The Florida Department of Education issues an annual report entitled Identification of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas. (Here is the most recent report.) For at least a decade, science has been on the list of certification areas that “represent the greatest need among teachers statewide.”
The factors used to determine which certification areas are critical needs include:
–how many courses in that field that are taught by teachers not certified in the appropriate field
–the current and projected number of vacancies by certification area
–the number of students completing Florida teacher education programs by certification area (this statistic is the most recent available number, usually a few years old)
–and other factors
What happens to this information? The state board of education reviews and approves the report. And then? Nothing, as far as I can tell. There were a couple of incentive programs a long time ago: the Critical Teacher Shortage Tuition Reimbursement Program and the Critical Teacher Shortage Student Loan Forgiveness Program. However, it looks like they were discontinued around 2011.
Keep in mind that other subjects show up in this report every year, too. But my focus is science, of course. Below is a breakdown of the stats from the past ten years. Note that “Science-Physical” groups chemistry and physics together. And one of the stats that stands out the most to me is the number of new teachers Florida’s education programs are producing. There were zero Earth&Space in the 2021-2022 and 2017-2018 reports! And the Science-General teacher education program numbers will never fill all the reported current vacancies and projected vacancies or the not-certified positions. Of course, teachers come from education programs other than Florida’s. But the number of people who take the Florida certification exams to teach science in our state are discouraging, too (see this breakdown of the exams by Bridge to Tomorrow).
I would like to see the source material for many of these numbers. For instance, where does the very high projected vacancy numbers come from and how accurate did they turn out to be each year?
The biggest question we should all have is how does this impact the students, especially this current year of the COVID-19 pandemic? I personally know of a few hundred students currently not getting a quality science education due to having long-term substitutes instead of a certified science teacher in front of the classroom. Even before the pandemic I lamented the low priority science education seems to have in Florida: A decade later and science education is still not important to Florida’s leaders.
Our state and country grapples with problems such as rising seas, invasive species, the quality of our diminishing fresh water resources, and disease outbreaks, just to name a few issues that require a sound background in science to understand and solve. There are also job opportunities in space exploration. Boeing is moving its Space and Launch division headquarters from Virginia to Florida. SpaceX is launching – and landing – rockets here. NASA is testing the Orion spacecraft here. By the way, these high paying jobs require a physics education, Gov. DeSantis.
When will out state leaders start taking science education seriously?
2021-22
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 3
Science-Earth&Space: 7
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-Physical: 487
Science-General: 1,188
Science-Earth&Space: 411
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current vacancies for 2020-21: 152, projected: 370
Science-Physical current for 2020-21: 24, projected: 160
Science-Earth&Space current for 2020-21: 8, projected: 60
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2018-19
Science-Earth&Space: 0
Science-General: 13
Science-Physical: 15
2020-21
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 2
Science-Physical: 5
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-Physical: 496
Science-General: 1,122
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current for 2019-20: 126, projected: 370
Science-Physical current for 2019-20: 10, projected: 195
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2017-18
Science-General: 17
Science-Physical: 23
2019-20
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 5
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-Physical: 420
Science-General: 1,026
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current for 2018-19: 144, projected: 502
Science-Physical current for 2018-19: 16, projected: 164
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2016-17
Science-General: 32
Science-Physical: 9
2018-19
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 7
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-Physical: 601
Science-General: 923
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current for 2017-18: 60, projected: 269
Science-Physical current for 2017-18: 11, projected: 184
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2015-16
Science-General: 26
Science-Physical: 15
2017-18
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 3
Science-Earth&Space: 4
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-General: 1,011
Science-Earth&Space: 421
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current for 2016-17: 71, projected: 220
Science-Earth&Space current for 2016-17: 9, projected: 95
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2014-15
Science-Earth&Space: 0
Science-General: 27
2016-17
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking
Science-General: 1 (tied)
Science-Physical: 1 (tied)
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field
Science-Physical: 432
Science-General: 736
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area
Science-General current for 2014-15: 50, projected: 244
Science-Physical current for 2014-15: 32, projected: 237
Number of Students Completing Florida Teacher Education Programs by Certification Area 2013-14
Science-General: 34
Science-Physical: 17
2015-16
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 6.
2014-15
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 4.
2013-14
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 4.
2012-13
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 1.
