NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

 Statistical Analysis Report September 2000

Teacher Supply in the United

States: Sources of Newly Hired

Teachers in Public and Private

Schools, 1987–88 to 1993–94

U. S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2000–309
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

 Statistical Analysis Report September 2000

Teacher Supply in the United

States: Sources of Newly Hired

Teachers in Public and Private

Schools, 1987–88 to 1993–94

U. S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2000–309

Stephen P. Broughman

Mary R. Rollefson
U.S. Department of Education

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

C. Kent McGuire

Assistant Secretary

National Center for Education Statistics

Gary W. Phillips

Acting Commissioner

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Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Supply in the United States: Sources of

Newly Hired Teachers in Public and Private Schools, NCES 2000–309, by Stephen P. Broughman and Mary R.

Rollefson, Washington, DC: 2000.

For ordering information on this report, write:

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ED PUBS

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Jessup, MD 20794–1398

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Content Contact:

Stephen P. Broughman

202–502–7315
iii

Acknowledgments

Stephen Broughman is a statistician with the Elementary/Secondary and Library Studies Division of

the National Center for Education Statistics. Mary Rollefson is a senior associate at Abt Associates,

Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Rollefson’s contribution to this report was made while she was

employed at the National Center for Education Statistics. The authors acknowledge the comments

and suggestions of the reviewers: Daniel Kasprzyk and Jeffrey Owings of the Elementary/Secondary

and Libraries Studies Division, Michael P. Cohen of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, William Hussar of the Early Childhood, International, and Cross-cutting Studies Division, Paula Knepper

of the Postsecondary Studies Division, NCES; Leslie Scott of the Education Statistical Services

Institute; Dorothy Gilford (retired) of the National Academy of Sciences; Jewell Gould of the American Federation of Teachers; and David Grissmer of the RAND Corporation. Thanks to Michelle

Brown of Pinkerton Computer Consultants, Inc. for programming assistance and to Carol Rohr, also

of Pinkerton Computer Consultants, Inc. for formatting the text, tables, and graphics in this report.
iv
v

Highlights

This report presents estimates of four types of newly hired teachers (newly prepared teachers, delayed entrants, transfers, and reentrants) and of their basic demographic characteristics, teaching

qualifications, career paths, and former occupations from the 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

Schools and Staffing Surveys.

• Between 1987–88 and 1993–94 a shift in sources of newly hired teachers occurred as public

school districts and private schools hired relatively more first-time teachers and relatively fewer

reentrants (table 2). Among the first-time teachers there was increased hiring of both newly

prepared and delayed entrant groups.

• In school year 1993–94, the relative contributions of first-time teachers, transfers, and reentrants

to the supply of newly hired teachers were similar and the relative importance of them as sources

were the same (first-time teachers, followed by transfers, followed by reentrants) in both sectors

(table 2). Of the two types of first-time teachers, the public sector hired relatively more newly

prepared teachers and fewer delayed entrants than the private sector.

• Like the public and private school teacher workforces as a whole (table 5), newly hired teachers in

1993–94 were predominately female and predominately white non-Hispanic, although less so than

the teacher workforce as a whole. Between 1987–88 and 1993–94, the percent of newly hired

teachers who were minority increased in public and private schools (tables 3 and 4). The percent

of minority newly prepared teachers doubled in the public sector and quadrupled in the private

sector and there were relative increases in the numbers of minority public reentrants and private

transfers.

• In both sectors in 1993–94, delayed entrants were less likely than newly prepared teachers to hold

qualifications (major or minor, certification) in their primary field of assignment (table 7). In both

sectors, experienced new hires (that is, transfers and reentrants) held virtually the same qualifications and were very similar to newly prepared teachers.

• The percent of public sector delayed entrants, transfers, and reentrants holding a major or minor

plus certification in the primary field of assignment increased between 1987–88 and 1993–94

(table 7).

• In school year 1993–94, many new hires gained access to teaching jobs through substitute teaching positions. Many delayed entrants (thirty-six percent of public and 22 percent of private

delayed entrants) were substitute teachers in the previous year, as were 28 percent of public and

18 percent of private reentrants (table 8).

• Among both delayed entrants and reentrants, working in non-teaching occupations was a major

prior year activity. Over a third of public and almost half of private delayed entrants, and a fourth

of public and over a third of private reentrants transferred from occupations outside of education

in 1993–94 (table 8). Most occupational transfers also are from occupations outside education.

Overall, occupational transfers occur more often in the private sector than in the public sector.
vi
vii

Contents

Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................. iii

Highlights ............................................................................................................................................v

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... viii

List of Figures .....................................................................................................................................ix

Introduction .........................................................................................................................................1

Source of Data .....................................................................................................................................2

Results .................................................................................................................................................3

Discussion..........................................................................................................................................15

Technical Notes .................................................................................................................................18

Definitions .........................................................................................................................................19

References .........................................................................................................................................20

Appendix: Standard Error Tables .....................................................................................................23
viii

List of Tables

Table 1 Percentage distribution of newly hired and continuing public and private school

teachers: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 .................................................... 3

Table 2 Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply

source: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 ...................................................... 5

Table 3 Newly hired public school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic

characteristics: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 .......................................... 6

Table 4 Newly hired private school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic

characteristics: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 .......................................... 7

Table 5 Selected demographic characteristics of newly hired and total public and private school

teachers: School year 1993–94 ............................................................................................ 8

Table 6 Percent of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source, highest

degree earned, and average years of teaching experience: School years 1987–88,

1990–91, and 1993–94 ....................................................................................................... 10

Table 7 Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply

source and by various qualifications in primary assignment field: School years

1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 ....................................................................................... 11

Table 8 Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply

source and by prior year activity: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 ........... 13

Table 9 Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private teachers in an occupation

the year prior to teaching, by supply source and by prior year occupation: 1987–88,

1990–91, and 1993–94 ....................................................................................................... 16
ix

List of Figures

Figure 1 Percentage distribution of newly hired and continuing teachers, by sector: School years

1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 .........................................................................................4

Figure 2 Percentage distribution of newly hired teachers, by sector and supply source: School

years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 ................................................................................5

Figure 3 Percentage distribution of newly hired teachers, by sector, supply source, and

qualifications in primary assignment field: 1993–94 .........................................................12

Figure 4 Percentage distribution of delayed entrants and reentrants, by sector and prior year

activities: 1993–94.............................................................................................................14
x
1

Introduction

New college graduates with teacher education training have traditionally been the largest source of

new hires to teaching each year in the nation’s schools. In the past two decades, however, as school

enrollments increased and fewer college graduates entered teaching, concern about possible shortages in the supply of teachers has increased. In the 1960s, for example, 67 percent of newly hired

teachers in public schools were new college graduates, but by the late 1980s this source supplied

only 17 percent of new hires (National Education Association 1987). Until the mid 1980s, the

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) made annual projections of the numbers of newly

graduated teachers. When these supply numbers fell below the projected demand for new hires to

teaching, many, failing to account for other sources of new hires besides new college graduates,

reacted with alarm about impending teacher shortages. In school year 1987–88, NCES implemented

a new survey, the Schools and Staffing Survey, to provide better measures of teacher supply and

demand conditions, and factors influencing its balance, including teacher salaries, qualifications and

career patterns.

Since the late 1980s, concern about teacher shortages has fluctuated. Diminishing the concern are

reports from this new survey, as well as studies in several states, showing low rates of teacher attrition (Bobbitt 1991; Bobbitt et al. 1994; Rollefson 1990; Whitener et al. 1997) and increasing numbers of teachers being hired from the reserve pool of former teachers (Kirby, Grissmer, and Hudson

1991; Murnane, Singer, and Willet 1988; Gilford and Tenenbaum 1990; Rollefson 1993a). On the

other hand, a number of factors make continued monitoring of teacher supply and demand important:

1) school enrollments continue to increase, increasing the demand for teachers; 2) the education

pipeline, in spite of increases in the late 1980s, is still turning out smaller numbers of graduates with

education degrees than in the past (NCES 1999, 326) with inevitable long term effects on the size of

the reserve pool (non-teachers with teaching experience or training); 3) policy initiatives to reduce

class sizes are increasing demand for teachers attention; 4) the size and character of the reserve pool

upon which we depend on for a significant portion of new hires remain unknown; 5) entry-level

teacher salaries, although they have kept pace with inflation, remain lower than salaries paid in many

other entry-level professions, leaving teaching at a disadvantage in attracting talented college graduates into its ranks (Rollefson 1993b); and 6) the practice in several states of waiving standard teacher

credentials when hiring new teachers continues, suggesting that some adjustments in teacher qualifications are being made, possibly in response to shortages.

Those who study teacher supply generally identify four sources of newly hired teachers: first-time

teachers who come directly out of college into teaching; other first-time teachers who engage in

other activities between graduating from college and taking their first teaching job; teachers who

transfer from other schools, districts, states, or sectors (public or private); and former teachers reentering teaching after breaks in their teaching careers.

Which teachers are counted as new hires, specifically which teachers who transfer from other teaching positions are counted, depends on the model being used. Each of the following models represents a different policy perspective and produces different counts of transfers. A national model

counts as new hires only those teachers who transferred from outside the country; a state model, only

those who transferred from another state; a district model, only those from another district; and a

school model, all who transferred from other schools. A sector model would count only those

transfers from the schools in the other sector, public or private. All of these models would count

other types of newly hired teachers—that is, first-time teachers and reentrants—in the same way.
2

This report uses a district-level model to define which transfers to count as newly hired teachers. In

this model, all teachers who transferred between public and private schools are counted as newly

hired teachers, reflecting movements between the public and private school labor markets. All

teachers who transferred from one state to another state were counted as newly hired, reflecting

movements between state labor markets. In addition, those teachers who stayed within the same

state and sector but moved from another school system (public school teachers) or private school

(private school teachers) are included, reflecting movements between employers in the same state

and same sector. The inclusion of teachers who stayed within the same state and sector (i.e., private

to private or public to public within the same state) represents a departure from previous work by the

authors (Rollefson and Broughman 1994 and 1995; Rollefson 1993a) and ensures the estimates in

this paper are comparable to those of The Condition of Education 1994 (NCES 1994a). Other NCES

reports using the same data source may present different estimates of the numbers and percentages of

newly hired teachers because of these model differences. For example, Teacher Supply, Teacher

Quality, and Teacher Turnover (Ingersoll and Bobbitt 1995) uses a school-level model of newly

hired teachers and reports estimates of sources of new hires substantially higher than those reported

here, while Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to 2008–09 (Hussar

1999) uses a sector-level model and reports estimates of public school new hires lower than those

reported here.1

Source of Data

The data for this report are from the 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 Schools and Staffing Survey

(SASS). SASS is a multilevel linked survey of public and private schools, principals, and teachers,

and public school districts. Although information on supply and demand factors is obtained from

each survey level or component, this analysis used data from only the Public and Private School

Teacher Surveys. The technical characteristics of this survey are presented in the Technical Notes at

the end of this report.

Data for this analysis are from those teachers in the SASS sample who indicated that they were

newly hired in that state or sector that school year, that they taught half-time or more, and that they

were regular teachers, that is they were neither itinerant2 nor long-term substitute teachers. The

samples consisted of 2,479 public and 1,123 private teachers in 1987–88, 3,458 public and 1,159

private teachers in 1990–91, and 4,068 public and 1,435 private teachers in 1993–94. Each newly

hired teacher was classified as one of four types, based on years of teaching experience and primary

activity in the prior year. The four types of new hires are:

1. Newly Prepared Teacher—a first-year teacher who in the previous year was attending

college or had earned his or her highest degree;

2. Delayed Entrant—a first-year teacher who in the previous year had engaged in other

activities in the year or years between graduating from college or receiving his or her

highest degree and becoming a teacher;

1

 While the inclusion of teachers who stay within the public sector results in estimates of new hires that are higher than

those reported in Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to 2008–09 (Hussar 1999), other

exclusions, such as excluding teachers who work less than half time (see below), result in estimates of first-time teachers

that are lower than those reported by Hussar (1999).

2

 Teachers whose assignment requires them to provide instruction at more than one school.
3

3. Transfer—a teacher who in the previous year was teaching in another school either in the

other sector (public or private), in another state, or within the same state and sector but in

another school system (public school teachers) or private school (private school teachers);

or

4. Reentrant—a teacher who in the previous school year was not teaching elementary or

secondary school, but who had taught in the past.

Newly prepared teachers and delayed entrants are further classified as first-time teachers, and

transfers and reentrants as experienced teachers.

The data were analyzed to produce national estimates of each of the four types of new hires in terms

of basic demographic characteristics, teaching qualifications, career paths, and former occupations.

Selected findings are discussed with attention to the characteristics that distinguish the different

types of new hires, in particular those characteristics that might suggest adjustments to teacher

shortages, and to changes in characteristics of supply sources over time. All differences cited in the

text have been tested with the t statistics at the .05 level of significance, adjusted for multiple comparisons. Tables of standard errors are in the appendix.

Results

In 1993–94 about 2.4 million public and 337,000 private school teachers were teaching half-time or

more; an increase of 280,000 public and 53,000 private school teachers since 1987–88 (table 1).

Between these two points in time, the percentage of private school teachers who were newly hired

remained stable at about 17 to 18 percent, while that for public school teachers increased from 6 to 9

percent (table 1 and figure 1). While the percentage of teachers who were newly hired was greater in

private than in public schools, the absolute numbers of both newly hired and continuing public

school teachers were greater for public schools than for private schools. This paper focuses on the

184,000, 223,000, and 259,000 public and private teachers newly hired in school years 1987–88,

1990–91, and 1993–94, respectively.

Table 1.—Percentage distribution of newly hired and continuing public and private school teachers: School

years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

Status of teachers Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Public

 Total 2,114,649 100.0 2,356,184 100.0 2,394,542 100.0

New hires 134,820 6.4 170,563 7.2 202,679 8.5

Continuing 1,979,829 93.6 2,185,620 92.8 2,191,863 91.5

Private

 Total 283,922 100.0 327,130 100.0 337,228 100.0

New hires 49,671 17.5 52,288 16.0 56,188 16.7

Continuing 234,251 82.5 274,843 84.0 281,040 83.3
4

Between 1987–88 and 1993–94 a shift in sources of newly hired teachers occurred as public school

districts and private schools hired relatively fewer reentrants and relatively more first-time teachers.

Whereas in 1987–88 the proportion of reentrants equaled (public) or surpassed (private) that of firsttime teachers, by 1993–94 it was first-time teachers who predominated, filling 46 percent of public

and 42 percent of private school newly hired positions (table 2 and figure 2). Among the first-time

teachers there was increased hiring of both newly prepared (8 to 7 percentage point increase) and

delayed entrant groups (7 to 10 percentage point increase). The rate at which positions were filled by

teachers transferring from schools in other states, sectors, or systems in 1993–94 remained the same

for private schools as in 1988, but declined for public schools.

The relative increase in the hiring of first-time teachers was driven by an increase in the absolute

number of first-time teachers, both newly prepared and delayed entrants, with the number of reentrants remaining stable for public schools and declining for private schools (tables 3 and 4). The

relative decrease in the hiring of transfers in the public sector occurred in spite of an increase in the

number of transfers hired by the public sector. The decline in the relative size of the reentrant groups

represents a significant change from 1987–88 when reentering teachers were filling approximately a

third of the demand for new hires.

In 1993–94, the public sector hired more teachers from every source than the private sector. The

relative contributions of first-time teachers, transfers, and reentrants to the supply of newly hired

teachers were similar and the relative importance of them as sources were the same (first-time

teachers, followed by transfers, followed by reentrants) in both sectors (table 2). Of the two types of

first-time teachers, the public sector hired relatively more newly prepared teachers and fewer delayed

entrants than the private sector.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Continuing

Newly hired

1987–98 1990–91 1993–94 1987–98 1990–91 1993–94

Public Private

Percent

Figure 1.—Percentage distribution of newly hired and continuing teachers, by sector: School years 1987–88,

1990–91, and 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).
5

0

20

40

60

80

100

Reentrants

Transfers

Delayed entrants

Newly prepared

1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

Percent

Public Private

Public Private

Source 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

 Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 Total number 134,820 170,563 202,679 49,671 52,288 56,188

First time teachers total 30.6 41.7 45.8 25.2 34.0 42.4

 Newly prepared 21.3 26.5 29.2 14.1 18.2 21.1

 Delayed entrants 9.3 15.3 16.6 11.1 15.9 21.4

Transfers total 36.5 34.3 31.4 38.1 36.1 34.3

 Within state and sector 20.8 21.6 20.2 19.0 18.1 14.6

 Across state 8.3 7.1 7.1 8.3 7.0 11.5

 Across sector 7.5 5.6 4.1 10.8 11.0 8.1

Reentrants total 32.8 24.0 22.9 36.7 29.9 23.3

Table 2.—Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source: School

years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

Figure 2.—Percentage distribution of newly hired teachers, by sector and supply source: School years 1987–

88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990-91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).
6 Table 3.—Newly hired public school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic characteristics: School years 198

1993–94

1 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars adjusted to 1993–94 dollars using Consumer Price Index.2 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars are not adjusted to 1993–94.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

 Number new hires 134,820 170,563 202,679 28,676 45,165 59,098 12,593 26,012 33,655 49,274 58,512 63,597 44

Percent female 78.0 77.4 72.5 78.8 78.9 72.9 71.0 75.5 70.0 77.2 72.7 71.0 Percent minority 9.7 11.2 16.0 8.7 13.1 18.0 12.1 14.8 18.4 9.9 10.7 13.0 Age Mean all 34.1 34.3 33.9 27.9 28.5 28.4 31.3 31.8 32.8 35.1 35.7 35.8  Mean male 34.7 34.5 34.1 29.8 28.3 28.6 31.8 32.7 34.4 35.7 36.4 35.7  Mean female 33.9 34.2 33.8 27.4 28.5 28.3 31.1 31.5 32.0 34.9 35.4 35.8 Percent at age Less than 25 13.3 14.1 12.7 48.2 42.9 35.0 11.1 11.8 7.4 2.8 1.6 2.9  25–29 23.7 24.2 30.2 26.3 27.7 37.0 38.4 34.8 40.0 26.8 27.1 28.5 

 30–34 17.8 16.8 15.3 9.2 12.2 10.0 22.9 19.2 17.2 23.2 21.9 18.9 

 35–39 19.8 15.3 13.3 8.5 6.4 9.0 15.1 20.3 12.4 20.4 18.2 16.4 

 40–44 14.1 15.9 12.8 4.5 6.6 5.7 9.1 9.2 10.5 14.6 15.8 14.7 

 45–49 6.6 7.8 10.0 1.6 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.6 10.3 6.1 9.3 10.9 

 50 or more 4.8 5.8 5.8 1.7 1.8 0.8 0.6 2.1 2.2 6.0 6.0 7.6  Percent 35 or more 45.2 44.8 41.8 16.4 17.3 17.9 27.7 34.2 35.4 47.1 49.4 49.7 Marital status Percent married 66.4 62.4 58.3 44.6 44.8 42.5 68.5 61.4 57.9 69.9 68.3 65.0 Dependents Percent with any 50.5 51.3 45.1 21.8 29.3 28.8 48.7 46.0 43.2 53.3 56.5 49.2  Percent with any less than 5 years 19.5 17.1 16.3 7.1 9.2 12.7 27.0 19.5 13.6 20.0 20.3 17.5 Income/salary1

 Base year salary 25,268 25,591 25,136 22,421 22,693 22,288 21,982 22,901 23,006 27,024 27,119 27,221 26 Total year round income 27,793 27,862 27,910 24,769 24,958 25,080 25,238 25,518 27,492 29,230 29,162 29,695 28Percent moonlighting 14.3 16.8 20.7 15.7 15.1 18.6 19.4 19.4 25.7 12.2 15.9 19.7 Family income2 Percent at less than $25,000 34.9 19.3 12.5 57.3 32.5 20.8 45.0 23.2 14.1 27.9 13.7 7.6  Percent at $25,000 but less than $50,000 41.2 45.2 48.2 28.7 44.2 53.8 40.4 48.6 49.7 45.7 49.3 46.9  Percent at $50,000 or more 23.9 35.5 39.3 14.1 23.2 25.3 14.6 28.3 36.2 26.4 37.0 45.5 
7

Table 4.—Newly hired private school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic characteristics: School years 19

1993–94

1 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars adjusted to 1993–94 dollars using Consumer Price Index.2 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars are not adjusted to 1993–94.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 19

 Number new hires 49,671 52,288 56,188 7,005 9,502 11,830 5,520 8,290 12,016 18,940 18,856 19,266 1Percent female 79.5 75.4 76.7 78.2 75.3 73.7 69.6 71.8 72.6 80.9 72.7 80.4 Percent minority 6.9 8.5 11.1 3.0 8.5 12.0 9.5 5.0 12.6 5.7 11.3 12.1 Age Mean all 35.2 35.4 34.4 25.4 27.9 27.6 31.0 31.5 31.9 36.7 37.5 36.6  Mean male 34.8 34.8 34.9 26.7 27.7 27.4 34.0 30.3 35.0 37.8 37.4 38.4  Mean female 35.3 35.6 34.3 25.0 28.0 27.7 29.7 32.0 30.8 36.5 37.6 36.1 Percent at age Less than 25 12.2 11.3 17.2 61.6 41.5 51.6 11.7 13.8 17.2 3.2 3.4 6.3  25–29 22.7 25.7 25.9 28.2 33.5 28.1 32.4 46.8 34.1 24.7 22.8 26.4 

 30–34 13.8 14.1 13.5 2.3 11.2 3.3 28.6 6.5 17.0 11.2 18.0 17.7 

 35–39 20.2 16.3 12.1 5.9 3.7 6.2 15.1 16.3 11.7 24.6 16.2 12.4 

 40–44 14.1 14.1 11.6 2.0 5.5 4.9 3.6 6.0 10.3 15.6 15.8 12.1 

 45–49 7.8 9.3 12.0 0.0 4.1 5.5 3.6 5.7 5.3 11.0 11.5 14.3 

 50 or more 9.1 9.2 7.7 0.0 0.6 0.3 5.0 4.8 4.4 9.6 12.3 10.8  Percent 35 or more 51.2 49.0 43.3 7.9 13.9 16.9 27.4 32.9 31.7 60.8 55.8 49.6 Marital status Percent married 56.2 59.3 57.6 28.9 33.8 39.2 63.4 58.1 54.6 58.5 61.8 61.6 Dependents Percent with any 41.5 44.4 41.0 9.3 18.1 18.1 43.7 31.3 38.3 44.7 45.0 42.5  Percent with any less than 5 years 12.3 13.9 13.4 4.5 4.4 5.7 21.9 11.3 15.9 11.3 14.2 13.1 Income/salary1

 Base year salary 17,334 17,926 16,976 16,087 15,534 15,948 14,373 15,978 14,470 18,809 20,188 18,996 1 Total year round income 19,995 20,540 19,724 19,702 18,310 18,913 18,533 18,633 18,339 20,761 22,429 21,137 1Percent moonlighting 24.2 27.1 27.3 25.9 26.6 26.3 27.8 28.1 30.3 20.8 25.9 24.4 Family income2 Percent at less than $25,000 42.5 32.8 27.7 68.9 52.6 38.3 48.1 39.4 28.7 41.0 28.3 26.5  Percent at $25,000 but less than $50,000 41.8 38.9 40.2 19.1 31.0 40.1 44.0 38.7 37.4 43.1 42.3 40.6  Percent at $50,000 or more 15.7 28.4 32.1 12.0 16.5 21.6 7.9 21.8 33.9 16.0 29.5 32.9 
8

Table 5.—Selected demographic characteristics of newly hired and total public and private school teachers:

School year 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1993–94 (Teacher

Questionnaire).

Characteristics New hires All New hires All

Percent female 72.5 72.9 76.7 76.5

Percent minority 16.0 13.7 11.1 7.9

Mean age 33.9 43.1 34.4 41.4

Public Private

Demographic Characteristics

Demographically, newly hired teachers in 1993–94 were somewhat different from those in 1987–88.

Like the public and private school teacher workforces as a whole (table 5), they were predominately

female and predominately white non-Hispanic, although less so than the teacher workforces as a

whole. The percent of newly hired teachers who were minority increased in public and private

schools (tables 3 and 4). The percent of minority newly prepared teachers doubled in the public

sector and quadrupled in the private sector, and there were relative increases in the numbers of

minority public reentrants and private transfers. The apparent increases in the percent of delayed

entrants who were minority were not significant. The percent of new hires who were female was

unchanged in private schools from 1987–88 to 1993–94, but decreased for public transfers.

The age distribution of new hires in school year 1993–94 was also similar to that in 1987–88, with

only a slight aging of public delayed entrants (a year and a half), reentrants (over one year), and

private newly prepared teachers (over two years). In the public sector, 35 percent of newly prepared

teachers in 1993–94 were under the age of 25 , and another 47 percent were between 25 and 34.

Delayed entrants, like the newly prepared teachers, were also concentrated in the 25 to 34 year range,

but with fewer (one fifth) under 25 and more (double) over the age of 35. Transfers and reentrants

were more likely to be 35 or older than both types of first-time teachers, with reentrants older than

transfers. In the private sector the age distribution was quite similar to that of the public new hires

with the exception that relatively more private newly prepared teachers were under the age of 25 and

relatively fewer were between 25 and 34.

Coincident with being younger than the other sources of new hires in 1993–94, relatively fewer

newly prepared teachers in both sectors were married or had any dependents, although the percent of

newly prepared teachers with any dependents increased from 1987–88.

In both sectors, inexperienced teachers (the newly prepared and delayed entrants) had lower base

salaries than experienced teachers (transfers and reentrants) reflecting the reliance on experience for

most salary schedules. All four types of public newly hired teachers had higher base year salaries

than their private counterparts with the difference being as much as $10,000 a year for reentrants.

Base year salaries in both sectors, after adjusting for changes in the cost of living, did not change

between 1987–88 and 1993–94. In spite of inexperienced teachers having lower base salaries, there

were no differences in the percent of public and private teachers moonlighting between any of the

four types of newly hired teachers, and only the public experienced new hires, both types, increased

the rate at which they held secondary jobs between 1987–88 and 1993–94.
9

Teacher Qualifications

Teacher qualifications are an important aspect of teacher supply and demand, since imbalances in

supply and demand conditions are often resolved through adjustments in teacher qualifications

(Gilford and Tenenbaum 1990; Boe and Gilford 1992). It is important, therefore, to compare the

qualifications of teachers coming from different supply sources. Available data in SASS on qualifications are degree attainment, major or minor field of study, and certification status. These measures

are limited, however; as they do not directly measure how well a teacher teaches students in the

classroom. In addition, certification or licensure requirements vary greatly from state to state, and

are themselves undergoing a serious reexamination as the profession moves to establish national

standards for teacher education and credentials. Continued research is needed to develop measures

of teacher qualifications that better distinguish among teachers along various quality dimensions, and

that will reflect the new standards for teacher credentialing as they develop.

Degree attainment in the teacher workforce is largely a function of age and experience, and this is

apparent from these data on newly hired teachers. In 1993–94 experienced teachers (transfers and

reentrants) were more likely to have degrees beyond a bachelor’s than inexperienced teachers (newly

prepared and delayed entrants) (table 6). About 32 percent to 36 percent of public experienced

teachers (transfers and reentrants) held degrees beyond a bachelor’s compared with about 12 to 14

percent of public new inexperienced teachers (newly prepared and delayed entrants). In the private

sector, experienced teachers were also more likely to hold higher degrees than first time teachers.

The percent of teachers who held degrees beyond a bachelor’s was similar in the public and private

sectors for each of the four types of hires.

A more telling set of qualifications than highest degree is the teacher’s qualifications (college major

or minor and certification) in his or her primary teaching assignment field (the field in which a

teacher spends most of his or her time teaching). Table 7 shows all combinations of major or minor

and certification in the primary assignment field. When these more specific qualifications are examined, some interesting differences by source and by sector emerge, especially among first-time

teachers (figure 3). In 1993–94 in both sectors, delayed entrants were less likely than newly prepared

teachers to hold qualifications in their primary field of assignment. Public school delayed entrants

were less likely than the newly prepared to have college majors or minors in their primary assignment field (regardless of certification) (65 versus 79 percent). Only 55 percent of public delayed

entrants held the standard credential (i.e., major or minor with certification) compared to 68 percent

of newly prepared teachers. Private school delayed entrants were also less likely to have college

majors or minors in their primary assignment field (regardless of certification) (53 versus 66 percent)

or to hold standard certification (regardless of major or minor) (35 versus 45 percent) than were

newly prepared teachers. (It should be noted here that only a few states require certification for

private school teachers.). About 25 percent of private delayed entrants held the standard credential

(i.e., major or minor with certification) compared to 39 percent of newly prepared teachers.

In each sector, experienced new hires (that is, transfers and reentrants) held virtually the same qualifications as each other, with the exception of transfers holding standard certification at a higher rate

(90 percent) than reentrants (84 percent) in the public sector, and were very similar to newly prepared

teachers. This similarity in qualifications between the newly prepared and experienced teachers

(transfers and reentrants) suggests a standardization of criteria (i.e., a major or minor plus certification in the teaching assignment field) that characterizes the usual path into the teaching profession,

especially in the public sector. In contrast, the less than standard credentials of many delayed en-
10Table 6.—Percent of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source, highest degree earned, and average yea

ence: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

— Too few sample observations for a reliable estimate.1 Doctorate or first professional degree.2 Not applicable.

NOTE: Details may not add to totals due to rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Highest degree earned Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers and years ofteaching experience 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

 Total number 49,671 52,288 56,188 7,005 9,502 11,830 5,520 8,290 12,016 18,940 18,856 19,266 18

Public BA/BS or less 69.6 73.3 75.8 87.9 91.5 87.7 89.5 87.3 86.5 62.9 66.4 67.7  MA/MS or more 30.4 26.7 24.2 12.1 8.5 12.3 10.5 12.7 13.5 37.1 33.6 32.3  MA/MS 26.2 22.6 21.1 11.2 6.7 11.1 9.0 11.2 9.6 32.8 29.6 28.1  Ed. Spec. 3.5 3.5 2.4 0.9 1.6 1.1 1.0 0.5 3.2 3.6 3.7 2.9  PhD/FPD1 0.7 0.6 0.7 — 0.3 0.1 — 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.3 1.3 

Years of teaching experience (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 8.5 8.4 7.5 

 Total number 134,820 170,563 202,679 28,676 45,165 59,098 12,593 26,012 33,655 49,274 58,512 63,597 44Private BA/BS or less 71.7 73.4 71.7 92.8 87.9 86.2 84.2 83.2 81.5 66.0 67.2 66.6  MA/MS or more 28.3 26.6 28.3 7.2 12.1 13.8 15.8 16.8 18.5 34.0 32.8 33.4  MA/MS 25.0 21.6 23.9 6.5 10.5 11.6 15.3 14.2 16.5 31.5 26.2 27.0  Ed. Spec. 2.4 3.2 2.8 — 0.8 1.4 — 0.4 — 2.2 4.6 3.9  PhD/FPD1 0.9 1.8 1.6 ———— — 1.6 — 1.9 2.4 

Years of teaching experience (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 10.6 10.0 8.3 
11

Table 7.—Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source and by various qualificatio

ment field: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

1 Certification includes the holding of an advanced, regular, alternative, provisional, or probationary teaching certificate.2 The following categories overlap and do not sum to 100.0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987

Public 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1 Major/minor with certification1 57.8 66.8 67.3 64.9 67.4 68.2 36.3 48.9 54.8 61.9 74.1 70.9 

 Certified1 only 10.0 14.1 16.7 6.8 12.5 14.0 12.1 16.5 20.1 9.9 11.9 19.3 

 Major/minor without certification1 11.9 12.0 8.7 11.1 14.0 10.4 19.8 17.6 10.4 10.2 9.3 6.1 

 None of the above 20.4 7.0 7.4 17.2 6.1 7.3 31.8 17.0 14.7 18.0 4.7 3.7 Percentage who held the following qualifications2:

 Certification1 67.8 80.9 83.9 71.7 79.9 82.2 48.4 65.4 74.9 71.8 86.0 90.2 

 Major or minor 69.7 78.9 75.9 76.0 81.4 78.7 56.1 66.5 65.2 72.1 83.4 77.0  Temporary/emergency certification 12.1 13.2 8.0 12.1 13.2 9.9 26.0 24.3 12.0 9.3 11.2 4.2 Private 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1 Major/minor with certification1 35.8 38.5 35.5 39.9 43.8 39.3 19.1 29.4 24.7 36.3 38.6 35.8  Certified1 only 7.6 11.1 8.3 3.0 10.6 6.0 5.9 8.1 10.2 10.1 10.6 9.5 

 Major/minor without certification1 27.9 29.2 26.6 35.0 27.3 26.3 24.1 23.4 28.3 23.8 32.2 26.6 

 None of the above 28.6 21.1 29.6 22.1 18.3 28.4 50.8 39.2 36.8 29.8 18.6 28.1 Percentage who held the following qualifications2:

 Certification1 43.4 49.7 43.8 42.9 54.4 45.3 25.1 37.4 34.9 46.4 49.2 45.4 

 Major or minor 63.8 67.7 62.1 74.9 71.1 65.5 43.2 52.7 53.0 60.1 70.8 62.4  Temporary/emergency certification 10.5 14.0 4.6 16.4 15.2 6.2 7.5 12.7 6.1 9.6 12.6 3.8 
12

trants, in particular the lower rate at which they had a major or minor with certification (about 55

percent versus 71 and 70 percent for public transfers and reentrants, respectively, and 25 versus 36 to

42 percent for private transfers and reentrants, respectively), suggests that fewer of them prepared in

advance to enter teaching. The percent of public sector delayed entrants, transfers, and reentrants

holding a major or minor plus certification in the main teaching assignment field did increase between 1987–88 and 1993–94.

Career Patterns of Newly Hired Teachers

The prior year activities of newly hired teachers portray differences in the career paths of teachers as

they enter, transfer, and reenter teaching. The prior year activities of the three types of new hires in

1993–94 who were not teaching in the prior year (newly prepared teachers, delayed entrants, and

reentrants) are presented first, followed by an examination of substitute teaching and occupational

transfer as routes into teaching.

Newly Prepared teachers were defined as those first time teachers who were attending college or

had earned their highest degree in the previous year. Almost 85 percent of newly prepared teachers

(84 percent of public and 85 percent of private) had been in college in the previous year, and the

remainder had earned their highest degree during 1992–93 and were engaged in other activities (table

8).

Delayed entrants had more diverse experiences prior to their first year of teaching than did newly

prepared teachers (figure 4). The vast majority of them (over 80 percent of both public and private)

were working in the previous year with the greatest proportion of the public delayed entrants work0

20

40

60

80

100

None

Certified only

Major/minor only

Major/minor

with certification

Newly Transfers Reentrants

prepared

Delayed

entrants

Newly Transfers Reentrants

prepared

Delayed

entrants

Percent

Public Private

Figure 3.—Percentage distribution of newly hired teachers, by sector, supply source, and qualifications in

primary assignment field: 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1993–94 (Teacher

Questionnaire).
13

Table 8.—Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source and by prior year activity: 

1990–91, and 1993–94

— Too few sample cases for a reliable estimate.1 Not applicable.2 Data not available.

NOTE: Details may not add to totals due to rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

PublicTeaching Public, other system (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 79.4 83.7 (2) 

 Private (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 20.6 16.3 (2)  Postsecondary — 0.1 1.5 4.2 3.0 2.7 (1) (1) (1) 

 Preschool (2) 0.4 — (2) 2.1 5.0 (1) (1) (1) 

 Substitute (2) 2.4 5.9 (2) 45.2 35.7 (1) (1) (1) Working, non-teaching 1.5 4.2 6.4 51.1 34.2 37.9 (1) (1) (1) 

 In education 1.1 2.7 3.1 16.1 9.6 12.7 (1) (1) (1)  Outside education 0.5 1.6 3.3 35.0 24.6 25.2 (1) (1) (1) College 95.7 92.1 83.7 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) Caring for family members — — 0.3 10.9 11.8 5.1 (1) (1) (1) Other 2.0 — 0.4 33.9 3.7 8.1 (1) (1) (1) Total number of new hires 28,676 45,165 59,098 12,593 26,012 33,655 49,274 58,512 63,597 44PrivateTeaching total Public (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 71.5 69.6 (2) 

 Private, in same state (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 28.5 30.4 (2)  Postsecondary 0.0 — 3.0 — 5.3 5.1 (1) (1) (1) 

 Preschool (2) — — (2) 2.0 5.8 (1) (1) (1) 

 Substitute (2) 2.4 7.9 (2) 23.1 22.3 (1) (1) (1) Working non-teaching 4.2 5.7 3.2 61.3 53.8 49.3 (1) (1) (1) 

 In education — 2.7 1.6 10.0 13.1 11.4 (1) (1) (1)  Outside education 3.4 3.0 1.6 51.3 40.7 37.9 (1) (1) (1) College 92.6 91.3 84.5 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) Caring for family members — 0.0 0.8 15.8 12.5 10.8 (1) (1) (1) Other 2.1 0.0 — 22.5 3.3 6.8 (1) (1) (1) Total number of new hires 7,005 9,502 11,830 5,520 8,290 12,016 18,940 18,856 19,266 18
14

ing as substitute teachers3 (36 percent) and in work outside the field of education (25 percent).

Private delayed entrants were working mostly in occupations outside education (38 percent), and

then as substitute teachers (22 percent).

Reentrants, having taken a break from teaching, are also more diverse in their prior year experiences than newly prepared teachers (figure 4). About two-thirds of the reentrants were working in

the prior year: primarily in substitute teacher positions (28 percent public and 18 percent private) and

in non-teaching jobs outside education (18 percent public and 26 percent private). Some reentrants

(17 percent public and 12 percent private) had been attending college the previous year and another

14 percent (public) and 21 percent (private) were caring for family members.

Substitute teaching can be a means of obtaining regular employment in a school system and in

school year 1993–94 it appears that many new hires may have gained access to teaching jobs through

substitute positions. Many delayed entrants (36 percent of public and 22 percent of private delayed

entrants) were substitute teachers in the previous year, as were 28 percent of public and 18 percent of

private reentrants. Unfortunately, substitute teaching was not a response option to that parallel item

in the 1987–88 survey, and therefore it is not possible to compare the two years. Between 1990–91

and 1993–94 there was a decline in the percent of public delayed entrants who were substitute

teaching in the prior year, but no significant change for private delayed entrants or public and private

reentrants.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Other

Home/child

College

Work outside 

education

Work in education

Substitute teaching

Public Private Public Private

Percent

Delayed Entrants Reentrants

3 Although substitute teaching may be considered a form of teaching experience, the survey distinguishes employment as

a regular teacher as distinct from that as a substitute teacher and we do not know the duration or intensity of the substitute

teaching experience.

Figure 4.—Percentage distribution of delayed entrants and reentrants, by sector and prior year activities:

1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1993–94 (Teacher

Questionnaire).
15

The phenomenon of occupational transfer has captured the interest of policy makers and teacher

supply and demand researchers. Occupational transfers may reflect various career strategies, but

these data suggest two in particular, one a recruiting strategy used by educational policy makers, and

the other a career strategy used by individuals. The first is a policy strategy developed in many states

to the anticipated teacher shortage of the last decade. To actively recruit needed teachers, states

developed alternative-route certification and licensure programs to prepare individuals who lacked

education degrees. Many of these programs were targeted at individuals of minority group membership, and others at individuals in high skill fields and occupations, particularly in mathematics and

sciences. These programs differ in the extent to which they provide education and supervision of the

alternative-route candidates (Feistritzer and Chester 1991), but by the early 1990s as many as 43

states had some form of alternative-route program (American Association of Colleges for Teacher

Education 1993). Although the data are not available in SASS to indicate which new hires entered

teaching through such alternative routes, many delayed entrants may have. What suggests this is the

large proportion of delayed entrants who transferred from non-teaching occupations without having

the standard teacher education background.

The large proportions of reentrants who transferred from other occupations, both within and outside

education, may have used the second strategy of holding another job until a teacher position becomes

available, much like those who substitute teach to gain entry to regular teaching positions. Reentrants had taught in the past and were more likely than delayed entrants to hold standard teacher

qualifications.

Among both delayed entrants and reentrants, working in non-teaching occupations was a major prior

year activity. Over a third of public and almost half of private delayed entrants, and a fourth of

public and over a third of private reentrants transferred from occupations outside of education in

1993–94 (table 8). Most occupational transfers are from non-teaching occupations. Overall, occupational transfers occur more often in the private sector than in the public sector. Because of changes

in the question, it is difficult to interpret changes in occupational transfers between 1987–88 and

1993–94. Between 1990–91 and 1993–94 there was a decline in the percent of public reentrants who

changed occupations, but no significant change for public and private delayed entrants and private

reentrants.

Those delayed entrants who transferred from occupations in education in 1993–94, as in 1987–88,

came primarily from teacher aide positions (60 percent public and 61 percent private) (table 9). A

change in the reference year for this item in the 1990–91 and 1993–94 questionnaires invalidates the

comparison for prior year occupations for reentrants. The 1987–88 data, however indicate that a

substantial portion of the reentrants from occupations in education (32 percent public and 36 percent

private) came from teacher aide positions. The extent of transfer from teacher aide positions suggests that these positions may serve as an entry into teaching not only for inexperienced teachers but

also, in spite of lower salaries, for those who have taught before.

Discussion

Although detailed trend data are not available, it is clear from a few data points that the relative

contribution of the supply sources of newly hired teachers has changed dramatically in the past three

decades. In the 1960s, 67 percent of public school new hires were new teacher graduates (National

Education Association 1987); but by the administration of SASS in 1987–88 this source had shrunk
16

to 21 percent. Between 1987–88 and 1993–94 there was another shift away from transfers and

reentrants and back towards first-time teachers—a group composed of both new teacher graduates

(newly prepared teachers) and delayed entrants. Whether this shift is supply or demand driven is not

clear. For example, one supply scenario is that the reserve pool of teachers is shrinking, with the

result that schools must turn increasingly to inexperienced teachers, regardless of their qualifications,

to meet demand for new hires. An example of a demand scenario is that budget restrictions may

push schools to hire the less expensive inexperienced teachers.4

— Too few sample observations for a reliable estimate.

* Data not available.

NOTE: Details may not add to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

Table 9.—Percentage distribution of newly hired public and private teachers in an occupation the year prior to

teaching, by supply source and by prior year occupation: 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

Newly prepared Delayed entrants Reentrants

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

Public

 Occupations in education 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 (*) (*)

 School professional 24.1 10.2 — 7.6 22.0 31.7 40.8 (*) (*)

 Teachers aide 64.8 89.8 94.0 65.0 66.8 59.8 31.4 (*) (*)

 Other staff 11.0 0.0 — 27.4 11.2 8.4 27.8 (*) (*)

 Total number 1,216 803 1,220 2,451 2,309 5,796 5,938 (*) (*)

 Occupations outside education 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 (*) (*)

 Professional (Mgr., Scientific) 32.5 — 38.4 43.3 38.7 46.1 44.0 (*) (*)

 Support (Tech., Sales, Admin.) 38.4 58.7 54.3 40.5 39.5 31.9 41.1 (*) (*)

 All other (Services, Mechanical,

 Construction, Farming) 29.0 35.7 7.3 16.2 21.8 21.9 14.9 (*) (*)

 Total number 1,293 930 1,137 4,710 7,261 9,221 8,365 (*) (*)

Private

 Occupations in education 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 (*) (*)

 School professional — — 59.5 55.6 30.1 29.0 49.2 (*) (*)

 Teachers aide 74.7 — 36.0 30.7 58.4 61.1 35.5 (*) (*)

 Other staff ——— 13.7 11.5 — 15.2 (*) (*)

 Total number 202 101 217 664 1,083 1,135 1,596 (*) (*)

 Occupations outside education 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 (*) (*)

 Professional (Mgr., Scientific) 46.2 21.1 69.9 40.9 39.6 35.7 32.4 (*) (*)

 Support (Tech., Sales, Admin.) 37.6 36.5 — 32.2 36.5 31.4 47.1 (*) (*)

 All other (Services, Mechanical,

 Construction, Farming) — 42.4 — 26.9 23.9 32.9 20.5 (*) (*)

 Total number 535 822 212 2,694 3,015 4,955 4,063 (*) (*)

4

 In 1993–94, the differences between average annual base salaries paid to first-time teachers (newly prepared and

delayed entrants) compared with experienced teachers (transfers and reentrants) were $4,200 to $5,200 in public and

$1,200 to $4,500 in private schools (tables 3 and 4).
17

The shift towards the hiring of first-time teachers between 1987–88 and 1993–94 reflects an increase

(both relative and absolute) in the hiring of both newly prepared and delayed entrants in both public

and private schools. Since the qualifications of the delayed entrants in their primary fields of assignment were less than those of other new hires, the increase in the hiring of delayed entrants, from 9 to

17 percent in public schools and 11 to 21 percent in private schools, may be indicative of an adjustment to shortages of teachers or a larger pool of delayed entrants.

Demographically and in terms of their qualifications to teach in their primary assignment field,

newly hired teachers in 1993–94 were somewhat different from those in 1987–88. The percent of

newly hired teachers who were minority increased in public and private schools and, in fact, the

percent of minority newly prepared teachers at least doubled in both sectors (tables 3 and 4). There

was only a slight aging of public delayed entrants (a year and a half) and private newly prepared

teachers (over two years). The percent of public sector delayed entrants, transfers, and reentrants

holding a major or minor plus certification in the main teaching assignment field did increase between 1987–98 and 1993–94.

In terms of teacher career paths, we should ask whether these different supply sources provide

distinctly different types of teachers, different paths into the profession, or simply represent different

stages of teacher’s careers. Although preliminary, and needing further analysis, these data suggest

that newly prepared and delayed entrants were indeed different from one another. The similarity of

transfers and reentrants, however, suggested merely a difference in career stage.

Transfers and reentrants were remarkably similar across all variables examined in this report. In

terms of their qualifications to teach (degrees earned, major or minor, and certification status in

primary teaching field), they were virtually the same. Reentrants were about 3 years older on average than transfers, and public reentrants were more heavily concentrated in the 35 year and older age

range. The combination of slight difference in age and similarity in length of teaching experience

suggests that these two sources of new hires may just reflect different stages in the career paths of the

same general type of teacher, i.e., before and after a break in service. Those reentrants who transferred from other occupations, however, (28 percent public and 37 percent private) may not have

been following the typical teacher career path. More analyses of these occupational transfers, length

and number of breaks in service, career plans and reasons for leaving and reentering teaching, are

needed to determine whether they were exhibiting typical and planned moves in teachers’ careers, or

were being drawn unexpectedly back into the classroom by changes in educational policy, societal

values regarding education, economic conditions, or personal circumstances.

When examining the newly prepared and the delayed entrant sources of new teachers, the data

suggest that these two supply sources provide different types of teachers. The extent to which

delayed entrants lacked the standard teaching credentials suggests that almost half of public and twothirds of private delayed entrants did not plan to enter the teaching profession when they were earning their highest degrees. Over one-third of public and half of private delayed entrants transferred

from other occupations, most outside the field of education. If a major or minor with certification in

the primary assignment field is the desirable standard qualification to teach a field, the data suggest

that many in this group (about 45 percent of public) may be in need of alternative teacher training

programs. Further, the extent to which this pool of teachers was drawn upon to meet demand illustrates the type of adjustment in teacher qualifications made when supply and demand imbalances

occur.
18

Continued reporting of data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (collection of the 1999–2000

SASS began in the fall of 1999) will verify the nature and magnitude of these apparent trends. The

issues of teacher supply, demand, and shortage cannot be adequately addressed without better measures of teacher quality since shortages often take the form of decreasing quality of those hired rather

than failure to fill vacancies. As the discussion on teacher preparation and credentialing shows,

certification does not equal quality, even though preparation in field is an important part of teacher

quality, major or minor in the teaching field alone does not go far enough (Boe and Gilford 1992).

Improvement in this area requires research to define the dimensions of teacher quality and to develop

methods to measure them.

Finally, for policy makers to be able to influence supply and demand balances and for schools to

attract and retain the most qualified teachers, a better understanding of the factors that influence

individuals’ decisions to enter, leave and return to the teaching profession is needed.

Technical Notes

Data were analyzed using SAS procedures, primarily (e.g.) using percentage distributions and estimates of totals and means. The data were weighted to national estimates for both public and private

school teachers, and standard errors for the estimates that takes the survey design into effect were

produced using the Wesvar Procedure (Westat 1989). The estimates and standard errors are presented in tables 1–9 and 1A–9A. All comparisons of estimates in this paper were tested with a t

statistic, at an alpha level of .05, using the Bonferonni adjustment for multiple comparisons.

The data for this report were collected from the Public and Private School Teacher Questionnaires of

1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The SASS consists of four

component surveys, administered to districts, schools, principals, and teachers, which collect public

and private sector data on the Nation’s elementary and secondary teaching force, aspects of teacher

supply and demand, teacher workplace conditions, characteristics of school administrators, and

school policies and practices. The teacher questionnaires were sent to teachers in public and private

schools. The two versions of the questionnaire (public and private) were virtually identical. The

survey collected data from teachers regarding their education and training, teaching assignment,

teaching experience, certification, teaching workload, perceptions and attitudes about teaching, job

mobility, and workplace conditions. For details on the SASS see Abramson et al. (1996); Kaufman

and Huang (1993); Kaufman (1991); the Quality Profile for SASS (NCES 1994b); and the Quality

Profile for SASS II (NCES 2000). The SASS samples of teachers, selected from the SASS public

and private school samples, contain 56,242 public and 11,529 private teachers for 1987–88, 56,051

public and 9,166 private teachers for 1990–91, and 47,109 public and 8,372 private teachers for

1993–94. The samples of newly hired teachers used for this report contain 2,474 public and 1,123

private new teachers in 1987–88; 3,458 public and 1,159 private new teachers in 1990–91; and 4,068

public and 1,435 private new teachers in 1993–94.
19

Definitions

Delayed entrant. A first-year teacher who had engaged in other activities in the year or years between graduating from college or receiving his or her highest degree and becoming a teacher.

Experienced teacher. A teacher who is either a transfer or a reentrant.

First-time teacher. A teacher who is either a newly prepared teacher or a delayed entrant.

Newly hired teacher. A teacher who is either a newly prepared teacher, a delayed entrant, a transfer,

or a reentrant.

Newly prepared teacher. A first-year teacher who was attending college or had earned his or her

highest degree in the previous year.

Private school. A school not in the public system that provides instruction for any of grades 1–12

where the instruction was not given exclusively in a private home.

Public school. An institution that provides educational services for at least one of grades 1–12 (or

comparable ungraded levels), has one or more teachers who provide instruction, is located in one or

more buildings, receives public funds as primary support, has an assigned administrator, and is

operated by an education agency.

Reentrant. A teacher who in the previous school year was not teaching elementary or secondary

school, but who had taught in the past.

Teacher. A school employee whose primary assignment was as a regular teacher (not as a itinerant, a

teacher whose assignment requires them to provide instruction at more than one school, nor as a

long-term substitute, teachers whose assignment requires them to fill the role of a regular teacher on

a long-term basis, but they are still considered a substitute), halftime or more, in any of grades K–12.

Transfer. A teacher who in the previous year was teaching in another school either in the other

sector (public or private), in another state, or within the same state and sector but in another school

system (public school teachers) or private school (private school teachers).
20

References

Abramson, Robert, Cornette Cole, Betty Jackson, Randall Palmer, and Steven Kaufman. 1996.

1993–94 Schools and Staffing Survey: Sample Design and Estimation. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 96–089.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. November 1993. Teacher Education

Policy in the States, Clearing House of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Bobbitt, Sharon. 1991. Movers, Leavers, and Stayers: Results of the 1988–89 Teacher Followup

Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,

NCES 91–128.

Bobbitt, Sharon A., Leich, Mary C., Whitener, Summer D., and Lynch, Hilda F. 1994. Characteristics of Movers, Stayers, and Leavers: Results of the 1991–92 Teacher Followup Survey. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 94–337.

Boe, Erling and Gilford, Dorothy (Eds). 1992. Teacher Supply, Demand, and Quality: Policy Issues,

Models, and Data Bases. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Feistritzer, E. and Chester, D. 1991. Alternative Teacher Certification: A State-By-State Analysis.

Washington, DC: National Center for Education Information.

Gilford, Dorothy and Tenenbaum, Elden (Eds). 1990. Precollege Science and Mathematics Teachers: Monitoring Supply, Demand, and Quality. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Hussar, William J. 1999. Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to

2008–09. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,

NCES 1999–026.

Ingersoll, R. and Bobbitt, S. 1995. Teacher Supply, Teacher Qualifications, and Teacher Turnover:

1990–91, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,

NCES 95–744.

Kaufman, Steven, 1991. 1988 Schools and Staffing Survey: Sample Design and Estimation. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 91–127.

Kaufman, Steven and Huang, Hertz. 1993. 1990–91 Schools and Staffing Survey: Sample Design

and Estimation, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, NCES 93–449.

Kirby, Sheila N., Grissmer, David W., and Hudson, Lisa. 1991. New and Returning Teachers in

Indiana: Sources of Supply. Washington, DC: Rand Corporation.

Murnane, Richard J., Singer, Judith D., and Willett, John B. 1988. “The Career Paths of Teachers:

Implications for Teacher Supply and Methodological Lessons for Research.” Educational Researcher, 17: 22–30.
21

National Center for Education Statistics. 2000. Quality Profile for SASS II. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 2000–308.

National Center for Education Statistics. 1999. Digest of Education Statistics, 1998. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 1999–036.

National Center for Education Statistics. 1994a. The Condition of Education 1994. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 94–149.

National Center for Education Statistics. 1994b. Quality Profile for SASS. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 94–340.

National Education Association. 1987. Status of the American Public School Teacher: 1985–86.

Washington, DC.

Rollefson, Mary R. 1993a. Teacher Supply in the United States: Sources of Newly Hired Teachers in

Public and Private Schools. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for

Education Statistics, NCES 93–424.

Rollefson, Mary R. 1993b. Issue Brief: Teacher Salaries - Are They Competitive? Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 93–450.

Rollefson, Mary R. 1990. “Teacher Turnover: Patterns of Entry to and Exit from Teaching.” Paper

presented at the 1990 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

Rollefson, Mary R. and Broughman, Stephen. 1995. Teacher Supply in the U.S.: Sources of Newly

Hired Teachers in Public and Private Schools, 1988 and 1991. Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 95–348.

Rollefson, Mary R. and Broughman, Stephen. 1994. Issue Brief: Sources of Newly Hired Teachers in

Public and Private Schools, 1988 and 1991. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 94–481.

Westat, Inc. May 1989. The Wesvar Procedure. Rockville, MD.

Whitener, Summer D., Gruber, Kerry J., Lynch, Hilda F., Tingos, Kate, Perona, Mia, and Fondelier,

Sharon. 1997. Characteristics of Movers, Stayers, and Leavers: Results of the 1994–95 Teacher

Followup Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, NCES 97–450.
22
23

Appendix: Standard Error Tables
24

Table 1A.—Standard errors for percentage distribution of newly hired and continuing public and private school

teachers: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

* Not applicable.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

Table 2A.—Standard errors for percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by

supply source: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

Status of teachers Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Public

 Total 13,823.8 (*) 21,314.8 (*) 20,705.5 (*)

New hires 3,345.5 0.15 4,706.8 0.19 4,156.9 0.16

Continuing 12,795.8 0.15 20,696.4 0.19 19,571.9 0.16

Private

 Total 7,612.1 (*) 6,668.7 (*) 5,141.1 (*)

New hires 2,396.3 0.69 2,116.6 0.53 1,871.2 0.48

Continuing 6,585.5 0.69 5,701.9 0.53 4,524.7 0.48

Public Private

Source 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

 Total number 3,345.5 4,706.8 4,156.9 2,396.3 2,116.6 1,871.2

First time teachers total 1.03 1.34 1.21 1.38 1.81 1.44

 Newly prepared 0.88 1.10 0.92 1.17 1.42 1.01

 Delayed entrants 0.75 1.18 1.09 0.85 1.32 1.28

Transfers total 1.31 1.33 1.18 1.80 2.11 1.38

 Within state and sector 1.00 1.04 1.15 1.87 1.60 1.02

 Across state 0.64 0.55 0.53 1.15 1.34 1.03

 Across sector 0.80 0.87 0.52 1.31 1.21 0.67

Reentrants total 1.14 1.22 0.92 2.08 2.04 1.21
25

Table 3A.—Standard errors for newly hired public school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic characteristi

88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

1 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars adjusted to 1993–94 dollars using Consumer Price Index.2 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars are not adjusted to 1993–94.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1993-94 (Teacher Qu

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987

Percent female 1.25 0.92 1.16 2.22 1.80 2.24 3.73 3.16 2.72 1.76 1.97 1.89 Percent minority 0.74 0.66 0.95 1.46 1.76 1.66 2.21 2.29 2.38 1.19 1.32 1.49 Age Mean all 0.20 0.24 0.15 0.34 0.37 0.24 0.52 0.42 0.48 0.29 0.36 0.34  Mean male 0.50 0.46 0.34 0.98 0.57 0.36 0.81 1.11 0.75 0.60 0.71 0.53  Mean female 0.22 0.29 0.22 0.34 0.45 0.34 0.65 0.49 0.53 0.35 0.46 0.45 Percent at age Less than 25 0.58 0.98 0.73 2.21 2.44 1.94 2.52 2.63 1.23 0.61 0.57 0.72  25–29 1.08 1.26 1.04 2.27 2.45 1.77 4.79 3.70 2.73 1.74 2.14 1.67 

 30–34 0.83 1.27 0.90 1.64 1.99 1.52 2.87 2.77 2.22 1.62 2.12 1.72 

 35–39 1.03 1.07 0.80 1.28 1.05 1.51 2.81 2.86 1.68 1.47 1.92 1.58 

 40–44 0.87 1.12 0.91 0.86 1.13 1.00 1.99 1.59 1.57 1.69 1.47 1.62 

 45–49 0.58 0.82 0.64 0.76 0.53 0.52 1.07 0.84 2.04 1.04 1.41 1.19 

 50 or more 0.65 0.64 0.67 0.84 0.75 0.30 0.41 0.71 0.55 1.04 1.30 1.02  Percent 35 or more 1.16 1.54 0.91 1.88 1.74 1.62 3.33 2.80 2.73 1.81 2.36 2.11 Marital status Percent married 1.28 1.57 1.12 2.59 2.62 2.34 3.72 3.46 3.02 2.21 2.32 2.54 Dependents Percent with any 1.03 1.35 1.16 2.50 2.43 1.96 4.06 3.21 3.12 1.81 2.10 2.36  Percent with any less than 5 years 1.00 0.99 0.90 1.37 1.57 1.61 3.73 2.91 2.11 1.61 1.74 1.59 Income/salary1

 Base year salary 241.0 280.6 169.1 262.1 209.3 205.1 522.7 360.8 322.0 360.8 357.9 229.1 4 Total year round income 275.9 300.0 198.9 338.7 244.8 232.6 685.2 376.9 640.3 416.9 406.9 244.1 4Percent moonlighting 0.82 1.02 0.84 2.00 1.79 1.67 3.13 2.18 2.73 1.08 1.81 1.40 Family income2 Percent at less than $25,000 1.29 1.10 0.75 2.79 3.16 1.73 4.04 2.29 1.98 2.06 1.44 1.04  Percent at $25,000 but less than $50,000 1.21 1.39 1.12 2.52 2.78 2.25 3.64 3.09 2.83 2.26 2.21 2.24  Percent at $50,000 or more 1.41 1.29 1.22 2.08 2.14 2.50 2.29 3.48 3.41 2.29 2.22 2.27 
26Table 4A.—Standard errors for newly hired private school teachers, by supply source and by selected demographic characterist

1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

1 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars adjusted to 1993–94 dollars using Consumer Price Index.2 1987–88 and 1990–91 dollars are not adjusted to 1993–94.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

Percent female 2.18 1.69 1.21 3.47 3.60 2.65 7.08 4.54 3.49 3.40 3.06 1.92 Percent minority 1.09 0.82 0.99 1.57 2.48 1.30 5.03 1.39 2.96 1.97 1.86 1.60 Age Mean all 0.57 0.44 0.28 0.31 0.68 0.38 1.20 1.01 0.66 0.66 0.68 0.52  Mean male 1.04 0.82 0.56 0.75 0.88 0.77 3.42 1.38 1.26 1.72 1.42 0.91  Mean female 0.68 0.53 0.32 0.36 0.82 0.48 0.71 1.27 0.73 0.66 0.84 0.57 Percent at age Less than 25 0.99 1.09 0.83 3.84 5.20 2.58 3.13 3.08 3.77 0.80 1.00 1.24  25–29 1.57 1.88 1.22 3.77 4.02 2.21 5.53 4.53 3.54 3.20 3.04 2.12 

 30–34 2.02 1.32 1.01 1.21 2.99 0.92 8.21 1.35 2.12 2.27 2.54 2.01 

 35–39 2.06 1.62 0.95 1.81 1.58 1.31 3.95 2.85 2.49 3.69 2.55 2.11 

 40–44 1.77 1.38 0.98 1.14 1.79 1.30 1.98 1.90 1.65 3.46 2.74 1.66 

 45–49 1.06 1.11 0.73 0.00 1.57 1.67 1.38 2.05 1.06 2.12 2.05 1.48 

 50 or more 1.87 1.19 0.70 0.00 0.47 0.31 5.06 2.55 1.04 1.61 2.41 1.47  Percent 35 or more 2.46 2.28 1.50 2.16 3.15 1.85 6.63 4.68 3.04 3.76 3.50 3.15 Marital status Percent married 2.36 2.46 1.48 4.17 3.80 2.66 4.44 4.48 3.62 3.73 4.31 2.35 Dependents Percent with any 1.96 2.20 1.23 2.05 3.90 2.20 4.87 3.51 3.29 2.83 3.93 2.52  Percent with any less than 5 years 1.43 1.46 1.15 1.39 1.65 1.51 8.39 2.96 2.60 1.79 2.57 1.57 Income/salary1

 Base year salary 319.8 252.3 245.6 413.0 359.3 296.0 608.2 578.5 505.3 662.8 592.2 377.2 4 Total year round income 403.9 279.2 258.8 864.6 473.6 405.3 1,404.2 704.7 653.1 550.5 640.4 437.8 6Percent moonlighting 2.41 1.91 1.48 3.75 3.74 2.18 7.35 4.70 2.95 2.87 3.83 2.47 Family income2 Percent at less than $25,000 2.20 2.26 1.46 4.88 4.44 2.64 5.79 5.43 3.50 3.50 4.30 2.56  Percent at $25,000 but less than $50,000 2.29 2.31 1.44 3.10 4.41 2.78 5.31 4.81 3.08 3.83 3.67 2.22  Percent at $50,000 or more 1.56 1.93 1.42 3.40 3.21 2.33 2.95 3.93 3.33 2.71 3.47 2.14 
27

Table 5A.—Standard errors for selected demographic characteristics of newly hired and total public and private

school teachers: School year 1993–94

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1993–94 (Teacher

Questionnaire).

Public Private

Characteristics New hires All New hires All

Percent female 1.16 0.39 1.21 0.46

Percent minority 0.95 0.35 0.99 0.42

Mean age 0.15 0.06 0.28 0.14
28Table 6A.—Standard errors for percent of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source, highest degree earn

teaching experience: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

— Too few sample cases for a reliable estimate.1 Doctorate or first professional degree.2 Not applicable.

NOTE: Percents may not add to 100 due to rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Highest degree earned Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers and years ofteaching experience 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

Public BA/BS or less 1.01 1.20 1.01 1.89 1.00 1.25 2.34 2.90 1.96 1.97 1.91 2.11  MA/MS or more 1.01 1.20 1.01 1.89 1.00 1.25 2.34 2.90 1.96 1.97 1.91 2.11  MA/MS 0.91 1.23 1.01 1.83 0.99 1.19 2.01 2.92 1.62 1.72 1.79 2.03  Ed. Spec. 0.43 0.58 0.42 0.44 0.71 0.33 0.72 0.28 1.22 0.71 0.89 0.82  PhD/FPD1 0.19 0.21 0.24 — 0.22 0.06 — 0.64 0.34 0.40 0.16 0.76 

Years of teaching experience (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 0.25 0.28 0.28 

 Total number 3,346.0 4,707.1 4,157.0 1,200.0 2,168.0 2,000.0 1,118.0 2,052.0 2,380.0 2,227.5 2,758.6 2,772.0 1,8Private BA/BS or less 2.05 1.79 1.44 2.31 2.78 1.33 4.51 3.74 2.08 4.16 3.57 2.69  MA/MS or more 2.05 1.79 1.44 2.31 2.78 1.33 4.51 3.74 2.08 4.16 3.57 2.69  MA/MS 2.10 1.61 1.24 2.28 2.74 1.28 4.52 3.08 1.81 4.38 3.36 2.07  Ed. Spec. 0.61 0.80 0.48 — 0.53 0.66 — 0.31 — 1.06 1.48 1.00  PhD/FPD1 0.44 0.52 0.42 ———— — 0.77 — 0.90 1.04 

Years of teaching experience (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) 0.53 0.55 0.39 

 Total number 2,396.0 2,117.0 1,871.0 653.0 875.0 687.0 505.0 698.0 727.0 1,254.0 1,259.0 1,078.0 1,3
29

Table 7A.—Standard errors for percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source and b

in primary assignment field: School years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

* Certification includes the holding of an advanced, regular, alternative, provisional, or probationary teaching certificate.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Total Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

Public Major/minor with certification* 1.46 1.21 1.19 2.41 2.50 2.75 4.33 2.90 3.36 2.05 1.74 2.29  Certified* only 0.80 0.91 1.09 1.24 1.74 1.81 2.48 2.64 3.44 1.14 1.48 1.93  Major/minor without certification* 0.87 0.65 0.73 1.74 1.33 1.29 2.98 2.44 1.31 1.55 1.31 1.15  None of the above 1.19 0.63 0.88 2.32 1.33 2.11 4.11 2.55 2.07 1.48 0.97 0.63 Percentage who held the following qualifications: Certification* 1.59 0.80 1.13 2.47 1.83 2.46 4.53 2.89 2.25 2.28 1.41 1.24  Major or minor 1.25 1.02 1.20 2.26 2.18 2.51 4.59 2.82 3.50 1.74 1.53 2.01  Temporary/emergency certification 0.98 0.84 0.92 1.95 1.69 1.81 3.68 3.53 1.79 1.45 1.39 0.65 Private Major/minor with certification* 1.88 1.73 1.52 3.89 3.49 2.20 3.31 4.48 2.63 3.18 3.21 2.64  Certified* only 1.01 1.20 0.94 1.22 2.90 1.29 3.30 2.70 1.99 1.98 1.90 1.60  Major/minor without certification* 2.15 1.58 1.33 3.90 2.87 2.21 6.81 3.94 3.20 2.53 2.98 2.16  None of the above 2.14 1.44 1.41 3.24 3.39 2.14 7.94 4.96 3.49 3.65 3.09 2.81 Percentage who held the following qualifications: Certification* 1.96 1.68 1.57 3.94 3.66 2.22 4.97 4.99 2.96 3.66 3.54 2.67  Major or minor 1.89 1.74 1.67 3.51 3.90 2.53 7.20 5.02 3.83 3.40 3.15 3.18  Temporary/emergency certification 1.48 1.81 0.86 4.68 2.90 1.33 3.35 3.41 2.04 2.13 3.29 1.57 
30Table 8A.—Standard errors for percentage distribution of newly hired public and private school teachers, by supply source and b

years 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

— Too few sample cases for a reliable estimate.1 Not applicable.2 Data not available.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91, and 1993–94 (Teacher 

Newly prepared Delayed entrants Transfers 

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 198

PublicTeaching Public, other system (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 1.88 2.28 (2) 

 Private (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 1.88 2.28 (2)  Postsecondary — 0.09 0.39 1.52 0.82 0.63 (1) (1) (1) 

 Preschool (2) 0.22 — (2) 0.78 1.52 (1) (1) (1) 

 Substitute (2) 0.66 1.14 (2) 3.80 2.58 (1) (1) (1) Working, non-teaching 0.58 1.02 0.92 3.32 3.39 2.57 (1) (1) (1) 

 In education 0.43 0.90 0.78 2.74 1.56 1.61 (1) (1) (1)  Outside education 0.29 0.45 0.61 3.25 3.32 2.40 (1) (1) (1) College 0.98 1.43 1.76 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) Caring for family members — — 0.18 2.49 2.17 1.08 (1) (1) (1) Other 0.81 — 0.22 3.86 1.56 0.67 (1) (1) (1) Total number of new hires 1,200.2 2,168.4 2,000.1 1,118.3 2,052.2 2,380.1 2,227.5 2,758.6 2,771.7 1,8PrivateTeaching total Public (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 3.33 3.07 (2) 

 Private, in same state (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 3.33 3.07 (2)  Postsecondary — — 1.04 — 2.01 1.06 (1) (1) (1) 

 Preschool (2) — — (2) 1.10 1.09 (1) (1) (1) 

 Substitute (2) 1.09 1.73 (2) 4.85 2.16 (1) (1) (1) Working non-teaching 1.82 1.97 0.94 7.05 5.30 3.25 (1) (1) (1) 

 In education — 1.36 0.59 2.97 2.60 2.63 (1) (1) (1)  Outside education 1.71 1.46 0.61 6.96 5.39 2.94 (1) (1) (1) College 2.13 2.37 1.95 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) Caring for family members — 0.00 0.39 7.75 3.34 1.47 (1) (1) (1) Other 0.84 0.00 — 3.69 1.31 1.18 (1) (1) (1) Total number of new hires 652.6 874.5 686.8 505.5 698.0 727.2 1,254.2 1,258.6 1,077.7 1,3
31

Table 9A.—Standard errors for percentage distribution of newly hired public and private teachers in an occupation the year prior to teaching, by supply source and by prior year occupation: School years 1987–

88, 1990–91, and 1993–94

— Too few sample observations for a reliable estimate.

* Data not available.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987–88, 1990–91,

and 1993–94 (Teacher Questionnaire).

Newly prepared Delayed entrants Reentrants

Characteristics 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94 1987–88 1990–91 1993–94

Public

 Occupations in education

 School professional 12.65 14.00 — 4.71 8.70 6.72 5.86 (*) (*)

 Teachers aide 11.95 14.00 2.70 7.75 9.17 5.92 5.52 (*) (*)

 Other staff 10.27 — — 8.65 5.66 2.69 4.83 (*) (*)

 Total number 416.2 346.3 414.3 476.7 442.8 925.3 553.0 (*) (*)

 Occupations outside education

 Professional (Mgr., Scientific) 11.50 — 16.90 6.56 6.64 6.01 3.98 (*) (*)

 Support (Tech., Sales, Admin.) 12.00 17.60 16.70 6.20 7.20 3.97 4.23 (*) (*)

 All other (Services, Mechanical,

 Construction, Farming) 8.90 15.60 3.80 3.55 5.91 4.79 2.94 (*) (*)

 Total number 323.8 326.1 324.1 509.5 957.3 1,155.7 665.4 (*) (*)

Private

 Occupations in education

 School professional — — 17.90 16.47 — 7.60 12.23 (*) (*)

 Teachers aide 17.80 — 17.50 13.65 — 6.97 13.64 (*) (*)

 Other staff ——— 8.46 — — 6.77 (*) (*)

 Total number 78.5 68.5 77.0 196.7 268.5 191.8 413.2 (*) (*)

 Occupations outside education

 Professional (Mgr., Scientific) 24.60 11.10 20.00 10.25 7.47 4.96 8.03 (*) (*)

 Support (Tech., Sales, Admin.) 22.30 14.00 — 8.32 8.28 6.25 8.54 (*) (*)

 All other (Services, Mechanical,

 Construction, Farming) — 16.10 — 8.71 5.76 7.50 4.41 (*) (*)

 Total number 209.7 329.2 72.1 452.7 483.5 623.7 500.2 (*) (*)
32