Experts say obstacles include recruitment, funding and institutional support.
found that much of the country doesn't have enough educators -- and that in many cases, districts suffer from a lack of subject matter experts, too.
The experts said that STEM teachers are overwhelmingly white -- according to the National Center for Education Statistics , 79% are non-Hispanic or white -- even in public schools that are majority non-white, so they do not adequately reflect the students they teach, which creates an added pressure on bringing in more candidates. There's also a focus on increasing diversity in special education instruction.
ABC News' reporting found that 31 state education associations, agencies and departments identified special education challenges as one of their greatest needs during the 2022-2023 school year.What's more, over the course of the school year, almost a third of the country -- or 17 state education agencies -- also told ABC News one of their greatest challenges has been filling teaching positions in STEM.
Tabron, in Delaware, said special education is one of the most challenging positions in a school as it not only has general instruction responsibilities but also juggles needs and disciplines that most teachers don't face. "There was a need for special education teachers before the pandemic," Tabron said. "The need just increased afterwards."Connecticut science teacher Carolyn Kielma is raising awareness around the challenges in STEM staffing, too. The self-described "STEMinist" said all it takes is for people to have a drive and passion for teaching.
2023 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, Carolyn Kielma, teaches an introduction to forensics in her Biotechnology & Forensics course for upperclassmen at Bristol Eastern High School.Education advocates told ABC News that college graduates with education degrees have been declining for years. The University of California at Los Angeles' Cooperative Institutional Research Program found only 4.3% of U.S. college freshmen intended to major in education in 2018, compared to 11% in 2000.
"Math and special education shortages can affect rural areas more acutely," Colorado's Associate Commissioner of Educator Talent Colleen O'Neil told ABC News in a statement. "[Rural parts] sometimes have no candidates at all that apply for a position," she added. According to the state's department of education, Arkansas faces its worst staffing shortages in secondary math and secondary science. But from elementary education on up, Eoff said all subjects in the rural parts of her state are impacted.
In both Southeast Arkansas and in Siskiyou County in California, Reach University said it did an extensive analysis to define current vacancies by grade level and subject, across all open positions. In Siskiyou, they found slightly elevated vacancies in elementary education and math. Special education is "always" a constant need in his district, according to Carver.
In response to former President Barack Obama's 2011 call to increase the STEM teacher pool by 100,000 in a decade, education nonprofit Beyond100K used "radical collaboration" with more than 300 organizations to exceed that benchmark. The group said it helped prepare 108,000 STEM teachers -- and counting -- with a new target of 150,000 by 2032.
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