Report: Experienced Teachers Needed in Oklahoma Classrooms

EDUCATION WATCH BLOG
June 2, 2015

Oklahoma City, Tulsa and the surrounding metros have some of the most inexperienced public school teachers in the state, according to a report submitted to the U.S. Department of Education Monday.

The report, written by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, found that districts with large populations of minority or poor students tend to have the least experienced teachers.

The U.S. Department of Education last year required each state to submit a report by Monday detailing how they will ensure all schools have access to experienced, qualified teachers – especially in districts with large populations of minority students, or students living in poverty.

Oklahoma’s data shows that the state’s most diverse, and poorest districts struggle the most to get experienced teachers in the classroom.

First-Year Teachers

Many of Oklahoma’s largest districts, which often have high rates of poverty or large number of minority students, have higher percentages of first-year teachers than other districts across the state.

District	New Teachers	All Teachers	Percent
State Average	—	—	6.7
Oklahoma City	425	2,897	14.7
Tulsa	317	2,654	11.9
Putnam City	152	1,259	12.1
Edmond	102	1,433	7.1
Norman	91	990	9.2
Broken Arrow	86	1,103	7.8
Union	82	895	9.2
Lawton	81	970	8.4
Midwest City-Del City	73	882	8.3
Mustang	64	664	9.6
Moore	51	1,266	4.0

Teachers With Less Than Three Years Experience

Oklahoma’s largest school districts also have high percentages of inexperienced teachers, or teachers with less than three years of experience. Those same districts also have large numbers of minority students, or students living in poverty.

District	Inexperienced Teachers	Total Teachers	Percent
State Average	—	—	21.6
Oklahoma City	1,036	2,897	35.8
Tulsa	791	2,654	29.8
Putnam City	424	1,259	33.7
Edmond	326	1,433	22.7
Norman	268	990	27.1
Union	257	895	28.7
Broken Arrow	251	1,103	22.8
Moore	238	1,266	18.8
Lawton	209	970	21.5
Midwest City-Del City	200	882	22.7
Mustang	178	644	27.6

Oklahoma plans to provide better training, more mentoring and focus on better retention of teachers and principals in order to improve the number of experienced teachers in the classroom.

The state also wants to implement training for experienced teachers who will mentor younger peers.

The report said the state intends to increase the number of experienced teachers working in minority or high-poverty districts by 25 percent by 2018.

In addition to better training after, the report said more needs to be done to help teachers feel valued.

“Teaching is one of the most important career paths in our society,” the report said. “Yet, compared to other professional occupations, public education in Oklahoma is not valued. It is important to the future of our state that we change this perception.”

First-Year Teachers

Teachers With Less Than Three Years Experience

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