The Future of Early Childhood Education If you ask someone to list for you the most important jobs of our society, teachers always make the list sometimes beating out careers like doctor or lawyer. Ironically, for a career we value so much, teaching has never been a well paying profession. But times are about to change. Due to an increasing demand and a fixed supply, salaries for early education teachers are expected to increase within the next decade. The United States Board of Labor ranks this career as one of the highest paying of the next ten years, with an expected median tenure salary of over ninety thousand by the year 2012. Even taking into account inflation, working conditions, and different people’s preferred lifestyle, it is reasonable to say that a career in early childhood education can provide a very comfortable living. The law of supply and demand helps us understand how price is set in our society. It states that if the supply of a good increases, or if the demand of a good decreases, then the price of the good drops. The opposite is also true, if the supply decreases and the demand increases, than a good becomes more expensive. The theory of supply and demand is very powerful, and can be applied to many different things. In this paper, it will be used to explain why teachers’ salaries are expected to increase a great deal. The number of teachers will be the supply, the need for teachers will be the demand, and salaries will be the price that will be affected. In 2002 there were over two million positions for early education teachers in the United States. Of the teachers in those jobs, “about 1.5 million were elementary school teachers, 424,000 were preschool teachers, and 168,000 were kindergarten teachers”(Outlook). The majority of these teachers worked for the local government educational services, with about ten percent working for private schools. While the majority of preschool teachers are employed by child daycare services. Geographically, teaching positions vary with the population. Highly populated areas have more employment opportunities. Every year, a greater number of students enroll into the United States school system. More students increase the need for more schools and qualified teachers. In addition to the population growth, a number of initiatives have been impl... ... middle of paper ... ...their families. State employed teachers will not have to worry about retirement, because they are guaranteed a pension salary once they retire. Teachers will not have to stress or fear for the future like some other members of the workforce who were relying on social security. Early childhood teachers also have the satisfaction of having a career in one of the most respected professions in our society. They will have to fulfillment of knowing that what they do makes a difference. Works Cited Case, Karl E. ”Principles of Macroeconomics” Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall Van Dalen, Deobold B. “Looking Ahead To Teaching” Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Boston. Kahn, Alfred J. “Child Care: Facing the Hard Choices” Auburn House Publishing Company. Massachusetts. “Occupational Outlook Handbook” U.S. Department of Labor http://stats.bls.gov/search/ooh.asp?qu=teachers&ct=OOH (2005) “Critical Issues Facing the Teaching Profession” The South Carolina Center for Teacher Recrutement (2004) http://www.cerra.org/sectionone.pdf Cameron, Bruce “New municiple fund may well be the shape of things to come” August 14, 2004 Personal Finance Magazine
"The Single Salary Schedule for Teachers in K-12 Public Schools." Department of Economics (2002): 1-18. Print.
High school teachers’ average salary varies across the world. The United States is said to be one of the richest countries in the world, yet our teachers are being paid one of the lowest amounts. The Education Intelligence Agency, author of the article “Ohio Teacher Overcomes Union’s Tolerance” published an International Teacher Salary Report ranking the fifty states by “how much the average salary exceeded per capita personal income.” According to the Education Intelligence Agency Ohio’s percentage rate is only fifty- five point one percent. According to the Education Intelligence Agency the lowest state percentage is in South Dakota at twenty- three point six percent and the highest state percentage is Alaska at one hundred and one point five percent. Teachers are a very important part of our society. Teachers’ jobs consist of more than just sitting behind a desk for nine months and having paid summers off. There are many extra tasks that teachers have that most people don not consider. Teachers in public schools work hard for a low salary and should be more appreciated; public school teachers shape the world’s young people, serve as role models, and work long hours.
Back in my teenage days, I was once told by my teacher saying that “I believe no one can teach you how to act, but schools do give you an environment to make mistakes, to learn techniques and to learn professionalism”. Looking back at those words really gave me the inspiration to become a professional teacher in the kindergarten to teach, to learn new things, gaining new experiences and knowledge as well as being a professional. Although, there are few challenges that I have been struggled but those words make me works harder every day to make a big achievement and to show that I am able to achieve it. Becoming a professional early childhood educator may not be an easy job to me, but I am willing to try my best by not letting them down and
There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s employer, gain or loses teachers. This is determined further by how long the teachers tend to stay in the teaching profession before moving to other professions or locations. This paper will attempt to evaluate the level of turnover of public school teachers in the United States.
Researchers approaching the study of teacher retention using a cost-benefit theoretical framework from the field of economics believe teachers make choices to stay in their current positions, migrate to new positions in different schools either within or across districts, or leave the profession altogether by weighing opportunity costs. These researchers envision teachers comparing the costs, both overt (salary and benefits) and hidden (working conditions, family ties to the community, etc.), with the benefits of staying in their current positions (Grissom, 2010). When costs outweigh benefits, teachers choose to migrate to new positions or leave the profession.
Having a large share of special needs students and those who have limited English skills make it difficult to recruit and retain quality teachers. Due to the small size of rural schools and communities there is a smaller pool of applicants and teachers. (Monk, DH) The Federal government awarded schools with a three year extension to make sure all their teachers were highly qualified as the law required. In October of 1998 Preside...
When was the last time that you saw a teacher sporting off a brand new Lexus? Or when was it that you heard of a teacher owning a ranch? The answer to this question is probably never. Although material possessions such as owning a luxurious home or driving an extravagant car might be chump change for people like the rich and famous, for teachers this kind of spending is literally an arm and a leg. Even simple necessities are out of reach with a teacher’s salary. The reason for this problem is due to our nation’s budget. Teachers along with others in the school system are underpaid and are not being adequately compensated for their services. Instead of rewarding teachers with higher pay the government is undermining their work. As a result, teachers are unable to buy that expensive car or even pay off that Honda that they bought when they were in college working for their teaching degree. School budgets must be increased immensely in order to insure the educational growth of students and the professional development of teachers. There are four main reasons that are discussed in this paper, as to why more money should be spent on education.
Some locations in the United States are trying to improve their education by adding quality teachers. A major reason why there is an achievement gap in education is because there exist a gap in teachers as well. Research has shown that teacher quality counts. Some states are seeking ways to keep quality teachers and ways to attract them. In New York City, the schools will not hire teachers that are not certified. Also, New York and California are adding some sort of incentive in public schools, to attract quality teaching to minority schools. Sometimes school add annual bonus up to $10,000 for qualify teacher to work in public school, with low achieving schools. Also, many state provide some sort of tuition assistance for teacher, but of all of the states only seven target the candidates to commit to the lower achieving schools (Olsen, 2003).
Career One Stop. (2013). Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from America's Career InfoNet: http://www.careerinfonet.org/occ_rep.asp?nodeid=2&optstatus=000110111&next=occ_rep&jobfam=11&soccode=119031&stfips=&level=&id=1&ES=Y&EST=education+administrators
When seeking a career, it is important to see the future growth of the job and the salary. It will determine how difficult it will be to find placement. Early childhood educators are the first people to truly show an impact on children and will always be needed. The projected growth of early childhood lead educators between 2014 to 2024 is 7% (Elrick). They will be needed in the upcoming future and the projected growth is said to go up even further. The median annual salary in the United States is $28,120 (Elrick). Many people do not choose this career because the salary is very low compared to the amount of hours spent. Early childhood educators spend a lot of time and energy for these children. They also have to understand that their pay is considerably low compared to many other
In a society where kids must go to school up to the collegiate level, teaching is an impactful career choice. Teachers help contour the minds of future leaders of the world. Furthermore, teachers play a crucial role in guiding students to the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in life, and teachers lead students to make informed decisions on any topic the meet in the future. As a teacher, a person must relinquish their knowledge onto students. Finally, they must prepare their students for all the obstacles they will face later in life.
There are various instructional methods in early childhood education including the Montessori Method, Direct instruction, Bank street developmental-interaction approach, high/scope curriculum, Kamii-Devries constructivist approach and the Waldorf way. Teachers play a huge role in imparting this learning method and ensuring quality early education for children (Pacini-Ketchabaw, Nxumalo, Kocher, Elliot & Sanchez, n.d.). They must, therefore, be accredited or certified child care professionals who are held accountable for preschool standards of practice, this they can achieve by getting a degree in early childhood education before working as an assistant teacher and continuing to other
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).
This paper will discuss what it takes to become a teacher in America and what challenges a teacher will face in their career. I will be taking a look at basic requirements to become a teacher, as well as how many teaching jobs are out there right now. Once a teaching job is acquired, this paper will take a look at what kind of salary can be expected. Finally, this paper will look at issues can arise in this field, as well as what changes may be happening with this career in the future. Numbers used in this paper will mostly be averages for a specific time. These are used for a general comparison and are not a guarantee of potential success.
The earliest years of a young child’s life, from a toddler to four years of age, are very serious to his/her overall growth, due to most of the time, professional educators are those who play the key and an active position in their early childhood growth. Are teacher professionals who have a infatuation an actual desire to help them gain knowledge, grow and succeed in their education? These are just a few roles that early childhood educators plays in the field of early childhood education for working with young children in their early childhood years of life, which the requirements, most of the time, are to have both a formal education and temporary teacher-certification score.