Preliminary Indiana-based data around education notes that the state currently has just under 60,000 teachers across the state. This puts our current teacher to pupil ratio at 1:17.9 which is above the national average, our administrator to pupil ratio is even further from the national average at 1:330.9. It is clear looking at this that there is a distinct need for teachers.

In CTE specifically, we know there is an upward trend in CTE student enrollment dating back to 2015. We also know that STEM pathways composes over 60% of student enrollment. This is promising for clusters and pathways in STEM areas like health sciences, manufacturing and engineering and information technologies. However, there is currently at least a 70%
shortage of teachers in these particular areas.

Reasons for this vary but by and large this is a result of the inability to effectively recruit professionals in these sectors. Some contributing factors for this are low pay, job satisfaction, professional support and social atmosphere around the CTE face.

One of the largest barriers to effective teacher recruitment is location. It is often overlooked or not considered when it comes to looking at what influences individuals to get involved and engaged in the field, but it influences recruitment substantially, from current research.

Location, Location, Location

For example, 61%of teachers who began teaching in public schools within New York State in the late nineties into 2002 chose to begin teaching in a district within 15 miles of where they went to high school themselves. 85% of teachers began to teach at schools within 40 miles of the school that they attended for high school. Another study from 2006 found this was consistent across the country and that teachers are significantly more likely to continue to reside in their hometowns 8 years after high school graduation.

This can be a double-edged sword for recruitment of educators. When it comes to suburban districts who have a higher percentage of students continuing to college and potentially pursuing education pathways, this provides a unique opportunity.

However, for rural and urban school districts who have fewer students pursuing careers in education, this is a distinct barrier to recruitment as it can be tough to convince prospects to leave what is considered their home field comfort zone. The location of the district of school is also easily tied into some other typical barriers to entry that we recognize for education.

Alternate Routes to Education

By this, we mean when looking at educators in the field, the majority are required to have at least a bachelor’s degree which in the past has stopped some professionals from industry from moving into the field. It also further limits the ability of urban or rural districts to recruit previous students as educators in their districts since they tend to have fewer students that head into a college or university pathway after high school.

The good news is Indiana has taken steps to make this less of a sticking point by creating other paths to entry and schools that implement support in getting their prospective teachers through these pathways have better luck recruiting than those that do not. In fact, 50% of those entering teaching through alternate routes state they would not have moved into a career in education if there was not an alternate route to certification.

The last large barrier is a recurring theme in current research is that most new educators are starting the year in their new positions, often just before school starts or after the school year has begun. Some of this is due to late notice of teachers retiring or leaving and some of this is due to delayed budgetary information.

Regardless of the reason for a late start for these new teachers, the fact is that this dramatically limits the efficiency of the hiring process of new educators and can increase new teacher or transfer teacher stress levels. These can lead to high and rapid turnover rates for new educators, some of which will leave the field altogether.