You may have heard that education is becoming more and more about the numbers. With that in mind, we take a look at some of the teaching profession’s vital statistics. (Data cited are the most recent available to us; sources are below.)
1) Estimated number of U.S. elementary and secondary school teachers: 3.5 million
2) Percent increase in the number of teachers from 1990-2004: 27
3) Average teacher salary (2004): $46,597
4) State (excluding District of Columbia) with the highest average teacher salary (2004): Connecticut ($56,516)
5) State with the lowest average teacher salary (2004): South Dakota ($33,236)
6) Percentage of teachers who see teaching as a lifelong career: 74
7) Percentage of teachers who leave the profession within five years: 46
8) Number of states that finance mentoring for new teachers: 15
9) Number of teachers with National Board certification: 47,356
10) Number of states that provide financial incentives for teachers to become Board certified: 37
11) Average per-pupil state expenditures (2003): $8,041
12) Percent increase in average state per-pupil state expenditures from 1994-2003: 21
13) Percentage of California public school teachers expected to retire in the next decade: 32
14) Odds that a 6th grader in the lowest-achieving quartile of California public schools has had more than one teacher without certification: 3 in 10
15) Odds that a 6th grader in the highest-achieving quartile of California public schools has had more than one teacher without certification: 1 in 50
16) Number of states that finance incentives for teachers in high-poverty or low-performing schools: 14
17) Average number of hours each week that public school teachers spend on non-compensated school-related activities: 12
18) Average amount public school teachers spend out-of-pocket each year for student needs: $443
19) Percentage of public school teachers who are male: 21
20) Approximate percentage of public school teachers who are African American males: 2.4
21) Approximate percentage of schools in the United States with no teachers of color: 40
22) Number of teachers who entered the profession in 2004-05 through alternative-certification routes: 35,000
23) Number of teachers hired last year through Texas’ Temporary Teacher Certification program, which allows districts to instantly certify qualifying college graduates: 1
24) Number of states that finance professional development for teachers: 39
25) Percentage of teachers who say that recent professional development made little difference in their performance: 50
26) Number of states (including the District of Columbia) that use multiple choice questions in tests to measure student achievement: 50
27) Number of states that use portfolios as a measure of student performance: 1
28) Percentage of teachers who say that standardized tests are a seriously flawed measure of true student achievement: 53
Sources:
