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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 80. Number, highest degree, and years of full-time teaching experience of teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by selected teacher characteristics: 1999-2000, 2003-04, and 2007-08
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected teacher characteristic Number of teachers (in thousands) Percent of teachers, by highest degree earned, 2007-08 Percent of teachers, by years of full-time teaching experience, 2007-08
1999-2000 2003-04 2007-08 Less than bachelor's Bachelor's Master's Education specialist1 Doctor's Less than 3 3 to 9 10 to 20 Over 20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Public schools                                                                          
Total 3,002   (19.4)   3,251   (29.2) 3,405   (44.0) 0.8   (0.06) 47.4   (0.59) 44.5   (0.55) 6.4   (0.25) 0.9   (0.08) 13.4   (0.59) 33.6   (0.52) 29.3   (0.55) 23.7   (0.60)
Sex                                                                          
Males 754   (10.7)   813   (13.3) 821   (20.4) 2.0   (0.17) 47.0   (1.05) 43.9   (1.04) 5.5   (0.40) 1.6   (0.22) 13.6   (0.87) 33.2   (0.85) 28.5   (0.90) 24.7   (0.88)
Females 2,248   (16.0)   2,438   (23.5) 2,584   (34.6) 0.4   (0.05) 47.5   (0.65) 44.8   (0.63) 6.7   (0.29) 0.7   (0.08) 13.4   (0.57) 33.7   (0.59) 29.5   (0.62) 23.4   (0.68)
                                                                           
Race/ethnicity                                                                          
White 2,532   (17.2) 2 2,702   (30.1) 2,829   (38.7) 0.7   (0.05) 46.8   (0.66) 45.7   (0.64) 6.0   (0.23) 0.8   (0.09) 13.0   (0.61) 32.6   (0.55) 29.7   (0.55) 24.8   (0.64)
Black 228   (6.0) 2 257   (11.0) 239   (15.8) 1.0   (0.22) 47.0   (2.04) 41.4   (2.12) 8.7   (1.02) 2.0   (0.45) 13.1   (1.32) 38.0   (1.90) 27.0   (1.88) 22.0   (1.85)
Hispanic 169   (6.4) 2 202   (11.3) 240   (16.6) 0.9   (0.27) 56.3   (2.60) 34.1   (2.42) 7.7   (1.38) 1.1 ! (0.34) 18.0   (1.82) 39.0   (2.78) 28.3   (2.42) 14.7   (1.80)
Asian 48   (2.7) 3 42   (2.5) 42   (7.2)   (†) 37.7   (5.05) 47.1   (4.62) 10.5   (2.19) 1.5 ! (0.71) 16.2   (3.46) 41.8   (4.79) 25.6   (3.72) 16.4   (3.13)
Pacific Islander   (†)   6   (0.8) 6   (1.3)   (†) 51.7   (9.88) 39.1   (9.95)   (†)   (†) 15.3 ! (6.70) 48.3   (11.55) 19.9 ! (9.22) 16.5 ! (7.21)
American Indian/
    Alaska Native
26   (1.9) 2 17   (1.2) 17   (1.9) 1.8 ! (0.73) 56.2   (4.63) 34.1   (4.41) 4.7 ! (1.76)   (†) 11.8   (2.86) 29.7   (5.11) 33.6   (4.66) 24.9   (4.29)
Two or more races   (†)   24   (2.2) 31   (2.9)   (†) 37.1   (4.67) 52.7   (4.73) 8.9   (2.51)   (†) 21.0   (3.95) 36.6   (4.16) 20.0   (4.00) 22.4   (3.95)
                                                                           
Age                                                                          
Under 30 509   (9.2)   540   (27.4) 612   (22.4) 0.3   (0.07) 70.1   (1.25) 28.0   (1.22) 1.5   (0.25)   (†) 44.1   (1.65) 55.9   (1.65)   (†)   (†)
30 to 39 661   (9.8)   798   (14.5) 898   (16.8) 0.7   (0.15) 46.8   (0.98) 46.1   (1.03) 6.0   (0.50) 0.4   (0.10) 10.3   (0.70) 53.5   (0.91) 36.3   (0.90)   (†)
40 to 49 953   (10.3)   840   (14.3) 808   (19.2) 1.1   (0.14) 43.7   (1.22) 47.3   (1.15) 7.3   (0.61) 0.7   (0.12) 7.4   (0.57) 25.1   (0.88) 45.2   (1.28) 22.3   (1.09)
50 to 59 786   (12.6)   942   (26.0) 879   (21.1) 0.9   (0.14) 38.4   (1.06) 50.4   (0.97) 8.7   (0.55) 1.5   (0.25) 3.4   (0.32) 11.4   (0.63) 29.5   (1.09) 55.7   (1.05)
60 and over 93   (4.0)   131   (4.8) 207   (10.3) 1.1   (0.20) 35.0   (1.96) 51.1   (1.99) 9.6   (1.16) 3.2   (0.62) 2.9   (0.51) 8.5   (0.98) 22.4   (1.68) 66.2   (2.29)
                                                                           
Level                                                                          
Elementary 1,602   (13.5)   1,716   (25.8) 1,725   (37.1) 0.3   (0.07) 49.0   (0.89) 43.9   (0.79) 6.4   (0.39) 0.5   (0.11) 13.3   (0.87) 32.7   (0.83) 29.9   (0.81) 24.1   (0.99)
General 1,019   (13.6)   1,130   (29.8) 1,100   (26.5) 0.2 ! (0.06) 51.8   (1.08) 42.1   (1.05) 5.5   (0.54) 0.4   (0.12) 13.4   (0.84) 33.3   (0.97) 30.0   (0.92) 23.3   (1.05)
Arts/music [4 ]   (†)   101   (5.3) 103   (6.6)   (†) 48.5   (3.68) 43.9   (3.47) 6.5   (1.84)   (†) 14.0   (2.79) 30.8   (3.08) 29.5   (3.64) 25.8   (3.28)
English 33   (2.8)   70   (5.1) 104   (9.9)   (†) 42.9   (4.56) 45.3   (4.25) 10.6   (1.99)   (†) 8.9   (1.99) 27.9   (3.28) 30.5   (3.40) 32.6   (4.00)
ESL/bilingual [4 ]   (†)   25   (3.6) 24   (3.3)   (†) 35.5   (7.63) 44.7   (7.09) 19.1 ! (5.84)   (†) 19.1   (5.58) 29.7   (5.67) 34.3   (5.83) 16.8   (4.70)
Health/physical ed [4 ]   (†)   73   (5.0) 63   (6.0)   (†) 54.3   (3.91) 40.5   (3.72) 4.5 ! (1.69)   (†) 15.9   (3.15) 30.6   (3.95) 28.0   (3.86) 25.4   (3.21)
Mathematics 26   (2.5)   19   (2.3) 28   (3.8)   (†) 49.1   (9.51) 44.4   (9.09) 4.3 ! (2.11)   (†) 14.5 ! (5.40) 23.9   (5.65) 26.6   (7.04) 34.9   (8.28)
Science [4 ]   (†)   19   (3.0) 15   (3.4)   (†) 58.0   (9.34) 34.0   (7.93)   (†)   (†) 13.1 ! (6.10) 31.4   (8.13) 28.2   (7.40) 27.4 ! (11.59)
Special education 210   (5.8)   240   (20.6) 230   (13.0)   (†) 42.1   (2.17) 51.1   (2.23) 5.9   (0.79) 0.7 ! (0.32) 12.4   (1.74) 36.4   (2.31) 29.0   (1.83) 22.2   (1.99)
Other elementary 314   (8.4)   40   (3.5) 58   (4.2)   (†) 32.1   (3.71) 52.6   (3.69) 14.3   (3.38)   (†) 16.6   (3.28) 25.4   (3.67) 33.1   (4.75) 24.9   (3.57)
Secondary 1,401   (17.7)   1,534   (26.0) 1,680   (39.0) 1.3   (0.10) 45.7   (0.74) 45.2   (0.73) 6.5   (0.29) 1.3   (0.12) 13.6   (0.46) 34.5   (0.57) 28.6   (0.59) 23.3   (0.53)
Arts/music [5 ]   (†)   112   (4.1) 121   (6.2)   (†) 48.7   (2.08) 46.1   (2.14) 3.8   (0.81) 1.0 ! (0.42) 14.4   (1.86) 27.3   (2.07) 28.0   (2.01) 30.3   (2.16)
English 235   (5.0)   269   (9.0) 306   (10.0) 0.2 ! (0.06) 46.7   (1.64) 45.0   (1.50) 7.1   (0.68) 1.1   (0.23) 14.0   (1.05) 37.0   (1.60) 26.1   (1.28) 23.0   (1.04)
ESL/bilingual [5 ]   (†)   18   (2.5) 21   (2.5)   (†) 38.3   (5.62) 52.2   (5.89) 7.1 ! (2.62)   (†) 13.8   (3.33) 38.7   (5.95) 30.4   (5.39) 17.1 ! (5.67)
Foreign language [5 ]   (†)   73   (3.3) 78   (5.0) 0.6 ! (0.28) 45.7   (2.86) 45.2   (2.93) 6.9   (1.04) 1.6 ! (0.56) 14.3   (1.59) 36.6   (2.17) 27.1   (2.53) 21.9   (1.89)
Health/physical ed [5 ]   (†)   102   (4.3) 119   (5.7) 0.5 ! (0.25) 57.5   (1.93) 37.2   (1.91) 4.7   (0.91)   (†) 10.6   (1.32) 34.1   (2.93) 29.5   (2.19) 25.9   (2.18)
Mathematics 191   (4.3)   213   (5.5) 252   (9.1)   (†) 46.6   (1.59) 46.6   (1.59) 5.6   (0.77) 1.1   (0.31) 13.9   (1.17) 36.4   (1.56) 29.5   (1.48) 20.2   (1.27)
Science 159   (3.7)   189   (6.8) 195   (8.3) 0.4 ! (0.17) 42.7   (1.78) 49.3   (1.61) 5.5   (0.65) 2.1   (0.43) 14.9   (1.34) 33.2   (1.44) 30.9   (1.55) 21.1   (1.20)
Social studies 147   (4.3)   178   (5.7) 209   (9.9) 0.6 ! (0.22) 45.6   (1.86) 45.4   (1.84) 6.6   (1.10) 1.8   (0.41) 12.9   (0.97) 37.3   (1.74) 29.9   (1.51) 19.8   (1.38)
Special education 99   (2.3)   174   (7.5) 165   (9.7)   (†) 39.5   (1.95) 49.3   (1.83) 9.9   (1.15)   (†) 12.8   (1.81) 34.2   (1.68) 27.4   (1.85) 25.6   (1.88)
Vocational/
    technical
125   (3.2)   169   (5.7) 164   (6.3) 8.9   (0.72) 45.2   (1.43) 38.9   (1.45) 5.8   (0.71) 1.1 ! (0.39) 14.5   (1.30) 29.7   (1.38) 28.5   (1.42) 27.3   (1.38)
Other secondary 443   (8.5)   36   (2.1) 47   (3.4) 6.1   (1.00) 36.5   (3.24) 45.5   (3.71) 10.5   (2.04) 1.4 ! (0.52) 10.2   (1.66) 32.5   (3.30) 31.4   (2.56) 25.9   (2.47)
                                                                           
Private schools                                                                          
Total 449   (10.6)   467   (10.3) 490   (9.2) 8.1   (0.58) 53.9   (0.95) 32.8   (0.84) 2.8   (0.25) 2.4   (0.38) 23.6   (0.99) 31.0   (0.82) 24.6   (0.86) 20.8   (0.75)
Sex                                                                          
Males 107   (3.8)   110   (8.4) 127   (4.6) 7.1   (1.40) 45.7   (2.07) 37.6   (2.11) 4.2   (0.67) 5.4   (1.22) 24.1   (2.15) 29.5   (1.61) 23.5   (1.70) 22.9   (1.57)
Females 342   (7.7)   357   (14.3) 362   (7.7) 8.5   (0.60) 56.8   (1.09) 31.1   (0.85) 2.4   (0.28) 1.3   (0.27) 23.5   (0.86) 31.6   (0.95) 25.0   (0.88) 20.0   (0.84)
                                                                           
Race/ethnicity                                                                          
White 402   (9.6) 2 411   (12.0) 423   (8.8) 7.1   (0.73) 53.5   (1.15) 34.2   (0.95) 2.9   (0.29) 2.4   (0.41) 22.5   (0.97) 30.6   (0.85) 24.5   (0.89) 22.4   (0.82)
Black 17   (1.4) 2 19   (2.9) 20   (2.2) 20.1   (3.60) 55.3   (4.05) 22.2   (3.56) 1.6 ! (0.72)   (†) 30.2   (3.60) 40.6   (3.70) 17.7   (3.08) 11.4   (2.36)
Hispanic 21   (1.5) 2 23   (3.1) 29   (2.1) 15.2   (2.32) 59.3   (3.70) 20.9   (2.58) 3.7 ! (1.29)   (†) 31.9   (4.70) 29.8   (2.91) 27.7   (3.87) 10.5   (2.03)
Asian   (†)     (†) 11   (1.5) 7.2 ! (3.04) 50.3   (5.40) 33.0   (5.93)   (†)   (†) 28.6   (5.50) 34.4   (5.49) 27.5   (5.70) 9.5 ! (3.00)
Pacific Islander   (†)     (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
American Indian/
    Alaska Native
  (†)     (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races   (†)     (†) 4   (0.6)   (†) 55.7   (9.60) 31.7   (8.87)   (†)   (†) 23.6 ! (8.41) 34.8   (8.59) 31.2   (8.21) 10.4 ! (4.86)
                                                                           
Age                                                                          
Under 30 87   (3.1)   88   (3.7) 80   (3.9) 11.5   (1.52) 68.3   (1.86) 19.1   (1.41) 1.2 ! (0.48)   (†) 55.5   (1.90) 44.2   (1.90)   (†)   (†)
30 to 39 101   (3.2)   103   (5.8) 109   (5.2) 9.2   (1.76) 52.9   (2.48) 33.7   (1.95) 2.3   (0.64) 1.9   (0.55) 24.4   (2.76) 49.7   (2.61) 25.8   (1.98)   (†)
40 to 49 131   (4.2)   119   (7.1) 116   (3.6) 9.1   (0.85) 54.4   (1.90) 30.1   (1.45) 2.9   (0.51) 3.5 ! (1.21) 20.4   (1.56) 30.4   (1.82) 38.3   (2.04) 10.9   (1.07)
50 to 59 106   (3.2)   121   (11.1) 128   (4.5) 5.7   (0.85) 49.8   (1.59) 39.8   (1.53) 2.7   (0.53) 2.0   (0.49) 13.2   (1.12) 17.8   (1.43) 28.7   (1.63) 40.3   (1.79)
60 and over 25   (1.2)   37   (4.7) 56   (3.1) 4.9   (1.00) 43.6   (2.66) 39.9   (2.85) 6.5   (1.18) 5.1   (1.47) 7.2   (1.26) 7.5   (1.62) 18.8   (1.96) 66.5   (2.27)
                                                                           
Level                                                                          
Elementary 261   (5.8)   263   (17.5) 258   (6.5) 10.8   (0.71) 59.3   (1.23) 27.3   (0.96) 2.1   (0.37) 0.4 ! (0.16) 23.0   (0.83) 31.1   (0.89) 24.4   (1.02) 21.5   (1.05)
General 168   (4.0)   174   (17.1) 163   (3.9) 10.4   (1.05) 61.6   (1.32) 26.6   (1.40) 1.1   (0.30)   (†) 18.5   (0.99) 30.3   (1.08) 26.1   (1.32) 25.1   (1.32)
Arts/music [4 ]   (†)   21   (2.5) 20   (1.6) 14.7   (2.49) 54.5   (3.62) 27.4   (3.57) 2.8 ! (1.29)   (†) 42.9   (3.81) 25.8   (2.95) 21.3   (3.09) 10.0   (2.41)
English [4 ]   (†)   8   (1.1) 13   (1.2) 8.3   (2.22) 56.8   (5.08) 27.2   (4.34)   (†)   (†) 21.0   (3.83) 33.5   (4.46) 25.5   (4.57) 20.0   (4.17)
Health/physical ed [4 ]   (†)   14   (1.8) 14   (1.7) 8.9   (2.32) 71.6   (5.66) 16.8 ! (5.79)   (†)   (†) 32.3   (4.36) 37.3   (4.80) 16.2   (3.56) 14.1 ! (5.56)
Mathematics [4 ]   (†)   6   (0.7) 7   (1.0) 13.4 ! (4.23) 48.7   (6.95) 31.9   (7.01)   (†)   (†) 26.3   (5.59) 30.9   (5.24) 22.6   (5.97) 20.2 ! (7.94)
Science [4 ]   (†)   5   (0.8) 6   (0.8)   (†) 56.4   (9.12) 37.6   (8.41)   (†)   (†) 15.1 ! (6.17) 31.6   (7.60) 32.1   (7.85) 21.3 ! (6.87)
Special education 16   (1.6)   12   (2.3) 9   (1.0)   (†) 53.1   (6.27) 38.4   (6.47) 7.7 ! (3.40)   (†) 23.2   (5.26) 32.2   (6.49) 29.6   (7.32) 15.0   (4.33)
Other elementary 77   (2.2)   24   (3.5) 27   (2.3) 16.1   (2.36) 49.5   (3.65) 30.5   (3.74) 3.4 ! (1.23)   (†) 32.5   (2.87) 35.6   (3.62) 16.8   (2.60) 15.1   (2.76)
Secondary 188   (6.2)   204   (13.4) 231   (7.1) 5.2   (0.91) 47.8   (1.42) 38.9   (1.37) 3.6   (0.49) 4.5   (0.80) 24.3   (1.76) 31.0   (1.38) 24.8   (1.28) 20.0   (1.02)
Arts/music [5 ]   (†)   18   (1.9) 19   (1.8) 10.5   (2.35) 47.4   (4.54) 35.2   (5.13)   (†)   (†) 29.5   (3.88) 29.7   (4.36) 25.2   (4.70) 15.5   (3.95)
English 33   (1.7)   38   (2.8) 39   (2.8) 3.4   (0.85) 51.3   (3.01) 39.2   (3.09) 2.7 ! (0.88)   (†) 23.3   (2.18) 29.3   (2.75) 27.6   (3.31) 19.8   (2.36)
Foreign language [5 ]   (†)   18   (2.1) 22   (2.6) 4.6 ! (1.79) 45.7   (5.15) 40.3   (4.79) 3.2 ! (1.39)   (†) 28.5   (4.64) 34.5   (4.59) 16.6   (3.46) 20.4   (3.57)
Health/physical ed [5 ]   (†)   9   (1.0) 12   (1.8)   (†) 59.9   (7.33) 33.7   (7.48)   (†)   (†) 27.5   (5.72) 30.5   (6.63) 19.5   (4.73) 22.4   (4.33)
Mathematics 33   (1.6)   31   (3.2) 36   (2.6) 4.9 ! (1.50) 52.0   (4.38) 37.7   (4.10) 2.9 ! (1.09)   (†) 21.5   (2.89) 26.6   (3.11) 27.4   (4.00) 24.6   (2.99)
Science 23   (1.3)   27   (1.8) 31   (1.9)   (†) 48.4   (3.31) 40.0   (3.21) 3.8 ! (1.22) 7.7 ! (2.32) 22.5   (3.04) 33.7   (3.35) 24.1   (2.94) 19.7   (3.01)
Social studies 19   (1.1)   27   (2.4) 31   (2.6)   (†) 44.3   (4.58) 41.2   (4.50) 5.7   (1.49) 6.8 ! (2.53) 23.0   (4.76) 28.2   (3.97) 25.9   (3.14) 22.9   (3.40)
Special education 7   (1.0)   7   (1.5) 6   (1.0)   (†) 53.8   (8.31) 36.9   (7.74)   (†)   (†) 15.9 ! (5.41) 45.4   (6.29) 27.9   (6.43) 10.9 ! (3.93)
Vocational/
     technical
4   (0.6)   5   (0.9) 5   (0.8) 13.7 ! (5.38) 49.2   (8.80) 36.2   (8.52)   (†)   (†) 29.6   (8.18) 27.5   (7.57) 23.2 ! (8.22) 19.8 ! (6.54)
Other secondary 69   (2.6)   24   (2.7) 29   (2.3) 13.5 ! (5.75) 35.5   (4.22) 41.1   (4.40) 5.1 ! (2.13) 4.8 ! (1.62) 24.6   (5.80) 34.9   (4.59) 24.9   (3.62) 15.6   (2.90)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Education specialist degrees or certificates are generally awarded for 1 year's work beyond the master's level. Includes certificate of advanced graduate studies.
2 Data for 1999-2000 are only roughly comparable to data for later years, because the new category of two or more races was introduced in 2003-04.
3 Includes Pacific Islander.
4 Included under Other elementary.
5 Included under Other secondary.
NOTE: Excludes prekindergarten teachers. Data are based on a head count of full-time and part-time teachers rather than on the number of full-time-equivalent teachers reported in other tables. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and cell suppression. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public Teacher Questionnaire," 1999-2000, 2003-04, and 2007-08; "Private Teacher Questionnaire," 1999-2000, 2003-04, and 2007-08; and "Charter Teacher Questionnaire," 1999-2000. (This table was prepared September 2009.)

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest