| Show Many Utah Teachers Lack Subject Matter Training Although nearly all teaching positions in the Utah public schools are filled by certificated teachers with four or more years of college many teachers are teaching without adequate preparation preparation preparation prep prep- in the subject field to which they have been assigned This was the major point brought out in a Utah Foundation Foundation Foundation tion analysts of a recent State School Office report of Utah's professional school personnel The Foundation report shows that of the 91 professional school personnel in the South Sanpete School District during 67 1966 74 had a bachelors bachelor's degree and 16 had a masters master's degree or high high- er Only one professional school employee in the district last year did not have a degree and he had at least four years of col col- col- col lege Furthermore the study discloses discloses discloses dis dis- dis- dis closes that per cent of all professional school personnel in Utah last year were properly Special emergency ncy or authorized teachers which made up a third of the Utah teaching force during the years immediately after World War II had declined to 14 of the total in the 67 1966 school year Despite the improvements made in Utah's teaching force over the past 20 years the Foundation Foundation Foundation Foun Foun- dation study notes that many teachers in Utah are teaching outside their major or minor collegiate collegiate collegiate col col- col- col field of interest Nearly half of the mathematics and the physical science teachers in Utah either major or minor teaching assignment have not completed a college major or minor in these subjects Fewer than a third of the teachers whose major teaching assignment assignment assignment assign assign- ment is either mathematics or physical science have themselves ves completed a college major majorin in mathematics or any of the physical sciences The report discloses that many other Utah teachers in the fields of biological science foreign language language language lan lan- guage language arts etc are teaching outside the area of their collegiate specialties Only about 10 of the teaching teaching teaching teach teach- ing personnel in Utah last year were without prior teaching ex ex- ex- ex The report shows that 56 had six or more years of teaching experience 36 had 11 or more years and 15 15 had been teaching for more than 20 years |
