For an education system to function effectively it is important that its planning functions are executed effectively and efficiently. Among others this implies that the system must know what the teacher supply and demand is and how it will change in time. If the teacher supply and demand is known it could result in sound intervention strategies being developed and implemented. Education planners will be able to plan for the number of bursaries to be awarded and in which subject fields; it will be known how many foreign teachers to employ and for which subjects. This is the basic rationale that underpins this study. This study explored the problem of teacher demand and supply in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grades 10 to 12) in South Africa and offers a critical analysis of strategies adopted by Provincial Education Departments in an endeavour to diminish the demand for teachers, specifically for Mathematics and Science, in rural and poor schools. Initially the study involved a secondary data analysis to extrapolate the demand and supply of teachers in Mathematics and Science over the next ten years. The first key finding of the study was that the data needed for such an analysis does not exist in any reliable form that would facilitate the development of such a projection. What the study had to rely on was anecdotal evidence that suggests that a shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers does exist and that posts are often filled by unqualified and under-qualified staff. In the second phase of the research in which the study explored the effectiveness of strategies developed to address the shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers, a qualitative research approach was adopted within a descriptive interpretive design. The views and opinions of human resource managers responsible for post provisioning in schools were explored through in-depth interviews to understand the types of strategy adopted by the provinces, their potential to alleviate the problem of Mathematics and Science teacher shortage in Grades 10 to 12, their success, challenges and factors internal to the Department of Education that may deter Provincial Education Departments from achieving their objectives. The findings revealed that Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) do take heed of strategies developed by the national Department of Basic Education (DBE). However implementation is far removed from the original intention and no significant impact results. Although the reasons are not always obvious from this study, a few important aspects did emerge. First, the strategy developed may not be popular with a particular province - employing foreign teachers is a case in point. Secondly, focusing on just a number of schools to improve their results (e.g. as with the Dinaledi schools) may meet with resistance from educators and teachers’ unions. Thirdly, creating bursaries for initial teacher education in certain key areas can only be successful if the number of teachers in need is known. Finally, even the best strategies are doomed if post provisioning and appointment of staff are dealt with by different stakeholders. Based on the findings, it is recommended that both the DBE and PEDs ensure that quality education management information is collected and maintained. Information that is reliable and accurate will inform planning and key decisions to ensure that the supply of teachers is based on a specific need. As such, deficiencies in skills that are in short supply such as Science and Mathematics can be averted and better opportunities can be created for new teacher graduates. While an improved performance of learners in these subjects is requisite for related study fields at universities, the Dinaledi schools must be adequately supported and such a model applied to other schools. The employment of foreign teachers on short-term contracts does not create stability in schools, therefore, their employment must be standardised. Significantly, retention in rural and poor schools is a problem since they struggle to attract quality teachers; for that reason teacher incentives are indispensable. Making a declaration for unqualified and under-qualified teachers to acquire professional teaching qualifications and subsequently discontinue such appointments, will raise the standard of teaching and learning in schools. Rather, databases of unemployed qualified teachers could be maintained and such information made accessible to school principals. In the absence of reliable data that can indicate teacher qualification and specialisation versus subject taught, the extent to which Mathematics and Science are taught by unqualified and under-qualified teachers as well as out-of-specialisation teaching, is not known. However, poor pass rates in these subjects at the exit point of the schooling system (Grade 12) attest to the lack of appropriately skilled teacher workforce. Therefore, if Mathematics and Science specialisation is required, then strategies being implemented by the DBE and PEDs must have a clear purpose to address this shortage. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

Attrition of secondary agricultural education professionals is a major concern to the educational system in the United States. A number of studies have documented that attrition is a very serious problem, especially for beginning teachers during his or her first years on the job. As the need for teachers continues to grow, it becomes progressively more difficult for school administration to recruit, identify, and hire highly qualified secondary agricultural education teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the attrition risk factors among secondary agricultural education teachers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee and the region as a whole. Specifically, this study was designed to identify and describe secondary agricultural educators who are at-risk for leaving the profession based on the four constructs; alternative career opportunities, expectations versus realities, people frustrations and passions for the profession. In addition, the numbers of years of service and gender differences were examined. A stratified random sample (n = 583) of the population (N = 2,667) received the email questionnaire (33.6% response, n = 196). Participants were described as males (62%) having a minimum of a traditional four-year degree (73%) and an average of 13 years of teaching experience. The majority of secondary agricultural education teachers in the study possessed high levels of attrition risk as related to expectations versus realities, followed by moderate risks of alternative career opportunities and people frustrations. However, teachers in the study indicated a very low risk for attrition when analyzing passions for the profession. Participants indicated the state of residence had no significant implication on the overall risk of attrition, alternative career opportunities, expectations versus realities, or passions for the profession. Statistically significant results were on the construct, people frustrations, between Georgia and Mississippi and Georgia and Tennessee. Overall, the region was assessed as a moderate risk of attrition (M = 2.76). No significant relationships were found between sex and attrition risk, or number of years in the profession and attrition risk.

In America urban school systems have encountered difficulties retaining teachers. The ramification of teacher attrition is that the neediest students are often taught by those with the least educational experience. The purpose of this study was to determine the implications of Virginia teacher licensure regulations on teacher retention in Lighthouse City Public Schools. The study addressed four research questions: 1) "What factors influence the retention of teachers in Lighthouse City Public Schools? 2) Is it possible to predict demographically by race, gender, age, grade level of teaching assignment or licensure preparation program which groups or sub-groups of people are more likely or less likely to leave a school system? 3) Does the licensure preparation program influence retention? 4) Were the Virginia licensure requirements the reasons cited for the departure of teachers in 2004, 2005, and 2006? The research focused an urban school system in southeastern Virginia with approximately 33,000 students. The population was 361 teachers hired for the 2003 school year. A researcher developed survey was electronically mailed to the still employed teachers, and a mailed survey was sent to all the teachers who had left the school system. A multiple regression was performed on the demographic data to try to predict teacher retention or attrition. The results of the multiple regression indicated that statistically (p<.01) only the variable of licensure could be a predictor of retention. All of the survey respondents agreed that a strong principal was the key to retention. Urban school systems are challenged by local standards, state standards, and No Child Left Behind mandates, and compounding the difficulties is on-going teacher loss. It is imperative that school system leaders provide new teacher support and time for the inexperienced to learn how to become excellent. Teachers are not expendable; students are at stake. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether College of Education graduates who sought and secured employment as teachers differed on the academic variables of grade point average, student teaching evaluation, and professional recommendations from those who were not successful at securing such employment. A comprehensive review of related literature was conducted, focusing on three aspects of the employment situation: (1) teacher supply and demand, (2) the selection process, and (3) the role played by academic criteria in the selection process. A study was conducted in which students who were successful in finding teaching positions were compared with those who were not successful, on the academic variables of grade point average, student teaching evaluation, and professional recommendations. Demographic data were also collected and analyzed. The subjects were sixty-three randomly selected students from the May 19 80 graduating class of the College of Education, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas. For purposes of statistical analysis, the students were divided into the following three groups: Group A (those who successfully sought employment as teachers), Group B (those who sought such employment but were not successful), and Group C (those who did not seek employment as teachers).

Malawi, as a country with very limited resources, needs to have educational policies in place to maximize effectiveness of the public education system. Policymakers depend on accurate data, but variations in data between sources leaves policymakers uncertain as they attempt to craft policies to address the growing educational crisis in Malawi. A desk study was performed to evaluate the policy implications of employing data from multiple sources using primary school teacher supply and demand in Malawi as an illustration. This study examined one national organization, Malawi's Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST); three international aid and assistance organizations (IAAOs), including The Department for International Development (DIFD) from the UK, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and one global organization, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSECO). The study documented differences and similarities between the data sources. Among the factors considered were the nature of each institution and the effect it could have on data collection, aggregation, analysis and reporting; the definitions used by each organization, and their implications for data use; and each organization's methods of collection, aggregation, analysis and reporting. The study found significant variations in the teacher supply and demand data presented by the five organizations, with variations of up to 333% between sources. To address this problem, it is recommended that the Government of Malawi (GoM) establish a central agency to standardize education data. Three policy scenarios are detailed, presenting the probable outcome of various actions the GoM could take regarding this recommendation.

L'organisation de la fonction publique française connait de profondes mutations depuis le début des années 2000. Cette thèse examine la capacité du système de recrutement et de gestion des enseignants à répondre aux enjeux d'attractivité, d'efficacité et de diversité au cœur des projets actuels de modernisation du système éducatif. Le premier chapitre examine la neutralité du processus de recrutement des enseignants du secondaire vis-à-vis du genre. Il révèle que des biais d'évaluation existent et tendent à favoriser le genre minoritaire, contribuant ainsi à renforcer la mixité au sein des disciplines universitaires. Les deuxième et troisième chapitres examinent la capacité des incitations monétaires, de la demande d'enseignants et des exigences en matière de diplômes à attirer davantage et potentiellement de meilleurs candidats aux postes d'enseignant. Une hausse du niveau de diplôme requis pour enseigner (réforme de la "masterisation") ne semble pas améliorer l'efficacité du recrutement en termes d'attractivité, de profils de compétences et de diversité. Le quatrième chapitre examine la relation entre absentéisme, mobilité et conditions de travail des enseignants. Il montre que les écoles et les directeurs d'école influencent significativement les absences, les départs et le bien-être psychologique des enseignants. Le manque de soutien hiérarchique, les comportements hostiles et l'intensité du travail semblent jouer un rôle particulièrement important. / The organization of the French civil service has undergone profound changes since the early 2000s. This thesis examines the capacity of the teacher recruitment and management system to meet the challenges of attractiveness, efficiency and diversity at the heart of current projects to modernize the education system. The first chapter examines the gender neutrality of the recruitment process for secondary school teachers. It reveals that evaluation biases tend to favor the minority gender and contribute to strengthening the gender diversity within university disciplines. The second and third chapters examine the ability of monetary incentives, teacher demand and degree requirements to attract more and potentially better candidates for teaching positions. An increase in the level of qualification required to teach (from bachelor's to master's level) does not seem to improve the effectiveness of recruitment in terms of attractiveness, skills profiles and diversity. The fourth chapter examines the relationship between absenteeism, mobility and working conditions of teachers. It shows that schools and school principals significantly influence teacher absences, turnover and psychological well-being. Lack of hierarchical support, hostile behaviors and work intensity seem to play a critical role.