Schools Can’t Find Teachers. Do States Need More Credential Rules or Fewer?

学校找不到老师。各州是需要更多的资格认证规则，还是更少？

For Aspire Public Schools in Los Angeles, the turnaround took a couple of years.

对于洛杉矶的阿斯皮尔公立学校而言，其（办学状况的）扭转花了数年时间。

Coming back from the pandemic, the 11 charter schools serving about 4,400 students saw a steep drop in credentialed teachers sticking with their roles. So relying on a program at Alder Graduate School of Education that pays graduate students to work as teachers-in-training, Aspire built an internal pipeline of new educators.

疫情过后，为约 4400 名学生提供服务的 11 所特许学校发现，有资质的教师留任率大幅下降。因此，依托奥尔德教育研究生院的一个项目 —— 该项目为研究生提供薪资，让他们以实习教师的身份工作 —— 阿斯皮尔建立了内部的新教育工作者培养通道。

The program has been successful, according to Christopher Carr, executive director for Aspire in Los Angeles. The retention rate for teachers in the network has soared from around 60 percent to 90 percent, Carr reports. The biggest success of the school's internal pipeline has been in special education, which suffered the highest personnel loss after the pandemic.

据洛杉矶阿斯皮尔执行主任克里斯托弗・卡尔介绍，该项目已取得成功。该报告说，该网络教师的留任率已从约 60% 飙升至 90%。该校内部培养通道的最大成功体现在特殊教育领域 —— 这是疫情后人员流失最严重的领域。

But perhaps the best benefit has been that this allows incoming teachers to absorb the culture of Aspire. Aspire focuses on “antiracism,” according to Carr. He credits this approach with helping the network to increase its number of Black teachers, by allowing schools to consciously recruit them. A couple of years ago, around 7 percent of Aspire’s teachers were Black. Now, that number has doubled, to around 14 percent.

但或许该计划最大的益处在于，它能让新入职的教师融入阿斯皮尔的文化。据卡尔介绍，阿斯皮尔专注于 “反种族主义”。他认为，通过允许学校有意识地招聘黑人教师，这一举措帮助该学校网络增加了黑人教师的数量。几年前，阿斯皮尔约7%的教师是黑人。如今，这一数字已翻倍，约14%左右。

But it’s still really hard to attract math and science teachers for middle school and high school: “It’s almost impossible to find a physics teacher right now,” he says.

但仍然非常困难吸引初高中的数学和科学教师：“现在几乎不可能找到物理老师，” 他说。

Still, to the extent Aspire schools have been successful recruiting and keeping teachers, the chain is in a rare position.

尽管如此，就Aspire学校在招聘和留住教师方面所取得的成功而言，该连锁链处于一个罕见的地位。

In California, like elsewhere in the country, teacher pipelines are drying up.

在加州和加利福尼亚州，如同美国其他地区一样，教师人才输送渠道正在枯竭。

Nationally, states have relaxed educator credential requirements to help schools navigate workforce issues. But without greater investment into alternative teacher-training pipelines, some experts worry that schools’ struggle to find and keep teachers will only get worse.

在全国范围内，各州放宽了教育工作者资质要求，以帮助学校应对师资队伍问题。但一些专家担心，如果不加大对替代性教师培训通道的投资，学校在招聘和留任教师方面的斗争只会愈发严峻。

But at the same time, some states have had to make rules more strict: Texas has reversed course on educator credentials, from 2001 — when the state loosened regulations and functionally allowed teachers-in-training to rely on fully online programs — to this year, when it passed a new law to reduce reliance on underqualified educators.

但与此同时，一些州不得不收紧规定：得克萨斯州在教育工作者资质政策上改变了方向——从 2001 年——该州放宽监管、实际允许实习教师依赖纯线上课程，到今年通过新法律以减少对不合格教育工作者的依赖。

State experiments with strict and lenient credential rules have not yet yielded definitive solutions.

各州对严格和宽松的证书规则进行的实验尚未产生明确的解决方案。

Comparative Advantage

比较优势是

California has some of the most robust teacher qualification requirements, says Beatrice Viramontes, executive director of Teach for America Bay Area.

美国 Teach for America 湾区的执行董事比阿特丽斯·维拉蒙特斯说，加州有一些最为严格的教师资格要求。

The state’s education system desperately needs quality teachers in schools, but the traditional credential requirements are expensive and include a lot of steps for prospective teachers, Viramontes says. It creates an additional barrier to boosting staff numbers — along with other hurdles like pay — and schools are having a difficult time attracting teachers, especially among younger generations. Gen Z and millennial teachers tend to leave the field earlier. It means that, as older teachers retire, it’s harder to replace them with quality new hires, Viramontes says.

加州的教育系统迫切需要学校中有高质量的教师，但维拉蒙特斯（Viramontes）表示，传统的资质要求成本高昂，且对教师来说步骤繁多。这给师资数量的扩充制造了额外障碍 —— 再加上薪资等其他难题 —— 学校很难吸引教师，尤其是在年轻一代中。Z世代和千禧一代的教师往往更早离开这个行业。维拉蒙特斯指出，这意味着随着老教师退休，用高质量的新员工取代他们变得更加困难。

Solving the problem has required schools to take on a DIY spirit.

解决这个问题需要学校拿出DIY精神。

“There’s a lot of energy in getting creative, because the current process is cumbersome,” Viramontes says.

维拉蒙特斯（Viramontes）表示：“人们在创新方面倾注了大量精力，因为目前的流程过于繁琐。”

Teach for America runs an alternative teacher credentialing program. Since the pandemic, schools have started creating their own in-house alternative training programs, too. Some of these try to even usher students currently working to earn a bachelor’s degree through the credential process.

TFA运行着一个替代性教师资格认证项目。自疫情以来，学校也开始创建自己的内部替代培训项目。其中一些项目甚至尝试引导正在攻读学士学位的学生完成资质认证流程。

Viramontes praises some approaches as “innovative.” For instance, there’s Rivet, a paraprofessional program that works to bring students pursuing a bachelor’s into classrooms; and TeachStart, a teacher academy that specializes in pathways to credential substitute teachers.

维拉蒙特斯（Viramontes）称赞一些方法是 “颇具创新的”。例如，“Rivet” 项目是一个辅助专业人员计划，旨在将攻读学士学位的学生带入课堂；而 “TeachStart” 教师学院则专注于为替代教师（代课教师）提供获取资质的路径。

But others have warned about teacher quality issues when schools have to rely on substitutes and other uncredentialed instructors.

但其他人警告说，当学校不得不依赖代课教师和其他无资质教师时，会出现教学质量问题。

California doesn’t have good metrics for weighing the quality of these alternative programs, Viramontes concedes. Yet, anecdotally, she says there’s a steady flow of demand from schools for these programs, which she argues speak to “a yearn” for more teachers.

维拉蒙特斯（Viramontes）承认，加州缺乏衡量这些替代性项目质量有效指标。然而，从实际情况来看，学校对这些项目的需求持续存在，她认为这反映了对更多教师的 “迫切渴望”。

Precisely how this affects schools depends on where they are.

这对学校的确切影响取决于它们在哪里。

In rural areas of the central coast region of California, online options have made certification more accessible, says Caprice Young, CEO and superintendent of Navigator Schools.

Navigator Schools首席执行官兼负责人Caprice Young表示，在加州中央海岸的农村地区，在线选项使认证变得更容易获得。

A charter network of four schools, Navigator has around 2,200 students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade, and around 300 staff (about 100 are teachers). Three of the network’s schools are rural, all sitting about 40 or 50 miles outside of San Jose, with a fourth school in Hayward, wedged between San Jose and Oakland. For teachers, the schools largely rely on the Cal State University system's TEACH program, which has a virtual credentialing option.

Navigator是一个由四所学校组成的特许网络，约有 2200 名学生和 300 名教职工（其中约 100 名为教师）。该网络的三所学校位于农村，都位于圣何塞外约40或50英里处，第四所学校位于海沃德，夹在圣何塞和奥克兰之间。对于教师来说，学校很大程度上依赖于加州州立大学系统的教学计划，该项目提供虚拟资质认证选项。

It’s common for Navigator schools to cultivate teachers internally, Young says. With the end of federal pandemic relief funding, Navigator schools have focused on hiring tutors and paraprofessionals who can transition into teaching roles, and they have put energy into teacher coaching programs.

杨说，航海学校在内部培养教师是很常见的。随着联邦疫情救济基金的结束，领航员学校已将重点转向雇佣能够过渡到教师角色的辅导教师和辅助专业人员，并在教师辅导项目上投入了精力。

But long term, this could be a problem. Tutors and paraprofessionals are now moving into vacant teaching positions, and without additional federal dollars, the schools aren’t filling as many as many of the paraprofessional jobs.

但从长远来看，这可能是一个问题。导师和准专业人员现在正在进入空缺的教学职位，如果没有额外的联邦资金，这些学校无法雇佣足够多的辅助专业人员岗位。

Still, the schools find themselves adding grade levels, Young says. With nearby schools dwindling because of enrollment declines, the pool of teachers they can hire has swelled.

杨说，尽管如此，学校发现在增加年级。由于入学率下降，附近的学校越来越少，他们可以雇佣的教师数量也随之扩大。

But as other states have learned, finding more teachers isn’t the end of the woes.

但是正如其他州所认识到的，找到更多的教师并不是灾难的结束。

Carrots and Sticks

奖励机制与惩罚手段

In Texas, there’s another problem.

在德克萨斯州，还有另一个问题。

Recently, the governor signed H.B. 2, which bans uncertified teachers from instructing in “core” subjects (reading, math, science and social studies) in public schools by the 2029-2030 school year.

最近，州长签署了H.B.2，禁止未经认证的教师在2029-2030学年之前在公立学校教授“核心”科目（阅读、数学、科学和社会研究）。

Texas has a relatively deregulated teacher preparation certification landscape, says Jacob Kirksey, an assistant professor in Texas Tech’s College of Education. A waiver from the District of Innovation policy from before the pandemic has meant that Texas public school districts don’t have to get approval from the state education agency for hiring uncertified teachers if they can demonstrate they have a shortage, Kirksey says.

德克萨斯理工大学教育学院助理教授雅各布·柯克西(Jacob Kirksey)表示，德克萨斯州的教师培训认证环境相对放松。柯克西说，疫情之前对创新区政策的豁免意味着，得州公立学区若能证明存在师资短缺，招聘无资质教师时无需获得州教育机构的批准。

Some of Kirskey’s work has suggested that, as of two years ago, half of new hires lacked credentials, a trend that disproportionately affects rural areas. Teacher shortages have been the worst in math and sciences for middle and high school, he says, a pattern that’s also worse in rural regions.

Kirskey的一些工作表明，截至两年前，一半的新员工缺乏资质，这一趋势对农村地区的影响尤为严重。他说，初高中数学和科学学科的教师短缺最为严重，而这一情况在农村地区更为恶化。

Many states appear to be following Texas’ old lead in allowing more uncertified teachers to head classrooms, Kirskey adds. In 2024, more than 365,000 teachers across 49 states plus D.C. were working without being fully certified for their positions, according to the Learning Policy Institute. And some states like South Carolina and Indiana recently passed legislation loosening credential requirements.

柯斯基补充说，许多州似乎正在效仿德克萨斯州的做法，允许更多未经认证的教师担任教室负责人。根据学习政策研究所的数据，2024 年，全美 49 个州及哥伦比亚特区有超过 36.5 万名教师在岗位上工作却未获得完全认证。南卡罗来纳州和印第安纳州等一些州最近还通过了放宽资质要求的立法。

While this may boost the number of bodies in classrooms, it also raises questions about the quality of instruction.

尽管这可能会增加课堂上的教师数量，但也引发了对教学质量的质疑。

Kirksey’s work has highlighted the connection between uncredentialed teachers and student achievement declines. With an average uncertified teacher, the students fall behind about three months in math and four months in reading within a single school year, he says.

柯克西的工作强调了无证教师和学生成绩下降之间的联系。他说，对于一个没有认证的老师来说，学生在一个学年内的数学成绩会落后约三个月，阅读成绩则落后约四个月。

Observers praised the new law in Texas for also making funds available to assist underqualified teachers in the classroom to gain credentials, which they argue will ensure teacher quality while keeping the pipelines of educators flowing, in calls with EdSurge. The law also supports university-based educator preparation programs.

在与EdSurge的电话中，观察人士称赞德克萨斯州的新法律还提供资金帮助课堂上不合格的教师获得证书，他们认为这将在确保教师质量的同时保持教育工作者的人才输送渠道畅通。该法律还支持基于大学的教育工作者培养项目。

Rolling Boulders Uphill

师资建设、质量提升等需要长期投入的议题中

Some think that solving the problem of teacher shortages and educators who lack credentials will take more effort.

一些人认为解决教师短缺和缺乏资质的教育工作者的问题需要更多的努力。

It’s not enough to rely on legislators alone to fix the problem, argues Gemar Mills, executive director of College Achieve, a network of 11 charter schools spread across three cities in New Jersey.

College Achieve的执行董事Gemar Mills认为，仅依靠立法者解决问题是不够的，College Achieve是一个由11所特许学校组成的网络，分布在新泽西州的三个城市。

In New Jersey, some attempts, predating the pandemic, have kept up the flow of teachers into schools.

在新泽西，一些早于疫情的尝试持续为学校输送教师。

For example, there’s Trio Academy, a program that supports students without a college degree, helping them earn the degree and then pursue a teaching credential.

例如，Trio Academy是一个支持无大学学位学生的项目，帮助他们获得学位，然后攻读教师证书。

There’s also a state program — run by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning — meant to boost the supply of science teachers. The program puts certified teachers through a physics graduate program before assisting them in obtaining a credential to teach the subject. Even before the pandemic, Mills embraced this; and he recalls a gym teacher completing the program and becoming a physics instructor. In recent years, the program expanded from physics into other sciences.

还有一个由新泽西教学中心运营的州项目，旨在增加科学教师的供应。该计划在帮助认证教师获得教授该学科的证书之前，让他们通过物理研究生课程。米尔斯（Mills）甚至在疫情前就对该项目表示支持；他回忆起一位体育教师完成了该项目并成为物理教师的事例。近年来，该项目已从物理学扩展到其他科学领域。

But the pandemic supercharged the search for alternative sources of teachers: “COVID opened the floodgates for what was allowable,” Mills says.

但米尔斯（Mills）表示，疫情极大地推动了对替代师资来源的寻找：“COVID打开了允许的闸门。”

These days, in New Jersey, credentialing sits somewhere between the extremes of California and Texas. The pandemic inspired leniency in the state, prompting policymakers to relax standards for credentialing. Typically, becoming a credentialed teacher there involves meeting a minimum GPA, scoring well on a basic skills test, going through teaching practice and getting a college degree. But under the “limited” certification — a five-year program that started in 2022 — teachers can earn a temporary credential by completing three of those criteria.

如今在新泽西州，教师资格认证政策处于加利福尼亚州和得克萨斯州的极端做法之间。疫情激发了该州的宽大处理，促使政策制定者放宽了资格认证标准。通常，在那里成为一名合格的教师需要达到最低的GPA，在基本技能测试中取得好成绩，通过教学实践并获得大学学位。但根据 2022 年启动的为期五年的 “有限” 认证计划，教师只需完成上述标准中的三项，即可获得临时教师资格证。

Ultimately, Mills’ schools saw a surge of college graduates, longtime teachers’ assistants and substitutes all pivoting into full-time teaching.

最终，米尔斯的学校见证了大学毕业生、长期教师助理和代课教师纷纷转型为全职教师。

But there are still challenges.

但挑战依然存在。

For instance, schools are capped so that only 10 percent of teachers can have that lenient credential. College Achieve has maxed out. Plus, finding science, math and special education teachers is still onerous, Mills reports.

例如，学校受到限制，只有 10% 的教师可持有宽松资质。大学成就已经达到极限。此外，米尔斯报告说，寻找科学、数学和特殊教育教师仍然困难。

School leaders are eager to get more teachers. But solving the problem that will require more innovative and effective certification pathways, Mill says.

米尔斯（Mills）表示，学校领导渴望得到更多的老师。但要解决这一问题，需要更多创新且有效的认证途径。