reach its targets in the last ten years, and the published vacant positions and temporarily filled positions have doubled between 2011 and 2014. Understanding the primary cause of teacher shortages is essential in addressing these issues. The number of pupils has been increasing. In 2015, the number of UK teachers rose by 1.3% from 507, 000 to 512, 500. However, more students are enrolled than ever before. The rate of teacher recruitment has failed to correspond to the rate of new pupil recruitment in schools leading to teacher shortages. Training institutions are churning out a sustainable number of graduate teachers, but the graduates are finding jobs elsewhere.
Research by National Bureau of Economic Research on the 30,000 US schools reported that teachers hired during hard economic times recorded better results. The study noted that more talented staff are attracted to the teaching profession during these times. Schools taught by teachers hired during a recession improved their performance. The study also noted that higher pay would improve the quality of the teaching. During recession time, other careers seem insecure, with limited opportunities emerging or could have reduced pay which would push the best talents to the stable teaching profession. Every government should use the recession window to hire new teachers who would otherwise have chosen a different career path.
In the UK, teacher’s recruitment has changed. Education Secretary Michael Gove undertook radical reforms, especially on teachers training. He restructured funding and recruitment targets to promote school direct route. This increased pressure on schools to train young graduates. Many schools were not prepared for teachers training, and this has led to direct school quotas being missed. This model is in transition and the right model to address the current challenges is yet to be realized.
In conclusion, both the US and UK education sectors are in crises of shortage of quality teachers. In both countries, there are acute shortages of STEM teachers and each state has implemented different policies to address the challenge. Implemented policies are aimed at attracting and retaining the best talents in the teaching profession (Barmby, 2006). The main challenges facing teaching fraternity are low remuneration and poor working conditions. Education administrators have a role in ensuring all the students get quality education, especially STEM. Attraction and retention can be achieved through giving incentives such as grants, improved remuneration, and interest-free loans.
Teachers are responsible for creating the future of students and society. They are the ones who encourage students and help them in understanding the concept and how to use those concepts to be successful in life. Teacher are a very important asset of every society so their needs should be fulfilled and special attention should be given to their needs so that they can provide better education and ways of learning to our children.
In this analysis, teachers gave a view on the shortage subjects in the UK with views on recruitment and retention. Moreover, salary was seen as the most influential factor affecting teachers’ recruitment. This affected both quantitative and qualitative people’s behavior and workload. These factors emerged as the most dissuading issues to teachers to remain in the profession. Any policy drafted to improve teachers’ recruitment and retention in the UK must take these factors into account.
On the other hand, in the United States Education Commission of the States May 2016 reported that several incentives were used to acquire more teachers in reference to the causes and circumstances leading to the shortage. These included; alternative certification, financial incentives, mentorship and induction, teacher leadership, assessment, and feedback. This enhanced motivation and appreciation of teachers is so as to maintain them in the course.
Researchers in the US and the UK have recorded a shortage of quality teachers and have come to the unanimous conclusion that quality teachers have significant influence on student learning. For this reason, it is permitted to assume that everyone agrees to what is meant by quality teachers. The word quality is hugely value-oriented such that individual’s reference for quality may differ but still be legitimate. The characterization of quality teachers varies with the interests and perspectives of a writer.
From the above illustrations, it is clear there is a crisis called ‘Quality teacher Shortage’. This has plagued both the US and the UK equally and almost with similar magnitude. The difference of how the problem ousted depends on the policies and responsiveness of the governments towards this epidemic. Different approaches should be recommended but which have a point of intersection for both the US and UK. In the UK, to solve the problem of shortage of quality teachers, several measures should be pursued for long and short term use. First, provision of subject specific and high quality continued professional development. Second is to strengthen the career path of subject specialists. Third is to establish a national standard of defining subject specialism. Fourth, teaching college establishment. Fifth is career support and mentoring networks for students and teachers. Last but not least, financial incentives (Ingersoll, & Smith, 2003). In the US, the policies that should be implemented include: alternative certification, financial incentives, mentorship and induction, teacher leadership, assessment, and feedback.
