Teacher Supply, Teach Qualifications, and Teacher Turnover: 1990-91

This report is concerned with the supply of and demand for elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States. Over the past decade, teacher supply and demand have been topics of increasing concern, uncertainty, and controversy among education researchers and policymakers. Concern surrounds the question of whether the United States will experience shortages of teachers in the coming years as student enrollments rise and demand for teachers increases. Uncertainty surrounds the factors that lead to shortages in the supply of teachers.Controversy surrounds the problem of how to ensure an adequate quantity of available teachers without sacrificing quality. Until recently, however, education researchers have been hampered by a lack of data in their efforts to clarify and resolve these issues.