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These are tough times to be looking for work as a teacher.

Unless, it seems, you're hoping to become a math teacher.

That's the conclusion of a recent report, which finds that nationwide demand for teachers has fallen in all 60 fields examined over the past year. Only one subject area—math teaching—was found to be in "considerable demand," according to the latest version of an annual report released by the American Association for Employment in Education (subscription required). In recent years, more than a dozen subjects have had serious shortages, but not this year. Interesting that the demand for math teachers outpaces even that of other, traditionally high-need subjects like special education.

Districts are struggling to avoid layoffs and cuts in the dismal economy. And teachers who have jobs, even those who are on the cusp of retirement, are staying put, the report suggests. The job losses have come despite the huge infusion of federal funds around the country. This story in the Associated Press gives the picture on the ground in school systems in Kansas and Texas, where one school district had 5,000 applicants for 300 teaching jobs. Many teachers who were thinking of getting certified in one subject may be going back for more training in others, hoping to bolster their credentials, the story notes.

The report sums up the hiring scene this way:

"In 2009, job opportunities for educators dwindled dramatically, reflecting the steepest one-year decline in the past 29 years. This .28 point decline in opportunities coincided with the sharp decline in the U.S. economy. It appears that even with the promise of government stimulus funds and what seems to be an ending of the current economic downturn, education employers have reduced staff and are hesitant to hire in this uncertain market. It also appears that educators nearing retirement are hesitant to retire because of the tenuous nature of future health-care benefits coupled with a significant decline in the value of their retirement nest eggs.

The job prospects for newly graduated and unemployed educators is more challenging and likely will remain in this status until well after an economic recovery. This being said, there are still educator positions available, but perhaps not in the geographic area or desired position type. The high-need areas in special education, math, and some science reflect a lessening demand, but jobs are still available. Significant regional variations are reflected in the data."

All this is not to say that the job market for math and science teachers is going gangbusters. As my colleague Stephen Sawchuk reported recently, there are a lot more applicants, some of them entering the field through alternative certification, and a limited number of positions. One thing that employment reports cannot tell us (at least I haven't seen it) is what happens to the quality of instruction in a tough economy? If districts can afford to be choosy, and the best candidates are in demand, do test scores and student learning improve? Or would there always too many other factors in play to make a conclusion about that?

What's the hiring situation like in your state or district, and how are schools of education, and job candidates, responding?

Posted by Sean Cavanagh at 11:41 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

The organization Common Core, which calls for giving students strong grounding across academic disciplines, has organized an open letter critiquing the program put forward by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and calling for the group to revise its goals.

That letter is signed by some big names in education policy, including Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers; education historian Diane Ravitch; Core Knowledge founder E.D. Hirsch Jr.; Chester Finn, of the Fordham Foundation; and John Silber, the retired president of Boston University. Some of those people have been on record previously as opposing the 21st-century-skills push.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, as we've discussed in the pages of EdWeek, promotes the cultivation of a broad range of critical-thinking, creative, and analytical skills among students, including technological know-how, as well as "soft skills," in areas such as communication. Those skills are vital to succeeding on the job and in life, the organization argues, and schools should nurture them. Supporters of that approach say they are not overlooking the importance of hard-and-fast academic content, but critics of the skills movement have not been assuaged.

In its open letter, titled "A Challenge to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills," the letter-writers say the approach of the Partnership, or P21, "marginalizes knowledge and therefore will deny students the liberal education they need." They add that "skills can neither be taught nor applied effectively without prior knowledge of a wide array of subjects."

The letter accuses P21 of attempting to "teach skills apart from knowledge," and calls for the program to be "fundamentally revised." As it now stands, it is "undermining the quality of education in America."

While the AFT's Weingarten's name is on the letter, her objections are definitely not shared by the 3.2 million-member National Education Association. The NEA is a founding member of P21, the union's executive director, John Wilson, noted in an e-mail, when I asked him for comment. Wilson took a dim view of the letter, which he said mischaracterizes P21's agenda.

"This group continues to amaze me," he said of the letter-writers, "that they would pit core knowledge against 21st-century skills, when our students need both. ... I have witnessed first- hand teachers using 21st-century skills and new technology to enhance the teaching of core subjects. To relegate today’s students to rows of desks, a teacher at the front of the classroom espousing content, and a textbook with paper and pencil is to guarantee that our students will be left with the lowest skills and the lowest-paying jobs."

Ken Kay, the president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, had this response in an e-mail: "We have never advocated, in any context, the teaching of 21st century skills separate from content. It is clear that you can’t just teach students to think, you have to teach them to critically think, problem solve and innovate about something – knowledge is the base of learning."

Added Kay: "Why don’t we all agree on an agenda of improving curriculum, assessment and professional development to ensure students acquire deep content knowledge and at the same time develop the skills vital to success in today’s world?"

Posted by Sean Cavanagh at 5:05 PM | Permalink | 10 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

A team of researchers commissioned by the Wallace Foundation set out to find out how arts educators define high-quality arts programs for children in grades K-12. In a report on their findings, "The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education," based on a literature review and on-site interviews with arts educators nationwide, they write the following statement in the executive summary: "...a hallmark sign of high quality arts learning in any program is that the learning experiences are rich and complex for all learners, engaging them on many levels and helping them learn and grow in a variety of ways."

If you ask me, this statement doesn't tell us much. The value of this qualitative report on the quality of arts programs both inside and outside of schools in this country is in the details of the 121-page report, not the executive summary.

For example, I got more information about what might constitute a high-quality arts program from a set of goals that arts educators said they were striving to achieve (on page 17 of the report). Among them are to teach artistic skills, develop aesthetic awareness, provide a path for students to express themselves, and to help students develop as individuals.

Also, the report contains a list of considerations that arts educators should make when designing programs, which include staffing, program evaluation, who the students should be, and allocation of resources.

Overall the report provides a guide on what constitutes a high-quality arts program, according to those who have been active in the field. I learned some new concepts, such as the importance of physical space and the quality of materials for arts educators. Here's an excerpt on this issue from the report's authors:

Everyone wanted to create at least some of the aspects of an authentic work space for their young artists. This may be accomplished with various means, sometimes comprehensive (fully professional dance studios with mirrors, sprung floors, and ballet barres, for example, or high-tech photo studios with up-to-date software on high-end hardware and professional-level printers) and sometimes more minimalist (authentic and beautiful African drums, for example,) but always with something that linked it closely to professional practice.

The report caused me to reflect on my own arts education, which included private piano lessons with a retired music professor from a local college and a painting class in my public high school. In both cases, I think the high-quality of the artistic skills of my teachers added the most to the quality of my experience.

The researchers for the report are from Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education. "At Project Zero," the researchers write in the report, "we believe that an education without the arts is an incomplete education that fails to develop the full potential of individuals, communities, and societies."

Posted by Mary Ann Zehr at 3:45 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

The U.S. Department of Education is hosting a gallery of prize-winning graphic arts posters by high school seniors that illustrate the theme, "Life is Better with Art in It." The posters on display through July 13 are the winning selections from a national competition sponsored by the Art Institutes, a system of 42 art institutes in North America, and Americans for the Arts, for students pursuing careers in the visual arts.

The selection of posters was first featured at an event on Capitol Hill on June 24 that Christopher Powers, the assistant director of photography for EdWeek, and I attended. Ciara Borchard, 18, who graduated this spring from Granite Hills High School in Apple Valley, Calif., was the grand-prize winner for a literally eye-popping poster of a camera lens embedded within the pupil of an eye. She received $25,000 to help pay for tuition to study graphic design at the Art Institute of California-San Diego.

In accepting her award money, Borchard gave tribute to Mike Smith, a digital graphic-design teacher at her high school. "I can't tell you how many hours I spent in his classroom working," she said, noting how important it is for schools to have arts programs to support students who "think outside the box." Her school offered a robust arts program, she said.

This year, 900 students participated in the art contest, and the 12 winners received a total of $100,000 in scholarships to pay toward tuition at one of the member art institutes.

I found it to be a nice change of pace in one of my work days to get a sense for the artistic talents of some of the nation's youths. So if you're in the neighborhood of 400 Maryland Ave. SW, you might want to stop by to see the students' posters on display.

Photo credit: Christopher Powers/Education Week

Posted by Mary Ann Zehr at 12:00 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan stopped by a rally yesterday and received petitions from people who want federal lawmakers to provide the money needed for music and the arts to be required core subjects in public schools, according to the Associated Press and ed.gov blog.

Texas, by the way, will soon require middle school students to take one fine arts course, if the Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signs a bill on Monday that will revamp the state's school accountability system. Folks at the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education are very happy about the arts provision in that bill. Already, the state requires students to take one fine arts credit to graduate. The requirement for middle school students to take a fine arts course will be new.

Flypaper also picked up on a blog entry over at USA Today about the rally. Making music a core subject in reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act is an "interesting proposal," Amy Fagan at Flypaper says, "though we're not entirely sure what that would look like."

Posted by Mary Ann Zehr at 10:47 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | TrackBacks (0)

It's been more than a decade since the National Assessment of Educational Progress tested 8th graders in what they know and can do in the arts. In that amount of time, the proportion of schools offering the arts at least several times a week has stayed about the same, according to the NAEP arts report released today. In 2008, 57 percent of 8th graders attended schools where music instruction was provided at least three or four times a week, while 47 percent went to schools where visual-arts instruction was offered at least as often. See my story on the report, which was just posted at edweek.org.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a statement this morning saying the report "should challenge all of us to make K-12 arts programs more available to America’s children and youth." He added: "Such programs not only engage students’ creativity and academic commitment today, but they uniquely equip them for future success and fulfillment. We can and should do better for America’s students."

Duncan didn't mention any ways that the federal government is or could be helping schools increase offerings in the arts. NAEP itself, of course, is a federal effort.

Posted by Mary Ann Zehr at 11:40 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

What's the connection between cultivating students' artistic talent and their overall brain development? That topic was explored at a recent seminar sponsored by the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University's School of Education, as was detailed in this story in the Baltimore Sun.

Researchers, as the article explains, are exploring whether training in the arts can change students' brain structures and the way they think. It's fascinating stuff. The article alludes to a number of intriguing research projects, who is examining a correlation between students' training in music and their skill in geometry. It also mentions another study underway at Harvard, which is looking at the connection between elementary schoolers' prowess with the piano and violin and their development.

It's safe to assume that advocates for the arts would be keen on several of these topics, particularly as they seek to justify their programs' existence during a bleak budget era. One item that might be of particular interest: A lecture given at the arts event by Harvard University's Jerome Kagan, titled, "Why the Arts Matter."

Posted by Sean Cavanagh at 1:49 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Eduflack contends in an essay-like blog entry, "Arts Education and Quantification," that positive academic outcomes from arts education can be quantified. He implies that educators may have to make use of this kind of data to ensure that the arts keeps a strong presence in U.S. schooling.

I gleaned some new information from the essay. I hadn't known, for example, that the National Assessment of Educational Progress includes data on arts proficiency.

I felt sad reading the essay, however, because I don't want to accept the idea that the arts, which feeds our spiritual and creative sides, needs to be measured in an objective way for people in schools to ensure its survival in the curriculum.

Last evening, I finished reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, for the second time, and she writes about how an after-school theater and dance program was a lifeline for her as a teenager. Why can't such testimonies garner the support that arts education needs?

Posted by Mary Ann Zehr at 11:25 AM | Permalink | 3 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

A recent article in Edutopia makes the case that interest in arts education is on the upswing. It says that states and schools are carving out more time for arts education, despite the pressure to test in other subjects, because of the belief that the arts contribute to students' development and can be used as a learning tool. Research on student cognition is fueling this interest, the article says.

The story offers a lot of good links to studies and reports describing trends in arts education across the states. One of the arts advocates featured prominently in the piece is Arizona schools superintendent Tom Horne.

"If they're worried about their test scores and want a way to get them higher, they need to give kids more arts, not less," Horne said. "There's lots of evidence that kids immersed in the arts do better on their academic tests."

Horne has a longstanding interest in the arts, the story notes. He's a classically trained pianist, who founded the Phoenix Baroque ensemble. Sweet music to art lovers, no doubt.

Posted by Sean Cavanagh at 11:29 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)