K-12 teacher shortage leads to new Athens State strategies

Apr. 25—Chloe Minor, studying for a teaching degree at Athens State, hopes she will be a better teacher than some she had, and she's aware that she's among a dwindling pool of students pursuing a career in education.

"I feel like it's very validating to be going into a career that is so needed right now," said the 24-year-old from Toney. "It inspires me to want to finish my degree and get into the field because I absolutely love when I go into the classrooms for field experience. It feels like I'm in the place where I'm supposed to be."

While earning her degree in general studies with a concentration in elementary education at Calhoun Community College, Minor said she connected with her study of child development and knew then she wanted to teach. However, her drive to become a teacher is also inspired by another factor.

"In elementary, I didn't have a very good school experience, so I wanted to be better than the people who taught me," Minor said. "I had a lot of experience with teachers who I guess just went into the field — I guess you could say they didn't really have a passion for the job. They weren't really suited to be a teacher and just did it as a job and not really a passion."

In the spring of 2024, Minor will receive a degree in early childhood education with a minor in English from Athens State. With the degree, she can teach pre-kindergarten through third grade. — Declining numbers

The teacher shortage is statewide. A month after the school year started, according to a survey by the Alabama State Department of Education, 1,500 teacher positions remained unfilled. The shortage is most severe in special education positions, but school districts are also scrambling for pre-K, elementary, middle and high school educators.

A contributing factor to the shortage can be seen from data at local universities, which have seen a decline in college of education enrollments and program completers in the last 10 years.

The University of North Alabama had 144 completers in 2013, 134 in 2019. Only 85 students completed an education degree in 2022.

Athens State had 270 completers in 2013 and 271 in 2018, but only 256 students completed an education degree in 2022. In the spring semester of 2013, Athens State had 915 students enrolled in the College of Education, 889 in the spring of 2018, and 844 in the spring of 2022. That number has dropped to 762 enrolled students this semester.

The Athens State College of Education offers seven undergraduate teacher certification programs along with several graduate level teaching degrees. Katherine Kandalec Holm, interim dean for the College of Education, said there are several reasons for the decline in the number of prospective teachers. — Work environment

"One of the main reasons is the increasingly challenging work environment and lack of support of teachers," she said. "Many individuals view teaching as a difficult and often thankless job, with long hours and low pay. This discourages them from pursuing careers in education."

Minor agreed that lack of teacher support could be contributing to teacher shortages.

"Just from being a student teacher, I know that in some districts they expect a lot from teachers, and they are having to deal with multiple factors at once that could probably contribute to early burnout," she said. "I would say providing more support in the classroom would probably help immensely with the teacher shortage."

Minor said having more teacher aides and specialists to help teachers with their students would help with the shortage.

Michael Douglas, Decatur City Schools superintendent, said his schools offer as much teacher support as possible.

"We've hired extra ... interventionists to help students that are behind," he said. "We also have teacher aides in some of our classrooms. Obviously, we would love to do more but we do as much as we can with the funding that we have."

Douglas said DCS has not been able to fill all of its special education positions this school year.

Holm said another reason for the teacher shortage is the pandemic.

COVID led "to disruptions in education and increased demands on teachers," she said. "The pandemic has highlighted the already existing challenges and pressures faced by teachers, leading some to reconsider their career choice."

Holm said in the past few years Athens State has adopted a number of programs aimed at decreasing the teacher shortage and increasing enrollment.

"We've adopted new instructional methods, such as ActiveFlex, which is designed to make classroom access more flexible for teacher candidates who may have outside obligations preventing university attendance," she said. "We are also in the process of developing additional two-plus-two agreements with our community college partners, wherein a prospective teacher has a clear pathway from the community college through the university in as efficient a manner as possible."

Holm said Athens State is looking for ways to help with the teacher shortage.

"We are continually reviewing the data and the options to make adjustments and course corrections as quickly and as mission-true as possible when new information comes down from the state," she said.

Minor said there is at least one important thing colleges and universities can do to encourage students to pursue a teaching degree.

"Explaining the importance it will have on future generations," she said. "I think expressing the importance of education and just showing the impact it could have on local communities in general could be a helpful step in promoting the profession."

In April 2022, Alabama lawmakers approved a statewide teacher raise in an effort to attract and retain educators. Teachers with less than nine years of experience received a 4% raise. Teachers with nine or more years of experience received raises ranging from 5% to 21%. Gov. Kay Ivey's proposed fiscal 2024 budget includes a 2% raise for teachers, plus additional investments in teacher recruitment.

Minor said raises are nice, but you must have a passion for the job.

"I don't think it's about the salary necessarily; I mean it definitely does help to some extent," she said.

Holm said Athens State's teaching programs have undergone significant changes and expansions over the last five to 10 years to better prepare educators for modern classroom challenges. She said there has been an increased focus on technology and inclusivity and respect in the classrooms, and an emphasis on the importance of experiential and hands-on learning.

"We have also expanded our focus on career readiness and professional development," Holm said. "This includes offering workshops and assignments on topics such as job search strategies, resume writing and interview skills, as well as providing opportunities for students to network with alumni and district professionals.

"By preparing future teachers not just for the classroom, but also for the job market and the demands of the profession, these programs are helping to ensure that graduates are well-equipped to succeed in their careers."

Jon Bret Smith, Lawrence County Schools superintendent, said his district has not had a problem filling teaching positions this school year.

"We don't have any open spots at this point," he said. "We have had them in the past that we couldn't fill, and we have worked with local universities to fill those spots. But right now, we are very fortunate that we don't have any teaching positions that are not filled."

Smith said they have implemented some practices that have helped fill teacher vacancies, including working with Athens State and UNA.

"In the past, for example, we had an elementary position that we could not fill. We would essentially hire a retired teacher to supervise a student intern," he said. "The student intern would start just like a certified teacher, and they would work that semester, but when he or she graduated they would just roll right into that teaching spot."

Another program, Grow Your Own, has helped his school system, Smith said.

"We would take them right out of high school up to almost doing their student internship and we'll hire them, and they'll work 19 hours a week at our schools, mainly for tutoring and things like that," he said. "The whole time they're in college ... they'll continue to work for us 19 hours a week. "

When they graduate, he hopes they will take a job with Lawrence County Schools.

"For example we have a math teacher, and our hopes are that we'll have a math slot for that individual," he said.

Smith's hope is not just that the program will eventually fill vacant teacher slots, but that it will do so with local applicants.

"We're hoping long term — this is not just about now addressing immediately — but anytime we can get a quality person from our county, we hope that they'll get a job here and stay here," he said. "I know there's a great deal of employees that move now between schools. So, we feel like if they have local ties, they're more apt to stay in our school system."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.