Study
Reveals Widespread Out-of-Field Teaching in High-Poverty and High-Minority
Schools
On August
21, 2002, The Education
Trustreleased
a report based on the U.S.
Department of Education's 1999-2000 state-by-state survey
of secondary school teachers of core academic subjects. The
report,
entitled, All Talk, No Action: Putting an End to Out-of-Field
Teaching, revealed an "unacceptably high" level of "out-of-field"
teachers, or those who with neither a college major nor minor
in their subjects. Rates of out-of-field teaching were highest
in mathematics, in middle schools, and in high-poverty and high-minority
schools. The study found, for example, that more than 50% of
major academic classes in high poverty schools, and 49% of classes
in high-minority schools, are taught by out-of field teachers.
Pointing to the increase in out-of-field teachers in high-poverty,
high-minority schools between 1993-1994 and 1999-2000, Education
Trust Director Kati Haycock said, "The equity implications are
simply staggering." The report indicates the formidable obstacles
individual states face in meeting two deadlines established
by the President's No
Child Left Behind Act. By the fall of 2002, all new teachers
in Title I secondary schools will have to have a college major
or the equivalent in every subject they teach, and by 2005-2006,
all teachers in Title I schools will have to meet that requirement.
The Education Trust report includes a list of recommendations
that states, districts, and schools can immediately implement
in order to close the out-of-field teaching gap.
Prepared August 29, 2002
National Access
Network, Teachers College, Columbia University. Copyright 2001-2011.
