Only five percent of almost 2 million U.S. high school students said they wanted to pursue careers as educators on the 2014 ACT tests, a new report from the ACT said.

2014's ACT tests saw the lowest percent of hopeful educators yet, as the percentage has steadily dropped over the past four years, according to the report. "Both the percentage and number have steadily dropped each year since 2010, when 7 percent of graduates (106,659 students) planned an education major," according to the press release.

"The decline in the number of students interested in an education career is even more striking given the fact that the total number of ACT-tested graduates has increased substantially—up by 18 percent—during the same four-year period."

Though some might argue that as students enroll in college and declare majors the number of desired educators would increase, but further data released by the ACT suggests otherwise.

"The data show that more than half of ACT-tested 2013 graduates who intended to pursue an education career switched to another major within their first two years of college, while a slightly smaller number of students who had planned another type of career switched to an education major," the press release said.

The ACT report also concluded that 76% of those who desired to be education majors were white, 75% were female, and of those, 95% were interested in early childhood and elementary education.

The report suggests ways to get more high school students interested in becoming educators by recruiting high achieving students, "promoting alternative pathways to teaching, and improving educator benefits."

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

4/23/2015