{"id":3515,"date":"2021-01-18T16:04:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T21:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3515"},"modified":"2021-01-18T16:04:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T21:04:44","slug":"science-teachers-are-a-critical-need-in-florida-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3515","title":{"rendered":"Science teachers are a critical need in Florida … again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Florida Department of Education issues an annual report entitled Identification of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas. (Here is the most recent report.<\/a>) For at least a decade, science has been on the list of certification areas that “represent the greatest need among teachers statewide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The factors used to determine which certification areas are critical needs include:
\n–how many courses in that field that are taught by teachers not certified in the appropriate field
\n–the current and projected number of vacancies by certification area
\n–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)
\n–and other factors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leaders<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and landing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 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?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2021-22<\/strong>
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 3
Science-Earth&Space: 7
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-Physical: 487
Science-General: 1,188
Science-Earth&Space: 411
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-Earth&Space: 0
Science-General: 13
Science-Physical: 15<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020-21
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 2
Science-Physical: 5
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-Physical: 496
Science-General: 1,122
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-General: 17
Science-Physical: 23<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019-20
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 5
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-Physical: 420
Science-General: 1,026
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-General: 32
Science-Physical: 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018-19
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 1
Science-Physical: 7
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-Physical: 601
Science-General: 923
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-General: 26
Science-Physical: 15<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017-18
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 3
Science-Earth&Space: 4
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-General: 1,011
Science-Earth&Space: 421
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-Earth&Space: 0
Science-General: 27<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016-17
Critical Teacher Shortage Ranking<\/strong>
Science-General: 1 (tied)
Science-Physical: 1 (tied)
Teachers Not Certified in the Appropriate Field<\/strong>
Science-Physical: 432
Science-General: 736
Current and Projected Number of Vacancies by Certification Area<\/strong>
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<\/strong>
Science-General: 34
Science-Physical: 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015-16<\/strong>
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2014-15<\/strong>
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013-14<\/strong>
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2012-13<\/strong>
There were no sub-categories of General, Physical and Earth&Space. The overall Science category was ranked number 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-UH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":805,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=805","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":0},"title":"Critical teacher shortages","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"During the next state board of education meeting, the need to address critical teacher shortages in certain teaching fields for the 2009-2010 school year will be discussed. This action item shows that \"middle and high school level science\" is one of those areas in trouble. That's nothing new, though, since\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3541,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3541","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":1},"title":"Why isn\u2019t Florida government making science education a priority?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An op-ed I wrote was published in today's Orlando Sentinel. Press releases issued by the Florida Department of Education are always overflowing with good news. Everything is great. Student performance is always trending upward. Our state government is doing everything right when it comes to education. But the it\u2019s-always-sunny-in-Florida mantra\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1636,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1636","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":2},"title":"Florida, we have a problem","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford to be a teacher. Not now and most likely not anytime soon. I have my college degree in biology education. I have my teacher certification in biology and middle school math, too. All I need to do is apply for jobs. But I simply can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cross that\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1636#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3486,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3486","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":3},"title":"A decade later and science education is still not important to Florida’s leaders","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"July 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday was the big day! The results for the annual statewide education assessments were released. A press release from Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran's office celebrated score increases in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Biology. He praised \"awe-inspiring\" teachers and he highlighted a new law that pushed all\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1314,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1314","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":4},"title":"Elementary school teachers need more science","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"May 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Center for American Progress issued a report recently entitled Slow Off the Mark: Elementary School Teachers and the Crisis in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education. The main point of the report is that elementary school teachers are ill prepared to effectively teach their students math and science. From\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1314#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3506,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3506","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":5},"title":"Florida Evolution vs. Creationism Timeline","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The need to defend science education in Florida is truly never ending. I chronicled the many skirmishes, battles and wars fought over the teaching of evolution in my book Going Ape: Florida's Battles over Evolution in the Classroom. 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