Chapter 1: PETE Recruitment and Retention: Current State of Affairs

Suzan F. Ayers Western Michigan University aaa Karen turned to the other soccer parents at halftime and queried, “Did you hear Ms. Thompson is retiring in May? That’s the third PE teacher to leave in three years! They haven’t even replaced Norton or Stevens yet! Summit only has PE twice a week now instead of daily. What next? Once a month? ” Jasmine winced. “I know. Crystal is always so restless. She loves phys ed. I can’t imagine her sitting at a desk all day with no physical activity. I bet she drives the teachers crazy! ” Alex leaned in, “When I was choosing a major 20 years ago, I considered PE but was warned against it. My advisor cautioned that there were limited positions open for graduates—that candidates were a dime a dozen. What happened to change that? ” Similar conversations on the shrinking teacher pool are echoed across the United States and in the academy. Several factors, some interrelated, contribute to the shrinking supply of teachers. Fewer individuals are pursuing teaching as a career; in the United States, for example, teacher education enrollments plunged 35% between 2009 and 2014 (Berry & Shields, 2017). California alone lost 53% of teacher education enrollments (22,000 candidates) between 2008–2009 and 2012–2013 (Sawchuk, 2014). According to Beverly Young of the California Teacher Credentialing Commission, “very severe shortages” of teachers will occur if teacher education enrollment continues to drop as predicted (Freedberg, 2013, p. 1). In direct relation to the decrease in students entering preservice teaching, fewer teacher education programs exist to prepare future teachers (Sawchuk, 2014). Additionally, many of those who enter the teaching profession leave prematurely, with more than 41% of teachers exiting the profession within their first 5 years (Perda, 2013). This trend has gradually increased over the last 25 years, as the retention of first-year teachers continues to decrease (Ingersoll, Merrill, & Stuckey, 2014). Both recruitment and retention of Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students are critical to graduating teachers for the work force. Woods, Richards, and Ayers (2016) endorse active recruitment strategies that PETE faculty members, in collaboration with K-12 teachers and community college contacts, can incorporate to improve PETE enrollments. Retaining students who enter teacher education programs is also a means to support the completion of teaching degrees. Higher education leaders recognize the importance of student retention and implement strategies to increase students’ sense of affiliation and belonging within the university environment (Pokorny, Holley, & Kane, 2017). Specific to teacher education students, professional commitment during the preservice phase is essential; this can be promoted by making teacher education students responsible for their own learning and focusing on their teaching abilities and the intrinsic value of a teaching career (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2015). In line with other content areas, PETE programs have experienced recent enrollment declines. Once-robust programs are experiencing drastically lowered enrollments, contributing to the closure of several prominent PETE programs across the United States (Bulger, Braga, DiGiacinto, & Jones, 2016; Templin, Blankenship, & Richards, 2014). The state of Illinois serves as a reference point, as the number of K-12 physical education teaching licenses conferred in Illinois shrank from 477 in 2011 to 226 in 2016 (Illinois Board of Higher Education, 2018). In Chapter 2, Ward (2019) offers initial data about physical education teacher shortages across the United States to substantiate this conundrum. Decreased enrollments of this nature could contribute to a shortage of qualified teachers that may threaten the physical education profession. Alternatively, some suggest that the lower number of physical educators prepared to teach might be appropriate, given the overproduction of physical educators in the past, and that the market has self-corrected. Clearly, the decline in the number of certified K-12 teachers is a complex issue that warrants examination. In response to lowered enrollments in PETE programs, this monograph presents the results of an initial, exploratory study to better understand perspectives on and practices for recruiting and retaining preservice physical education teachers to degree completion within the U.S. context. This examination was initiated through the development of an online survey administered to PETE program coordinators across the United States to ascertain current views and practices. Follow-up interviews were conducted to more fully understand PETE coordinators’ perspectives with regard to recruiting and retaining preservice teachers. In Chapter 2, Ward (2019) addresses the nuanced and multifaceted nature of the physical education teacher pipeline by offering a perspective for considering the current state of affairs in PETE programs specific to recruitment practices as well as recruitment and retention of new K-12 teachers. Identifying and aligning pressure points with associated institutional and programmatic responses lays the groundwork for this chapter’s consideration of the practical and policy implications currently playing out around the country, and provides the rationale for the study reported in this monograph. Woods is with the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. Ayers is with Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. Address author correspondence to Suzan F. Ayers at s.ayers@wmich.edu.