OCR Text |
Show Teacher Supply Dwindles, Says National Group The National Education Association (NEA) has released its latest study of teachers' supply and demand which shows that the number of national graduates completing preparation to enter teaching in 1979 is smaller by 4.7 per cent than the number reported for 1978. This is the seventh consecutive year that the number completing com-pleting preparation to enter teaching has decreased from the all time high of 317,254 in 1972. The 172,902 figure for 1979 represents a decline of 45.5 per cent over the seven-year period. Comparable figures in Utah show a similar decline since production of teachers by Utah's six preparing institutions peaked in 1971 at 3,379. The total output of Utah institutions in 1979 was 1,983 or a decrease of 41.3 per cent in eight years. The decline in production has been nearly as consistent as reflected in the national figures, but Utah may have "bottomed "bot-tomed out" in 1978 when only 1,956 teachers were graduated. The 1979 figure actually represents an increase of 1.4 per cent over that of the previous year. The NEA figures also reflect that the number of new teachers available nationally from the 1979 graduating class was far short of the 493,450 beginning teachers needed to raise the quality of public school programs and staffing to minimal levels, but the surplus from previous years helped to fill the deficit. It may be only a matter of time, however, until we are in the midst of another ' teacher stortage nationwide, according to the report. The report also indicates in-dicates that there have been teacher shortages in certain specialized areas, notably mathematics, natural and physical sciences, argiculture, special education, industrial in-dustrial arts, distributive education, and vocational technical subjects. The 1979 study notes that such shortages are continuing. Areas in which the supply appears to be most adequate are social studies, health and physical education, art, foreign languages, home economics, and elementary regular instruction. in-struction. There have been some indications that the supply of qualified elementary teachers is not all that optimistic in Utah. In addition, the NEA study notes that the number of job openings for elementary school teachers will increase for several years beginning in 1983-84. As a result, prospects for elementary school teachers are likely to improve in the mid 1980s. The study concludes con-cludes that deterioration in the attractiveness of teaching jobs has been one major cause of the decline in those entering the teaching profession. |