Who Wants to Write on the Blackboard? Exploring the Changing Characteristics of Aspiring Teachers from 1971-2011

Developing a high-quality K-12 education system in the United States is critical to the nation's prosperity and international success. Due to teachers' large impact on the success of a K-12 system, recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is at the forefront of this discussion. Unfortunately, current state and federal assessment methods do not account for many of the teacher traits associated with teacher effectiveness--such as care and high self-concept. Furthermore, aside from demographic characteristics, we know little about how the population of students entering the teacher occupation has changed. This study draws from career and self-concept theory using longitudinal trend analysis and multinomial regressions to add to the body of knowledge of how the population of aspiring teachers has changed since 1971. In particular, this study examines aspiring elementary, secondary and non-teachers across four categories: demographics, academic success, self-concept, and care. The conclusions from this study suggest that although the current population of aspiring teachers looks similar to their peers in 1971; when aspiring elementary teachers and secondary teachers, and different demographic groups are examined separately, the diversity within the aspiring teacher population becomes more apparent. Further, this study revealed that the population of aspiring elementary teachers is very different from their peers aspiring to teach secondary school. Aspiring secondary teachers' grades, care-levels and self-concept scores are more similar to their peers aspiring not to teach than they are to their peers aspiring to become elementary teachers. Additionally the findings suggest an opportunity for Teacher Education Programs and school districts to create programs to bolster new teachers' self-concept, care and social justice through trainings and collaborations. These findings have implications for teacher education programs, higher education-at-large, as well as state and federal education departments