Sources of Teacher Supply: Some New Evidence From Indiana

Abstract

This article is a first step in identifying the diverse sources of teacher supply, the magnitude of the flow form each source, and the characteristics of the teachers that enter or reenter from each source. The analysis uses data on all full-time teachers in Indiana from 1965 to 1988, as well as a survey of new hires in 1987-1988. Our data suggest that experienced teachers (both returning and migrating) have constituted an important source of supply-at present they account for almost 60% of all new hires. Inexperienced teachers appear to be delaying entry into teachingthey have become increasingly older over time, with over a third of them being 35 years old or older. These findings have important implications for teacher recruiting in the future as retirements increase and the reserve pool begins to shrink.

A Look at Returning Teachers

“…Consistent with analyses of returning teachers from the 1970s and 1980s (Beaudin, 1993;Grissmer & Kirby, 1992;Heyns, 1988;Kirby et al, 1991;Murnane et al, 1988Murnane et al, , 1991Singer, 1993), the results also show that the personal characteristics and qualifications of recent cohorts of former teachers continue to impact whether they return after a break in service. My ability to examine females and males separately revealed some gender differences, although the differences tended to be greater for job-based factors than personal ones.…”

“…Like the earlier teacher return studies that also relied on state administrative datasets (Beaudin, 1993(Beaudin, , 1995Grissmer & Kirby, 1992;Kirby et al, 1991;Murnane et al, 1988Murnane et al, , 1991Singer, 1993), this study would have benefitted from more detailed information that is not available in datasets of this type. For example, I am not able in this study to determine why teachers left the profession nor whether their decisions to leave were made voluntarily or involuntarily.…”

“…It seems hardly surprising then that a significant percentage -roughly one-quarter to onethird based on available evidence -of those who leave teaching early in their careers eventually return (Beaudin, 1993;DeAngelis & Presley, 2011;Grissmer & Kirby, 1992;Kirby et al, 1991;Murnane, Singer, & Willett, 1988;Singer, 1993;Stinebrickner, 2002). Returning teachers (also referred to as reentrants) can constitute a substantial share of newly hired teachers in schools each year.…”

“…Studies from the U.S. and elsewhere also indicate that many who leave teaching before retirement age do so for reasons other than dissatisfaction with the profession. In fact, family commitments/personal reasons have been cited in a number of studies as the most common motivation for leaving, especially by female teachers (Boe, Bobbitt, Cook, Barkanic, & Maislin, 1998;Greene & Lahti, 1984;Henke, Choy, Chen, Geis, & Alt, 1997;Ingersoll, 2001Ingersoll, , 2002Ingersoll & Smith, 2003;Kirby, Grissmer, & Hudson, 1991;Oregon State Board of Education, 1992;Robinson, Munn, & MacDonald, 1992;Scafidi, Stinebrickner & Sjoquist, 2005;Stinebrickner, 2001Stinebrickner, , 2002). Stinebrickner's (2001Stinebrickner's ( , 2002 findings confirm that many individuals who left teaching in the U.S. during the 1970s and early 1980s left the workforce altogether, with females more likely to have stopped working than males.…”

The multilevel impact of transformational leadership on teacher commitment: Cognitive and motivational pathways

“…However, meta‐analyses of teacher attrition and retention predictors (Guarino et al ., 2006; Borman & Dowling 2008) tend to show that female teachers have consistently higher attrition rates than male teachers. It seems that female teachers’ decision to leave their job is not so much linked to their commitment to their job or their school, and rather associated with exogenous reasons, like pregnancy or child‐rearing (see Kirby et al ., 1991). The impact of age on teacher commitment is not well documented in the literature, making it difficult to make any conclusions about its effect.…”