NCPSSERS

To Address Teacher Shortages, Create Conditions for Educators to Thrive

Teaching Ahead Contributor, Education Week: Teacher
Originally posted by Education Week: Teacher, October 13, 2015

“Many observers see teacher shortages as a result of districts and states underpaying and overworking teachers. However, increasing teacher pay is not the entire answer to the problem. Shortages persist even in areas in which teachers are being paid adequately, and increasing pay will not begin to address the ways in which teaching often feels too challenging and, at times, unsustainable—sentiments that cause issues with both retention and recruitment.

What can states and districts do to attract and retain teachers? How can we reimagine the profession as one that is not just sustainable but desirable and engaging?

Dan Pink’s TED Talk, “The Puzzle of Motivation,” argues that humans are motivated by three things: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. As a teacher, I’d like to point out that these qualities are all too often absent from the teaching profession. If states and districts can create schools in which teachers see autonomy, mastery, and purpose clearly in their profession, they will go a long way toward solve teacher-shortage problems…”

Read the full story.

Governor Signs Bill to Help Schools Hire More School Nurses

By Reporter Staff, The Reporter: News
Originally posted by The Reporter: News, October 12, 2015

“Last week Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to help schools take a lead role in managing chronic childhood diseases and hire more school nurses.

…Senate Bill 276, signed last Thursday, allows school districts, County Offices of Educations, and other Local Education Agency Medi-Cal providers (LEAs) to receive reimbursement for services provided to all Medi-Cal eligible students. LEAs currently cannot bill Medi-Cal for health services provided to special education students if those services are also provided to regular education students.

Under the new law, LEAs can now be reimbursed for providing services including health and mental health evaluations, medical transportation, nursing services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician services, mental health and counseling services, school health aide services, speech pathology services, audiology services and targeted case management services.”

Read the full story.

America’s Teaching Force, by the Numbers

By Laura McKenna, The Atlantic
Originally posted by The Atlantic, September 10, 2015

“Solutions to the teacher-shortage problem must take into account its complexities; across-the-board initiatives to increase the number of education majors are unlikely to address each state’s specific set of issues. Teacher-training programs could do a better job of providing students with concrete information about the employment realities—which subject areas need teachers and which ones don’t. Given that 14 percent of 20-somethings are unemployed, that information is certainly valuable. And greater certification portability would reduce barriers to relocation, while streamlined recertification options could help teachers who struggled to find work or were laid off during the recession return to the profession.”

Read the full story.

Districts Facing Teacher Shortages Look for Lifelines

By Ross Brenneman, Education Week
Originally posted by Education Week, August 6, 2015

“The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education have in fact shown significant drops in teacher-education enrollment in many states, including in large states like Texas, New York, and California. Many experts chalk up such declines, as well as regional teacher shortages, to the Great Recession and ensuing cutbacks in public spending. Others have charged that poor teacher working conditions, such as low salaries and test-driven school cultures, are nudging existing and potential educators toward other professions, especially with the economy improving…

…Drops in education-school enrollments don’t necessarily equal shortages, though. According to data from its state education department, for instance, New York has a major surplus of certified teachers.

In shortage areas, demographic trends and school-enrollment changes tend to combine with other factors to spur greater demand for teachers…”

Read the full story.

Wanted: More Special Ed Teachers, Apply Everywhere

By Tom Chorneau, Cabinet Report
Originally posted by the Cabinet Report, August 4, 2015

“In what is fast becoming a national crisis, school administrators throughout the country are scrambling to fill special education positions even as some states move to create new incentives…

…A report in March from the U.S. Department of Education found few districts in the country that have not experienced some shortage of applicants for special education jobs during the past five years and put the current deficit of highly qualified instructors for students with disabilities at about 11 percent nationally…”

Read the full story.

Post Navigation Report: Fixing CA Teacher Shortage Requires ‘Profound Shift’ in Thinking

By Craig Clough, LA School Report
Originally posted by the LA School Report, June 29, 2015

“Among the biggest challenges facing California school districts in the coming years is a growing teacher shortage. Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has plummeted since 2008, and more than 100,000 teachers are expected to retire in the next decade.

Despite the gathering storm, the state lacks any cohesive strategy to solving the problem, according to a new report from Bellwether Education Partners, a national non-profit that focuses on improving education, especially for high-needs students. The solution would require a “profound shift” in thinking and involve a multi-faceted approach that would bring more cohesiveness to strategies at the statewide and local level, the report finds.”

Read the full story.

Small Rural Districts Battle to Keep Special Ed Students Close to Home

By Ricardo Cano, The Fresno Bee
Originally posted by The Fresno Bee, June 19, 2015

“Now in its third year, [Strategically Helpful Intervention Nurturing Educational Services] has been hailed as a success by [Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District] because it allows the eight participating students to get the specialized educational program they need close to home.

Yet for many high-need special education students from rural areas, getting the services they need can be a challenge — and often can require a long ride from home.

Unlike the Valley’s larger urban districts, small rural districts often don’t have the money — or enough students, or even teachers — to float their own programs. So they rely on the Fresno County Office of Education to hire teachers and organize classroom programs for those students. The downside: It can entail an hour-long bus ride to get to the program. That can be a deal-killer for some parents.

These faraway districts are used to having to stretch their dollars and often look for creative ways to serve as many of their special education students within the district. Sometimes it means creating a new program altogether like Firebaugh-Las Deltas…”

Read the full story.

In Mississippi, Lack of School Nurses a Threat to Health, Education

By Jackie Mader
Originally posted by The Hechinger Report on November 16, 2014.

“…In recent years, the number of school nurses in the state has fluctuated. In 2008, 20 districts were without a school nurse. By 2010, that number dwindled to two districts. By 2011, though, the number of districts without nurses had skyrocketed to 14, which a state report attributes to the “economy and elimination of time limited grants.”

One reason is that many school districts decide they simply can’t afford to have a nurse, said Estelle Watts, the state’s school nurse consultant for the Mississippi Office of Healthy Schools.

Employing a school nurse often comes down to funding decisions by individual districts and how they budget the little money they have. Since 1997, the state has only fully funded schools twice, which means cash-strapped districts have had to cut teachers and skimp on supplies at a time when they are also expected to upgrade technology for new, online exams rolling out this spring…”

Read the full story.

Autism Surge Creates Special Education Teacher Shortages in Castro Valley

By Rebecca Parr, The Daily Review
Originally posted by Contra Costa Times on October 27, 2014.

“Like many area school districts, Castro Valley Unified has had a shortage of specialized teachers, especially special-education ones. The demand for special-education teachers nationwide has grown, as more children are diagnosed with autism.”

Read the full story.