ROCK HILL - The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) recently released its South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report for the 2017-18 school year. The report concluded that more public school teachers are leaving their classrooms, resulting in more vacancies and a need for more teachers to fill those vacancies. South Carolina’s colleges and universities also are producing fewer teachers. With more teachers leaving their positions each year and fewer entering the profession, teacher retention is an important consideration for the state.
 
CERRA also has released a study on the retention of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). The state’s teacher turnover rates were compared to turnover rates of South Carolina NBCTs over a five-year period. The most recent data available are from the 2016-17 school year. Specifically, these data represent the rates of teachers who were teaching in a SC public school district in 2015-16, but not teaching in any SC public school district in 2016-17. The SC teacher turnover rate for the 2016-17 school year was 7.7%, yet only 1.9% for all NBCTs in the state.
 
National Board Certification (NBC) is a voluntary, advanced certification process for educators. At a minimum, teachers pay close to $2000 to undergo NBC. The process consists of four components, each designed to evaluate a different aspect of a teacher’s practice. Currently the state pays an annual supplement to new NBCTs for the five years of the national certificate. A proviso passed last legislative session effectively ends the supplement program for candidates who apply after July 1, 2018. This deadline leaves many SC educators unable to benefit from the program.
 
As part of the retention study, CERRA surveyed members of the SC National Board Network to gain anecdotal evidence related to the impact of NBC on teacher instruction and retention. Members, all of whom are NBCTs in the state, were asked if they believed that the NBC process affected their planning, instruction, and/or assessment practices. All survey respondents credited the process with enabling them to reflect on their practice and better assess the different needs of their students. Such reflection and differentiated instruction often have a positive impact on student learning and growth and can lead to an improvement in the teacher’s overall effectiveness. Teachers also reported that the supplement positively impacted their decision to stay in the classroom.
 
According to data released by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), South Carolina remains one of the nation’s leading states for the total number of NBCTs after 91 educators representing 24 school districts earned NBC in December 2017. In addition to these new NBCTs, 490 teachers renewed their certificates in 2017.

Teachers interested in applying for the NBC process can access further information on the CERRA website at nationalboardsc.com.

​The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has released its South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report for the 2017-18 school year. As has been the trend in recent years, more public school teachers are leaving their positions, causing more vacancies and the need for more teachers to fill those vacancies. Approximately 6,700 teachers left their positions during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year. While more than one-quarter of these teachers reportedly went to teach in another SC public school district, about 4,900 teachers are no longer teaching in any SC public school.
 
Teachers leaving early in their careers is a challenge faced by many SC districts. Of the teachers who left during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year, excluding those who went to teach in another SC district, 35% had five or fewer years of experience and 12% had only one year or less of experience. A small improvement is revealed when these percentages are compared to those reported last year, which were 37% and 13%, respectively. One other notable finding relates to first-year teachers hired for the 2016-17 school year; 22% left their positions during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year and are no longer teaching in any SC public school district.
 
The study also concluded that districts are hiring fewer teachers from in-state teacher preparation programs. Since 2012-13, the number of hires coming from this particular source has declined by 25%. This trend can be explained by the multi-year decrease in SC students graduating with a Bachelor’s degree eligible for teacher certification. Because SC colleges and universities are not producing enough teachers to fill current vacancies, school districts are hiring more teachers from other states and countries and from alternative certification programs.
 
At the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, districts reported 550 vacant teaching positions in SC public school classrooms. This number represents a 16% increase compared to vacancies reported at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. In addition to these vacancies are the 7,300 vacancies and new positions filled prior to the start of the 2017-18 school year.
 
Of the 28 SC school districts eligible to participate in the state’s Rural Recruitment Initiative during the 2016-17 school year, FY17 Proviso 1A.64, fourteen districts reported improved retention rates. Now in its second full year of implementation, the Initiative can be expected to produce even more positive results as the participating school districts continue their focused recruitment and retention efforts.
 
The South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report can be accessed on the CERRA website at https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html. 

BY TODD SCHOLL

The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) released its 2016-17 Annual Report today. The report includes information on the significant accomplishments made by CERRA's programs and services. It also provides information on newer initiatives such as the Rural Recruitment Initiative and the Veterans to Teachers Initiative. 

As South Carolina's teacher shortage continues to worsen, CERRA has engaged in strategic planning to address this looming crisis.

Readers can download the entire report below.

Erin Fox, an English teacher from Gaffney High School in the Cherokee County School District was named the 2018 South Carolina Teacher of the Year.

State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman made the announcement at the South Carolina Teacher of the Year Celebration held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center on May 3, 2017. The event, hosted by South Carolina Future Minds, was created to honor and recognize our state's District Teachers of the Year.

​Fox was chosen from among five finalists including Pam Flynn, Elisabeth Hardy, Marcia Womble, Mary Woodward. Learn more about the state's Honor Roll teachers here.

Erin will serve a one-year residency at CERRA where she will serve as an ambassador for the teaching profession. 

District Teachers of the Year were also honored the day after the celebration with a breakfast sponsored by Bojangles followed by recognition at the statehouse by state lawmakers, including Governor Henry McMaster.

According to results from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement’s (CERRA’s) Fall 2016 Supply and Demand Survey, more South Carolina public school teachers are leaving their classrooms each year. Nearly 6,500 teachers did not return to their teaching positions for the 2016-17 school year. More than 1,640 of these teachers took a teaching job in a different SC district, leaving over 4,800 teachers who are no longer teaching in any SC district.
 
Also of note is teachers who leave their positions early in their careers. Of the teachers who did not return for the 2016-17 school year, 38% left within their first five years of teaching and 12% left after one year or less in the classroom. Looking only at first-year, newly hired teachers rather than all newly hired teachers, 28% percent hired for the 2015-16 school year did not return to the same position the following year; 22% neither returned to the same position nor moved to a teaching position in any other SC public school district.
 
The study also found that fewer students are graduating from SC teacher education programs. During the 2015-16 academic year, 1,898 students completed a SC teacher education program. Just three years ago in 2012-13, this number was 2,447. Because of this decline, districts are forced to look to other sources to meet their hiring needs, to include alternative certification programs and teachers from other states or countries.
 
At the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, districts reported approximately 481 vacant teaching positions in SC public schools. This number is up slightly from the 2015-16 school year, yet there are considerably more vacancies in several certification areas including mathematics and special education. In addition to certain certification areas with high levels of teacher demand, there also are geographic areas of the state that struggle with high numbers of departures and vacancies.
 
In 2016, districts with high teacher turnover rates became eligible to receive funds to implement recruitment and retention incentives pursuant to FY16 Proviso 1A.73. As the program continues during the 2016-17 school year, a positive impact in the eligible districts is anticipated and decisions can be made about expanding or modifying the available incentives, as well as recommending incentives to districts in the state that are not eligible for the Proviso funds.

The 2016 Supply and Demand Report, as well as archived reports, can be accessed here.

The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) released its 2015-16 Annual Report detailing the state of the Center's programs and services. 

Highlights include the celebration of CERRA's thirtieth year of operation. The Center was honored with its second Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award when the Teacher Cadet Program took home the coveted prize last fall.

​CERRA also released a major overhaul of the state's mentor training and began to implement rural recruitment incentives. The Center completed a rebranding project culminating in the launch of new logos, websites, etc.

BY TODD SCHOLL

​CERRA's Senior Staff met with the Board of Directors at the South Carolina School Boards Association in Columbia.

The group heard from John Lane who presented about the Commision on Higher Education.

Melanie Barton provided a report from the Education Oversight Committee.

Marcella Wine-Snyder and Jenna Hallman provided updates on CERRA's recruitment programs

Todd Scholl gave the Board a tour of CERRA's new websites.

The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement has released a report on the recent redesign of South Carolina's Mentor Training.

The report, composed by Dr. Jennifer Garrett, details the changes that were made to the state's mentoring program.

Read the full report here.

For several years, data from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement’s (CERRA’s) Supply and Demand Survey Reports have indicated that South Carolina is experiencing a teacher shortage in certain subject and geographic areas. More teachers are leaving the classroom, causing more vacancies and more new hires to fill those positions. The number of teachers leaving each year is significantly higher than the number of students graduating from South Carolina institutions each year who are eligible for teacher certification. In response to these trends, FY16 Proviso 1A.78 was passed directing a study be conducted that projects the number of additional teachers needed annually in public school classrooms for grades K5 through 12, for school years 2016-17 through 2027-28. CERRA and the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) have just released a report that summarizes the results of that study.

In this report, the number of teachers expected to be needed during these years was compared to the number of teachers expected to be available during this same time. Based on this comparison, seven core subject areas are projected to experience a teacher shortage over the next 12 years. These subject areas are art, business/marketing/computer technology, mathematics, sciences, social studies, special education, and Spanish. The report displays tables that include the projected supply and demand of teachers by subject area for three specified school years (2016-17, 2021-22, and 2027-28), as well as the projected teacher surplus or shortage for each subject area. Also included are estimates of the cumulative teacher shortages that South Carolina is likely to experience if there are no changes in current patterns of hiring or completions of in-state teacher education programs. Looking at mathematics, in particular, in order to eliminate the projected teacher shortage by 2021-22, the state will need to produce approximately 459 new math teachers. This number rises to 527 in the 2027-28 school year. These figures incorporate new hires available, teachers leaving, and new demand for teachers from the increasing student count.

As part of Proviso 1A.78, a survey was sent to the deans of teacher education programs in 30 South Carolina public and independent colleges/universities to determine whether these institutions have the capacity and infrastructure to fulfill the projected teacher needs. The survey results indicate that South Carolina colleges and universities with teacher education programs have the willingness and ability to accommodate more teacher candidates in several subject areas that are projected to have teacher shortages. According to the deans, however, there is a lack of student interest in entering the teaching profession, particularly in these core areas: sciences, social studies, mathematics, and special education. Unfortunately, these areas are the ones with the greatest need for teachers and are projected to have the most significant teacher shortages over the next decade.

Overall, South Carolina does not produce a sufficient number of teachers through the state’s teacher education programs to fill current and anticipated vacant positions. Graduates from in-state teacher education programs are the largest source of newly hired teachers each year. Other new hires include international teachers and those from another state, and teachers from alternative certification programs like South Carolina’s Program of Alternative Certification (PACE). These sources combined, however, may not generate a supply of teachers large enough to meet the current or projected demand for teachers based on student enrollment.

Read the study here.