Backtalk: Harnessing the power of career changers to address teacher shortages

School administrators across the country have been facing a worsening teacher shortage. Programs that attempt to fill gaps by promoting teaching among current high school students are helpful but cannot fill vacancies as quickly as is needed. Alan Mather of Golden Apple describes how their Accelerators program has begun inviting career changers and current college seniors who aren’t on an education track into their 15-month residency and licensure program. The program attracts professionals who are interested in teaching but lack the time or money for traditional preparation programs and puts them on a quicker path to teaching jobs in schools with high needs.

Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

Background: By attracting high-achieving college graduates and professional career changers, selective alternative certification programs, such as the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), promise to address pressing teacher shortages while also improving outcomes in hard-to-staff schools. Purpose: Looking at the main patterns in their careers before, during, and after completing NYCTF, the study provides insights into the short- and long-term impacts of mathematics teachers who entered as first- and second-career teachers on NYC public schools and the people in them. Participants: The study tracked the career trajectories and decision-making of more than 600 NYCTF mathematics teachers over a 9-year period. Research design: The longitudinal analysis of the teachers’ career trajectories is illuminated by descriptive statistics and qualitative analyses of their responses to open-ended survey items. Results: The article provides a portrait of urban mathematics teachers’ career decision-making as it unfolds over time. It challenges conventional understandings by demonstrating the stochastic nature of teachers’ career decision-making and, as part of this, consequential amounts of involuntary and midyear turnover. It further shows that, although in many ways similar, the career trajectories of the career changers and recent college graduates differed in key regards. Recommendations: On their own, strategies designed to attract high-achieving recent graduates and professional career changers to teach core subjects like mathematics will not solve long-standing teacher turnover and shortage issues in in high-needs urban schools. Districts also should focus on retention strategies, including training and induction tailored to meet the different needs and career goals of first- and second-career teachers.

A Case Study of STEM Professionals Who Chose Teaching as a Second Career

There has been a growing increase in the numbers of STEM professionals who choose teaching as a second career for reasons such as dissatisfaction with their existing work situation, desire for life-work balance or a desire to make an impact. How do these teachers adjust to the teaching profession? What do they bring from their life and work experience? How effective are they as teachers? These are the questions that are being researched here with a group of 18 STEM career changers who enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program offered at an urban university in Philadelphia.

Recruitment of Science and Mathematics Teachers: Review of Literature and Analysis of Findings From Three Years Efforts of A Recruitment

Across the US, many school districts are finding increasing difficulties to fill the ranks of their science and mathematics teaching staff with highly qualified teachers. To alleviate the problem, several national policies, such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, have been enacted to improve the quality of education while reducing teacher shortages. Consequently, many agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Dept. of Education, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy, to name a few, have awarded large grants to universities and other organizations to implement math and science teacher recruitment programs and prepare them to deliver high quality instruction. These programs vary in terms of their target populations (high school students, undergraduates, graduates, or career changers), the type and frequency of the early teaching experience provided, the academic and financial support systems, and the public relations campaigns regarding the rewarding aspects of becoming a science or mathematics teacher. Given the urgency of the national math and science teacher shortage and the high cost of these programs, examining their impact is critical. In this paper, we present findings from three years efforts of a science and mathematics teachers recruitment program to start mapping the landscape of teacher recruitment. Our discussion and implications suggest that… program’s focus was on recruiting students at all career levels (direct from high school, transfer from community college, change of major, and career changers).

Women’s Midlife Career Transition to Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty in Adult Education

Faculty characteristics are changing, and traditional theories may not account for the intersection of increasing numbers of women faculty and career changers to higher education in examining faculty development. Using a conceptual framework composed of adult transition and career development models, this phenomenological study investigated the career transition and strategies of women midlife career changers to the professoriate. Findings included a midlife career transition process and related challenges, supports, and strategies to navigate the process with implications for theory and practice.