The Changing Face of the Teaching Force: Implications for Policy

• In Event: Policy Issues Related to Teacher Pay and the Teacher Workforce

Abstract

Has the elementary and secondary teaching force changed in recent decades? Have the types and kinds of individuals going into teaching changed? This paper presents results from a research project, utilizing the best large-scale national data available, to examine demographic trends and changes in the teaching force over the past two decades. Our data source is the National Center for Education Statistics’ nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey. Our analyses show that the teaching force has been greatly changing; it has ballooned in size, is older, is far less experienced, and is more female. Our paper focuses on addressing the policy sources and policy implications of these trends.

Authors

• Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania

• Lisa Merrill, University of Pennsylvania