(INDIANAPOLIS) – The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) this week will submit to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) its most recent list of teacher shortage areas.
Including such areas as Exceptional Needs and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), Indiana’s list highlights the statewide struggle to find teachers for nearly 15 subjects.
Beginning in 1990, USDOE began asking states to annually submit a list of areas highlighting the need for more teachers. IDOE’s submission includes: Business, Computer Education, Computer Science, CTE Licensure Areas (all), Early Childhood Education, Exceptional Needs (all), Fine Arts: Instrumental and General Music, Fine Arts: Vocal and General Music, Mathematics, Science (all), Secondary Language Arts, Technology Education, and Teachers of English Learners; and World Languages (all).
“Sadly, ‘Indiana’ and ‘Teacher Shortage’ have become synonymous terms,” said Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. “For nearly a decade we have struggled to find educators to fill even the frequently offered classroom subjects. Unfortunately, this shortage continues to spill into areas not only critical to Indiana’s educational plan but areas that prepare our students for a bright future. This also highlights the greater issue that Indiana’s educators deserve better pay and more practitioner-inclusive legislation in order to attract and retain them.”
To view the nationwide listing of teacher shortage areas, visit: www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/ateachershortageareasreport2017-18.pdf. For more information on Indiana’s Educator Preparation Programs, visit: www.doe.in.gov/epps.
