Out-of-Field Teaching: How Qualified Is Your Child's Teacher?
Teacher shortages, primarily in the areas
of special education, math, and science, vary by region and by school district, but critical shortages
do exist throughout the country. If your child's teacher has inadequate preparation in the subject
she or he teaches, is that the equivalent of educational fraud?
School boards throughout the country face increasing difficulty finding and keeping certified
teachers, especially in the areas of math, science, and special education. In analyzing data from
the U.S. Department of Education, University of Georgia sociologist Richard M. Ingersoll learned
that approximately 28 percent of all high school math teachers lack even the equivalent of a college
minor in math. In Alaska, that number is greater than 50 percent! Eighteen percent of all science
teachers are similarly deficient in their preparation. Further, many of those educators who are
certified to teach science are certified to teach in an area of science different from the one
they are teaching. For example, a teacher certified to teach earth science may be teaching biology.
Texas's Teacher Recruitment and Retention Study found the situation in their junior high schools
even worse. Thirty-nine percent of their seventh and eighth grade math teachers and one out of
every three science teachers were not certified to teach those subjects.
Out-of-field teaching is not an aberration, and it is not restricted to only a few subjects.
Nationwide, students in one of five classes in U.S. secondary schools have teachers with neither
a major nor a minor in the subject. In schools whose students come from low-income households,
the percentage of teachers teaching out of their field is much higher.
"Few parents would expect their teenagers to be taught, for example, 11th-grade trigonometry
by a teacher who did not have a minor in math, no matter how bright the teacher," University of
Georgia sociologist Richard Ingersoll told Education World. "However, that situation is all too
commonly the case."
If a teacher with the proper certification is not available, a school district tries to fill
the position with teachers certified to teach in other areas. If those teachers are not available,
administrators usually employ long-term substitutes rather than enlarge or cancel classes. For
example, Linda Darling-Hammond reports in How
Can We Ensure a Caring, Competent, Qualified Teacher for Every Child? that in Louisiana and
Texas, a person without even a bachelor's degree can teach for years on an emergency license and
never obtain a license.
Furthermore, because of uncertainties about enrollment, school districts frequently defer hiring
decisions until just before school starts, leaving those teaching out of their discipline virtually
no time to prepare. People who teach subjects in which they have little or no background usually
loathe it. It's not sound educational practice. Under-prepared teachers who rely heavily on the
textbook severely inhibit student learning.
REDUCING COSTS TAKES PRIORITY
Exacerbating the situation, according to information Director Catherine Clark of the Texas Center
for Educational Research shared with Education World, is that to reduce payroll costs, some school
districts offer certified teachers incentives to retire early!
"School boards' priorities have so much more to do with money than education that they drool
at the prospect of replacing a twenty-year teacher with a neophyte," even if that neophyte knows
nothing about the subject. That is the opinion of Joe Bard, Pennsylvania's former Commissioner
for Elementary and Secondary Education.
In many states, teachers may teach courses in subjects for which they have no certification.
Some, like Texas, permit out-of-field teaching but limit the amount of time educators may teach
those subjects. Others, like Virginia and Arkansas, prohibit the practice. Because principals
frequently underreport it and it's hard to monitor, lengthy periods of out-of-field teaching occur
anyway.
NO ONE CHECKS, NO ONE NOTICES
Familiarity with the most up-to-date materials in a field of expertise provides little help if a
person teaches a different subject.
"Some critics have tried to help the public understand that it is a problem when teachers teach
out of their field, but for the most part the issue has not been visible to the general public,"
Emerson J. Elliott, a consultant at the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education,
told Education World. "There really aren't penalties associated with out-of -field assignments."
Out-of-field teaching is tracked sporadically and rarely publicized.
A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE
Some teachers will do an excellent job whether or not they have certification in a subject. If such
a teacher does succeed, he or she is frequently kept in that position year after year, whether the
person prefers to teach that subject or not. Some school systems just prefer to do what is expedient
to address their often-erratic staffing and enrollment needs.
Even in English and social studies, disciplines considered to have an abundance of candidates,
Ingersoll found that nearly 22 percent of high school English teachers and 18 percent of social
studies teachers do not even have a minor in those subjects. The situation in junior highs is
even worse. Regardless of certification, school systems apparently find it convenient to keep
under-trained teachers in those positions. How can we expect U.S. students to do well when compared
to their peers in many industrialized countries?
Often it is not economically feasible to hire, say, a physics teachers just teach physics in
the nearly one out of three American secondary schools that enroll fewer than 300 students. Get
more creative, federal education officials suggest. Use part-timers or conduct classes by television
and e-mail. School districts say finding qualified part-timers is difficult and question whether
remote learning, such as television courses and e-mail instruction, really provides quality education.
Few districts provide funds for teachers to go back to school, and certification or a minor in
a subject takes about 12 courses. Teachers who do further their education usually prefer to work
toward an advanced degree that will increase their earning potential.
WHY THE PROBLEM?
Why the problem? Look at some past initiatives.
Texas created the Future Teachers Loan Fund. By the end of the 1995 fiscal year, the money
was gone, and Texas appropriated no new funds.
Texas also authorized the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to assist qualified teachers
to repay their student loans if they worked in designated shortage areas. Although contained
in statute, no appropriation has been made to fund the program.
The Troops to Teachers Program, a program that effectively attracts males and minorities
specifically into shortage areas, was mentioned in more than a dozen pieces of legislation this
year. In October 1999, national funding was canceled.
Because of inadequate funding, new teachers' mentoring and induction programs often last
only a few days. Many experts recommend that yearlong support can help stem attrition. According
to "How Can We Ensure a Caring, Competent, Qualified Teacher for Every Child?" nearly one out
of three new teachers leave within five years of entry.
Frequently, people create scholarship programs but fail to fund them adequately. An example
is the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program, which provides deferments or cancellations
of some federal student loans to teachers at an accelerated rate if they teach in designated
shortage areas. Since 1995, the program has accepted no new applicants. Another example is the
Rockefeller Brothers' Minority Teachers Fellowship Program, which helps outstanding minority
students in New York City become teachers. That program has accepted no one since 1998.
Although having an appropriately certified teacher in each class is extremely important, "How
Can We Ensure a Caring, Competent, Qualified Teacher for Every Child?" reports that only Arkansas,
Kentucky, New Jersey, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin require appropriate certification. Linda Darling-Hammond
found that only three states -- Arkansas, North Carolina, and West Virginia -- require that their
schools of education be accredited.
CAN IT BE FIXED?
With rapid growth in student enrollment and an extremely high teacher attrition rate, school systems
now realize they need to do something different. Texas Education Agency project manager Glenn Greenwood
shared with Education World the Texas Teacher Recruitment and Retention Study's suggestions for
remediation.
Cancel student-loans or provide scholarships for teachers or people with potential (such
as retired military, paraprofessionals, and capable high school students) who prepare for and
then teach for several years in shortage areas.
Provide financial incentives to colleges to steer potential teachers specifically toward
shortage areas.
Provide an electronic state-wide job bank and information service, particularly for those
seeking employment or certification in high-need areas; aggressively recruit and advertise shortage-area
job opportunities in both local and out-of-state newspapers.
Offer hiring bonuses to attract -- and annual stipends to retain -- teachers who have certification
in shortage areas.
Include stipends for mentor teachers to assist those new to a field -- perhaps targeting
teachers in special needs areas especially during the first critical year or two of teaching.
Offer grants encouraging school districts to develop innovative retention programs especially
targeted for teachers in high need areas; study teacher attrition in high need areas, and mitigate
the reasons for it.
Too expensive? Think about this: Statistics
on Teaching in America reports that the resources needed to make recommended reforms to the
American school system constitute less than 1 percent of the amount spent for the federal savings
and loan bail out.
A MAJOR FIRST STEP
Today more U.S. school systems are instituting some of these initiatives. More are trying to establish
systems that link preparation and certification with actual employment requirements. More are investigating
ways to recruit, educate, and support new teachers in critical shortage areas so that they are more
likely to remain in teaching. That is a major first step. Implementing those proposals and supply
sustained support will make the difference.
"Unlike Canada and many European and Asian nations, the United States treats elementary and
secondary school teaching as low-status work and teachers as semi-skilled workers," Ingersoll
told Education World. "Few would require cardiologists to deliver babies, real estate lawyers
to defend criminal cases, chemical engineers to design bridges, or sociology professors to teach
English.
"The commonly held assumption is that such traditional professions require a great deal of skill,"
added Ingersoll. "In contrast, the commonly held assumption is that teaching in elementary and
secondary schools requires far less skill, training, and expertise. Those who have spent time
in classrooms know that high quality teaching requires a great deal of expertise and skill."
Although teachers are not interchangeable blocks that can be placed in any empty slot regardless
of their type of training, out-of-field teaching is still endemic. It happens in well over half
of our secondary schools in any given year, in many settings: rural and urban and affluent and
low income. The level of out-of-field teaching has remained constant from the late 1980s to now.
At a time when research clearly demonstrates that teacher quality is the factor that matters
most for student learning, assigning just anyone to teach a class is not sufficient. Individuals
may have a great deal of content knowledge and little ability to get that knowledge across. Individuals
may be talented teachers but have no content knowledge. Students deserve teachers who possess
both. They deserve a competent teacher in every classroom.
STORY RESOURCES
Out -of-Field Teaching
Is Hard To Curb This March 31, 1999, Education Week article explores the practice
of out-of-field teaching and links to other articles on the topic.
Lacking Licenses
This April 7, 1999, chart lists U.S. Department of Education data depicting a state-by-state
account of the percentage of newly hired teachers unlicensed in their main assignment field.
Out-of-Field-Teaching
This March 31,1999, chart lists U.S. Department of Education data on the percentage of public
school teachers per state in grades 9-12, including veteran teachers, who do not have majors
or minors in the subject that they teach.
Out-of-Field Teaching and Educational
Equality This National Center for Education Statistics report (October, 1996) is based on
data from the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey. The report presents national data about the
number of students in the nation's secondary school whose teachers lack basic qualifications
in their assigned teaching fields.
Why So Many Underqualified
High School Teachers? This November 4, 1998, Education Week story, written by University
of Georgia sociology professor Richard M. Ingersoll, discusses why school systems hire teachers
who are not trained to teach the subjects they teach.
The Problem of Out-of-Field
Teaching This 1998 Phi Delta Kappan article by Richard M. Ingersoll summarizes the
problem of out-of-field teaching.
"Right Teacher, Wrong Class" This February 15, 1999, Washington Post article discusses the
fact that many U.S. secondary schools hire teachers who are not certified to teach the subjects
that they are assigned.
"Texas Teacher Recruitment and Retention Study, February, 1999." This voluminous report is
full of data and statistics on education in Texas and in the nation. To receive a copy, contact:
Catherine Clark, director of the Texas Center for Educational Research 512-467-3596 or e-mail
catherine.clark@tasb.org or Glenn Greenwood, project manager of the Texas Education Agency 512-463-9224
or e-mail glenng@tenet.edu
"States Get D+ On Efforts to Make Teachers Better," USA Today (11/16/99). This is
a summary of a state-by-state report card on education put together by a conservative think
tank.
Teacher shortages, primarily in the areas
of special education, math, and science, vary by region and by school district, but critical shortages
do exist throughout the country. If your child's teacher has inadequate preparation in the subject
she or he teaches, is that the equivalent of educational fraud?