Summary of Data on Teachers and Teacher Education

Several charts and tables describing key data about Pennsylvania’s teacher education system and the state’s public school classroom teachers follow.  These are designed to give Commissioners a common baseline understanding of key elements for our work.  Additional data will be prepared and presented at future meetings.  This document is designed as an accompaniment to “Background Information on Teacher Education in Pennsylvania.”

Certifying Teachers

During the past four years, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) issued over 55,000 initial (Instructional I) teaching certificates, or an average of 13,954 per year.  During the latest year for which national data are available – 2002-03 – Pennsylvania ranked sixth in the nation (behind New York, California, Texas, Florida, and New Jersey).  (Had the U.S. Department of Education used the same dates as PDE for determining the year, Pennsylvania would have ranked fifth.)  Table I includes Instructional I certificates awarded to graduates of Pennsylvania institutions and to out-of-state candidates.

Table 1. Instructional I Certificates Issued by Subject Area, 2001-02 through 2004-05

Subject Area	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	Grand Total
Arts	460	625	691	743	2,519
Civics	691	882	1,040	884	3,497
Career/Technical Education	285	367	341	304	1,297
Early Childhood and Elementary	5,529	6,971	7,742	6,674	26,916
English	632	767	887	822	3,108
Foreign Languages	188	304	305	252	1,049
Math	353	504	624	624	2,105
Other	436	569	657	582	2,244
Reading/Language Arts	200	289	240	253	982
Science	738	871	928	751	3,288
Special Education	1,645	2,199	2,389	2,177	8,410
Grand Total	11,157	14,348	15,844	14,066	55,415

During the same four years, the Department issued almost 2,000 intern certificates, designed for mid-career professionals with bachelor’s degrees in other fields who want to become teachers.

Table 2. Intern Certificates Issued by Subject Area, 2001-02 through 2004-05

Subject Area	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	Grand Total
Career/Technical Education	81	118	131	184	514
Early Childhood and Elementary	40	80	140	192	452
Science	27	27	66	64	184
English	19	34	56	54	163
Special Education	2	6	69	86	163
Math	6	28	59	60	153
Civics	13	28	31	30	102
Foreign Languages	7	22	31	30	90
Arts	2		7	8	17
Other	1	3	3	5	12
Reading/Language Arts	1	1	7	2	11
State Totals	199	347	600	715	1,861

Emergency Permits

Despite the fact that the state issues more certificates every year than it needs to fill all the school districts’ needs for new hires, there are several districts that perennially have problems filling all their vacancies, and many districts have difficulty finding certified candidates in some subject areas.  As a result, PDE has issued over 20,000 emergency permits (Type 01) to fill long-term vacancies in the past four years.

Table 3. Type 01 Emergency Permits Issued by Subject Area, 2001-02 through 2004-05

Subject Area	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	Grand Total
Early Childhood/Elementary	2,089	1,925	1,728	1,365	7,107
Special Education	1,067	1,151	1,126	1,188	4,532
Other	402	428	427	429	1,686
Career/Technical Education	387	412	349	352	1,500
Foreign Languages	262	310	260	257	1,089
Science	245	265	239	218	967
Math	190	225	271	265	951
Administration	178	209	191	219	797
English	97	113	96	106	412
Arts	108	108	106	83	405
ESL				329	329
Reading/Language Arts	63	76	86	53	278
Civics	72	78	64	52	266
Grand Total	5,160	5,300	4,943	4,916	20,319

The primary subject areas for which emergency permits are issued include elementary education, special education, mathematics, English, various science disciplines, foreign languages, and social studies.  See Table 4 for specific subject areas.

Table 4. Specific Subjects with Heavy Use of Emergency Permits, 2001-02 through 2004-05

Specific Subject Areas	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	Grand Total
Elementary	1,995	1,857	1,686	1,340	6,878
Mentally and/or Phys. Impaired	959	1,925	1,728	1,365	5,977
Mathematics	190	225	271	265	951
Spanish	170	185	171	161	687
English/Communication	97	113	94	104	408
Speech Correction	80	85	93	98	356
Chemistry	88	94	77	69	328
Health & Physical Education, K-12	71	69	64	71	275
Social Studies	71	76	61	48	256
Music, K-12	66	62	63	51	242
Biology	61	64	53	51	229
Early Childhood	94	68	42	25	229
Physics	34	47	46	50	177
French	43	54	36	32	165
Art, K-12	42	46	43	32	163
General Science, Intermediate	41	38	36	31	146
German	23	34	20	23	100
Industrial Arts/Technology Education	1	1	33	29	64

In 11 of these 18 subject areas (bold type in Table 4), the state issued fewer than three Instructional I certificates per new hire during the four-year period.  Also, several districts – primarily urban, older suburban, and rapidly growing suburban and rural districts – have been heavy users of emergency permits.  Philadelphia generally accounts for about half the state’s use of emergency permits.  The top 20 districts (21, since two are tied for 20^th place) and eight high-use intermediate units account for two-thirds of all emergency permits during the past four years.

Table 5. School Districts with Heavy Use of Emergency Permits, 2001-02 through 2004-05

School District	2001- 2002	2002- 2003	2003- 2004	2004- 2005	Grand Total	% of State Total	Cumulative %
Philadelphia City SD	2,650	2,597	2,389	2,167	9,803	48.2%	48.2%
Harrisburg City SD	90	68	83	90	331	1.6%	49.9%
Reading SD	59	64	61	102	286	1.4%	51.3%
Downingtown Area SD	61	54	51	51	217	1.1%	52.4%
East Stroudsburg Area SD	46	62	48	33	189	0.9%	53.3%
York City SD	50	44	42	36	172	0.8%	54.1%
Lancaster SD	27	27	42	58	154	0.8%	54.9%
Chester-Upland SD	53	39	23	31	146	0.7%	55.6%
Neshaminy SD	34	29	38	44	145	0.7%	56.3%
Upper Darby SD	29	30	26	42	127	0.6%	56.9%
Pocono Mountain SD	29	41	28	12	110	0.5%	57.5%
Chambersburg Area SD	18	24	23	25	90	0.4%	57.9%
School District	2001- 2002	2002- 2003	2003- 2004	2004- 2005	Grand Total	% of State Total	Cumulative %
William Penn SD	15	18	19	37	89	0.4%	58.4%
Pittsburgh SD	18	27	27	16	88	0.4%	58.8%
Easton Area SD	25	21	13	23	82	0.4%	59.2%
Central Dauphin SD	22	26	15	19	82	0.4%	59.6%
Bethlehem Area SD	26	24	15	17	82	0.4%	60.0%
Spring Grove Area SD	16	20	15	15	66	0.3%	60.3%
Erie City SD	9	22	15	14	60	0.3%	60.6%
North Penn SD	9	22	13	14	58	0.3%	60.9%
West Perry SD	17	15	14	12	58	0.3%	61.2%
8 High-Use Intermediate Units	303	321	352	412	1,388	6.8%	68.0%

Summary of Certificates and Permits Issued

            The number of Instructional I certificates issued by PDE peaked in 2003-04 and declined last year, while the number of emergency permits has remained fairly constant over the past four years.  This trend and the relative contributions to the annual classroom teacher pool from Instructional I certificates, intern certificates, and emergency permits are shown on Figures 1 and 2 on the next two pages. 

Teacher Education Institutions

            There are 95 higher education institutions in Pennsylvania that have one or more approved teacher education programs.  These institutions range from offering one to 61 teacher education programs; 14 of them offer fewer than 10 programs.  During the past four years, the number of Instructional I certificates issued to graduates of these colleges and universities has ranged from 7 (fewer than 2 per year) to 3,188 (almost 800 per year); the median was 292 (or 73 per year on average).

            Three-fourths of the certificates issued in the past four years resulted from the preparation provided by the 30 largest “producers.”

Table 6. 30 Largest “Producers” of Instructional I Certificates, 2001-02 through 2004-05

Institutions	2001- 2002	2002- 2003	2003- 2004	2004- 2005	Grand Total	% of Total	SSHE	State- Related	Other
Top 10 Producers	4,509	5,599	5,901	5,403	21,412	42.9%	8	2	0
Top 20 Producers	6,773	8,470	9,056	8,222	32,521	65.2%	13	3	4
Top 30 Producers	7,856	9,738	10,657	9,544	37,795	75.8%	13	3	14
Grand Total	10,110	12,873	14,247	12,641	49,871	100.0%	14	4	77

            The 14 State System of Higher Education universities were responsible for 43 percent of the Instructional I certificates issued last year, and the four state-related institutions (The Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Lincoln University) contributed another 16 percent, as shown on Figure 3 on the next page.

            There also is considerable difference in the rates at which teacher education candidates from various institutions pass the state’s licensure exams. Overall, 88 percent passed in 2002-03, the latest year for which data are available.

Table 7.  Summary Pass Rates on State Teacher Licensure Tests, 2002-03

Institutional Quartile	Low	High	Mean
Quartile I	93.0%	100.0%	98.4%
Quartile II	88.0%	96.0%	91.8%
Quartile III	82.0%	89.0%	85.6%
Quartile IV	43.0%	82.0%	71.7%

Data on Teacher Demographics

            During the past decade, public school classroom teachers have become progressively less diverse (in terms of race and ethnicity) than the students they teach.  This is shown on Figures 4-6 on the next two pages.

            During the same decade, teachers in the middle of their careers (35-49 years of age) have declined as a share of all teachers, while those at the beginning of their careers (less than 35 years of age) and those in the later stages of teaching (50 years old and older) have both increased their shares.  This is shown on Figures 7-9 on pages 12-13.

            Another factor to consider in looking at the composition of the state’s teaching corps is those who leave their districts and must be replaced (even if they fill vacancies in other districts, the schools they leave must be staffed by other teachers).  Over the past decade, the percentage of classroom teachers leaving their districts annually has increased from three percent to eight percent.  And while the share of those leaving the profession altogether has declined, the share retiring has increased substantially.  This is shown on Figures 10-12 on the next two pages.

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