Declining Enrollments in Teacher Education Programs Part I: Challenges and Promising Possibilities for Reversing the Trend by Logan Rutten and Azaria Cunningham

The number of people graduating from teacher education programs (TEPs) in the United States has fallen sharply in the past decade, and the trend appears likely to continue. The decline in people preparing to teach comes at a time when many school districts are already struggling to hire a certified teacher for every classroom. Furthermore, teacher shortages are affecting the United States unevenly, with rural and urban areas the hardest hit (Strauss, 2017, 2018; Vilorio, 2016). Preparing and hiring enough qualified teachers is just one aspect of the problem, which is compounded by persistent concerns about low rates of teacher retention (Han & Yin, 2016). In short, not enough people are becoming teachers and staying in the classroom in the places where the need is greatest.

This essay begins by establishing the existence of a problem by sharing some slices of the data on TEP enrollments. Next, we consider how we, as future teacher educators, might be part of the solution. We suggest that innovative recruitment programs and partnerships between schools and colleges of teacher education are a promising approach. However, we also recognize that scholars are framing the problem and possible solutions from a variety of other perspectives. For instance, economists of education are considering the salaries new teachers can expect to earn (Park & Byun, 2015). Education policy scholars and curriculum theorists alike are interested in negative social construction (Schneider & Ingraham, 1993) and deprofessionalizing discourses that surround teachers in this country (Strauss, 2017). Therefore, in order to paint a richer picture of the problem of low TEP enrollments than we can accomplish alone, we have invited colleagues from other fields to contribute additional commentaries to the AJE Forum over the coming weeks.

How big is the problem?

According to a 2018 report of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education entitled Colleges of Education: A National Portrait, the ongoing decline in teacher education program enrollments reflects a continuation of a long-term nationwide trend: there are currently fewer than 100,000 undergraduate degrees in education being awarded annually compared to nearly twice that number in the 1970s. Some states have seen pronounced declines within the last few years alone. One example can be found in the most recent U.S. Department of Education (2018) reports on Title II of the Higher Education Act. According to the report, in Pennsylvania alone, there was an overall decrease in enrollments (from 18,630 to 14,387) and completions (from 8,549 to 6,375) of teacher preparation programs between 2013-2014 and 2015-2016. The data include declines in traditional, university-based programs of teacher preparation as well as in alternative certification programs. However, the bulk of the decline in Pennsylvania enrollments (18,188 to 14,118) and completions (8,237 to 6,113) took place in traditional programs, reflecting broader national patterns.

If there were an existing surplus of certified teachers across the country, the decline in TEP enrollments might not be cause for alarm. However, as of the 2017-2018 school year, every state had a shortage of teachers in at least some licensure areas (Strauss, 2017). Mathematics, science, world languages, and special education are just some of the areas of greatest need. We must address these shortages and invest in quality teacher education if we want students to graduate from high school ready for whatever their futures may hold, let alone as thoughtful and engaged citizens of our democracy.

“…the problem is not merely raising enrollments in TEPs but to increase the number of teachers who graduate with a certification and find long-term success in the classroom”

What can teacher educators do about the shortages?

Given the precipitous decline in TEP enrollments, we contend that institutions that prepare teachers cannot afford to assume that motivated applicants will appear on their doorsteps. To ensure their own continued existence, to say nothing of meeting the urgent societal need for qualified teachers, TEPs will need to take a more active role in recruiting prospective teachers.

We suggest that programs and partnerships between TEPs, schools, and communities are a powerful way for teacher educators to help address the problem. The Kansas Future Teacher Academy (KFTA) is one example of such a program (Lyman, Foyle, Morehead, Schwerdtfeger, & Lyman, 2017). KFTA is sponsored by the Teachers College at Emporia State University and is open to all Kansas high school students. Each year, KFTA staff contact all high school counselors and principals in both public and private schools across Kansas to invite students to attend a week-long camp at Emporia State University’s campus (KFTA, 2019). During the camp, attendees explore the rewarding work of teaching by shadowing veteran educators and talking to them about their work. Further, they are supported as they make high school course selections that will prepare them to be successful as teacher education candidates (Lyman et al., 2017). Since 1989, KFTA has hosted more than 1,200 prospective teachers (KFTA, 2019).

We view programs like the Kansas Future Teacher Academy as a strong step in the right direction for TEPs. Taking a proactive approach to recruitment is certainly better than waiting for students to find, apply to, and enroll in TEPs on their own. However, programs like KFTA sometimes have barriers that limit access. For example, this year KFTA is requesting that participants pay a $100 program fee (KFTA, 2019). While this may seem like a modest sum for an entire week of activities, it may also present hardship for some promising prospective teachers. If fee waivers are available, this is not made clear on KFTA’s website. Further, the geographic location of such programs may present a problem. In the case of KFTA, the program is housed in rural Emporia, Kansas. While Emporia may be an appropriate setting to learn about teaching in a rural area, it may not be as successful in attracting students interested in urban teaching as a program in an urban area. High school students who commute using public transportation may also have difficulties accessing a rural program like KFTA. We see these barriers as surmountable through the creation of networks of similar programs in urban as well as rural areas, and through lowering or eliminating direct costs to students.

It is not enough, however, for teacher education programs to attract interested students. After all, the problem is not merely raising enrollments in TEPs but to increase the number of teachers who graduate with a certification and find long-term success in the classroom. For this reason, TEPs must also support teacher candidates throughout their enrollment and into their first years of teaching. Robust programs of mentoring, such as those often found either formally or informally at TEPs housed in minority-serving institutions (Petchauer & Mawhinney, 2017), are one aspect of support during the TEP. Professional development schools, which are a unique form of mutually beneficial partnership between universities, schools, and sometimes communities (Lyman et al., 2017), provide another avenue to support teacher education students. Through extended, often year-long field experiences, professional development schools have shown promise for preparing teachers who believe in their own abilities as educators (Latham & Vogt, 2007) and who stay in the field (Helfeldt, Capraro, Capraro, Foster, & Carter, 2009). Such partnerships may not be a silver bullet, but they hold substantial possibilities for building a committed, highly qualified teaching force.

We recognize that partnerships come with a cost of time, energy, and money. However, there is also a societal cost incurred by schools, communities, and students who do not have qualified teachers in every classroom. In our view, partnerships are one practical solution to declining TEP enrollments. Partnerships are also a worthwhile investment yielding both measurable and immeasurable dividends.

How else might we think about TEP enrollments?

In the next article in this series, Azaria Cunningham will share a narrative of her experiences as a student in a partnership which sought to identify urban high school students committed to becoming teachers in their home communities. Later, Hansol Woo considers the motivations of people entering teaching along with some of the social, economic, and labor conditions of the teaching profession in the United States. It is our hope that together we can come to understand the problem of declining TEP enrollments more fully and generate innovative solutions. We invite you to join our conversation by commenting below, engaging us on AJE’s social media platforms, or submitting an essay of your own. 

Logan Rutten is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Supervision at Penn State University. A classicist and musician, he has taught grades K-12 in public, charter, and cyber schools. Logan’s current research examines the pedagogy of teacher inquiry, preservice teachers’ motivations, shared expertise and teacher learning in school-university partnerships, and the democratic context for schooling. He earned a B.A. at Concordia College and an M.Ed. from Penn State.

Azaria Cunningham is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State University. She holds a B.A. in Integrated Mathematics and Science and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Before beginning her doctoral studies, Azaria taught middle school science.

References

Han, J., & Yin, H. (2016). Teacher motivation: Definition, research development and implications for teachers. Teacher Education & Development, 3. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1217819

Helfeldt, J. P., Capraro, R. M., Capraro, M. M., Foster, E., & Carter, N. (2009). The Teacher Educator, 44(1), 1-20.

Kansas Future Teacher Academy. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.emporia.edu/teach/kfta/index.html

King, J. E. (2018). Colleges of education: A national portrait. Report of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Retrieved from https://secure.aacte.org/apps/rl/res_get.php?fid=4178&ref=rl

Latham, N. I., & Vogt, W. P. (2007). Do professional development schools reduce teacher attrition? Evidence from a longitudinal study of 1,000 graduates. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 153-167.L

Lyman, L., Foyle, H. C., Morehead, M. A., Schwerdtfeger, S., & Lyman, A. L. (2017). Mentoring student teachers and interns: Strategies for engaging, relating, supporting, and challenging future educators (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 

Park, H. & Byun, S. Y. (2015). Why some countries attract more high-ability young students to teaching: Cross-national comparisons of students’ expectation of becoming a teacher. Comparative Education Review, 59(3), 523-549.

Petchauer, E., & Mawhinney, L. (Eds.). (2017). Teacher education across minority-serving institutions: Programs, policies, and social justice. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Schneider, A., & Ingram, H. (1993). Social construction of target populations: Implications for politics and policy. The American Political Science Review, 87(2), 334-347.

Strauss, V. (2017, August 28). Teacher shortages affecting every state as 2017-2018 school year begins. Washington Post. Retrieved from  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/08/28/teacher-shortages-affecting-every-state-as-2017-18-school-year-beings/?utm_term=.1f1982755cc5

Strauss, V. (2018, May 18). Teacher shortages are especially acute in rural areas. Here’s one solution in Colorado. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/05/18/teacher-shortages-are-especially-acute-in-rural-areas-heres-one-solution-in-colorado/?utm_term=.51400510ac62

United States Department of Education (2018). 2017 Title II Reports. National Teacher Preparation Data. Retrieved from https://title2.ed.gov/Public/Home.aspx

Vilioro, D. (2016, June). Teaching for a living. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/article/education-jobs-teaching-for-a-living.htm