Everybody involved in K-12 education knows that new teachers tend to need a lot of extra support. What they may not fully grasp, however, is just how many new teachers are out there.
As a segment of the total U.S. teaching force, their representation appears to be considerable.
Nationally, 12 percent of all public school teachers are in their first or second year, according to an Education Week analysis of new data from the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office for civil rights. And in some states, that figure may be higher than 15 percent.
The data, while under, are consistent with other recent research pointing to a 鈥済reening鈥� trend in teaching over the past 20 years or so. They also raise questions both about the overall stability of the teaching force and the ability of school systems to provide adequate support to so many novices.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really substantive and serious issue when a district or school is dealing [with a influx of new teachers],鈥� said Susan Moore Johnson, a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
The office for civil rights, which gathers a wide range of information from schools in order to monitor education equity, added years of teacher experience to its collection in 2010-11. It now has data on levels of teacher experience across states, districts, and even individual schools.
The most recent collection, from 2013-14, shows that in most states, more than 10 percent of the teacher corps is made up of new educators.
Experts point to various possible explanations for the seemingly high proportion of novices in classrooms, including school-hiring increases in a period of economic recovery, population changes, and teacher-retention challenges.
Regional Differences
However, the prevalence of inexperienced teachers varies significantly from state to state and district to district. And experts also caution that the problem is magnified in particular schools, so may be, in effect, more of a local issue than a national one.
According to Education Week鈥檚 analysis of the OCR data, Florida reported the highest proportion of novice teachers in the country, with about a quarter of its teachers in their first or second years. The District of Columbia and Colorado, both with nearly 18 percent of their teaching forces qualifying as new, also came in at the top of the list.
The states with the lowest percentages of new teachers, according to the analysis, were New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington, and Georgia. They each reported new teachers making up less than 7 percent of their teaching force.
But because OCR data are reported by individual schools up through their districts and states, and then to the Education Department, the figures can be subject to error鈥攊ncluding possible undercounting.
And as with other information from the OCR collection, states do not always vet submissions or cross-check them with internal data, so experts caution against making comparisons.
For example, nearly 20 of Georgia鈥檚 districts reported having no first- or second-year teachers. Queried about the data, officials at the Georgia Professional Standards Commission said they couldn鈥檛 verify its accuracy.
However, Richard M. Ingersoll, a professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania who studies teacher-employment trends, said in an email that overall, the data are in line with his own research on the demographics of the profession.
In , Ingersoll has tracked proportional increases in beginning teachers going back some 20 years, allowing for a slight slowdown in the trend resulting from school-hiring declines after the 2007-08 recession.
Value of Experience
Does it matter that the teaching force, at least in many places in the country, is increasingly 鈥済reen鈥�?
From qualitative and school equity perspectives, the answer is almost certainly yes. Studies consistently show that new teachers face a steep learning curve and that educators generally improve dramatically over their first few years on the job. And recent research has found that teachers get even better as they gain additional years of experience.
New teachers face a variety of challenges all at once that can make it difficult to perform optimally, according to Roxanna Elden, a former teacher and an author who provides resources for beginning teachers. There are the practical challenges of the new job, such as managing grades for the first time, coordinating lessons, learning the school鈥檚 computer system and administrative processes, and developing relationships with colleagues.
Then there are the classroom-management and pedagogical challenges that, no matter how well-prepared a teacher is, crop up in the first year on the job, Elden said, recalling one of her own early misadventures as a teacher.
鈥淚 had no idea how kids were going to respond to the 鈥榝alling star鈥� classroom-management system I had,鈥� she said, referring to a positive-behavior-rewards framework. 鈥淲ell, they didn鈥檛 respond at all, and then I was just in a room with 30 students.鈥�
Many new teachers report feeling unprepared for the realities of the classrooms and going through periods of stress and depression. Indeed, the New Teacher Center, a nonprofit that provides mentoring services, characterizes a solid chunk of a typical teacher鈥檚 first year as given over to phases of 鈥渟urvival鈥� and 鈥渄isillusionment.鈥�
School System Stress
The challenges facing new teachers are taxing not only on the teachers themselves but on their schools and districts as well.
鈥淲ith a large number of new teachers, it can be really problematic,鈥� said Johnson, who is the director of Harvard鈥檚 . 鈥淭hey may not know the curriculum, the practices, or what鈥檚 expected of them.鈥�
Without adequate support, she said, new teachers can often feel 鈥渓ost in the shuffle鈥� and in turn become part of a school鈥檚 turnover cycle. High annual turnover can be 鈥渙rganizationally costly鈥� both in terms of recruitment expenses and student learning, she said.
Gregory K. Adkins, the superintendent of the Lee County, Fla. district, understands what school systems are up against.
According to the OCR data, about 39 percent of the county鈥檚 teachers in 2013-14 were in their first or second year of teaching鈥攁 figure that Adkins says reflects his experience in recent years.
Adkins points to several factors that have contributed to the trend. Lee County is a growing district, with perhaps 2,000 new students a year. And a state law enacted in 2002 sets strict limits on class sizes, generating a need for more teachers.
Beyond that, he said, Florida just has a lot of transplants, and teachers are no exception.
Regardless of the causes, that kind of human-capital churn places considerable stress on the district.
鈥淲hat that means for us is that, first of all, we鈥檙e in constant hiring mode,鈥� Adkins said. By mid-August this year, he said, the county had hired 400 teachers and had another 100 or so in the hiring process.
The second implication is that the district spends much time training鈥攐r retraining鈥攖he teachers who join the district every year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e investing more in professional development and support for our new teachers, because I think the old model of, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 the keys, the classroom is over there, here鈥檚 page one of what you鈥檙e supposed to be covering,鈥� just doesn鈥檛 work anymore,鈥� Adkins said.
In Florida, as in many other states, mentoring programs for new teachers remain a piecemeal affair.
Florida requires mentoring only for teachers who are entering into the profession through an alternative-certification program, although some of the state鈥檚 largest districts, such as Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, and Miami-Dade County, provide it for all new teachers.
Lee County鈥檚 bid to expand supports has largely been the result of a five-year, $45 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant it won under Adkins鈥� predecessor. The district has been using the grant to put into place a teacher-support system and career-ladder framework that it鈥檚 hoping will not only ease the transition into teaching, but give teachers a sense that staying offers them opportunities to advance in the future.
Providing Support
While that kind of budget may not be available in many districts, experts say that increased investment on some level鈥攃oupled with increased focus鈥攊s typically needed to ensure that new teachers can thrive.
There鈥檚 now a solid body of research showing that induction, mentoring, and other support programs can be effective in boosting new teachers鈥� capabilities and improving their retention rates, Penn鈥檚 Ingersoll said. While questions remain about the precise components needed, he stressed that such programs 鈥渃an鈥檛 be thin and short. The more comprehensive the program, the better. And then the price tag goes up.鈥�
Harvard鈥檚 Johnson said administrators should see such programs as extending all the way back to the hiring stage.
鈥淗aving a very careful hiring process is often neglected during shortages, but it鈥檚 really important,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that teachers are carefully interviewed and given opportunities to demonstrate instruction, ideally in the school.鈥�
If the hiring process is not done well, she said, new teachers are likely to feel 鈥渦nknown鈥� and not have a strong context for their work in the school.
Once on board, Johnson said, teachers should be given regular classroom observations, whether by instructional coaches or administrators. 鈥淣ew teachers ought to be observed every couple of weeks, with feedback,鈥� she said.
That kind of rate is far from the norm. 鈥淏ut in schools that are doing well [with new teachers], there is some provision for these frequent observations. It reflects a serious commitment on the part of the school,鈥� Johnson said.
Daniel Weisberg, the chief executive officer of TNTP, a nonprofit that helps districts recruit and train teachers, said that regular spikes in new teachers could give school systems an opportunity to work more closely with local teacher-prep programs to ensure that educators are graduating with the 鈥渇oundational skills鈥� they need to take over a classroom.
鈥淚f they know how to use time well, how to establish norms and expectations, and how to engage kids, they have a good chance of a success,鈥� he said.
But Weisberg also emphasized the importance of intensive coaching, at least during the first year. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important for new teachers that they are getting feedback and have someone they can go to for guidance,鈥� he said.
Such practices can also help administrators in gauging teachers鈥� potential and in shaping their staff.
Said Weisberg: 鈥淚t should be really important for principals to assess whether someone has the ability to be a successful teacher.鈥�
Education Week Research Department Director Holly Yettick and Research Analyst Alexandra Harwin contributed to this story.
