By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)
As many Iowa schools start classes this week, the state’s teacher shortage may be lessening, according to a source at the University of Iowa’s College of Education. Professor Mark McDermott, the UI’s Associate Dean for Teacher Education, says he’ll frequently hear from K-12 principals and administrators who are scrambling to fill positions, even days before classes begin, but the demand is lessening.
“They seem to be feeling like they might be in a slightly better position this year,” McDermott says. “We have not gotten as many calls, I don’t think I’ve received as many emails as I did last year, so I do think there’s probably some positive movement.” Iowa has more than half a million students enrolled in some 1,300 schools in more than 320 districts. Administrators routinely contact McDermott as fall approaches, checking to see if any recent graduates are available to fill teaching jobs.
“Each district has their own unique situation with their own unique needs,” McDermott says, “and so I do think that there are still some districts where they’re still looking for positions and still trying to fill, not only teaching positions, but para-positions and things like that.” The role of the UI’s College of Education, McDermott says, is to work in partnership with the state’s K-12 schools, helping to support them.
“What we’re trying to do is create teachers from our program, train teachers in our program, develop teachers in our program, that are going to be the kind of teachers that have the skills, have the knowledge, have the dispositions that are going to allow them to, not just get licensed, but remain in the field and remain in education for long periods of time,” he says. Looking ahead, McDermott says he’s optimistic about the current crop of candidates who are just starting their journey toward becoming exceptional teachers.
“We have a lot of very committed students. We have a lot of people who come to the university who, teaching is a career choice but it’s also really a passion and a vocation for them,” McDermott says. “It’s great to see that we have students who are very committed to being that next generation of teachers and are working really hard at it.” While science teachers and those with special education training are often in high demand, he says the needs this year are individual to each district and there are few defined trends.
