Alternative Certification Programs: Meeting the Demand for Effective Teachers

Shortage of Teachers. School districts must constantly recruit new teachers due to turnover. New hires are the most difficult to retain and only a minority stay in teaching for more than a few years. According to a nationwide study by the Nebraska State Education Association:

• Six percent of teachers leave the profession each year
• One-fifth of new hires quit teaching within three years
• In urban areas, 50 percent of educators quit after five years.

As a result, many schools face a teacher shortage. According to the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES):

• In 2008, public schools required an estimated 2.2 million additional teachers.
• High-poverty urban and rural districts required more than 700,000 new teachers.
• The greatest shortages were in areas needing teachers with particular skills or knowledge of specific subjects, such as bilingual and special education programs, and mathematics and science classes.