Where Can We Find Future K-12 Science and Math Teachers? A Search by Academic Year, Discipline, and Academic Performance Level.

The article reports on the findings of a survey conducted to determine which science, engineering, and math (SEM) majors during which years in their undergraduate education and from which academic performance levels are most interested in K-12 teaching. In the United States, there is a serious shortage of qualified math and science teachers. Troubled not only by recruitment, the science and math K-12 teaching field also suffers from flagging retention. Only 4% of new math and science teachers report foreseeing teaching as a longer-term career commitment. One result of the supply shortage of K-12 science and math teachers is the field's reported decline in content knowledge preparation. Nearly 32% of math and science teachers report majoring in neither math nor science. When disaggregated by discipline at the high school level, as of 1999, those without majors in their subject areas number 37% of biology teachers, 59% of physical science teachers, and 60% of math teachers. These unpromising statistics grow more extreme in middle schools and high-poverty public high schools, especially regarding math and physical sciences instruction.