1998 Supply and Demand - Preface

This report presents supply and demand information about educational personnel for Wisconsin Public Schools. The complete report is available on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) web page (dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/supdem98.html). The 1997 report, which contains maps of the teaching position vacancies in twelve geographic regions, is available from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The author hopes this information is of value to those making policy decisions for the state, those administering programs at the University of Wisconsin System campuses and Wisconsin's independent colleges and universities that prepare educators, and those wishing to make more informed career choices in education. This report complies with the reporting requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), an amendment to PL 94-142, which requires accurate reporting of personnel needs in special education, complete data on the status of emergency licenses, and future projections of personnel needs for the field.

This is the 19th annual report on supply and demand of educational personnel for Wisconsin Public Schools and the last year for the retiring principal investigator. For the first eight years, the report focused only on special education. Since that time, however, the report expanded to include supply and demand information for all teaching fields and non-teaching areas of education. This report also continues the analysis presented in previous years on the number of newly licensed teachers, the sources of newly hired teachers, and projected future personnel needs in education. Repeated in the 1998 report is complete attrition dta on educators in each subject field which will provide an information base to determine the impact of increased retirements due to the aging of the educators in this state's public schools.

Sources of data include information from Wisconsin Public School districts collected on the third Friday of September and reported to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI, in the Exceptional Education Enrollment Report (PI 2300), School District Staff and Teacher Personnel Report (PI 1202), and from the educator preparation institutions that provided the number of newly prepared educators eligible for licensure. The supply and demand data analyzed in past Wisconsin studies have documented a surplus of teachers seeking positions in most subject fields and shortages in several areas.

Recent years have shown considerable variation in the number of newly hired teachers in Wisconsin Public Schools. This 1997-1998 school year reversed the decline from the previous two years. The projection of the employability of educators use the three-year average of newly hired teachers so that the yearly fluctuations do not cause bias in the long range analysis used in estimating future educator needs. the projection of increasing number of retirements over the next nine years must be evaluated in light of the large reserve pool of teachers and the current high levels of preparation so that the needs of specific fields are addressed.

The major tables are at the end of the report, making the text for Chapters 1 through 5 uninterrupted. Each chapter begins with highlights of the most important findings, which are followed by supporting information and explanations.

The factors that contribute to the supply and demand of educational personnel are complex, and certain limitations are inherent in this research area. The report deals with educators employed only in Wisconsin Public Schools. Certainly, educational opportunities exist in non-public schools, and some graduates of educator preparation institutions in Wisconsin choose to work in other states. Within the parameters of this study accurate data about these educators are difficult to gather; therefore, it is likely that some errors exist. For this reason the researcher sought to validate findings by using multiple data sources. Despite these limitations, this report provides a reasonably accurate educator supply and demand picture that will contribute to making the best qualified educators available to all children who attend Wisconsin public schools. The study includes a supplement from the University of Wisconsin System Administration from the perspective of teacher preparation programs presenting many other factors and considerations that should be considered when evaluating the prospects for teacher education students.

For questions about this information, contact Paul Trilling (608) 266-0933

Last updated on 12/6/2010 1:21:53 PM