Diagnosing the current state of out-of-field teaching in high school science and mathematics

The U.S. government has acknowledged the critical role that teachers play in the production of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) professionals who will drive our nation's economy. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was passed to improve the quality of education n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-09, Vol.14 (9), p.e0223186-e0223186
Main Authors: Shah, Lisa, Jannuzzo, Cooper, Hassan, Taufiq, Gadidov, Bogdan, Ray, Herman E, Rushton, Gregory T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Performance - statistics & numerical data
Academic Performance - trends
Analysis
Biology
Certification
Chemistry
College faculty
Education
Educational surveys
Engineering - education
High schools
Humans
Learning
Mathematical analysis
Mathematics - education
Medical diagnosis
Methods
No Child Left Behind Act 2001-US
Organic chemistry
People and Places
Physical Sciences
Physics
Polls & surveys
Problem-Based Learning - methods
Problem-Based Learning - statistics & numerical data
Problem-Based Learning - trends
Research and Analysis Methods
School Teachers - organization & administration
School Teachers - statistics & numerical data
Schools - organization & administration
Schools - statistics & numerical data
Schools - trends
Science - education
Science Policy
Science teachers
Secondary schools
Social Sciences
STEM education
Students
Students - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires - statistics & numerical data
Teachers
Teaching
Technology
Technology - education
United States
Workforce planning
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Summary:The U.S. government has acknowledged the critical role that teachers play in the production of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) professionals who will drive our nation's economy. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was passed to improve the quality of education nationwide, in part, by decreasing the number of out-of-field (OOF) teachers. However, the impact of NCLB and related efforts on the current state of OOF teaching in high school science and mathematics has yet to be examined. Our analysis of data from the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) indicates that from 2003-2016, the proportion of OOF teachers in chemistry and physics has increased, and there has been an increase in the number of students assigned to OOF teachers across subjects. We discuss the societal impact of our results and the critical role that policymakers, school administrators, and academic institutions, particularly university faculty, can play in its solution.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0223186