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The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction over the Last Half Century

We examine the state of the U.S. K-12 teaching profession over the last half century by compiling nationally representative time-series data on four interrelated constructs: professional prestige, interest among students, preparation for entry, and job satisfaction. We find a consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s, relative stability for two decades, and a sustained drop beginning around 2010. The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years. We identify and explore a range of factors that might explain these historical patterns including education funding, teacher pay, outside opportunities, unionism, barriers to entry, working conditions, accountability, autonomy, and school shootings.  

Keywords
Teacher Labor Markets, Teacher Prestige, Teacher Status, Teacher Satisfaction, Working Conditions
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/7b1a-vk92

EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:

Kraft, Matthew A., and Melissa Arnold Lyon. (). The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction over the Last Half Century. (EdWorkingPaper: 22-679). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/7b1a-vk92

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