From Interest to Entry: The Teacher Pipeline From College Application to Initial Employment

Abstract

Strengthening teacher supply is a key policy objective for K–12 public education, but understanding of the early teacher pipeline remains limited. In this descriptive analysis, we leverage the universe of applications to a large public university in Texas from 2009 to 2020 to examine the pipeline into teacher education and employment as a K–12 public school teacher. A unique feature of Texas’s centralized higher education application is that it solicits potential interest in teacher certification. We document sharply declining interest in teaching over the period. Further, we show that students of color, men, and students with higher SAT scores are substantially underrepresented in teacher education. Particularly for race/ethnicity, these disparities are only partially explained by differences in interest at application.

A mixed‐methods approach to identify elements of culturally‐attuned teacher−student relationship interventions

“…Our findings also point to the potential of program elements for teacher−student relationship interventions that reach beyond classrooms and schools to include various systemic forces, such as economic, societal, political, and structural barriers may explain low cultural, racial, and male representations in the teaching profession. They also point to the need for policymakers to address these underlying factors (Bartanen & Kwok, 2023) and for researchers to continue in their quest to identify equitable-framed and culturally-attuned program elements that operate to improve teacher−student relationships for all learners.…”