2008 Progress Report on Teacher Supply and Demand in New York State

Procedural History

As part of the strategy to help all students meet New York State Learning Standards, raise student achievement and close achievement gaps, the Board of Regents adopted a comprehensive set of teaching policies in 1998 that profoundly changed teacher preparation, certification, mentoring, professional development and professional evaluation. The Regents have regularly evaluated the implementation of the teaching policies and, in response to data and experience, have modified them when necessary.
The Department has reported to the Regents regularly on New York State's progress towards meeting State and federal teacher quality goals, and on teacher supply and demand:

Federal highly qualified teacher goals. In January 2007, staff reported for school year 2005-2006 on the percent of core classes taught by highly qualified teachers and on gaps between low poverty and high poverty schools. Last month, in April 2008, staff reported on progress made through school year 2006-2007.

Regents certified teacher goals. In 2006 and 2007, staff reported on the percent of full-time equivalent teaching assignments in all subject areas that were held by teachers with appropriate certification, and on supply and demand for certified teachers. The attached report is an update based on school year 2006-2007 data.

Certification policy review. At the April 2008 meeting, the Regents asked staff to provide a summary of the certification reforms being developed to address remaining teacher shortages so that the Regents could provide input before the reforms are formally presented for discussion and action. The requested summary is included in the attached report.

Highlights of Attached Report

This third annual report on teacher supply and demand is part of the ongoing evaluation of the Regents teaching policies. It contains multiple indicators of progress based on the most recent data available from school year 2006-2007. New York State's public schools made progress toward meeting Regents and federal teacher quality goals. In 2006-2007, students were more likely to be taught by appropriately certified, highly qualified and experienced teachers than in prior years. But more progress is needed to address remaining shortages.

Teachers of core academic subjects. In 2006-2007, over 95 percent of classes in core academic subjects in New York State's public schools were taught by teachers who met the federal definition of highly qualified, but the percent was lower in high poverty middle and secondary schools, in three of the State's large cities, and in subject areas such as languages other than English and science. To be highly qualified, teachers must have a bachelor's degree or higher, meet State certification standards and demonstrate that they know the subject(s) they teach using one of the methods required by federal law.

Inexperienced teachers. Federal law requires states and districts to have plans to ensure that low income and minority children are as likely as other children to have experienced teachers. Teachers with no prior experience are less likely than other teachers to be effective at raising student achievement. In 2006-2007, five percent of teachers in New York State had no prior teaching experience, a slight decline from prior years. In New York City, more than eight percent of teachers had no prior teaching experience.

Teachers of all subjects. In 2006-2007, five percent of full-time equivalent teaching assignments in all subjects in New York State's public schools were taught by teachers without appropriate certification. The percent was higher in New York City and in subject areas such as bilingual education, languages other than English (LOTE), library/school media specialists, sciences, middle/secondary level special education and bilingual special education.

Certificates issued to new teachers. In 2006-2007, New York State issued over 39,900 certificates to new teachers, defined as teachers who had not been in the public school workforce in the prior five years. More than two certificates were issued to new teachers for each vacancy for a new teacher that year in most subject areas and geographic regions, which suggests that there were enough teachers to meet districts' hiring needs if teachers were willing and able to work where they were needed. However, three subject areas had two or fewer certificates issued to new teachers for each vacancy for a new teacher, suggesting shortages. These subject areas were career and technical education, LOTE and library/school media specialists.

Teachers' race/ethnicity. In fall 2004, Black and Hispanic students were 40 percent of all public school students, but Black and Hispanic teachers were only 15 percent of all teachers. In 2006-2007, among the 60 percent of new teachers whose race/ethnicity was known, only 6 percent of certificates issued to new teachers went to teachers who were Black or Hispanic. There are clear shortages of Black and Hispanic teachers compared to the student population.

Future demand for teachers. In 2006-2007, 18 percent of FTE teaching positions were held by teachers who were age 55 or older, a larger share than in prior years. There were large percentages of this age cohort in every subject area and region. Demand for new teachers is likely to continue at current levels as "baby boomers" continue to retire.

Initiatives to Address Remaining Shortages

The Regents and Department use multiple approaches to help school districts meet their hiring needs and will continue to seek new approaches until all students have the qualified teachers they need. Four key strategies to address remaining shortages are; certification policy review, financial incentives, regional partnerships and strengthening teaching and learning.

Certification policy review. To ensure that certification requirements are not inadvertently contributing to teacher shortages, the Regents plan to continue the Individual Evaluation (Transcript Evaluation) pathway to certification beyond February 2009 which it is scheduled to expire. In addition, the Regents will be asked to consider certification reforms in shortage subject areas such as special education, career and technical education, languages other than English and science to increase the supply of certified teachers without compromising quality. At the April 2008 meeting of the Higher Education Committee, the Regents requested a summary of proposals for certification reforms. Committee members wished to provide input early in the process. The following five areas in teacher certification are under review.

Individual evaluation pathway. The individual evaluation (transcript review) pathway to certification for childhood education certificates ended in February 2007. This pathway is scheduled to end for all other certificate titles in February 2009. At the February 2008 meeting of the Regents Higher Education Committee, the Department presented data showing that the scheduled ending for all titles would worsen teacher shortages in many subject areas and the Regents agreed that the individual evaluation pathway should be extended for at least three years beyond February 2009 (with the exception of the Childhood Education certificate). To extend the pathway, the Department plans to bring regulatory language to the Regents for discussion in June 2008 and approval in July 2008.
Special education certificate structure. At the March 2008 meeting of the Higher Education Committee, the Department provided an update on its efforts to revise the special education certification structure which currently has 45 separate certificates. There is general consensus in the academic community and by the Committee members that there should be reduction from 45 certificates down to 3 (Birth to Grade 3, Grade 1 to Grade 6, and Grade 7 to Grade 12). In addition, the Department discussed with the Committee the need to have additional flexibility so that a certified special education teacher in one developmental level (e.g., Grades 1-6) would have a streamlined pathway to secure a certificate in another special education developmental level (e.g., Grades 7-12). In addition, the Department is looking at revising the alternative teacher preparation program (Transitional b certificates) in the area of special education. The Department is currently seeking feedback from the educational community on the proposed changes. We anticipate bringing final recommendations to the Regents for restructuring of special education certification at its September 2008 meeting.
Certification in career and technical education. At the January 2008 meeting of the EMSC Committee of the Board of Regents at the Brooklyn Automotive High School, the Regents requested that the Department reexamine the requirements for certification of career and technical education (CTE) teachers to ensure an adequate supply of CTE teachers to meet the growing needs for career and technical education programs in our State. The Department has established an internal workgroup to examine the following:
- Labor market supply and demand information regarding emerging careers in New York State by Department of Labor regions;
- Teacher workforce data to determine the actual number of uncertified CTE teachers statewide, by school district and by certification title;
- The current certification pathway for CTE teachers and the CTE program approval process to determine where efficiencies can be found;
- National industry certifications and licenses and the feasibility of using industry certifications and licenses in lieu of part of the experience or education requirements for CTE certification;
- Existing pathways to certification, or new pathways to certification that could reduce the shortage of CTE teachers, including an expansion of the existing Supplementary Certification to CTE areas; and
- The desirability and feasibility of increasing the number of institutions that prepare CTE teachers, including community colleges in partnership with four year institutions.
Representatives of the community colleges, the three colleges currently offering CTE teacher education programs, and representatives of CUNY and SUNY system administrations will be brought together to provide further input into the suggested modification/expansions of the pathways to CTE certification. The Department will be presenting a preliminary set of ideas for consideration to the Higher Education Committee at its September or October 2008 meeting.

Languages other than English (LOTE). There is a shortage of teachers of LOTE in nearly every region of New York State. To qualify for certification in a LOTE, candidates must complete 30 semester hours of study in the target language regardless of their language proficiencies or intercultural knowledge. An internal workgroup in the Department is developing recommendations for consideration by the Regents that would permit two national examinations developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to be used in lieu of some or all of the 30 semester hours for candidates with high levels of language proficiencies and intercultural knowledge. The work group is seeking to use examinations in lieu of semester hours for individuals who already hold a LOTE teaching certificate and wish to obtain an additional certification in another language; for individuals who hold a non-LOTE certificate and are seeking their first certificate in LOTE; and for individuals who are not certified but who are proficient in a LOTE and are seeking their first teaching certificate. The LOTE Content Specialty Test would continue to be required. After additional consultation with the field, the Department expects to bring a proposal to the Regents in the fall of 2008.
Additional science certificates. The Department has not yet begun work on this topic, but we plan to examine the requirements for certified science teachers who seek an additional science certificate. At present, a teacher certified in one science subject must complete the full content core requirement (30 semester hours) and pass a Content Specialty Test (CST) in another science subject to qualify for an additional science certificate. It may be educationally sound for certified, experienced science teachers to complete fewer semester hours and pass a CST in the additional science subject. The Department's review of these issues is scheduled for mid-2009.

Financial incentives. New York State must offer financial incentives to attract and retain public school teachers because we are competing with other states for the available supply of teachers and with other industries that are attractive to young professionals. The Department will review existing incentive programs to ensure that they are sufficiently targeted on the most hard-to-staff subject areas and schools and will explore new federal programs focused on teacher shortages. Illustrative State and federal programs that provide funds to teacher preparation institutions, school districts and individual teachers for recruitment, preparation and retention are listed below.

Federal programs

NCLB Title I and Title II-A allocations to districts

NCLB Teacher-Leader Partnerships

Troops to Teachers

Transition to Teaching

Loan forgiveness for teachers

TEACH grants

State programs

Teachers of Tomorrow

Teacher Opportunity Corps

The Mentor Internship program

Scholarships for math and science teachers

Teacher Centers

Albert Shanker stipends for National Board Certification

In addition, the Regents and Department are advocating for State legislation to eliminate the pension penalty for retired public employees who agree to work in shortage subjects in high need schools and to create a new $25 million program to prepare 1,000 new teachers in hard-to-staff subject areas and schools. The Department is also advocating for federal legislation to enhance teacher recruitment in shortage areas and provide loan forgiveness to BOCES teachers, who are currently excluded. Local districts are also using financial incentives, such as the New York City housing incentive.

Finally, the Department is examining its internal structure and operations to improve our statewide approach to addressing teacher shortages. We must align our research, policies and financial resources and be more strategic in our use of existing financial and human resources to help to ensure that all children are taught by highly qualified and certified teachers.

Regional partnerships. The Department is working in five regions of the State with BOCES, school districts, teacher preparation institutions and others to create or strengthen partnerships to support teacher quality. The five regions include the Rochester area, the Syracuse area, the Southern Tier, the Mid-Hudson area and Long Island. The partnerships are addressing such issues as obtaining regional data on districts' hiring needs, increasing the supply of teachers in shortage areas, improving pre-service field experience and student teaching, and enhancing the knowledge, skills and abilities of new and veteran teachers. The Department plans to extend partnerships to all regions of the State.

The Department is releasing reports and databases for use in these regional partnerships to inform school districts, BOCES, teacher preparation institutions and the general public about the subject areas and regions where new teachers are needed or not needed. The information can help colleges and universities plan their programs, districts and BOCES plan their recruitment strategies, and students and their families make educational and career choices.
Strengthening teaching and learning. On May 12, 2008, the Regents are convening a special meeting in Yonkers to discuss the needs of urban students and how they can be met; including the knowledge, skills and abilities that new and veteran teachers need to have to help their students succeed. Participants will consider best practices for meeting the needs of urban students, including those who are at risk of dropping out of school, require special education services or are learning English. The Department is also applying for a Wallace Foundation grant to focus on the preparation and professional development of school leaders who play a critical role in school improvement.

Recommendation

Timetable for Implementation

Attachment: Teacher Supply and Demand in New York State Third Annual Report (PDF)

OHE Offices

SUMMARY

Issue for Discussion

Reason(s) for Consideration

Proposed Handling