NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 95-766

Findings from

THE CONDITION OF EDUCATION 1994

AMERICA’S TEACHERS

TEN YEARS AFTER

“A NATION AT RISK”

NO.

3
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT

Sharon P. Robinson

Assistant Secretary

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Emerson J. Elliott

Commissioner

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

“The purpose of the Center shall be to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United

States and in other nations.”—Section 406(b) of the General

Education Provisions Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1).

The text in this booklet was written by Thomas M. Smith of the Data

Development Division of NCES and appeared originally in the

Condition of Education, 1994. Susan P. Choy of MPR Associates, Inc.

adapted the content to this format, and Leslie Retallick and Lynn Sally

designed the graphics and layout.
1

AMERICA’S TEACHERS

TEN YEARS AFTER

“A NATION AT RISK”

Most of our children’s formal education takes place through

interaction between teachers and students in the classroom.

Through this process, teachers play a critical role in passing on

knowledge and societal values. Because good teachers are central to high quality education, and because their salaries constitute a major portion of the elementary and secondary education

budget, the state of the teaching profession is an ongoing concern of policymakers and education administrators.

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education

reported in A Nation At Risk that not enough “academically

able” students were being attracted to teaching as a career

option; teacher preparation focused on educational methods at

the expense of the subjects to be taught; teacher salaries were

low; and teachers had little influence in decision making.1 Many

of the school reform efforts of the past ten years have included

policies and practices designed to improve the quality of the

teaching force.

This third publication in the series of Findings from the Condition

of Education examines the current state of the teaching profession

and how aspects of it have changed over the past decade. The

first two publications looked at students: No. 1, “High School

Students Ten Years After A Nation At Risk,” which documents

gains in student achievement over the past decade; and No. 2,

“The Educational Progress of Black Students,” which looks in

detail at the progress of black students relative to white students. 
2

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

• The demographic characteristics of public

school teachers have changed substantially

since the early 1980s. 

A greater proportion of public school teachers were female in

1991 than in 1981. In addition, the public school teaching force

became considerably older and more ethnically diverse during

the 1980s.

Demographic characteristics of public school teachers

SOURCE: National Education Association, “Status of the

American Public School Teacher, 1990–91,” 1992.

67

72

13

9

Percent

female

Percent

minority

42

37

1991

1981 Median

age
3

TEACHER SUPPLY AND DEMAND

• Growth in the public school teaching force

since 1981 has outpaced increases in elementary and secondary student enrollments. 

Between 1981 and 1991, the number of teachers per 100 students

increased from 5.3 to 5.8 in the public schools. The number of

principals, assistant principals, and school district administrators per 100 students remained stable during this period.

Full-time-equivalent staff employed in public schools 

(per 100 students)

Principals Other School

School Class- and instruct- district

year Total room assistant ional adminis- Support

ending staff teachers principals staff trators staff

1981 10.2 5.3 0.3 1.4 0.2 3.0

1986 10.6 5.6 0.3 1.1 0.2 3.4

1991 10.9 5.8 0.3 1.3 0.2 3.3

SOURCE: NCES, Common Core of Data.

Accompanying this increase in the ratio of teachers to students

was a slight drop in average class size for public elementary

school teachers between 1981 and 1991 (from 25 to 24).

However, the average class size for public secondary school

teachers increased from 23 to 26 students during the same time

period.2

This apparent contradiction may have several causes. Teachers

may have been teaching fewer classes, because the average

number of students taught per day declined from 118 to 93. In

addition, there was a growth in the number of special education,

compensatory education, and bilingual education teachers, who
often work with smaller classes or as resource teachers. In 1991,

5 percent of public secondary school teachers reported that they

spent the largest fraction of their time teaching special education

students, up from 2 percent in 1981.3

• In both public and private schools, an

increasing proportion of newly hired teachers

are first-time teachers.

When hiring new teachers, principals must make tradeoffs

between salary and experience. Teachers coming from other

schools and former teachers returning to teaching offer more

experience, but command higher salaries than first-time teachers. First-time teachers have lower salaries, but they bring less

experience and tend to have a higher rate of attrition from the

profession. Between 1988 and 1991, the sources of supply of

newly hired teachers shifted as both public and private schools

hired proportionately more first-time teachers and proportionately fewer reentrants. 

Sources of supply of new teachers

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1987–88 and

1990–91 (Teacher Questionnaire).

School year ending

1988 1991 1988 1991

First-time

teachers

Transfers

Reentrants

Public Private

100

percent 33 24 37 30

37

34

38

36

31

42

25

34

4
• In general, teacher attrition in public elementary and secondary schools is low.

The ability of schools to attract and keep qualified teachers, both in

general and in specific subject areas such as mathematics and science, has generated considerable attention. Despite concern about

attrition, only 5 percent of full-time public school teachers actually

left the teaching profession between 1987–88 and 1988–89.4

Keeping mathematics and science teachers does not appear to be

as big a problem as was once feared. Mathematics and science

teachers in public secondary schools were no more likely than

teachers in other fields to leave teaching.

Change in teaching status of full-time public 

secondary teachers between 1987–88 and 1988–89

(percentage distribution by primary assignment)

Teaching 

status in

1988–89 Academic: Academic:

relative Science/ Non-science/ Special

to 1987–88 math math Vocational groups*

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Teaching in 

same school 89.9 89.3 89.5 85.2

Teaching in

another school 4.7 5.2 5.0 9.7

Left teaching 5.4 5.6 5.5 5.0

*Special education, remedial education, bilingual education, English as a second

language, and education of the gifted.

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1987–88 (Teacher Questionnaire)

and Teacher Followup Survey: 1988–89.

5
• Schools use a variety of methods to respond

to teacher shortages.

In 1990–91, 15 percent of all schools (including both public and private) reported having teaching vacancies they could not fill with a

teacher qualified in the course or grade level to be taught.5 The

most commonly used method of dealing with this problem was to

hire substitutes, but schools often used other strategies as well.

Percentage of schools using various methods

to cover teaching vacancies

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91

(School Questionnaire).

When there were teacher shortages in particular subject areas, 10

percent of public school districts and 16 percent of private schools

provided free retraining to prepare staff to teach in these subjects.

In the case of any one specific field, relatively few public school

districts provided free retraining (2 to 5 percent, depending on

the field). However, more districts provided free retraining for

special education than for any other field except mathematics.6

6

Assign a teacher of another

subject or grade level

Use substitutes

Hire less qualified

teachers

Increase some class sizes

Use part-time or

itinerant teachers

7

10

10

11

23

26

48

Cancel planned

course offerings

Add sections to other

teachers’ normal loads
Pay incentives are not generally used to recruit or retrain teachers in fields of shortage. In 1987–88, only 3 percent of public

school districts offered increases in the salary schedule to recruit

or retain teachers where a shortage existed. Even fewer offered

cash bonuses (1 percent) or other pay incentives (2 percent).7

EDUCATION

• Today’s teachers are better educated than a

decade ago.

Public school teachers are more likely to have an advanced

degree than they were 10 or 20 years ago. Less than 1 percent of

all teachers had less than a bachelor’s degree in 1991, and a

majority had an advanced degree.8

Percentage of public school teachers with a 

master’s, specialist, or doctoral degree

SOURCE: National Education Association, “Status of the

American Public School Teacher, 1990–91,” 1992.

1971 28

38

50

51

53

1976

1981

1986

1991

7
The minimum requirements to become a teacher are strikingly

similar across countries. Teachers in the United States, Canada,

Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom receive similar amounts

of basic teacher training as measured by minimal years of schooling—4 years of college or teacher training programs in universities.9

• The course-taking patterns of new teachers are

similar to those of other college graduates.

Generally, the course-taking patterns for new teachers graduating in 1985–86 were not markedly different from those of all

bachelor’s degree recipients that year. A smaller percentage of

new teachers took calculus and economics and a larger percentage took geography and history than did graduates overall.

Percentage of 1985–86 bachelor’s degree recipients taking 

one or more courses in selected fields

Full-time teachers one year after graduation

Humanities Science 

All and social and General

BA science math education 

Subject recipients Total teachers teachers teachers

English 86.8 91.2 91.3 88.7 90.2

Foreign language 36.1 34.1 52.0 43.1 26.9

Economics 52.8 23.0 23.6 30.8 20.0

Geography 14.2 26.0 20.7 19.2 33.7

History 63.2 75.1 77.5 75.0 75.5

Life science 52.9 68.7 66.4 73.4 67.3

Physical science 66.9 67.2 63.3 78.7 69.1

Mathematics 78.1 77.2 65.9 94.3 76.1

Calculus 37.7 15.8 9.8 56.3 8.0

Education 36.3 95.5 92.6 94.2 98.0

SOURCE: NCES, 1987 Survey of Recent College Graduates, Transcript Data File.

8
QUALIFICATIONS

• Almost all public secondary school teachers are

certified to teach in their main assignment field.

A Nation At Risk suggested that half of the newly employed

mathematics, science, and English teachers were not qualified to

teach these subjects and that fewer than one-third of U.S. high

schools offered physics taught by qualified teachers. Although

qualified is a subjective term, several measures exist to determine

how well matched teachers are to their teaching assignments.

In 1990–91, almost all full-time public secondary school teachers

were certified to teach in their main assignment field (that is, the

field in which they taught the most classes). However, only

about two-thirds of teachers with an additional assignment field

were certified to teach in that field. 

Qualifications of full-time public secondary 

school teachers in 1990–91 

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91

(Teacher Questionnaire).

Majored or minored in

main assignment field

Certified in main field

Certified in other

assignment field

Majored or minored in

other assignment field

95

64

77

45

9
Teachers with a main assignment in mathematics or science

were less likely than those with a main assignment in English or

humanities to have had college majors matching their assignment field. Only about one-third of teachers who taught mathematics in addition to courses in their main assignment field had

majored or minored in mathematics or mathematics education.10

Percentage of full-time public secondary 

teachers with various qualifications in 1990–91

Certified Certified Majored or Majored or

in main in other minored in minored

assign- assign- main assign- in other

Assignment ment ment ment assignfield field field field ment field

English and

humanities 95.6 61.5 83.0 51.1

Social science 95.9 60.7 88.8 36.7

Mathematics 94.2 71.0 74.9 34.5

Science 95.0 68.1 62.0 45.1

Education 

specialties* 95.0 59.7 73.4 44.0

*Elementary, home economics, physical, vocational, and special vocational education.

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91 (Teacher Questionnaire).

• Teachers are updating their skills.

About 15 percent of public and private school teachers in the

1991–92 school year reported pursuing a new degree or completing a degree program within the last year. Some teachers develop

their skills by attending school- or district-sponsored workshops.

Sixty-one percent of public school teachers and 49 percent of private school teachers reported that they had participated in teacher

workshops or inservice training requiring 30 or more hours of

10
Percentage of teachers who have ever participated in 

workshops or inservice training requiring

30 or more hours of attendance

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91 (Teacher

Questionnaire).

COMPENSATION

• Salaries for public school teachers (adjusted

for inflation) increased substantially between

1980 and 1994.

Adjusted for inflation, public school teacher salaries increased

by 20 percent in the 1980s after a period of decline in the 1970s.

Between 1980 and 1994, the average public school teacher salary

(in 1994 dollars) increased from $30,528 to $36,495. Between

1980 and 1993, the average salary for a beginning teacher in the

public schools increased about 17 percent, from $21,028 to

$24,661.

Less than 4 4–9 10–19 20 or more

31

41

59

64

69

46

57

70

Private

Public

Years of teaching experience

11
Average public school teacher salaries

(1994 dollars)

SOURCE: National Education Association, Estimates of School

Statistics, 1994. American Federation of Teachers, Survey and

Analysis of Salary Trends, 1994.

This rise in salaries can be partially explained by increases in

teachers’ education and experience levels, both of which are

usually major determinants of teacher salaries in public schools.

Between 1981 and 1991, the median number of years of teaching

experience among public school teachers increased from 12 to 15

years.12

Teacher salaries are based on a 9- or 10-month contract, so one

might expect teachers’ salaries to be somewhat lower than those

of other white-collar professionals. However, the annual salaries

of some white-collar professionals are much higher, more than

20 to 25 percent higher, than the salaries of teachers. For example, in 1992, lawyers earned nearly double the average teacher

salary, and chemists and engineers 50 to 60 percent more.

Auditors and accountants, on the other hand, earned about 10 to

20 percent more than teachers.13

‘94

Secondary

Elementary

Beginning teachers

$0

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

‘60 ‘64 ‘68 ‘72 ‘76 ‘80 ‘84 ‘88 ‘92

12
INFLUENCE ON DECISION MAKING

One aspect bearing on the climate and responsiveness of a

school is the extent to which teachers participate in making decisions concerning important school policies and issues. A Nation

At Risk found that “individual teachers had little influence in

such critical professional decisions as, for example, textbook

selection.”

In 1990–91, relatively few secondary teachers reported that faculty in their schools had a great deal of influence over school

policies related to discipline, faculty training programs, student

tracking, or curriculum. 

Percentage of teachers reporting in 1990–91 that they had a 

great deal of influence over school policies

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey:

1990–91 (Teacher Questionnaire).

Grouping students

by ability

Discipline policy

Content of faculty

training programs

Establishing curriculum

10

12

8

14

13
Teachers had more influence over classroom practices than

school policies. About one-third of secondary school teachers

indicated they had complete control over selecting textbooks,

course content, and disciplining students. However, they were

far more likely to indicate they had complete control over

instructional practices in their classrooms, such as selecting

teaching techniques, grading students, and determining the

amount of homework. 

Percentage of teachers reporting in 1990–91 that they had 

complete control over classroom decisions

SOURCE: NCES, Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91

(Teacher Questionnaire).

ATTITUDES

• Teachers seem to be happier about their

choice of profession than they were a decade

ago. 

Selecting teaching

techniques

Selecting textbooks

Selecting course

content and topics

Grading students

34

36

62

62

35

68

Disciplining students

Determining amount

of homework

14
In 1981, 46 percent of public school teachers said that they certainly or probably would be willing to teach again, a decline

from 1971. By 1991, the percentage had increased to 59 percent.

Percentage of teachers willing to teach again

Willingness to teach again 1971 1981 1991

Certainly would 44.9 21.8 28.6

Probably would 29.5 24.6 30.5

Chances about even 13.0 17.6 18.5

Probably would not 8.9 24.0 17.0

Certainly would not 3.7 12.0 5.4

SOURCE: National Education Association, “Status of the American Public

School Teacher, 1990–91, “ 1992.

SUMMARY

The teaching work force has changed over the past decade. The

number of teachers has grown faster than student enrollment,

though average class size has generally not fallen. Almost all

teachers are certified to teach in their main assignment field.

However, one-quarter to one-third of teachers with a main

assignment in mathematics or science neither majored nor

minored in those subjects. A higher percentage of teachers had

master’s degrees in 1991 than in 1981, and the college coursetaking patterns of new teachers are generally comparable to

those of other college graduates. Teacher salaries have risen, and

the teaching work force is more experienced. Teacher attrition is

not particularly high, though some schools have difficulty finding qualified teachers to fill vacancies. Few districts, however,

provide salary incentives or bonuses to recruit or retrain teachers where a shortage exists.

15
REFERENCES

1The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation At

Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, D.C.: April

1983, 22–23.

2National Education Association, Status of the American Public School

Teacher, 1990–91, 1992.

3National Education Association, Status of the American Public School

Teacher, 1990–91, 1992.

4Schools and Staffing Survey: 1987–88 and Teacher Followup

Survey: 1988–89.

5Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91 (Private School and Teacher

Demand and Shortage Questionnaires).

6Schools and Staffing: 1990–91, table 7.5, based on Schools and

Staffing Survey: 1990–91 (Private School and Teacher Demand and

Shortage Questionnaires).

7Schools and Staffing Survey: 1987–88 (Teacher Demand and

Shortage Questionnaires).

8Digest of Education Statistics, 1993, table 68, based on National

Education Association, Status of the American Public School Teacher,

1990–91, 1992.

9F. H. Nelson, Survey and Analysis of Salary Trends, 1993 (Washington,

D.C.: American Federation of Teachers, 1993), table II-1.

10Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91 (Teacher Questionnaire).

11Schools and Staffing Survey: 1990–91 and Teacher Followup

Survey: 1991–92.

12National Education Association, Status of the American Public

School Teacher, 1990–91, 1992. 

13National Education Association, Status of the American Public

School Teacher, 1990–91, 1992.

16
For more information, see the following NCES publications:

The Condition of Education, 1994. Washington, D.C.: 1994.

Digest of Education Statistics, 1994. Washington, D.C.: 1994.

Schools and Staffing in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1990–91.

Washington, D.C.: 1993.

America’s Teachers: Profile of a Profession. Washington, D.C.: 1993.

Forthcoming Findings from the Condition of Education:

No. 4: The Educational Progress of Hispanic Students

No. 5: The Educational Progress of Women

No. 6: The Cost of Higher Education

17