The Problem of Underqualified Teachers in American Secondary Schools
The Problem of Underqualified Teachers in American Secondary Schools
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美国中学师资不足的问题
DOI：
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发表时间：
1999
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
R. Ingersoll
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作者：
R. Ingersoll
本文介绍了一项关于美国高中“场外教学”现象的研究项目的结果，即教师讲授自己没有受过多少教育或培训的科目。在过去的几年里，校外教学问题已经成为教育政策和改革领域的一个突出话题，这一研究的结果被教育政策制定者和国家媒体广泛报道和评论。但不幸的是，场外教学是一个很大程度上被误解的问题。我的研究利用了由国家教育统计中心进行的学校和人员调查中具有全国代表性的数据。本文的目的是总结我的研究对校外教学的启示：校外教学有多少在进行；不同学科、不同类型的学校、不同类型的教室之间的差异有多大；最后，它在美国学校盛行的原因。数据显示，即使使用合格教师的最低标准——那些在他们所教的领域拥有大学辅修学位的教师——非专业教师的数量也是惊人的。例如，三分之一的中学数学教师既没有主修数学，也没有副修数学。我的分析还表明，校外教学在不同的学校、教师和教室之间存在很大差异。然而，关键的问题和巨大误解的根源是，为什么这么多教师教他们没有什么背景的科目。我考察了三种广为接受的关于校外教学的解释——校外教学要么是教师培训不足，要么是教师工会缺乏灵活性，要么是合格教师短缺的结果。我的分析表明，这些观点都存在严重缺陷。文章最后对校外教学提出了另一种解释，即侧重于学校的组织结构和教师的职业条件和特点。
This article presents the results of a research project on the phenomenon of out-of-field teaching in American high schools–teachers teaching subjects for which they have little education or training. Over the past couple of years, the problem of out-of-field teaching has become a prominent topic in the realm of educational policy and reform, and the results of this research have been widely reported and commented on both by education policymakers and the national media. But unfortunately, out-of-field teaching is a problem that remains largely misunderstood. My research utilizes nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The purpose of this article is to summarize what my research has revealed about out-of-field teaching: how much of it goes on; to what extent it varies across different subjects, across different kinds of schools, and across different kinds of classrooms; and finally, the reasons for its prevalence in American schools. The data show that even using a minimal standard for qualified teachers — those holding a college minor in the fields in which they teach —the numbers of out-of-field teachers are striking. For example, a third of all secondary school teachers of mathematics have neither a major nor a minor in mathematics. My analyses have also shown that out-of-field teaching greatly varies across schools, teachers, and classrooms. The crucial question, however, and the source of great misunderstanding is why so many teachers are teaching subjects for which they have little background. 1 examine three widely believed explanations of out-of-field teaching — that out-of-field teaching is a result of either inadequate training on the part of teachers, inflexible teacher unions, or shortages of qualified teachers. My analysis shows that each of these views is seriously flawed. The article closes by offering an alternative explanation for out-of-field teaching—one focused on the organizational structure of schools and the occupational conditions and characteristics of teaching.