Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Table 2—Percentages of teachers teaching various lengths of time
Years of Experience
U.S. Teachers
Case Study
Teachers
Less than 3 years
9.7
13
3–9 years
25.5
20
10–20 years
35
37
More than 20 years
29.8
30
SOURCE: 
U.S. Department of Education, 1995c, p. 78.
All of the Case Study teachers reported having taught more than one grade level
and all but five had taught in more than one school. Case Study data illustrate
a pattern in which young teachers, particularly at the elementary level, were
moved from year to year, while more experienced teachers were able to continue
with the age groups they preferred.
Since the focus of the Case Study was on math and science instruction, all of the
teachers interviewed and observed at these levels were math or science teachers.
Among the elementary school teachers, all but one teacher taught all the major
subjects, including both math and science. At the middle and secondary levels,
teachers generally specialized in one subject area. Since mathematics is often
tracked in middle schools and science is not, middle school math teachers re-
ported teaching different levels of math (e.g., ‘‘geometry, algebra, eighth-grade
math’’ or ‘‘transition math, prealgebra, algebra’’), while science teachers taught
general classes (i.e., ‘‘physical science’’ or ‘‘seventh- and eighth-grade science’’)
which included students at all levels of ability.
Most of the secondary school teachers in the Case Study taught two or three sub-
jects (e.g., physical science and biology). The extremes were a suburban science
teacher who taught three double periods of the Advanced Placement (AP) biology,
and an urban math teacher who taught six different courses: technical math 1 and

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2, geometry, advanced algebra, AP calculus 1, and AP calculus 2. Only one of the
secondary teachers taught outside his main assignment areas—he did so by teach-
ing one computer—science class.
Information gathered from interviews with these teachers during the course of the
Case Study helps to provide a broader picture of teachers’ lives. The following
sections address the findings from several questions that were salient in the inter-
views with teachers. These were:
•
What motivates individuals to become teachers?
•
What makes a good teacher?
•
How do individuals become teachers?
•
What experiences have they had as teachers?
•
How do teachers spend their time in and out of school?
•
What methods do teachers use in teaching math and science?