2018 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Executive Summary Polina Aleshina January 2019 2018 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report Executive Summary Executive Summary Created at the request of the Alliance of Education Agency Heads (AEAH), the Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Executive Summary provides a snapshot of the current K-12 teacher and leader workforce. It incorporates data from the GA-AWARDS data system and the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS).1 This executive summary analyzes workforce, production, retention, and retirement patterns for K-12 teachers and leaders during the 2017-2018 school year. In January 2018, GOSA released a similar report analyzing the same patterns for the 2016-2017 school year. Unless otherwise noted, the patterns remained consistent across both academic years. Key findings include: Current Status of the Workforce 2017-2018 113,422 8,952 2016-2017 111,896 8,774 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Teachers Leaders o During the 2017-2018 school year, Georgia's public education workforce consisted of 113,422 teachers and 8,952 leaders, an increase of 1% and 2% respectively from the previous year.2 o The majority (approximately 59%) of the teacher and leader workforce was white. o The percentage of black leaders (35%) was larger than the percentage of black teachers (21%). o The percentage of Hispanic leaders (5%) was lower than the percentage of Hispanic teachers (11%). o Forty-four percent of teachers held a Master's degree as their highest earned degree, and 54% of leaders held an Education Specialist degree as their highest earned degree. 1 In addition to GA-AWARDS data, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) provided GOSA with years of experience data for all public educators as of 1986. 2 Leaders included principals, Pre-K directors, alternative school directors, assistant principals, instructional supervisors, community school directors/coordinators, Career Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) directors, and CTAE directors (extended year). If an employee served at least part of the day in a leadership role, he/she was counted as a leader. 2 2018 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report Executive Summary o Almost half of the teacher workforce had ten or fewer years of experience working in Georgia public education. Twenty-eight percent of teachers had five or fewer years of experience, whereas 23% of teachers had 11 to 15 years of experience. o The majority of leaders had ten or fewer years of experience working as a leader. In the 2017-2018 school year, the percentage of leaders with five or fewer years of experience (46%) was five percentage points higher than in 2016-2017, and the percentage of leaders with more than ten years of experience was lower (30% in 2017-2018 compared to 34% in 2016-2017). o High-poverty schools had significantly larger percentages of black teachers and leaders and significantly smaller percentages of white teachers and leaders compared to low-poverty schools.3 o Low-poverty schools had more leaders with Bachelor's and Master's degrees as their highest-earned degrees, whereas highpoverty schools had more leaders with a PhD/EdD as their highestearned degrees. o Sixty-six percent of all current certificate holders during the 20172018 school year were employed as a teacher or leader in Georgia, and 7% of all current certificate holders were not employed in the Georgia public education workforce at all. o 6,120 teachers (5% of all teachers) were new teachers in 2017-2018, and 2,249 teachers (2%) had returned to teaching after a break in service. 3 High poverty and low poverty schools are determined using direct certification percentages. Low poverty schools include schools in the lowest quartile (20% of directly certified students), and high poverty schools include schools in the top quartile (49% of students directly certified. For more information on the use of direct certification percentages, see GOSA's e-bulletin. 3 2018 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report Executive Summary o 955 leaders (11%) were new leaders in 2017-2018, and 41 leaders (0.5%) had returned as a leader after a break in service. o Hispanic and black teachers comprised a larger portion of new teachers and leaders when compared to the entire teacher and leader workforce. Race/Ethnicity American Indian Asian Black Hispanic Pacific Islander Two or More White Unknown Percentage of All Teachers 0.1% 0.9% 21.4% 10.8% 0.1% 1.2% 59.6% 5.9% Percentage of New Teachers 0.2% 1.4% 24.0% 15.1% Too Few Teachers 2.2% 52.8% 4.3% Teacher and Leader Production o During the 2017-2018 school year, 31,919 teacher and leader candidates were enrolled in Georgia preparation programs.4 o Seventy-four percent of teacher and leader candidates were enrolled in public in-state programs, 16% were enrolled in private in-state programs, and 11% were enrolled in alternative preparation programs. o During 2017-2018, 24% of candidates enrolled in traditional education preparation programs were employed as teachers while in the program. o At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, 75% of those completing traditional educator preparation programs and 90% of those 4 A small percentage (0.9%) of teachers and leaders were enrolled in preparation programs from two or more sources. 4 2018 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report Executive Summary completing alternative preparation programs in 2016-2017 were employed as teachers. o At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, 40% of those completing leader preparation programs in 2016-2017 were employed as leaders. Teacher and Leader Mobility o Between 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, 5% of teachers and 2% of leaders changed school districts. o Approximately 42% of teachers and leaders who changed school districts had five or fewer years of experience working as a teacher or leader, respectively. o Between 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, 5% of teachers and 8% of leaders changed schools within a district. o High-poverty schools had more teachers and leaders changing schools from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018 than low poverty schools. Teacher and Leader Retention o 90.8% of teachers and leaders remained in their respective roles from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018. o High-poverty schools (78% retention rate) do not retain as many teachers and leaders as low-poverty schools (86% retention rate). o The retention rate for teachers with five or fewer years of experience (90%) was one percentage point lower than the retention rate for all teachers (91%). o The retention rate for leaders with five or fewer years of experience (80%) was five percentage points lower than the retention rate for all leaders (85%). Teacher and Leader Retirement o As of 2017-2018, 81% of Teachers Retirement System (TRS) members classified as teachers, leaders, and staff were active members.5 o Ten percent of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members were eligible for retirement or a reduced retirement benefit. o Approximately 47% of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members had at least ten years of service credit, but the majority of these members were not yet eligible for retirement. o Fifty-three percent of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members had fewer than ten years of service credit. 5 Active members have made at least one contribution to TRS in the past four years. 5