High School-Level Teachers’ Preparation and Qualifications

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More than three-quarters of teachers with English, mathematics, science, or social science as their main assignments taught all of their classes in their main assignments. This report, Education and Certification Qualifications of Departmentalized Public High School-Level Teachers of Core Subjects: Evidence from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey, examines the percentage of public school teachers who held an in-field postsecondary major, in-field certification, or both, in a selection of high-school level main assignment fields. Teachers of these subjects were considered to be in-field majors if they held a major that they had earned at the bachelor's degree level or higher in the subject(s) that they taught.

Among other findings, the survey found that about 75 percent of English teachers, 66 percent of mathematics teachers, 75 percent of science teachers, and 74 percent of social science teachers held both a postsecondary degree and certification in their respective main assignments.