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Teacher Shortage in North Carolina

ASU Looks at Teacher Education and Enrollment

Story by Sam Calhoun

Reporting to the ASU Board of Trustees, Charles Duke, dean of the Reich College of Education, said, “We’re facing a very serious situation in North Carolina. We need more teachers in the state.”

According to Duke, North Carolina needs 11,000 new teachers annually, but the state’s university system is producing only 4,000 new teachers annually, 7,000 short of the goal. What’s more, the attrition rate for teachers in the state is 13 percent. The state loses 7,000 teachers annually, said Duke.

“That’s a very serious problem for North Carolina public schools,” said Duke.

Currently filling the gap in the state, Duke said, are out-of-state teachers, returning teachers, alternative licensure teachers and teachers from overseas. The problem with teachers from overseas, Duke explained, is that they can only teach for three years before their visas expire.

Duke outlined the desirable and undesirable solutions for the lack of teachers.

Lower standards for teacher preparation, increased class sizes, curtailing the curriculum and relying on substitutes are all undesirable solutions, said Duke. Instead, he suggested that the state reduce teacher attrition rates by providing better working conditions, better pay and more respect and support. Duke pointed out that a 0.5 percent improvement in annual retention rates for five years would reduce the gap by more than 3,000 teachers.

“That would mean a tremendous cost saving as well to the state,” Duke said. “It costs $11,000 to $12,500 to replace one teacher.”

The average starting pay in 2006-07 for a teacher in North Carolina who holds a bachelor’s degree and has no prior experience is $28,510. That figure applies to each county in North Carolina—including Ashe, Avery and Watauga—but does not include the county supplement that teachers receive in addition to their salary every year.

According to NCPublicSchools.org, the average annual supplement is $300 in Ashe County (bringing the staring teacher pay to $28,810), $1,212 in Avery County (bringing the starting teacher pay to $29,722) and $1,956 in Watauga County (bringing the starting teacher pay to $30,466).

To address the shortage of teachers in the state, the UNC Board of Governors is setting institutional enrollment and graduation targets, holding university leadership responsible and calling for the development of institution-specific recruitment plans.

In response, ASU is projecting annual increases in traditional teacher education graduates for 2005-06 to 2009-10—using 2002-03 as the base year for reference. ASU graduated 368 teacher education students in 2002-03 and 482 in 2005-06, an increase of 114 graduates or 31 percent. Duke projects that the university will graduate 547 in 2006-07, 635 in 2007-08, 662 in 2008-09 and 659 in 2009-10.

“We predict—we do not necessarily promise, but we think we can get there,” said Duke.

Teachers graduate from universities in two ways—from traditional teacher training programs (like discussed above) and as alternate completers. Alternate completers are lateral entry teachers or graduates who are trained in teaching but hold degrees in other fields. In 2005-06, ASU graduated 46 alternate completers, bringing the total number of graduates—both traditional and alternate completers—to 528.

Duke said that for ASU to meet its projections for teacher education graduates, the university must hire a director of teacher education and recruitment, improve campus data collection and analysis, increase the yield of teacher education majors from the existing pool of applicants, improve communications with potential students, improve diversity for the enrolled population and seek additional financial incentives.

“The ultimate goal is to develop more highly qualified teachers the Appalachian way,” said Duke. “We can do this. We’re going to do this. We need your help.”

ASU Board of Trustees Chair Jim Deal asked Duke if the Reich College of Education had enough classroom and office space to reach its goals for recruitment and enrollment.

“At Appalachian, we’re used to doing more with less,” said Duke. “The answer is no.”

Duke said that the College of Education has no rooms or office space for new university instructors and staff and that his colleagues cannot apply for grants for new personnel because there is no place to house them.

“If we had the capacity to attract these students, then it would certainly benefit Appalachian,” responded Deal.

Sidebar

Teacher Education at ASU At a Glance

21—Number of undergraduate teacher education programs

21—Number of graduate teacher education programs

1,000+—Total undergraduate teacher education population (includes off campus)

1,000+—Total graduate teacher education population (includes off campus)

214—Number of faculty involved with teacher education (full and part time)

12,000—Number of ASU graduates teaching in North Carolina (approximate)

16 percent—Percentage of Nationally Board Certified teachers in North Carolina with ASU degrees

Top 10 Districts with the Greatest Number of ASU Graduates Employed

Forsyth County—532

Charlotte-Mecklenburg—478

Caldwell County—433

Wilkes County—396

Burke County—383

Catawba County—358

Wake County—356

Guilford County—346

Gaston County—284

Watauga County—270