National Teacher Shortage

Education has been a hot topic across West Virginia over the last several years. Issues such as strikes, charter schools and the impact of COVID-19 on our students have garnered the attention of many. Now the state is facing a new challenge as many turn their attention to the issue of teacher shortages on the rise.

In 2021, there were reportedly 1,196 teacher vacancies across West Virginia. With approximately 23,000 teachers employed by the state, this equates to roughly 5% of teaching positions. In 2019, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) identified several subject areas as being in critical need, including special education, counseling, math and elementary education.

This challenge is certainly not limited to the state of West Virginia. In fact, many states across the nation are experiencing teacher shortages. In June of 2021, the Southern Regional Education Board held a virtual panel on the topic. The presentation reported that during the 2017-2018 school year, 3.2% of the nation’s teachers were not certified to teach the position they held. Additionally, 11.7% of teachers had two or less years of experience, and on average, 12.3% of teachers were planning to leave the profession.

One might be tempted to think that the teacher shortage is a new problem created by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Carla Warren, Ed.D., director of the Office of Educator Development and Support for the WVDE, explains evidence supports this issue running deeper than the pandemic.

“According to the findings from the National Education Shortage Summit held in early 2022, the education labor market was beginning to drift toward a talent shortage prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she says.

According to a report from Hanover Research published in 2021 on the topic of teacher retention, teacher shortages began more than 10 years ago, and the number of students enrolling in and graduating from teacher preparation programs is decreasing. In the state of West Virginia, there are 18 such programs at higher education institutions. During the 2020-2021 school year, only 502 teachers graduated from these programs, meaning that the pool of new teachers to draw from is shrinking.

Although the teacher shortage began before the pandemic, the past few years have been hard for everyone and seem to have further exacerbated the issue. Teachers have faced increased demands and stress levels as they attempted to meet students’ social-emotional needs and find new ways to engage students virtually from home, all while continuing to juggle the variety of duties they perform under normal circumstances. In addition, many substitute teachers have not returned to work post-pandemic, leaving a large gap in school staffing. According to Hanover Research, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 8% of teachers in the U.S. reported themselves as likely to leave the profession. Now, that number is up to 33%.

“The pandemic laid bare our dependence on schools to provide community support along with educational, social, physical and nutritional services to children,” says Debra Sullivan, a member of the West Virginia Board of Education. “The breadth and depth of the work undertaken every day in schools across the state is often taken for granted.”

The teacher shortage in West Virginia does not mean that classrooms will be empty this coming school year.

“Note that these are not classrooms without an instructor. Rather, these are classrooms not led by fully certified teachers,” says Warren.

In an attempt to fill these teaching vacancies, West Virginia has developed provisional methods to place teachers into classrooms as well as some new programs to further encourage recruitment into the profession.

One licensure option encourages counties around the state to work with West Virginia colleges and universities to allow individuals who are currently enrolled in a state-approved program to provisionally teach in areas of critical need. Another option allows college graduates with a bachelor’s degree to be considered for licensure based on their GPA, performance on licensure exams and completion of state-approved coursework. Other programs providing alternatives to certification are also in place in several West Virginia higher learning institutions.

The state of West Virginia will be launching a new program this school year called Grow Your Own Pathway, which will allow high school students to begin working toward a teaching degree before graduation.

“Grow Your Own Pathway gives students a fast-track into the education field through a combination of dual enrollment/Advanced Placement courses and an accelerated pathway. Students can then graduate with a bachelor’s degree in just three years,” she says.

This program would help alleviate some of the costs of higher education for students as well as the time required to complete teacher preparation programs. The Grow Your Own Pathway program was registered with the U.S. Department of Labor as an apprenticeship, meaning students can earn wages for field experiences throughout completion.

“West Virginia was the second state in the nation to register the K-12 teaching occupation as a Registered Apprenticeship Program with the U.S. Department of Labor,” Warren says. “This work has been spotlighted on a national stage for organizations, including the National Grow Your Own Center, Southern Regional Education Board, Learning Policy Institute and Education Commission of the States.”

In addition to providing multiple pathways to licensure, other means of increasing teacher recruitment and retention may also need to be considered.

“To recognize, attract and retain exceptional people to teach our students, lead our schools and provide school support services, government and business leaders must demonstrate a solid belief in the value of raising up a well-educated public, while respecting those engaged in this important work and paying salaries that are commensurate with the importance of the job,” says Sullivan. “It is no mystery why states having higher student achievement rates offer higher teacher salaries.”

In its 2021 report, Hanover Research also identified additional strategies for increasing teacher retention, including providing teacher wellness programs and strategies to help reduce teacher burnout, creating and maintaining a positive and supportive environment for teachers in our schools, engaging teachers in decision-making opportunities in order to increase buy-in and providing recognition.