More from Richard Ingersoll
On School Organization and Accountability
Teachers' Decision-Making Power and School Conflict
Published in the April 1996 issue of Sociology of Education, this is a research report examining what difference the amount of power exercised by teachers in schools makes for how well schools function. It uses national data to examine the effects of two kinds of teacher power in regards to core educational issues in schools -- collective faculty policy influence and individual teacher classroom autonomy -- on the degree of conflict among teachers, students and administrators. In particular, the results draw attention to the importance of teacher power over activities concerned with the crucial, but oft overlooked, sorting and socialization functions in schools. Download a copy.
Organizational Control in Secondary Schools
Published in the summer 1994 issue of Harvard Educational Review, this research report uses national data to address the debate between two prominent and contradictory views of organizational control in schools. One view holds that schools lack appropriate levels of control over teachers and their work and, hence, are overly decentralized organizations. The other holds that teachers lack appropriate levels of control over key decisions and policies and, hence, schools are overly centralized organizations. Download a copy.
Loosely Coupled Organizations Revisited
Winner of the Harry Braverman Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Published in the 1993 volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations, this is a critique of the view, popular among both researchers and reformers, that elementary and secondary schools are the epitome of loosely coupled systems and lack internal coordination, control and accountability in regard to the work of teachers. Download a copy.
On Teacher Turnover and Shortages
Holes in the Teacher Supply Bucket
Published in the March 2002 issue of The School Administrator, this is a short two-page commentary piece on why the teacher shortage is a case of a wrong diagnosis and wrong prescriptions. Download a copy.
High Turnover Plagues Schools
A one-page op-ed piece, appeared in USA Today, August 15, 2002. Download a copy.
The Wrong Solution to the Teacher Shortage
Published in the May 2003 issue of Educational Leadership, this is a short 4-page article with data on the reasons for high beginning teacher attrition. Download a copy.
Why Do High-Poverty Schools have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers?
Commissioned and published by the Center for American Progress, this 30-page policy brief extends earlier work on teacher shortages and turnover by focusing on these problems in rural and urban high-poverty schools. Download a copy.
Is There Really a Shortage of Mathematics and Science Teachers?
A presentation by Dr. Ingersoll of his research on teacher turnover and shortages among math/science teachers. Presented at the Math Science Partnership Learning Network Conference on Jan. 31, 2006, Washington DC. To view the entire video of the presentation with accompanying slides and transcript, click here.
On Teacher Quality
Congressional Expert Testimony
Published in Teacher Preparation Initiatives: Hearing Before the Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress. This is a brief summary of the problem of out-of-field teaching with federal policy recommendations presented by Dr. Ingersoll at the Congressional Hearings on Teacher Policy held in February, 1998. Download a copy.
Measuring Out-of-Field Teaching
This longer paper describes, compares and evaluates over a dozen different measures of out-of-field teaching that have been used over the past 2 decades. The objective is to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of each in order to aid researchers in their decisions as to which is best to use in their analyses and to help users interpret what any given measure actually indicates about the extent of underqualified teaching in schools. Copies available by request from Dr. Ingersoll.
Core Problems: Out-of-Field Teaching Persists In Key Academic Courses and High-Poverty Schools
Produced with Heather Peske and Candace Crawford of the Education Trust and published in November, 2008, this 13-page report uses national data to produce a state-by-state analysis of data on the percentage of core academic secondary school classes taught by teachers without qualifications in the subject. The report documents the large problem of disproportionate numbers of classes in high-poverty and high-minority secondary schools being taught by underqualified teachers. The report also includes a list of recommendations which states, districts and schools can act on to help reduce out-of-field teaching. Download a copy.
All Talk, No Action: Putting an End to Out-of-Field Teaching
Produced with Craig Jerald and published in August 2002 by the Education Trust, this 14-page report has a state-by-state analysis of the national data on the percentage of core academic secondary school classes taught by a teacher without major or minor in the subject. The report documents the huge and growing problem of disproportionate numbers of classes in high-poverty and high-minority secondary schools being taught by out-of-field teachers. The report also includes a list of recommendations which states, districts and schools can act on immediately to help reduce out-of-field teaching. Download a copy.
Out-of-Field Teaching and the Limits of Teacher Policy
Published in September 2003 by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, this 28-page research report builds on, and updates, earlier work on the problem of out-of-field teaching. It presents data showing how much out-of-field teaching has existed, to what extent it varies across different subjects, and across different kinds of schools, and to what extent levels of out-of-field teaching have changed during these years, for both the nation and the 50 states. It discusses reasons for the failure of many popular teacher quality reforms and draws lessons for the prospects of the No Child Left Behind Act. Download a copy.
Why Some Schools Have More Underqualified Teachers Than Others
Published in the 2004 issue of Brookings Papers on Education Policy, this 30-page research paper uses advanced statistical analysis to examine which characteristics of school districts and schools are related to the degree of out-of-field teaching in schools. Download a copy.
Out-of-Field Teaching: The Great Obstacle to Meeting the "Highly Qualified" Teacher Challenge
Published in September 2004 by National Governor's Association, this 17-page issue brief summarizes the teacher quality provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, presents data showing how each state stands in terms of the new requirements, clarifies some widespread misunderstanding surrounding the sources of the problem of underqualified teachers and, finally, suggests some actions states and school districts could take to address the problem. Download a copy.