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This study seeks to empirically ground the debate over mathematics and science teacher shortages and evaluate the extent to which there is, or is not, sufficient supply of teachers in these fields. The authors' analyses of nationally representative data from multiple sources show that math and science are the fields most difficult to staff, but the factors behind these problems are complex. There are multiple sources of new teachers; those with education degrees are a minor source compared to those with degrees in math and science and the reserve pool. Over the past two decades, graduation requirements, student course taking, and teacher retirements have all increased for math and science, yet the new supply has more than kept pace. However, when preretirement teacher attrition is factored in, there is a much tighter balance between supply and demand. Unlike fields such as English, for math and science, there is not a large cushion of new supply relative to losses—resulting in staffing problems in schools with higher turnover

There is widespread agreement among researchers and educators that teachers contribute to student learning (Darling-Hammond, 2002; Darling-Hammond; 2005; Ferguson, 1998; Goldhaber, 2003; Palardy and Rumberger, 2008; Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain, 2005; Wright, Horn, and Sanders, 1997). In the face of teacher shortages and turnover, especially in hard to staff schools and subjects, federal and state policies have sought to attract and retain qualified teachers. Some turnover, from a perspective of organizational theory, is often characterized as expected and \"healthy.\" Nonetheless, education has long been viewed as an occupation that depends heavily on cohesion within schools, a cohesion that is disrupted by turnover (Ingersoll, 2001; Lortie, 1975). Further, research has documented that teacher turnover occurs at higher rates in the early stages of their careers (Boe, Cook, & Sunderland, 2006). The purpose of this dissertation is to examine transitions into and out of teaching, longitudinally, among a cohort of college graduates in the early stages of their careers. Using a nationally representative sample of college graduates from the class of 1992-93, I first investigate the entrance of college graduates into teaching. Next, I examine the extent to which teachers change teaching jobs or leave teaching over a ten year period. Finally, I conduct a comparative analysis of teacher leavings relative to those of graduates employed in other occupations. Findings suggest that those graduates who are early entrants into teaching following degree attainment differ from delayed entrants into teaching in important ways. Moreover, the patterns of turnover among teachers who have entered at various times differ. For example, early entrants are more likely to stay in teaching over the course of the early part of their careers. Analyses that compare rates of teacher leavings to rates in other occupations indicate that from 1994 to 2003 teacher leaving rates are greater than in some occupations, such as engineers, pharmacists, physical therapists and nurses, and lower than others, such as secretaries and childcare workers. Overall, findings suggest that policy prescriptions to mitigate undesirable turnover should be differentiated and that a one-size fits all policy is not likely to be effective.