Chemical Education Today
Editorial The Essential Profession It was only a few days ago that I said goodbye to two groups of K–12 teachers—attendees at workshops organized by the Institute for Chemical Education. Interacting with teachers from all over the country every summer is an excellent way to observe on a personal level the quality, dedication, ingenuity, and originality of those teaching in today’s classrooms. Talking with teachers in summer workshops invariably renews my appreciation for what K–12 teachers do and my confidence in the continuing success of pre-college education in the U.S. Good teachers are far and away the most important component of our educational system, and the excellence of the teachers I see always engenders optimism. The American public appears to share this view (1). A comprehensive, nationwide study of 2501 adults last year revealed that 97% favor maintaining our existing guarantee of free public education for everyone. Comparisons with a study done by the same organization in 1998 reveal that confidence in public education is rising and Americans are far from ready to write off public schools as incapable of educating students adequately. Most interesting of all is the fact that 89% of those surveyed said that “ensuring a wellqualified teacher in every classroom” is “very important”, and another 10% said it is “somewhat important”, a nearly unanimous recognition that good teachers are essential. Citizens were also asked to select one of three possible strategies for improving student learning. The results are given in the table, which was taken from reference 1. A growing majority of Americans believe that the quality of teachers is paramount. Greatest Influence on Learning (1) The quality of their teachers Establishing a system of academic standards required to be met by all students Requiring achievement tests in core academic subjects Not sure
1998 55% 30%
2000 60% 28%
14%
11%
1%
1%
What do people mean by quality? Four items were at the top of the list, chosen by roughly 90% of respondents: knowing how to manage a classroom; being thoroughly educated in the subject(s) taught; understanding how children learn; and being well trained and knowledgeable about how to teach effectively. Four more items clustered at the 80% level: knowing how to monitor and assess real student progress in learning; basic sensitivity to each child as an individual; ability to communicate well with parents; and commitment to staying current with developments in education and subject-matter fields. The public values good, qualified teachers, but currently the demand is greater than the supply, particularly in disciplines such as chemistry. Ten states reported shortages of
science teachers last year, and the state of Wisconsin ranks physics and chemistry high on its list of opportunities for new teachers. When well-qualified teachers cannot be found, accommodations are usually made. Nationwide, only 63% of teachers hold an academic degree in their teaching field (2). In Wisconsin during the year 2000, there were 6.5 emergency hires of chemistry teachers (those not certified in chemistry) and 5 in physics. Moreover, certification often represents a threshold level of subject-matter expertise. Only 23 states require an academic major for certification in a field (2), and the number of semester credits required for chemistry certification ranges from 20 to 45. Statewide or nationwide averages do not tell the whole story, because the situation is much worse in schools that enroll large fractions of minority students. For example, in California schools with the highest enrollments of minorities the percentage of underqualified teachers is more than six times that in schools with the lowest fraction of minority students (1, p 13). This situation can be expected to get worse. Nationwide, more than a quarter of all teachers are over the age of 50, and in a few states more than a third are 50 or older. Retirements will soon remove many excellent teachers from the schools. It is clear from these survey results that the public shows real concern about teaching and strong support for good teachers. Teaching was overwhelmingly identified as the profession that provides the most benefits to society, with 62% choosing it—a margin of nearly 3:1 over physician. As a profession that would be recommended to a family member, teacher comes in second at 35%, compared to 45% for physician, largely on the basis of salary. With this kind of support from the public, it should be possible to improve recruitment and quality of teachers—perhaps even quickly enough to alleviate the shortages that are almost certain in the next few years. The public views teaching as the essential profession, and so should we. Let’s redouble our efforts to recruit students, to make certain that they receive the best possible education in both methods and content, to support new teachers and help them be successful throughout their careers, and to collaborate with the public in raising the quality, the prestige, and the effectiveness of our essential profession.
Literature Cited 1. Haselkorn, D.; Harris, L. The Essential Profession: American Education at the Crossroads; Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.: Belmont, MA, 2001; http://www.recruitingteachers.org/news/ news051601.html (accessed Jul 2001). 2. Quality Counts 2001: A Better Balance Education Week, Washington, DC, pp 96–97; http://www.edweek.org/sreports/ qc01/ and http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage. cfm?id=50 (accessed Jul 2001).
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 78 No. 9 September 2001 • Journal of Chemical Education
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