May 2005
May 2005, Issue 21
Your College and You
Thank you for your interest in receiving breaking news and professional information from the College.
In this Issue:
An increased supply of newly qualified teachers and a return to lower retirement rates has dealt with the crisis in teacher numbers that the College first brought to public attention eight years ago.
College study shows Ontario teacher shortage is over
The general teacher shortage is over but high demand for teachers of French, physics, chemistry, math, business studies and technological education persist, the College says.
In the cover story of Professionally Speaking published today, the College says its data shows that an increased supply of newly qualified teachers and a return to lower retirement rates has dealt with the crisis in teacher numbers that the College first brought to public attention eight years ago.
Even with recent provincial government funding that will spur the hiring of new teachers to meet literacy, numeracy, physical education and arts programming needs, the existing supply of teachers meets most projected needs.
College data shows:
- The annual retirement rate is now headed steadily downward.
- Government-funded spaces at Ontario faculties jumped from 5,000 in '98-99 to 6,500 in 2000-01, a level that continues today.
- Fewer teachers are leaving the profession in the early years of teaching. Only one in 13 leave in their first three years.
- New teacher education programs have emerged in the province.
- Interest in teaching has surged - 15,000 apply to education faculties now compared to 8,000 in '97-98.
- US border colleges have added to the supply. In 1998, American-based teacher education programs provided 500 teacher candidates per year. By 2002, the number of US grads applying for College membership in Ontario rose to 1,300.
- School boards also have access to a growing pool of retirees who can work for up to 95 school days a year without affecting their pensions.
- College membership has grown from 172,000 in 1998 to 193,000 in 2004. Teachers must be licensed by the College to teach in Ontario's publicly funded schools.
Evidence also shows that school boards are challenged to fill school leadership roles.
So far this decade about 1,000 teachers a year have completed their Principal's Qualification certification. However, over the last few years, the College has granted roughly 175 Temporary Letters of Approval to school boards each year to enable boards to fill principal and vice-principal positions with people who do not have the qualifications for those roles. The leadership shortage is most severe in French-language school boards.
Click here to see the media release.
NetWatch offers reviews of more than 150 web sites of interest to teachers, including the Burlington Public Library site for kids above.
Links to sites for teachers
Every issue of the College's magazine, Professionally Speaking, features a review of web sites of special interest to teachers. Whether it's sites designed to stretch a child's imagination through reading and writing, or sites offering free classroom resources or back-to-school tips, NetWatch offers a synopsis of a web site from an educational perspective.
Now we have compiled all of these NetWatch tips into an archive. Web sites are arranged by alphabet, with more than 150 sites reviewed in French and English. With a quick click of the mouse, you'll have access to a multitude of information without having to leave your classroom.
For more information about NetWatch or to submit a NetWatch suggestion, please contact Lynda Scarrow at lscarrow@oct.ca.
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Ontario College of Teachers © 2005
