Preliminary Analysis Of Ohios Labor Market For Teachers And Other Education Professionals

Author : Victoria Jackson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 16 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (16 download)

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Download or read book Number of Ohio's Vital School Professionals Dwindling Student Health, Career Preparation, Art Exposure Suffer. K-12 Education written by Victoria Jackson and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until last year, Ohio had in place a rule requiring a minimum level of staffing for music, visual arts, physical education, counselors, librarians, nurses, social workers and visiting teachers. School districts had to have at least five of these eight positions for every 1,000 students. In March 2015, the State Board of Education eliminated this so-called "5 of 8" staffing rule. To understand how these positions were staffed in the 10 years prior to elimination of the rule, the staffing levels from the 2005-06 to 2014-15 school year were analyzed. Key findings from this analysis include: (1) Ohio schools have experienced a 12.3 percent decline in visual art, music and physical education teachers when adjusted for student enrollment. Teacher-to-student ratios have grown substantially across the state; (2) School librarians were especially hard hit with a decrease of 42.6 percent, or 39.7 percent when adjusted for the decline in enrollment; and (3) School counselors, nurses, and social workers did not see reductions once declines in enrollment were taken into account, but each has an educator-to-student ratio much higher than recommended by national authorities; and (4) Declines in arts, music and PE teachers along with other education personnel jeopardize student learning. Research consistently finds that these positions improve student outcomes. Reductions in K-12 funding have contributed to these findings. To reverse these trends, state lawmakers should look for opportunities to increase revenue to invest in K-12 education--providing resources necessary to ensure optimal student-to-teacher ratios and adequate access to educational service personnel, who include school counselors, school librarians, school nurses, social workers, and visiting teachers, across the state. In addition, the State Board of Education and Ohio General Assembly should implement policies that ensure student access to the education and services provided by art, music, and physical education teachers and educational service personnel. An appendix describing methodology, results, and enrollment is included. [For the executive summary, see ED573587.].