Across the nation, alternative-route program officials say they are seeing increasing enrollments from career-changers with strong backgrounds in the highly sought-after fields of math, science, and technology, according to Education Week.

But despite state efforts to create pathways to teaching tailored to math and science professionals, the downturn has shrunk the overall availability of teaching jobs. That means not all people with strong credentials in those fields who turn to teaching will have positions waiting for them.

“The phenomenon of the economy is working on both sides of the equation,” said C. Emily Feistritzer, the director of the National Center for Alternative Certification, a Washington-based group that tracks and disseminates information on nontraditional paths to the teaching profession “It’s a Catch-22 situation.”

Filed under: K-12 Education News