Qualifications of teachers who stay, leave the school, or quit the profession
| Teaching at same school | Left the school but in teaching | Left teaching | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certification | ||||
| Fully certified | 92.1% | 88.1% | 90.3% | 91.7% |
| Not fully certified | 7.9% | 11.9% | 9.7% | 8.3% |
| Took traditional route into teaching | 86.1% | 82.5% | 82.9% | 85.7% |
| Took alternative route into teaching | 13.9% | 17.5% | 17.1% | 14.3% |
| Earned NBPTS certification | 16.6% | 15.2% | 18.3% | 16.6% |
| Did not earn NBPTS certification | 83.4% | 84.8% | 81.7% | 83.4% |
| Experience | ||||
| Experienced (over 5 years) | 80.9% | 66.1% | 77.2% | 79.7% |
| Mid-career (6–20 years) | 57.7% | 54.9% | 42.4% | 56.4% |
| Senior (Over 21 years) | 23.3% | 11.2% | 34.8% | 23.3% |
| Inexperienced (5 years or less) | 19.1% | 33.9% | 22.8% | 20.3% |
| Novice (1–2 years) | 6.0% | 13.2% | 10.0% | 6.8% |
| Early career (3–5 years) | 13.1% | 20.7% | 12.8% | 13.5% |
| Education | ||||
| Educational background in subject of main assignment | 69.5% | 66.9% | 63.1% | 68.9% |
| No educational background in subject of main assignment | 30.5% | 33.1% | 36.9% | 31.1% |
Note: Data are for teachers in public noncharter schools. According to research and to the U.S. Department of Education, highly qualified teachers have the following four credentials: They are fully certified (with a regular, standard state certificate or advanced professional certificate versus not having completed all the steps); they took a traditional route into teaching (participated in a traditional certification program versus an alternative certification program, the latter of which is defined in the teacher survey questionnaire as “a program that was designed to expedite the transition of nonteachers to a teaching career, for example, a state, district, or university alternative certification program”); they are experienced (have more than five years of experience); and they have a background in the subject of main assignment; i.e., they have a bachelor's or master's degree in the main teaching assignment field (general education, special education, or subject-matter specific degree) versus having no educational background in the subject of main assignment. The table also provides shares of teachers with an additional qualification—certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in at least one content area. Teaching status is determined by the reported status of teachers in the Teacher Follow-up Survey conducted for the 2012–2013 school year, one year after the 2011–2012 Schools and Staffing Survey. Teachers who stay at the same school are teachers whose status the year after is “Teaching in this school.” Teachers who left teaching are those who generated a vacancy in the 2012–2013 school year and are not in the profession (they left teaching, were on long-term leave, or were deceased). Teachers who generated a vacancy in the school year but remained in the profession (i.e., left to teach in another school or were on short-term leave and planned to return to the school) are in the "left the school but in teaching" category.
Source: 2011–2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and 2012–2013 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) microdata from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)