School Districts Seek Second-Career Teachers - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 1999

A teacher shortage has many school districts hiring non-traditional instructors in growing numbers, notes Jim Powell, professor of secondary education, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. "Our country is facing a teacher shortage for many reasons. We see an aging teaching force, decaying urban areas, and booming populations in several parts of the country where local colleges are not producing enough K-12 instructors."

As a result, many people re-entering college for a teaching degree have retired from their first career, creating an opportunity to focus on a new one in their 40s or 50s. "Most are military or government workers who have all their retirement benefits and are looking for a great second career. Others are people who have been in the workforce for a few years and found out that they don't like their jobs."

Non-traditional students make the transition to college quickly, take less time to graduate, and often have better grades than typical college students between the ages of 18 and 22. Those older students, who usually are on tight budgets, are highly focused, Powell points out. "They have only so much time to get in, learn, and get out."

Those non-traditional students have little difficulty getting a teaching position. School district administrators find older first-year instructors initially make better teachers. School officials seem to like older teachers who can bring more life experience to the classroom.

"When you hire a 22-year-old graduate who has never had a job, there is not much life experience between them and a high school senior, who may be 17 or 18. However, with people in their ... 40s, you've got quite a bit of an age gap. An older person has been in the real world and can tell the students what they can expect."