Attracting Top College Students to a Career in Teaching

Conveniently timed for graduation season, the Boston Globe recently featured an article on the rising popularity of Teach for America, a program that places “outstanding college graduates” as teachers in urban and rural public schools.  According to the article, this year “nearly 19,000 college seniors applied – and more than four in five were turned down.” 

This raises two questions for me: first, what happened to the 80 percent of applicants who were rejected from Teach for America?  Did they go on to pursue other opportunities to teach?  My guess is no.  I bet they’re in law school, working corporate jobs, or doing social justice work in other short-term service programs.  Second, why are so many outstanding college graduates interested in teaching for two years and not interested in teaching as a long-term career?

The source of my guess is admittedly not research. It’s based on my knowledge of myself and my peers from when I graduated from Georgetown, a university at which Teach for America recruits heavily.  I never considered getting a teaching degree after graduation, but I did flirt with the idea of Teach for America.  It bothers me that I, along with so many of my classmates, was prepared to consider teaching for a few years but did not consider teaching as a possible profession. 

The following are my reflections on why that was the case for me, and what we can do to change that trend:   

When I was in college there was one simple reason for my lack of interest in teaching: the flat career path.  I imagined that if I became a teacher, I would be doing basically the same job when I was 60 that I did when I was 22.  This was depressing.  I wanted the adventure of not knowing exactly where life would take me, and teaching did not seem to foster this sort of variation.  I saw the path of teaching as one with very few forks and intersections in terms of differentiated career opportunities.  Eventually, I could become a principal, but that would mean forfeiting the most interesting aspect of teaching –fostering the joy of learning in students. 

Furthermore, I didn’t have much respect for a profession that would let me have so much autonomy at 22.  This seemed like a major design flaw and a prime deterrent from garnering the respect of the outside world.  It gives the impression that anyone can be a teacher, and the last thing that someone ambitious (or crazy) enough to pay for an elite college wants is to be considered just like everyone else.   I wanted a career with structured opportunities to learn from people who clearly surpassed me in knowledge and expertise, and I wanted to know that I was on the path to something much bigger than what I could accomplish at 22.

Five years later, I realize that I had a narrow view of a complex and challenging profession, but I think many college students still share opinions similar to mine.  Here are some ideas on how we could change that perception:

Pay teachers more.  The average cost of attendance at my alma mater is currently an abominable $48,000 per year.  According to the American Federation of Teachers, the average teacher salary in 2003-2004 was only $46,597.  While many students may be willing to take low-paying jobs for several years of work they consider “service,” it’s much more daunting to commit to an entire career in the low five figures.  Relying on good will and a sense of social justice is insufficient to attract high numbers of outstanding college students to the profession.

Pay teachers differently.  Although I certainly think that baseline teacher salaries should be raised, it is more important to create opportunities for teachers to earn more through outstanding job performance (e.g., acting as a mentor, getting National Board Certification, leading high quality professional development, consistently improving student achievement).   A group of highly accomplished teachers is currently working with CTQ to consider these types of compensation reforms.

Make learning continuous.  Comprehensive new teacher induction programs and high quality professional development can provide teachers with the support and professional growth they need to succeed and correct the misperception that teaching is easy work that most people can do. 

Let teachers lead.  If we empower teachers to be more active participants in shaping teaching reform, top college graduates won’t feel so compelled to go into education policy to feel like they are helping to change public education.  Teachers should be at the center of school-level, community, state, and national conversations about improving student achievement.  Becoming a practitioner of education or becoming involved in public policy should not be an either-or choice.

Get the word out.  The changes I mention are starting to happen in communities across the nation.  To attract outstanding college graduates to the teaching profession, we need to promote awareness of the way the teaching profession is changing and how teachers can be instrumental in redefining the landscape of public education.  Teach for America does an outstanding job getting college students to think about teaching for two years.  We need a targeted and comprehensive communications campaign to ensure that more college students consider teaching an adventurous, challenging, and honorable career.

Posted by Mary Raschko