Profiles of Teachers in the U.S. 2011

This survey report from Emily Feistritzer’s National Center for Education Information (NCEI) shows the changing face of America’s teacher workforce—and offers glimmers of hope to reformers looking for allies in the teacher ranks. (Are you watching, Steve Brill?) Of the large group of teachers who have been on the job five years or less, a third received their training through alternative programs. Such educators, in addition to being more racially diverse and STEM-oriented than their colleagues, are decidedly more supportive of ed-reform initiatives. Seventy percent of alt-cert teachers favor performance-based pay (compared to 58 percent of those traditionally trained), 52 percent say “yea” to axing teacher tenure (versus 31 percent), and 27 percent note that the unions need to go (compared to 19 percent). Reformers ought to enlist these non-traditional teachers—and thinkers—in the larger policy battles ASAP.