The Consortium for Policy Research in Education includes:University of PennsylvaniaTeachers College Columbia UniversityHarvard UniversityStanford UniversityUniversity of MichiganUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonNorthwestern UniversityThe Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage:Fact and MythByRichard M. Ingersolland David PerdaConsortium for Policy Research in EducationThe Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) unitesseven of the nation’s leading research institutions to improve ele-mentary and secondary education through research on policy,finance, school reform, and school governance. Members of CPREare the University of Pennsylvania, Teachers College ColumbiaUniversity, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University ofMichigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and NorthwesternUniversity.CPRE is currently examining how alternative approaches to educa-tion reform--such as new accountability policies, teacher compensa-tion, whole-school reform approaches, and efforts to contract outinstructional services--address issues of coherence, incentives andcapacity. The results of this research are shared with policymakers,educators, practitioners, and other interested individuals and organi-zations in order to promote improvements in policy design and imple-mentation.CPRE Research Report SeriesResearch Reports are issued by CPRE to facilitate the exchange ofideas among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers who sharean interest in education policy. The views expressed in the reportsare those of individual authors, and are not necessarily shared byCPRE, or its institutional partners.For more information, visit our website www.cpre.org, or call us at(215) 573-0700.The Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage: Fact and Myth1 By Richard M. Ingersoll and David Perda University of Pennsylvania March, 2009 CPRE Research Report #RR-62 1 This research was supported by a grant (# 0455744) from the Teacher Professional Continuum Program of the National Science Foundation. Opinions in this paper reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agency, CPRE, or its institutional partners. This article draws from earlier papers presented at the Teacher Supply and Demand Symposium at the National Center for Education Statistics, March, 2007, Washington, DC, and the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future Symposium on the Scope and Consequences of K12 Science and Mathematics Teacher Turnover, October, 2006, Wingspread Conference Center, Racine, WI. Thanks are due to Dan McGrath, Ellen Behrstock and Tom Carroll for helpful comments on earlier drafts.1Abstract Contemporary educational thought holds that one of the pivotal causes of inadequate school performance is the inability of schools to adequately staff classrooms with qualified teachers, especially in fields such as mathematics and science. Shortages of teachers, it is commonly believed, are at the root of these staffing problems, and these shortfalls are, in turn, primarily due to recent increases in teacher retirements and student enrollments. The objective of this study is to empirically reexamine the issue of mathematics and science teacher shortages and to evaluate the extent to which there is a supply-side deficit—a shortage—of new teachers in these particular fields. The data utilized in this investigation are from three sources—the Schools and Staffing Survey and its supplement, the Teacher Follow-Up Survey; the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System; and the Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey, all conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The data show that there are indeed widespread school staffing problems—that is, many schools experience difficulties filling their classrooms with qualified candidates, especially in the fields of math and science. But, contrary to conventional wisdom, the data also show that these school staffing problems are not solely, or even primarily, due to shortages in the sense that too few new mathematics and science teachers are produced each year. The data document that the new supply of mathematics and science teachers is more than sufficient to cover the losses of teachers due to retirement. For instance, in 2000 there were over two and half teachers in the new supply of math teachers for every one math teacher who retired that year. However, when preretirement teacher turnover is factored in, there is a much tighter balance between the new supply of mathematics and science teachers and losses. The data also shows that turnover varies greatly between different types of schools and these differences are tied to the characteristics and conditions of those schools. While it is true that teacher retirements are increasing, the overall volume of turnover accounted for by retirement is relatively minor when compared with that resulting from other causes, such as teacher job dissatisfaction and teachers seeking to pursue better jobs or other careers.2The Mathematics and Science Teacher Shortage: Fact and Myth Introduction Few educational problems have received more attention in recent years than the failure to ensure that all elementary and secondary classrooms are staffed with qualified teachers. At the root of these school staffing problems, we are told, is a dramatic increase in the numbers of additional teachers needed, primarily resulting from two converging demographic trends—increasing student enrollments and increasing teacher turnover caused by a “graying” teaching force. We have been warned repeatedly that our teacher preparation institutions are not producing sufficient numbers of teachers to cover losses due to teacher retirement. The resulting teacher shortage crisis, this thesis continues, is forcing many school systems to lower standards to fill teaching openings, in turn inevitably leading to high levels of underqualified teachers and lower school performance. Researchers and policy analysts have stressed that these shortfalls affect some teaching fields more than others. Mathematics and science, in particular, are typically targeted as fields most suffering from shortages (e.g., Murnane et al., 1991; Grissmer & Kirby, 1992, 1997; Weiss & Boyd, 1990; National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching, 2000; Liu et al. 2008). Concerns over teacher shortages, especially for mathematics and science, are not new to the K-12 education system. In the early