The Problem of Under Qualified Teachers a Sociological Perspective

8/3/2019 The Problem of Under Qualified Teachers a Sociological Perspective

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The Problem of Underqualified Teachers: A Sociological PerspectiveAuthor(s): Richard M. IngersollSource: Sociology of Education, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Apr., 2005), pp. 175-178Published by: American Sociological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4148904

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Perspectives 175The Problem of Underqualified Teachers:A Sociological Perspective

Richard M. IngersollUniversityf Pennsylvaniaew educationalroblems ave receivedmore attentionthan has the failure toensure that the nation'sclassroomsarestaffedby qualifiedeachers.Many tateshave

pushedfor more-rigorous reserviceeachereducation,raining, nd certificationtandards.Moreover, hostof recruitmentnitiatives aveattempted o increasehe supplyof teachers:alternativeicensing,midcareer hange pro-grams, inancialncentives, nd even overseasrecruitment. hecapstoneof these effortswasthe enactmentof the No ChildLeftBehindAct(NCLB),which set the unprecedented,andlaudable, oal of ensuringhat all studentsaretaughtby "highly ualified"eachers.Overthe pastdecade,I have undertakenseriesof research rojectshathave ocusedonunderstandinghe problemof underqualifiedteachers (see e.g., Ingersoll1999, 2003a,2004). Although ensuringthat the nation'sclassrooms reallstaffedwithqualifiedeachersis amongthe mostimportant roblems acingschools,I havefoundthat it is alsoamongtheleast understood. havecome to the conclu-sion that, unfortunately,most teacher-reformeffortswillnot solve the problem.Underlyingmanyreforms,ncludingNCLB,s whatmaybecalleda teacher-deficiterspective.The under-lyingassumptions that the problem f under-qualified eachers s largelyone of deficits nteachersthemselves: heir number,prepara-tion, knowledge,motivation,ability,and soforth.Thisperspectiveverlooks keysourceofthe problem-the organizationalnd occupa-tionalcontextsof teachers'work.Inparticular,the "deficit" erspective verlooks he extentto whichthe problemof underqualifiedeach-ers, likerelatedproblemswithworking ondi-tions, recruitment,nd retention n teaching,can be traced to a common root: the lowstature and social standingof the teachingoccupation.

One of the difficultiesencountered inresearching eachers'qualifications as beenthe lackof consensuson standards or defin-ing a qualifiedeacher.Fewwouldarguethatteachersought not to be qualified,and thereis empirical upportthat teachers'qualifica-tions are tied to students' achievement see,e.g., Greenwald,Hedges, and Laine1996;Raudenbush,Fotiu,and Cheong 1999). Butthere has been a great deal of controversyoverwhat kindsof preparation re necessaryfor teachersto be consideredqualified.Aftermuch debate, NCLBdefined "highly quali-fied"teachersas those with a college degree,a teaching certificate,and competence intheir subjects (demonstratedby having amajoror an advancedcertificate r passingatest in a subject).The U.S. Department of Education'sSchools and StaffingSurvey SASS)providesthe best available nformationon teachers'qualifications.These data indicatethat, con-trary o conventionalwisdom, most teachershave completed a basic college educationand full teachertraining.In the 1999-2000school year, just priorto the enactment ofNCLB, 9 percentof publicschool teachershad at least a bachelor'sdegree and almosthalf had a graduatedegree, and nearly92percenthad full, regular eachingcertificates(Ingersoll2003a). Nevertheless, numerousclassroomsare staffed by teachers who arenot highly qualified n the particularubjectthat is taught.Thissituation s the resultof alittle-discussed, but widespread, practicecalled out-of-field teaching-teachersassignedto teach subjects hat do not matchtheir trainingor education. Highlyqualifiedteachers may become highly unqualified fthey areassignedto teach subjects orwhichthey have littlebackground nd preparation.ThisproblemwasrecognizedbyNCLB, hich


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176 Ingersollexplicitlydefineshighlyqualified eachers asthose who are competent in each academicsubjecttheyareassignedto teach.The SASSdata indicatethat at the sec-ondaryschoollevel,aboutone fifth of classesin each of the core academicsubjects math,science, English, and social studies) aretaught byteacherswho lack ullteachingcer-tificates nthe subjectbeing taught.The dataalso show that some schools andclasseshavemore out-of-fieldteaching than do others(Ingersoll1999). Withinschools, lower-trackclasses are more often taught by out-of-fieldteachers than are higher-track classes.Moreover,disadvantaged chools have moreout-of-fieldteaching than do more-affluentschools. Indeed,while teachersin disadvan-taged schools lag only slightlybehind otherteachers in their formalqualifications, heyare farmorelikelyo be assigned o teach outof theirfields(Ingersoll 004).The crucialquestion, and the source ofgreat misunderstanding,s why so manyteachers areassignedout of theirfields. Twointerrelated explanations are typicallyadvanced. The first holds that out-of-fieldteaching is a problem of poorly preparedteachers. Its proponents ypicallyargue thatteacherpreparation rograms reoverloadedwith requiredcourses in pedagogy; hence,the remedy s to requireprospectiveeachersto complete "real"undergraduatemajors nacademicdisciplines.Thedata confirm hatthere are sometimesproblems with the rigor and quality ofteacherpreparationtandards nd programs.But this explanation onfounds wo differentsources of the problem of underqualifiedteachers by failing to distinguishteachers'preservice ducationwithteachers' n-serviceassignments.The SASSdata show that theprimarysource of out-of-fieldteaching liesnot in the educationor training hatteachershave, but in the lackof fit between teachers'preparationand their teaching assignmentsonce they are on the job. Many eachersareassigned by their principalsto instruct classesthat do not match the fields of their degreesor certification or both.

The key question thus becomes: Why areso many teachers misassigned? In answer,many commentators turn to a second expla-

nation: teacher shortages. Shortfallsn thenumber of available eachers,this argumentholds, have forced many schools to assignteachersout of their ields(see, e.g., NationalCommission on Teaching and America'sFuture1997).Schools'hiringdifficulties reclearly fac-tor in the degreeof teachers'misassignment,butthe SASS atareveal wo importanthort-comings in this explanation.First, hey can-not explain high levels of out-of-field each-ing in fields like Englishand socialstudies,wherethere have ong beensurpluses fqual-ified teachers.Second, the SASSdata showthat about half the misassigned eachersinany given yearwereemployed nschools hatreportedno difficultiesindingqualified an-didatesfor job openings that year (Ingersoll2003a).Rather han deficitsin the preparation rquantityof teachers,the SASSdatapointtoanother explanation: he mannerin whichschools areorganizedand teachersare man-aged. The data indicatethat school staffingdecisions usuallyfollow a top-down com-mandmodel;these decisionsare the prerog-ative of school principals, nd teachers ypi-cally have little say in their assignments(Ingersoll2003b). School principalsace thedifficult task of providing an increasinglybroad array of programs with limitedresources, ime, budgets, and teachingstaff.But within these constraints,principals avean unusualdegree of discretion,and there islittle centralizedregulationof how teachersare used once they are hired (Robinson1985). Inthiscontext,and from a manageri-al perspective, principals may find thatassigning eachers o teach out of their ieldsis often moreconvenient, essexpensive,andless timeconsuming hanare the alternatives.Forexample,rather han hire a new part-time science teacher for two sections of anewly state-mandated cience curriculum,principalmay find it simplerto assigntwoEnglishor social studies teachers to each"cover" a section. If a teacher unexpectedlyleaves in the middle of the semester, a princi-pal may find it faster and cheaper to hire areadilyavailable, but not fully qualified, sub-stitute teacher, ratherthan to conduct a for-mal search for a new teacher. When faced


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Perspectives 177with the tough choice between hiring anunqualified andidate for the position of amathteacherordoubling he classsize of oneof the fullyqualifiedmathteachers,a princi-palmay opt for the former.Froma manager-ial perspective, hese choices may save timeand moneyfor the schooland, ultimately,orthe taxpayer.Froman educationalperspec-tive, they are not cost-free, since they areamong the largestsourcesof underqualifiedteachersn schoolsand are now deemedillegalunderNCLB.

Understandinghe reasonsbehind out-of-field teaching assignments is importantbecause of their implicationsor solvingtheproblem. Like most contemporary eacher-reformnitiatives,NCLB as focusedon eitherupgrading the training requirements ofteachersor increasinghe supplyof teachersand has overlooked he impactof the organi-zational and occupationalcontexts withinwhich teacherswork.The SASSdataindicate,however,that solutions to the problem ofunderqualifiedeachers must also look tohow schools are managedand how teachersare utilized once they are on the job. In short,recruitinghousands of new candidatesandproviding them with rigorous preservicepreparationwill not solve the problemif alargenumberof teachersreceiveassignmentsfor whichthey are not prepared.From a sociological perspective,a long-term solution will require addressing theunderlying ystemicand contextualroots oftheseorganizational ractices.From hisper-spective,organizational racticesaredirectlytied to occupational tatus,and how mem-bersof an occupationare utilizedand treatedinworkplacess inextricablyonnectedto thepower and prestige of that occupation(Abbott1988; Freidson 986).Themisassign-ment of teachers-and problemswith teach-ers'recruitment, etention,and low pay-aretraceable, n large part,to a common root:the low statureand standingof the teachingoccupation.Unlikemany European nd Asiannations, in this country K-12 teaching hasbeen largely treated as semiskilled work(Etzioni,1969; Lortie, 1975; Tyack,1974).The comparisonwith traditionalprofessionsis stark.Few would ask cardiologiststo deliverbabies, real estate lawyersto defend criminal

cases,chemical ngineerso designbridges,orsociologyprofessorso teach English.Likewisefor the high-skill lue-collar ccupations, ewwould hire an electriciano solve a plumbingproblem.The commonlyheld assumption sthat such traditionalmale-dominatedjobsrequiresubstantialexpertiseand, therefore,thatspecializationsnecessary.Despiteresearch hat has established hathigh-qualitylementary nd secondary each-ingishighly omplexwork see,e.g., Kohn ndSchooler1983; Lortie1975), K-12 teachinglacks commensuratestature and standing.Underlyingut-of-fieldeaching, t appears, sthe assumptionhatfemale-dominatedchoolteaching requires ar less skill,training,andexpertise han do traditional rofessions ndtherefore hat it is acceptableo treat eacherslike nterchangeablelocks.From sociologicalperspective,meetingNCLB's andate f ensur-ing that all classrooms avequalifiedeacherswill requiremorethan increasinghe recruit-ment andtraining f teachers.Ultimately,twillrequireupgradinghe statusof teachingas anoccupation.

REFERENCESAbbott, Andrew Delano. 1988. The SystemofProfessions:nEssayon the Division f ExpertLabor.hicago: niversityfChicago ress.Etzioni,Amitai, d. 1969. TheSemi-professionsndTheirOrganizations:Teachers,Nurses andSocial Workers.New York:Free Press.Freidson, liot.1986. Professionalowers: Studynthe Institutionalizationf FormalKnowledge.Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press.Greenwald, ob,Larry .Hedges, nd Richard .Laine. 996."TheEffect f SchoolResourceson Student Achievement."Review ofEducationalesearch6:361-96.Ingersoll,RichardM. 1999. "The Problem fUnderqualifiedTeachers in AmericanSecondarySchools." EducationalResearcher28:26-37.-. 2003a. Out-of-field eachingnd the Limits f

Teacherolicy.eattle: enteror heStudy fTeaching and Policy, University ofWashington.-. 2003b. WhoControls eachers'Work? ower ndAccountabilityn America'schools.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress.

. 2004. "Why Some Schools Have More


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178 IngersollUnderqualifiedTeachersthan Others."Pp.45-88 in Brookingsapers n Educationolicy,edited by Diane Ravitch.Washington,DC:Brookingsnstitution.

Kohn,MelvinL.,and CarmiSchooler.1983. WorkandPersonality.orwood,NJ:Ablex.Lortie,Dan. 1975. Schoolteacher: SociologicalStudy.Chicago:Universityf ChicagoPress.NationalCommission n Teachingand America'sFuture. 1997. Doing What Matters Most:InvestingnQuality eaching.ew York: uthor.

Raudenbush,tephenW.,Randall .Fotiu, nd YukFaiCheong.1999. "Synthesizingesultsromthe Trial State Assessment.?"journal ofEducationalndBehavioraltatistics4:413-38.Robinson, Virginia.1985. MakingDo in theClassroom: Report n the MisassignmentfTeachers.Washington,DC:Council or BasicEducationndAmerican ederationf Teachers.Tyack, David. 1974. The One Best System.Cambridge,MA:Harvard niversityress.

RichardM.Ingersoll,Ph.D., s AssociateProfessorf EducationndSociology t theUniversityfPennsylvania. isresearchnvolves he applicationf ideas from he sociology f organizations,occupations,ndworkoproblemsfelementaryndsecondaryducationalnstitutions. is ecentbook,Who ControlsTeachers' Work?Power and Accountabilityin America'sSchools, publishedbyHarvard niversityress,was awarded he 2004 OutstandingWritingward rom heAmericanAssociation f Collegesor Teacher ducation.Thisarticles based, npart,on theauthor's articipationt theSociology f Educationection'sminiconferencen FederalnvolvementnEducation,hichwas heldduringhe2004 annualmeet-ing of the Americanociological ssociationn San Francisco. heminiconferenceas fundedbytheAmericannstitutesorResearchAIR). his rticledoes not reflect heopinions f AIR.Addresscorrespondenceo RichardM. Ingersoll,University f Pennsylvania, 700 WalnutStreet,Philadelphia,A19104-6216;e-mail: [email protected].

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The Problem of Under Qualified Teachers a Sociological Perspective