The 1998 edition of Supply and Demand of Educational Personnel for Wisconsin
Public Schools marks the 19th year that the Department of Public Instruction has
published a report on education personnel demographics in this state. Begun as an
analysis of staffing for special education classrooms, it has expanded over the years
to include staffing needs for all Wisconsin teaching positions and administrative
positions.
A special thank you is due to Paul Lauritzen, Professor Emeritus at UW-Whitewater,
for his work in leading the team that prepared the 1998 report. His continued dedication
to improving each edition of the report and asking the important questions for the
future have been helpful beyond measure to our future planning.
The focus of this report is and always has been Wisconsin public schools. Because
of this focus, there have been concerns raised about the analysis of the data and
questions asked about the conclusions drawn from those data. One of the major sources
of concern has been the narrow scope of placement information used; namely, placement
in Wisconsin public school positions only.
Many individuals prepared as teachers in Wisconsin higher education institutions
do, of course, practice and use their professional training outside of Wisconsin
public schools. In order to reflect these additional opportunities and to provide
a more complete picture from the perspective of higher education, this report includes
a supplement prepared by a working group representing UW-System campuses. A special
"thanks" to Senior Vice President David Ward for appointing this work group
and for encouraging the sharing of the additional information. The complete text
of the supplement prepared by this work group is included beginning on page 61.
Some of the differences identified in the UW-System prepared supplement to this report
include:
- Public school placement in Wisconsin only v. private school and out-of-state
employment
- Being hired under contract v. substitute teaching
- Counting individuals who complete programs v. those who complete degrees and
graduate
- Maintaining a focus on state trends v. national employment trends
Representatives from placement offices at several University of Wisconsin campuses
are working with UW-System administration to explore the design of a system-wide
survey instrument and a uniform method of data collection for placement of education
students. Aggregate data could then be incorporated in future supply and demand studies,
which would provide a more comprehensive picture of professional opportunities for
education students.
The Department is pleased to provide this document as a required response to federal
guidelines for special education and as a partial fulfillment of s. 115.29 Wis. Stats.
It is my hope that Wisconsin colleges and universities, both public and private,
continue to consider the staffing needs identified in this report as a guide for
program planning and development.
John T. Benson
State Superintendent
For questions about this information, contact Paul Trilling (608) 266-0933
Last updated on 12/6/2010 1:20:51 PM
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