2020 Georgia K-12 teacher and leader workforce report

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Report
Ryan Pelfrey and Monica Flamini
December 2020

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Executive Summary
The Georgia General Assembly requires the Governor's Office of Student Achievement to produce an annual Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Report (OCGA Section 20-1427(a)(4)). This report provides a snapshot of the current teacher and leader workforce across the state. It incorporates data from multiple sources including the GAAWARDS data system, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), and the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS).
This report focuses on two distinct groups of Georgia educators: teachers and school leaders. For the purposes of this report, an educational leader1 serves for some portion of the day in one of the following positions: principal, PreK director, alternative school director, assistant principal, instructional supervisor, community school director/coordinator, CTAE director or extended year CTAE director. If an educator is counted as a leader, he or she is not also counted as a teacher even though he or she may be in the classroom for some portion of the school day.
Analyses of each of these groups provide critical insight into Georgia's current and future teacher and leader workforce and the investments made in the educator workforce. This information can help educational stakeholders better plan for upcoming needs based on workforce patterns. Notably, this report may provide insight regarding current and potential teacher and leader shortages in Georgia as well as significant changes in teacher and leader qualifications, backgrounds and experience. Additionally, this report analyzes the current state of the workforce as well as production, retention and retirement patterns for K-12 teachers and leaders during the 2019-2020 school year. The information in this report could be used to inform sustainability plans for schools and districts, recruitment strategies for traditional and nontraditional educational preparation programs, and funding implications for educational stakeholders. The executive summary provides a high-level overview of findings in two formats. The first section provides a snapshot of teacher and leader demographics for the 2019-2020 school year in a graphic format, and the second section provides a summary of the full document in the form of bulleted lists with some additional supporting graphics. A more robust discussion of each finding, the associated data, and potential implications are presented in the full report.
In January 2019, GOSA released an executive summary analyzing similar patterns for the 20182019 school year, but a full report was not issued in 2019. Beginning with the 2019 report, GOSA revised the topics and methodology for the Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Report to better meet the needs of its educational stakeholders and partners. While previous reports (those published in 2018 and prior years) may not be directly comparable to the calculations included in later reports, general trends and patterns in the workforce seem to be similar.
1 The annual CPI report classifies educators as teacher or leaders according to job code definitions. i

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
2019-2020 Teacher and Leader Workforce
The following section presents a snapshot of the current teacher and leader workforce in the form of matched charts. For most characteristics, distributions for both the teacher and leader populations are provided for ease of comparison.
Teacher and Leader Workforce Characteristics
DEMOGRAPHICS Distribution of Teacher Races/Ethnicities2

Multiracial/other, 1.7% Hispanic, 2.6%

Asian, 1.3%

American Indian, 0.2%

Black, 26%

White, 68.3%

White Black Hispanic Multiracial/other American Indian Asian
Distribution of Leader Races/Ethnicities
Asian, 0.5%

White, 60.7%

Black, 36.0%
Hispanic, 1.5% Multiracial, 1.3% Native American, 0.1%

2 GOSA used GaPSC self-reported demographic data for this analysis. ii

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
DEGREE ATTAINMENT LEVELS Distribution of Teacher Certificate Levels3
Doctoral, 2.6% Other, 0.5%

Specialist, 18.1%

Bachelor's, 35.7%

Master's, 43.1%

Bachelor's Master's Specialist Doctoral Other
Distribution of Leader Certificate Fields

Ph.D./Ed.D., 19.1%

Bachelor's, 5.1% Master's, 24.2%

Specialist, 51.5% Bachelor's Master's Specialist Ph.D./Ed.D.
3 Teachers with no certificate level information were identified as "other." Some of these teachers may not be required to hold a certificate if the school system has a waiver in its charter system or Strategic Waiver School System (SWSS) contract with the State Board of Education. Also, some teaching fields at the secondary level do not require the same teaching certifications as traditional academic subjects.
iii

Years of Experince in GA Public Education

Years of Experince in GA Public Education

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

< 1 Year 1-10 Years 11-20 Years 21-30 Years > 30 Years
0

Years of Experience for Teachers

5.1

3.6

5

10

20.4

15

20

25

30

Percentage of Teachers

37.6 33.3

35

40

2019-2020

Years of Experience for Leaders

< 1 Year 0.4

1-10 Years

11-20 Years

21-30 Years

> 30 Years

0

5

10.8

8.4

10

15

20

25

30

35

Percentage of Leaders

39 41.5

40

45

Years of Experience in a Leadership Role

> 20 Years 16 - 20 Years 11 - 15 Years 6 - 10 Years
< 5 Years 0

3.9

10.9

19.4

25.1

40.7

5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Percentage of Leaders

Years of Experience as a Leader

iv

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Teacher and Leader Workforce in High and Low Poverty Schools

RACE AND ETHNICITY

80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%
0.0%

42.1%

78.2% 54.0%

1.0% 1.5% Asian

14.9%

1.9% 3.0% 0.9% 2.2%

Black

Hispanic Multiracial

High Poverty Low Poverty

White

0.2% 0.2% Other

Race/Ethnicity of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools

80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%
0.0%

56.6% 22.9%

72.6% 41.1%

0.3%0.7% Asian

Black

1.3%2.0% 0.6%1.8% Hispanic Multiracial

White

0.2%0.1% Other

High Poverty Low Poverty

v

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

DEGREE ATTAINMENT Certificate Levels of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools

50.0% 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0%
5.0% 0.0%

39.3% 33.4%
Bachelor's

44.4% 41.3%

19.2% 16.5%

2.4% 2.7%

Master's

Education Specialist

PhD/EdD

High Poverty Low Poverty

0.4% 0.4% Other

Certificate Levels of Leaders in Low and High Poverty Schools

60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%
0.0%

51.7% 52.9%

24.6% 25.6%

6.2% 5.9%

Bachelor's

Master's High Poverty

Specialist Low Poverty

17.4% 15.6% PhD/EdD

vi

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Percentage of Teachers

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Years of Experience of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools

45

40.9

40

35.5

35.5

35

30.1

30

25

21.3

20

19

15

10

6.5

4.2

5

3.6 3.6

0 < 1

1 to 10

11 to 20

21 to 30

> 30

Years of Experience

High Poverty Low Poverty

Note: Years of experience for leaders in high and low poverty schools is not provided in this section but is discussed in the full report.

vii

Findings

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Current Status of the Georgia K-12 Education Workforce

Distribution of Teachers and Leaders

2019-2020

119,111

9,960

2018-2019

116,065

9,635

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Teachers Leaders

During the 2019-2020 school year, Georgia's public education workforce consisted of 119,111 teachers and 9,960 leaders, an increase of 2.6% and 3.4% respectively from the previous year.
The percentage of Black leaders (36%) was larger than the overall percentage of Black teachers (26%).
The percentage of Hispanic leaders (1.5%) was lower than the overall percentage of Hispanic teachers (2.6%).
Forty-three percent of teachers held a master's degree as their highest earned degree, and 18% held an education specialist's degree (compared to 35.7% holding the minimum bachelor's degree).
Twenty-four percent of leaders held a master's degree as their highest earned degree, and 51.5% of leaders held an education specialist's degree as their highest earned degree.
Approximately 43% of the teacher workforce had 10 or fewer years of experience working in Georgia public education, and 33% of teachers had 11 to 20 years of experience. Approximately 20% of teachers had 21 to 30 years of experience. A large percentage of leaders (41.5%) had between 21 and 30 years of experience working in Georgia public education. The second highest percentage of leaders (39%) had between 11 and 20 years of experience.
Roughly 41% of leaders had five or fewer years of experience as a leader and 25% of leaders had six to 10 years of experience as a leader.
The percentage of leaders with 10 or fewer years of experience in Georgia public education was 11.2%, while 42.7% of teachers had 10 or fewer years of experience.
High poverty schools had significantly larger shares of Black teachers (42.1%) and leaders (56.6%) than low poverty schools, which had 14.9% Black teachers and 22.9% Black leaders in the 20192020 school year.
Low and high poverty schools had similar distributions of degree attainment for school leaders.

viii

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
6,233 teachers 5.2% of all teachers were new teachers in 2019-2020, and 2,505 (25.2%) leaders were new leaders in the same school year.
The percentage of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian teachers grew in the new teacher workforce while the percentage of White teachers fell.

Percentage of All and New Teachers by Race/Ethnicity

Race/Ethnicity
American Indian Asian Black Hispanic Multiracial Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander White Other

Percentage of All Teachers
0.2 1.3 26.0 2.6 1.7 N/A 68.3 N/A

Percentage of New Teachers
0.8 2.3 34.9 4.5 N/A 0.3 54.5 3.0

Teacher Mobility and Retention
Between 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, 8% of teachers changed school districts within Georgia. Approximately 40% of teachers who changed school districts had five or fewer years of
experience working as a teacher or leader. High poverty schools did not show significantly higher mobility rates than low poverty schools
during this period. Close to 91% of teachers in 2018-2019 were also teaching in a Georgia public school in 2019-
2020. Forty-nine of Georgia's 180 districts had retention rates at or above 90%.
Note: GOSA will publish an addendum to this report in early 2021 that explores potential teacher shortages and retention patterns.

ix

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Teacher and Leader Retirement As of 2019-2020, 87.6% of Teachers Retirement System (TRS) members classified as teachers,
leaders and staff were active members.4 Approximately 9% of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members were eligible for retirement or
a reduced retirement benefit. Approximately 46% of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members had at least 10 years of
service credit, but most of these members were not yet eligible for retirement. Forty-six percent of all active teacher/leader/staff TRS members had fewer than 10 years of
service credit.
4 Active members have made at least one contribution to TRS in the past four years. x

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... i Table of Figures and Tables....................................................................................................... xii Table of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xiii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................14 Current Status of the Workforce................................................................................................15 2019-2020 Teacher Workforce Characteristics .............................................................................15 Demographics ................................................................................................................................16 Certification ...................................................................................................................................16 Years of Experience .......................................................................................................................18 District and School Analysis ..........................................................................................................19 2019-2020 Leader Workforce Characteristics ...............................................................................22 Demographics ................................................................................................................................22 Certification ...................................................................................................................................23 Years of Experience .......................................................................................................................24 District and School Analysis ..........................................................................................................25 2019-2020 Teacher New Hire Characteristics ...............................................................................26 Demographics ................................................................................................................................26 Certification ...................................................................................................................................27 2019-2020 New Leader Hire Characteristics.................................................................................29 Demographics ................................................................................................................................29 Certification ...................................................................................................................................29 Years of Experience .......................................................................................................................31 Teacher Mobility, Retention and Shortages..............................................................................30 Inter-District Mobility....................................................................................................................30 Teacher Retention ..........................................................................................................................33 Teacher Shortages ..........................................................................................................................35 Teacher and Leader Retirement.................................................................................................37 Next Steps .....................................................................................................................................39 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................40
xi

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Table of Figures and Tables
Table 1: Distribution of New Teachers' Races/Ethnicities ...................................................................................... 27 Table 2: Distribution of New Leaders' Races/Ethnicities ........................................................................................ 29 Table 3: Teacher Retention ..................................................................................................................................... 33 Table 4: Distribution of All Teacher/Leader/Staff TRS Members ........................................................................... 37 Table 5: Distribution of Active Teacher/Leader/Staff TRS Members ...................................................................... 38 Figure 1: Distribution of Teachers and Leaders....................................................................................................... 15 Figure 2: Distribution of Teacher Races/Ethnicities ................................................................................................ 16 Figure 3: Distribution of Teacher Certificate Levels ............................................................................................... 17 Figure 4: Years of Experience for Teachers ............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 5: Race/Ethnicity of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools................................................................. 20 Figure 6: Certificate Levels of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools ............................................................ 21 Figure 7: Years of Experience of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools ........................................................ 22 Figure 8: Distribution of Leader Races/Ethnicities.................................................................................................. 23 Figure 9: Distribution of Leader Certificate Levels ................................................................................................. 24 Figure 10: Total Years of Experience for Leaders ................................................................................................... 24 Figure 11: Years of Experience as a Leader ............................................................................................................ 25 Figure 12: Race/Ethnicity of Leaders in Low and High Poverty Schools................................................................. 25 Figure 13: Certificate Levels of Leaders in Low and High Poverty Schools ............................................................ 26 Figure 14: Distribution of New Teachers' Certificate Levels .................................................................................. 27 Figure 15: Distribution of New Leaders' Certificate Levels .................................................................................... 29 Figure 16: Years of Experience for New Leaders.................................................................................................... 30 Figure 17: Teacher Inter-District Mobility Rate Map .............................................................................................. 32 Figure 18: Teacher District Retention Map ............................................................................................................. 34 Figure 19: Distribution of Non-Certified Teachers by Region ................................................................................. 35 Figure 20: Map of Geographic Regions (GaDOE Collaborative Regions) ............................................................... 36
xii

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Table of Abbreviations

CTAE EPP GaDOE GOSA RESA SWSS

Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Educator Preparation Program Georgia Department of Education Governor's Office of Student Achievement
Regional Education Service Agency Strategic Waivers School Systems

ELA
ESOL
GaPSC
Ph.D./ Ed.D STEM
TRS

English Language Arts
English to Speakers of Other Languages Georgia Professional Standards Commission Doctor of Philosophy or Education Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teachers Retirement System of Georgia

xiii

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Introduction The Georgia General Assembly requires the Governor's Office of Student Achievement to produce an annual Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Report (OCGA Section 20-1427(a)(4)). This report provides a snapshot of the current teacher and leader workforce across the state. It incorporates data from multiple sources including the GAAWARDS data system, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), and the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS).
This report focuses on two distinct groups of Georgia educators: teachers and school leaders. For the purposes of this report, an educational leader5 serves for some portion of the day in one of the following positions: principal, PreK director, alternative school director, assistant principal, instructional supervisor, community school director/coordinator, CTAE director or extended year CTAE director. If an educator is counted as a leader, he or she is not also counted as a teacher even though he or she may be in the classroom for some portion of the school day. Analyses of each of these groups provide critical insight into Georgia's current and future teacher and leader workforce and the investments made in the educator workforce. This information can help educational stakeholders better plan for upcoming needs based on workforce patterns. Notably, this report may provide insight regarding current and potential teacher and leader shortages in Georgia as well as significant changes in teacher and leader qualifications, backgrounds and experience. Additionally, this report analyzes the current state of the workforce as well as production, retention and retirement patterns for K-12 teachers and leaders during the 2019-2020 school year. The information in this report could be used to inform sustainability plans for schools and districts, recruitment strategies for traditional and nontraditional educational preparation programs, and funding implications for educational stakeholders. In January 2019, GOSA released an executive summary analyzing similar patterns for the 20182019 school year, but a full report was not issued in 2019. Beginning with the 2019 report, GOSA revised the topics and methodology for the Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Report to better meet the needs of its educational stakeholders and partners. While previous reports (those published in 2018 and prior years) may not be directly comparable to the calculations included in later reports, general trends and patterns in the workforce seem to be similar.
5 The annual CPI report classifies educators as teacher or leaders according to job code definitions. 14

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Current Status of the Workforce Figure 1: Distribution of Teachers and Leaders

2019-2020

119,111

9,960

2018-2019

116,065

9,635

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Teachers Leaders

Based on data from the Georgia Department of Education's (GaDOE) Certified Personnel Inventory (CPI), the teacher and leader workforce grew slightly between the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. During the 2019-2020 school year, Georgia's public education workforce consisted of 119,111 teachers and 9,960 leaders employed in its public schools. Compared to the previous school year, there were approximately 3,046 (or 2.6%) more teachers and 325 (or 3.4%) more leaders in 2019-2020.
During that same period, Georgia's student population6 increased slightly (from 1,767,178 to 1,769,621), but student growth showed a much smaller increase (0.01%) than the overall teacher and leader workforce. While the increase in percentage of teachers and leaders was greater between these school years, it is not necessarily the case that Georgia's educational workforce is sufficient to fill the number of vacancies that exist across the state. According to annual CPI data, districts continue to fill positions with uncertified or under-certified employees. It may also be true that while the overall total number of certified teachers is close to the number of overall teachers needed, there remains a shortage in particular areas (i.e., high school physics). The current ability for districts to waive teacher certification requirements makes analysis of teacher shortages difficult, but additional insight into potential shortages may be gained through the study of enrollment and certification patterns. GOSA plans to pursue this analysis and publish an addendum to this report in early 2021.

6 Student population data was based on GaDOE's published FTE report from October 2018 and 2019. 15

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

2019-2020 Teacher Workforce Characteristics

DEMOGRAPHICS
Ethnicity, Race and Gender
The demographic makeup of Georgia's teacher population is significant for many reasons. National research has been and is being conducted to examine the relationship between student outcomes, such as achievement and graduation rates, and the extent to which educator and student demographics in a school are similar or dissimilar. Understanding the representation of diverse populations in the teacher workforce as it compares to the overall student population as well as the distribution of diverse groups of teachers in various contexts may be beneficial for a variety of stakeholders and policymakers.
The majority (68.3%) of Georgia's teachers in 2019-2020 were White. However, this percentage is far greater than the overall student population of White students which was 38.4% in the same year. Both Black teachers and Black students comprised the second largest share of their respective populations, but 26% of Georgia's teachers were Black compared to 36.4% of students. The greatest difference in populations exists between Hispanic teachers and students where only 2.6% of teachers were Hispanic, and Hispanic students made up 16.7% of the total population. Approximately 3% of teachers were listed as other races/ethnicities7.
During the 2019-2020 school year, a significant difference in gender between the teacher and student populations also existed; 79.6% of the teacher workforce was female compared to 49% of the student population. This has been a consistent trend in Georgia's teacher population and provides an area for potential recruitment outside traditional gender patterns.

Figure 2: Distribution of Teacher Races/Ethnicities

Asian, 1.3% Hispanic, 2.6%

American Indian, 0.2% Multiracial/other, 1.7%

Black, 26% White, 68.3%

White Black Hispanic Multiracial/other Asian American Indian
7 GOSA used GaPSC self-reported demographic data for this analysis. 16

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
CERTIFICATION
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) requires teachers to be certified by field to be considered fully qualified to teach in a Georgia public school8. Generally, these fields include a content or specialty area and a grade band that signifies appropriate preparation for classroom practice. Certificate fields range in specificity based on the developmental level of children to be served and the scope of the content to be presented within a given field. For example, a teaching candidate who wishes to teach high school science might seek certification for grades 6-12 biology, but an elementary candidate would only require certification in elementary education. Content mastery is established by a passing score on the appropriate GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) and completion of related coursework or professional development. For more information on GaPSC certification rules, click here. For more information on GACE assessments, click here.
Districts with charter system or Strategic Waiver School System (SWSS) contracts can waive teacher certification requirements under certain conditions. This ability to waive certification requirements complicates the analysis of Georgia's certified teacher workforce. GOSA is conducting further study into the impact of these waivers, and that data will be published in the addendum to this report.
Georgia educators can also earn endorsements that signify additional teaching qualifications. Certificate fields differ from endorsements in that certificate fields are typically more specific and can be limited by content (as the example above demonstrates). Endorsements are typically intended to enhance primary certifications. For example, a teacher who holds a certificate in middle grades mathematics might also hold a gifted endorsement. In this case, the teacher would be qualified to provide instruction in both general and gifted segments of middle school mathematics.
Figure 3: Distribution of Teacher Certificate Levels9
Doctoral, 2.6% Other, 0.5%

Specialist, 18.1%
Master's, 43.1%

Bachelor's, 35.7%

Bachelor's Master's Specialist Doctoral Other
8 For more information on GaPSC certification rules, see the Georgia Educator Certification Rule 505-2.01. 9 Teachers with no certificate level information were identified as "other." Some of these teachers may not be required to hold a certificate if the school system has a waiver in its charter system or SWSS contract with the State Board of Education.
17

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
In addition to certificate fields, teachers are also categorized by their certification level. Certificate levels are determined by the highest degree an educator has earned in a field directly related to a certificate field. Certificate levels are significant because they denote the level of preparation that a teacher has beyond the minimum requirements for a given field. Additionally, certificate levels are directly tied to teacher salary on the Georgia State Salary Schedule, and a higher certificate level places a teacher at a higher base salary on the schedule. Moving from one certificate level to the next typically equates to the increase of approximately $5,000 to a teacher's base salary. Degree attainment, therefore, has a direct correlation with the state's investment in the educational workforce.
During the 2019-2020 school year, 43.1% of teachers held a master's degree as their highest level of certification, and 35.7% of teachers held a bachelor's degree as their highest degree. In comparison, previous analyses for the 2018-2019 school year reported that 44.6% of teachers held a master's degree and 36.8% held bachelor's degrees as their highest degree. Figure 3 above shows the distribution of certificate levels for the 2019-2020 teacher workforce. This relative stability between years suggests a consistent pattern of distribution in degree attainment. This stability has important ramifications for budgetary planning and should continue to be monitored for changes and trends.
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
For the purposes of this report, years of experience is defined as the number of years a teacher has been employed in the Georgia public education workforce10. Approximately 43% of the 20192020 teacher workforce, which is the largest share of teachers, had 10 or fewer years of experience. About 33% of teachers had 11 to 20 years of experience, and approximately 20% of teachers had 21 to 30 years of experience. Figure 4 below shows the distribution of years of experience for all teachers in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
As with certificate level, an educator's years of experience is directly related to the Georgia State Salary Schedule, and as years of service increase, so does a teacher's base salary. This trend continues until a teacher reaches 21 years of service. After 21 years, teachers do not receive additional salary step increases. This connection is significant to the trends in years of service because teachers in the highest percentage categories are those who are continuing to receive regular salary increases. The percentage of teachers with 21-30 years of experience drops significantly which could be related to the halt in salary increases. This change is also reflected in the leader analysis as a significant number of leaders fall into the category of 21 to 30 years of service. These patterns suggest that at the point at which no additional advances are available through the salary schedule, teachers begin to look for alternate means of advancement, and one potential avenue for this is to move into a leadership position.
10 GaPSC provided GOSA with data on years of experience as defined by the number of years a person has been present in CPI since 1986, which is the earliest GaPSC can account for with CPI data.
18

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Figure 4: Years of Experience for Teachers

5.1 < 1 Year
5.1

1-10 Years

37.3 37.6

11-20 Years

34.3 33.3

21-30 Years

19.8 20.4

3.6 > 30 Years
3.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2018-2019 2019-2020

Additional investigation may show that the motivation for veteran teachers to leave the classroom for a leadership position is tied more to salary than to a desire to enter leadership. Understanding the impetus for change is important for many reasons, and a critical concern in relation to this issue is whether Georgia is losing experienced teachers to administration only because that is the sole way to continue to advance relative to salary.

There are also funding implications related to the training and experience of Georgia's teacher workforce. The combination of certificate level and years of service determines a single educator's base salary, but the aggregation of this data determines the amount of funding a district receives from the state for training and experience. This factor is built directly into the QBE11 funding formula, so as the experience and certificate level of the entire workforce increases or decreases, so does the state's overall funding responsibility.

DISTRICT AND SCHOOL ANALYSIS
The distribution of teachers by experience and preparation is monitored each year through GaDOE's Certified Personnel Inventory and varies widely by district. Because increases in training and experience should lead to better classroom instruction, questions regarding the quality of overall educational program and equitable access to high quality educational programs could be raised by this variance.
This section provides a description of those patterns and an analysis of teacher workforce characteristics by school which allows the comparison of workforce patterns between high

11 State funding for Georgia's public schools is based on a comprehensive funding formula prescribed in the Quality Basic Education Act of 1985.

19

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

poverty and low poverty schools.12 The aggregated teacher counts for all schools in each category were used to determine overall teacher counts and percentages for high poverty schools and low poverty schools. Then, a t-test of proportions was used to determine if the differences between high poverty and low poverty schools were statistically significant.
A t-test is a statistical analysis that is used to determine if there is a significant difference between two groups. Usually, these tests are performed on the means of different groups to determine if the average person or subject shows different characteristics between groups. The ttest gives an indication of whether a difference between those groups is likely or unlikely to be random. A statistically significant difference is one that cannot be attributed to random factors and suggests that there is a pattern in the difference shown. Although differences always exist among schools, those differences could be within the range typically expected between any schools. However, when a statistically significant13 difference exists between populations, those differences suggest larger patterns or trends.
Analysis of this data shows that significant demographic differences do exist in the teacher workforce between high and low poverty schools. Specifically, the difference in the percentages of Black and White teachers between low and high poverty schools was statistically significant. Figure 5 below provides the racial distribution of teachers in both low and high poverty schools. As this chart shows, 42.1% of the teachers in high poverty schools were Black compared to only 14.9% in low poverty schools; additionally, 54% of the teachers in high poverty schools were White compared to 78.2% in low poverty schools.

Figure 5: Race/Ethnicity of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools

80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%
0.0%

42.1%

78.2% 54.0%

1.0% 1.5% Asian

14.9%

1.9% 3.0% 0.9% 2.2%

Black

Hispanic Multiracial

High Poverty Low Poverty

White

0.2% 0.2% Other

12 High and low poverty schools are identified using the median percentage of directly certified schools. Schools below the median are considered low poverty, and schools above the median, high poverty. For more information on the use of direct certification percentages, see GOSA's e-bulletin. 13 For the purposes of this report, p < 0.05 for statistical significance.
20

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

High poverty schools had a smaller share of the teacher workforce with master's degrees as their highest earned degree (41.3% compared to 44.4% in low poverty schools). This difference continues with each higher certificate level, suggesting that teachers in high poverty schools have slightly less training than their counterparts in low poverty schools overall.
Figure 6: Certificate Levels of Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools

50.0% 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0%
5.0% 0.0%

39.3% 33.4%
Bachelor's

44.4% 41.3%

19.2% 16.5%

2.4% 2.7%

Master's

Education Specialist

PhD/EdD

High Poverty Low Poverty

0.4% 0.4% Other

Teachers in low poverty schools had higher certificate levels compared to teachers in high poverty schools as seen in Figure 6 above. The only exception to this exists between those teachers who have a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. In this case there are more teachers in high poverty schools with a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education than in low poverty schools. This difference aligns with the overall pattern in that a bachelor's degree is the lowest degree eligible for a teaching certificate in most certificate areas. Additional research and analysis on teacher certificate levels that compares the differences between teachers in low and high poverty schools would be beneficial for stakeholders and policymakers.
When analyzing years of experience, the share of the teacher workforce with one to 10 years of experience was nearly five percentage points larger in high poverty schools than low poverty schools. Interestingly, the share of the teacher workforce with 11 to 20 years of experience was roughly five percentage points higher in low poverty schools than in high poverty schools. However, when teachers with the most experience are examined (21 to 30 years and greater than 30 years of experience), low poverty schools have the larger proportion of the workforce as seen below in Figure 7. Additional research at the district level is needed to understand why more teachers remain in the workforce after 21 years in low poverty schools than in high poverty schools.

21

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Percentage of Teachers

Figure 7: Years of Experience in Low and High Poverty Schools

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

6.5

4.2

5

0 < 1

40.9 35.5

35.5 30.1

21.3 19

1 to 10

11 to 20

21 to 30

Years of Experience

3.6 3.6 > 30

High Poverty Low Poverty

2019-2020 Leader Workforce Characteristics
Many similarities exist between the teacher and leader workforces in 2019-2020. For the purposes of this report, an educational leader is defined by role using annual CPI job code classifications. This categorization includes principals, pre-K directors, alternative school directors, assistant principals, instructional supervisors, community school directors or coordinators, CTAE directors or extended year CTAE directors. If an employee served at least part of the day in a leadership role, he/she was counted as a leader.
DEMOGRAPHICS
As with teacher demographics, women far outnumber men in the leader workforce, but the difference is slightly smaller in this group. Approximately 68% of Georgia's school leader workforce was female in 2019-2020, which was approximately 11 percentage points lower than the teacher workforce. The percentage of leaders who were male (31.8%) was much higher than the percentage of teachers who were male. This trend might provide an area for additional study given the wide disparity between these statistics. A question that should be asked is whether the application rates are the same for women and men for leadership roles, and if they are, are men hired for leadership positions at a higher rate than women?
Figure 8 below shows the distribution of Georgia's educational leader population by race/ethnicity. Here, as with the teacher workforce, most of the leader workforce was also White (60.7%). However, the share of leaders who were Black was larger than the share of Black teachers; 36% of leaders were Black compared to 26% of teachers. Conversely, the percentage of Hispanic leaders (1.5%) was slightly lower than the percentage of Hispanic teachers (2.6%).

22

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Figure 8: Distribution of Leader Races/Ethnicities14

Asian, 0.5% Ph.D./Ed.D.,
19.1%

Bachelor's, 5.1%

White, 60.7%

Black, 36.0%

Hispanic, 1.5%
Multiracial, 1.3% Specialist, 51.N5%ative American,
0.1% Bachelor's Master's Specialist

Ph.D./Ed.D.

CERTIFICATION
To serve in most leadership positions, an educator is required to hold certifications beyond those of a classroom teacher. Leadership certificate fields for Georgia educators include two tiers for school leaders.15 A Tier I leadership certificate is required as an entry-level certification for leaders serving below the principal level in a school or as a district leader who does not supervise principals. A Tier II leadership certificate is considered an advanced leadership credential, and leaders with this designation can serve as a principal at the school level or in a position that supervises principals at the district level. As presented earlier, the total number of educational leaders during the 2019-2020 school year was 9,960.
Although non-degree options are available for leader certification, Tier I or Tier II Leadership Certifications are most frequently linked to university preparation programs. Typically, a Tier I Leadership Certificate is obtained in conjunction with the completion of a master's degree, and Tier II with a specialist's or doctoral degree. Given these trends, the distribution of degrees for school leaders is not surprising. Figure 9 below provides a breakdown of the distribution of highest degree attained by school leaders serving in the 2019-2020 school year.
As the data show, over half of all leaders (51.5%) held an education specialist's degree as their highest earned degree. Additionally, 19.1% of leaders held a Ph.D./Ed.D. as their highest earned degree, and 24.2% of leaders held a master's degree as their highest earned degree. All leaders had a certificate level above an associate degree.

14 GOSA used GaPSC self-reported demographic data for this analysis. Pacific Islanders were excluded because n < 10. 15 The leadership certificates include educational leadership tiers I and II certificates and other certificates associated with the CPI job titles for leaders such as instructional supervision and director of CTAE or special education. The remaining certificate fields are the same as those held by teachers. Educators in a charter system or Strategic Waivers School System (SWSS) may or may not be required to be certified depending on the terms of the charter or SWSS agreement.
23

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Figure 9: Distribution of Leader Certificate Levels

Ph.D./Ed.D., 19.1%

Bachelor's, 5.1% Master's, 24.2%

Specialist, 51.5%
Bachelor's Master's Specialist Ph.D./Ed.D.
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Figure 10 below displays the years of experience in Georgia public education for leaders.16 Generally, leaders had more total years of experience in the Georgia public education workforce than teachers. The largest share of leaders had between 21 and 30 years of experience (41.5%), and only 11.2% of leaders had 10 or fewer years of experience. However, when analyzing years of experience as a leader, the patterns are different. About 40% of leaders had five or fewer years of experience as a leader (shown in Figure 11), and 25% had between six and 10 years of experience as a leader. This comparison shows that although leaders have more general experience working in Georgia public education, most leaders have fewer than 10 years of experience serving as a leader.
Figure 10: Leaders' Total Years of Experience in the Educator Workforce

Years of Experince in GA Public Education

< 1 Year 0.4 1-10 Years 11-20 Years 21-30 Years > 30 Years
0

10.8

8.4

10

20

30

Percentage of Leaders

39 41.5

40

50

16 GOSA used data provided by GaPSC on the total number of years an employee served as a leader as defined by CPI job code to analyze years of experience as a leader.
24

Years of Experience as a Leader

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Figure 11: Total Years of Experience Serving as a Leader

< 5 Years 6 - 10 Years 11 - 15 Years 16 - 20 Years
> 20 Years 0

40.7 25.1 19.4 10.9 3.9 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Percentage of Leaders

The trends shown by this data support the idea that educators tend to move toward leadership roles around the 21st year of service. This may be impacted by the limitations built into the salary scale discussed earlier. It may also be true that, as a rule, school leaders are recruited from the pool of more experienced teachers. More study on the reasons for the transition from teacher to leader would help inform educational policymakers and district sustainability planners.
DISTRICT AND SCHOOL ANALYSIS
Like the teacher workforce, there were statistically significant differences in the percentages of Black and White leaders in high and low poverty schools. Figure 12 below provides the racial distributions of leaders in high and low poverty schools. The data show that 56.6% of leaders in high poverty schools were Black compared to only 22.9% of leaders in low poverty schools. Furthermore, 41.1% of leaders in high poverty schools were White compared to 72.6% of leaders in low poverty schools. It is notable that races/ethnicities other than White and Black comprise a similar portion of the leader workforce regardless of socio-economic context.
Figure 12: Race/Ethnicity of Leaders in Low and High Poverty Schools

80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0%
0.0%

56.6% 22.9%

72.6% 41.1%

0.3%0.7% Asian

Black

1.3%2.0% 0.6%1.8% Hispanic Multiracial

White

0.2%0.1% Other

High Poverty Low Poverty

25

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

The comparison of certificate levels for leaders in high poverty and low poverty schools reveal different patterns than the teacher workforce comparison (see Figure 13 below). Low poverty schools appear to have slightly more leaders with master's and specialist degrees as the highest earned degree, but the margin is very narrow. High poverty schools tend to have more leaders with a Ph.D./Ed.D. as their highest earned degree but only by about two percentage points. 17.4% of leaders in high poverty schools held a Ph.D./Ed.D. as their highest degree, which was greater than the share in low poverty schools (15.6%) but this difference was not significantly greater. The increased parity for leaders may be related to the more consistent relationship between certificate requirements and degree attainment for leaders. Additionally, fewer districts request waivers for leader certifications than do for teacher certifications as discussed earlier in this report.
Figure 13: Certificate Levels of Leaders in Low and High Poverty Schools

60.0% 50.0%

51.7% 52.9%

40.0%

30.0% 20.0%

24.6% 25.6%

17.4% 15.6%

10.0% 6.2% 5.9%

0.0% Bachelor's

Master's

Specialist

PhD/EdD

High Poverty Low Poverty

Questions related to the qualifications and experience of leaders could be connected to issues of school effectiveness and equity. Central to these questions is the relationship between leader quality and school success. Although years of experience and qualifications do not necessarily translate directly to improved school outcomes, the examination of consistency of those elements is a beginning point for that evaluation. A broader area for investigation that would provide insight for policymakers is the correlation between leader training and experience and improved student and school outcomes.

2019-2020 Teacher New Hire Characteristics
During the 2019-2020 school year, 6,233 teachers were new hires17 to the teacher workforce, which represented 5.6% of the entire teacher workforce. Because the total teacher workforce only grew by approximately 3,000, the rate of new teacher hires did not keep pace with the number of teachers who left the workforce. If this trend continues, significant shortages in the teacher workforce may occur.

17 New teacher hires were defined as teachers whose initial year present in CPI data was 2019. 26

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

DEMOGRAPHICS
The new teacher workforce showed different demographic patterns from the overall teacher population. Hispanic teachers represented a larger share of new teachers than they represented in the overall teacher workforce during the 2019-2020 school year; 4.5% of new teachers were Hispanic compared to only 2.6% of the entire teacher workforce. In contrast, White teachers comprised a smaller share of new teachers than the entire teacher workforce, as 54.5% of new teachers were White compared to 68.3% of the entire teacher workforce. For the 2019-2020 school year, the percentage of new teachers who were Black was more than eight percentage points higher than the share of Black teachers in the overall teacher workforce. These numbers can be seen below in Table 1. These changes seem to be moving the future workforce toward more similarity with the demographic composition of Georgia's student population.
Table 1: Distribution of New Teachers' Races/Ethnicities

Race/Ethnicity
American Indian Asian Black Hispanic Multiracial White Other

Percentage of All Teachers
0.2 1.3 26 2.6 1.7 68.3 N/A

Percentage of New Teachers
0.8 2.3 34.9 4.5 N/A 54.5 3.0

The gender breakdown of new teachers was similar to the gender distribution of the overall teacher workforce. 70.3% of new teachers were female, while 27.1% were male. Given the stability of this trend, this consistency was not surprising. Of the teachers identified with less than one year of teaching experience in the CPI data, 51.6% worked in high poverty schools during the 2019-2020 school year, and 19.7% of new teachers were prepared out of state.
CERTIFICATION
Figure 14: Distribution of New Teachers' Certificate Levels
Other/Unknown, PhD/EdD, 1.9% 8.5% Specialist, 7.7%

Master's, 36.2%

Bachelor's, 45.7%

27

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Differing from the general teacher workforce data above, the largest percentage of new teachers held a bachelor's degree as their highest degree earned (45.7%) for the 2019-2020 school year as opposed to 36.2% of all teachers in the workforce. Additionally, 36.2% of new teachers held a master's degree as their highest degree earned, compared to 43.7% of teachers with a master's degree as their highest earned degree when looking at the overall teacher workforce. These patterns seem logical because most new teachers are recent degree earners. The relatively high percentage of new teachers with master's degrees is significant and, due to funding implications for advanced degrees, may serve as an interesting topic for future research. For example, observing this percentage over time might reveal an increasing trend which could signal increased financial responsibilities for the state for future workforce populations.
2019-2020 New Leader Hire Characteristics
During the 2019-2020 school year, 2,505 leaders were new leader hires,18 or educators serving as leaders for the first time, representing roughly 25% of the entire leader workforce. This number contributed to the earlier finding of lower levels of experience in-role for leaders (see Figure 11). Even though a full quarter of the entire leader workforce was new last year, 57% of the full group has more than 21 years of service and will be eligible to retire within 10 years. This suggests that there will continue to be significant numbers of new leaders within that period. Training and support of this group will be critical particularly in chronically low performing schools and districts if Georgia is to continue to see improved outcomes for students across Georgia.
DEMOGRAPHICS As with the overall population, females comprised a larger share of new leaders than the entire leader workforce. Approximately 74%% of new leaders were female compared to 68.2% of all leaders. Male leaders made up 24.8% of new leaders as compared to 31.8% of overall leaders. This might suggest that women are increasing their share of leadership positions, and if this trend continues, it could move this statistic closer to the overall distribution of the educator workforce. Additionally, compared to the entire leader workforce, new leaders had a slightly larger share of Hispanic leaders; 2.4% of new leaders were Hispanic compared to 1.7% of the overall leader workforce. The share of new leaders who were White fell between reporting periods; 53.5% of new leaders were White compared to 60.7% of all leaders. Percentages of all other races/ethnicities grew at least slightly during the same period.
18New leader hires were defined as leaders whose initial year in CPI data as a leader was 2019 as identified by GaPSC using job codes.
28

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Table 2: Distribution of New Leaders' Races/Ethnicities

Race/Ethnicity

Percentage of All Percentage of New

Leaders

Leaders

American Indian

0.1

0.7

Asian

0.5

1.3

Black

36

36.6

Hispanic

1.7

2.4

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

N/A

0.2

White

60.7

53.5

Other

N/A

5.3

CERTIFICATION
Less than half (44.1%) of new leaders held a leadership certificate, which is much lower than the percentage for all leaders. This pattern could be attributable to the fact that leadership roles include positions that do not require a leadership certificate. For example, an educator serving as an instructional coach would be counted as a leader according to the definitions of this report, but that position does not require that the educator hold a leadership certificate. The overall leader workforce data suggest that the majority of school leaders do obtain their leadership certificate over time, but at the time that the first leadership position is taken, many leaders do not hold a Tier I or Tier II certification.
Figure 15: Distribution of New Leaders' Certificate Levels

Ph.D./Ed.D., 8.6%

Bachelor's, 11.8%

Specialist, 36.3%

Master's, 43.2%

Anticipated degree attainment patterns were also evident in the new leader portion of the workforce. As expected, most new leaders held either a master's or education specialist's degree as their highest earned degree (79.5%). Approximately 12% of the new leaders held a bachelor's degree as their highest earned degree while only 5.9% of the entire leader workforce held a bachelor's degree as their highest earned degree. Lastly, 8.6% of new leaders held a Ph.D. or Ed.D. as their highest degree earned compared to 21.9% having the same level of education across the overall leader workforce.

29

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
When comparing the experience levels of new leaders to the entire leader workforce, new leaders did not have as much experience working in Georgia public education. Almost 40% of new leaders had between one and 10 years of experience in Georgia public education, compared to 12.4% of all leaders. Nearly half of all existing leaders and new leaders had between 11 20 years of experience with 44.7% and 46.7% respectively. As expected, for leaders with 21-30 years of experience, the existing leader workforce has a much greater percentage than new leaders. The existing leader workforce had 47.6% of leaders with 21-30 years of experience while new leaders had 12.3%. For those with over 30 years of experience, existing leaders made up 9.6% of the population, and new leaders accounted for 1.2% of the leader workforce.
Figure 16: Years of Experience for New Leaders

>30

1.2%

21-30

9.6% 12.3%

11-20

1-10 0.0%

12.4%

10.0%

20.0%

New Leaders

30.0% All Leaders

47.6%
46.7% 44.7%
39.8%

40.0%

50.0%

Teacher Mobility, Retention and Shortages
This portion of the report analyzes patterns in teacher mobility across school districts by examining whether a teacher or leader changed school districts from the 2018-2019 school year to the 2019-2020 school year. The following analysis examines teacher mobility across school districts (inter-district mobility). Intra-district mobility, the movement of teachers and leaders within a district, is not examined in this report because of the variability of policies and procedures regarding staff placement among districts. Analysis is also provided related to potential teacher shortages based on hiring patterns of non-certified staff for teaching positions traditionally requiring certification.
INTER-DISTRICT MOBILITY
The overall 2019-2020 teacher inter-district mobility rate in Georgia was 8.11%. This means that 1,117 teachers who were employed in a Georgia public school system in 2018-2019 accepted positions in a different Georgia public school system in 2019-2020. This mobility rate is determined by examining the termination codes recorded in GaDOE Teacher Attrition/Retention data for school districts between 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
In terms of years of experience, the largest share (40.5%) of teachers who changed school
30

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
districts had five or fewer years of experience. About 67% of teachers who changed school districts had 10 or fewer years of experience. Thus, less experienced teachers appear more likely to move between school districts than more experienced teachers. This pattern may be associated with contract considerations in that a district can choose not to offer a contract to any teacher within the first three years of employment in the district. The map on the following page displays the teacher inter-district mobility rate for each school district in Georgia. Of the 180 school districts in the state 117 had no inter-district mobility between the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years according to GaDOE's termination codes.19 However, there were 35 districts across the state that had an inter-district mobility rate greater than or equal to 25%. Of these 35 districts, Barrow County had the lowest mobility rate at 25.6% while Pierce County had the highest inter-district mobility rate of all districts. Although there are no clear geographic patterns, the inter-district mobility rate map suggests that districts in southwestern Georgia and eastern Georgia appear to have higher inter-district mobility rates than districts in the northernmost and southernmost regions of the state. In addition to overall mobility, GOSA also analyzed the mobility rates of high and low poverty schools to determine whether differences existed between these schools. To analyze mobility patterns in high poverty and low poverty schools, GOSA used a mobility rate for each school and averaged the mobility rates for high poverty and low poverty schools for comparison. The average mobility rate in high poverty schools was 12.6%, and the average mobility rate in low poverty schools was 9%. Analysis of this difference showed that it was not statistically significant.
19 The inter-district mobility rate for these districts was zero, but this analysis does not account for teachers who left the workforce all together, so these districts do not necessarily have 100% retention. Please see the Teacher Retention section of the report for this analysis.
31

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Figure 17: Teacher Inter-District Mobility Rate Map
32

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

TEACHER RETENTION
Teacher retention patterns are important for assessing the stability of the educator workforce in Georgia, which can have significant implications for student achievement. Teachers were considered retained if they were present in their respective roles in the fall of 2018-2019 and fall of 2019-2020. Table 16 below shows the overall retention rates for teachers. From 2018-2019 to 2019-2020, 90.8% of teachers remained in their respective role between school years. This retention rate is the same as the retention rate for the period between 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 which shows relative stability in the teacher workforce.
Table 3: Teacher Retention

Teachers

Teacher Count October 2018
117,451

Teachers Found in October 2019 106,589

Retention Percentage
90.8%

The map below (Figure 18) displays district retention rates to identify any potential geographic patterns in teacher retention. Of the 180 districts in Georgia, there are 49 that have retention rates equal to or higher than 90%. North Georgia and Southeast Georgia appear to have higher concentrations of school districts with high retention rates. Southwest Georgia appears to have more school districts with lower retention rates than other regions of the state. Chickamauga City and Webster County Schools had the highest retention rates with 98% retention and 97% respectively. Calhoun County and Mitchell County both had a retention rate of 56%, which was the lowest teacher retention rate in the state for the 2019-2020 school year.

Different from mobility, retention patterns have the potential to show loss from the workforce. If a teacher leaves the profession or moves to an out-of-state or private school, he or she is lost from the workforce count. Understanding both patterns is critical to fully understanding the current and future state of Georgia's teacher workforce.

33

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Figure 18: Teacher District Retention Rate Map
34

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

TEACHER SHORTAGES
Although districts do not explicitly report teacher shortages, there are some patterns in hiring practices that could reflect an inability to find, recruit and hire qualified teachers. While it is often the case that districts can absorb some level of shortage by consolidating classes, limiting course offerings or waiving certification requirements, there are times when non-certified staff can and are hired for teaching roles. Analyses of these patterns could reveal possible areas of teacher shortages.
Each year, school districts are required to report the number of provisionally and otherwise certified staff in teaching positions. These designations usually indicate that the teacher in the classroom is not fully certified based on GaPSC guidelines to teach the courses to which he or she is assigned (discussed earlier in this report, Page 16). During the 2019-2020 school year, 1,455 teachers in Georgia's public schools were identified as holding provisional or other certificate types.20 This statistic could be an indicator of how many teaching positions could not be filled with certified candidates. If this shortage were distributed evenly throughout the state, approximately eight positions in each district would have been filled by a non-certified teacher.
Regionally, there is some variation in the numbers of non-certified teachers hired by districts. Using the GaDOE Georgia Collaborative Regions which divide the state into five geographic regions, GOSA examined the percentage of total non-certified teachers by region to determine if significant differences were present in different areas of the state. Figures 19 and 20 below provide a breakdown of that distribution and a map of the regions used in the analysis. It is also important to note that 42 districts reported no non-certified teachers in their workforce.
Figure 19 Distribution of Non-Certified Teachers by Region

Southwest 10%

Southeast 12%

Metro 40%

Northwest 21%

Northeast 17%

20 Some certificates designated as other may be for content areas requiring a non-education, professional degree and may not necessarily indicate a lack of qualification for teaching a course.
35

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Figure 20: Map of Geographic Regions (Based on GaDOE's Collaborative Regions)
36

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Teacher and Leader Retirement

To examine potential educator retirement patterns, this section examines available data provided by the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia (TRS). This agency serves all employees21 committed to education in Georgia, so its members are not limited to only K-12 teachers and leaders. Thus, TRS does not use the same job code definitions for teachers and leaders as GaDOE or GaPSC. TRS provided GOSA with information on all employees classified under the GaDOE for the 2019-2020 school year as of the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2020). Rather than focusing only on teachers and leaders, the following analysis includes all "GaDOE members22" in TRS. For the purposes of this report, these members are referred to as teachers/leaders/staff. During the 2019-2020 school year, 241,286 members of TRS were classified as teachers/leaders/staff.

Table 4: Distribution of All Teacher/Leader/Staff TRS Members

Status
Active24 Vested25 Eligible for Retirement26 Eligible for Reduced Retirement Benefit27

Count
211,432 102,690 13.122 9,562

Percentage of All Teacher/Leader/Staff
Members23 87.6% 42.6% 5.4% 4.0%

Table 4 above displays the distribution of active members, vested members, and members who are eligible for retirement for all teacher/leader/staff members of TRS. However, to gain a better understanding of potential retirement patterns, this report focuses on analyzing active members only (see Table 5 below).
Of the 211,432-active teacher/leader/staff members in TRS in 2019-2020, just over 10% were eligible for retirement or a reduced retirement benefit. Specifically, 5.9% of active members were eligible for retirement, and 4.5% were eligible for a reduced retirement benefit. Thus, as of the 2019-2020 school year, 10% of active teacher/leader/staff members in TRS could potentially retire soon.

21 TRS members include all employees of local boards of education, charter schools, universities and colleges, technical colleges, libraries, RESAs, Board of Regents, and other associated state agencies. 22 Under TRS, "GaDOE employees" include teachers, leaders, clerical staff, aides, lunchroom workers, paraprofessionals, technical support, maintenance, etc. 23 Percentages do not add up to 100% because members can be both active and vested or vested and eligible to retire. 24 Active members have made at least one contribution to TRS in the past four years. 25 Members are vested when they have at least 10 years of service credit. 26 Members are eligible for retirement if they are 60 years old and have at least 10 years of service credit, or if they have at least 25 years of service credit at any age. 27 Members are eligible for a reduced retirement benefit if they retire prior to age 60 with 25 to 29 years of service.
37

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report

Table 5: Distribution of Active Teacher/Leader/Staff TRS Members

Status
Vested Not Vested Eligible for Retirement Eligible for Reduced Retirement Benefit

Count
113,774 97,658 12,568 9,537

Percentage of All Active Teacher/Leader/Staff Members 53.8% 46.2% 5.9% 4.5%

More than half (53.8%) of the 211,432 active TRS members were vested, indicating the accrual of at least 10 years of service credit. However, most of all active, vested members were not yet eligible for retirement. Additionally, of all active members, 46.2% were not yet vested, which means theyhad fewer than 10 years of service credit. Thus, as of 2019-2020, the majority of active teacher/leader/staff members in TRS did not yet have enough service credit to retire, and a little less than half of active teacher/leader/staff members had fewer than 10 years of service credit.

38

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Next Steps GOSA is continuing to analyze several elements discussed in this report and plans to produce an addendum in early 2021 that incorporates those findings. Due to the timing of agency reporting and delays in reporting due to COVID-19, several data points critical to that analysis were not available in time for this initial publication but are currently being investigated. The bulleted list below outlines topics that will be addressed in the addendum. Longitudinal trends in teacher retention Enrollment rates in teacher and leader preparation programs Hiring and retention patterns for traditional and alternative teacher and leader preparation
programs
39

2020 Georgia K-12 Teacher and Leader Workforce Status Report
Acknowledgements This research was conducted with guidance from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the Georgia Department of Education, and the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia.
40