1. Teaching MythBusters: What is the teaching profession actually like?
Average length of presentation: 15 minutes
Welcome students; introduce speakers
Suggested modifications: Place your own teacher preparation pathway logo

2. Our Mission Passion for STEM + Drive to Teach = Impact
Before we get into the details, here is the mission of our work in a nutshell: We want to take Mines students who have a passion for STEM subjects along with the drive to teach and provide a pathway that poises them to make an impact on STEM education and eventually STEM itself. We understand that this won’t be of interest to all Mines students, nor should it be because our society needs other STEM professionals in addition to STEM educators. But any Mines students who do decide to pursue a career in teaching our bound to have a significant impact. We find the following mantra explains this well: Those who can, do. And those who can also inspire, teach.
Suggested modification: Replace/modify text with your own mission/school. Replace picture with one of your teacher prep students.
Those who can, do.
Those who can also inspire, teach.

3. Starting salaries
Which is closest to the typical starting salary for K-12 teachers in the Denver area?
$23,000
$32,000
$43,000
$52,000
$65,000
To get started, let’s begin by seeing what you think new teachers in the Denver Metro area actually make.
Ans: C
[Don’t tell them the answer until the slide with teacher salaries]
Suggested modifications: Update to match data form your local region. You can find it with an internet search for “teacher salary schedule” and the names of local districts where the students from your program are likely to teach.

4. Mid-career salaries
After 15 years of teaching and earning a master’s degree, which is closest to the typical Denver area K-12 teacher salary?
$30,000
$45,000
$60,000
$75,000
$90,000
Now how about after 15 years, in the middle of their career? Note that by year 15, most teachers will have earned a masters degree as they are teaching.
Ans: D
[Don’t tell them the answer until the slide with teacher salaries]
Suggested modifications: Update to match data form your local region. You can find it with an internet search for “teacher salary schedule” and the names of local districts where the students from your program are likely to teach.

5. Teacher Salaries 9 month ($40K annualized: $53K, $75k:$100K)
BA yr 1
BA yr 5
MA yr5
MA yr 15
Douglas County Schools
$43,000
$48,397
$51,773
$69,579 – 74,000
Jefferson County Schools
$38,760
$44,943
$49,839
$66,904 - $73,103
Boulder Valley Schools
$44,812
$48,032
$61,907
$68,349 - $99,673
Denver Public Schools
$41,689+
$42,681+
$48,203+
$66,953 - $81,027+ (yr 13)
Describe actual salaries for teachers…note
9 month salaries (some teachers work 2nd jobs in summer, enjoy time with family, or work for summer school)
Some teachers coach or serve as a faculty sponsor $2-$8K per year
Significant raises for time spent in teaching.
Suggested modifications: Update to match data form your local region. You can find it with an internet search for “teacher salary schedule” and the names of local districts where the students from your program are likely to teach.

6. Starting Salaries 9 months +$6-8K
Comparison to other starting salaries for a nationwide cohort of physics majors. Note that high school teaching is the only profession listed that is not 12 months, and that most teachers have opportunity for extra pay for coaching/tutoring/etc. that they report can pay between $6k and $8k per year.

7. Secondary vs. College?
Maybe you’re interested in teaching, but are considering what level? We have also found that individuals often think that the salary gap between secondary and collegiate teaching is much bigger than it actually is. But that the data does not support that. The only area where we really see this, is for the tenured-track faculty. (Tenured-track faculty are faculty that have teaching and research responsibility; TT faculty are expected to publish frequently and receive grants to support their research.) While historically, tenured faculty have outnumbered non-tenured faculty, that trend has reversed in the last few decades. In 2009, nearly two-thirds of all academic positions at U.S. institutions were staffed by non-tenured faculty, compared to approximately 22% in 1969.
If you look at the graph you will see that in the beginning years, Secondary Teacher and a non-TT faculty at UNC make almost identical salaries (higher at Mines) and adjunct faculty actually make less than a secondary teacher.
If you look at year 15, Middle School and High School teachers make substantially more than Adjunct, more than non-TT faculty at UNC and close to non-TT faculty at Mines.
Suggested modifications: Update college salaries to match salaries for non-TT and TT salaries at your college/university.

8. Federal Loan & Grant Programs
TEACH Grants
$4,000/year
Direct/FFEL Forgiveness
$17,500
5 years of consecutive teaching
low income school
Teaching is also associated with a somewhat “hidden” financial benefit. Federal loan forgiveness programs exist for individuals who desire to teach middle and/or high school math or science. These programs do not exist for individuals who are going into college-level teaching.
TEACH grants are federally funded grants for anyone eligible for federal loans. It’s free money if you teach for four years within 8 years of teaching program completion. Must teach in a low-income school. If obligation not met, it becomes a DIRECT loan. If you are getting loans for school and have any interest in teaching, there is no downside.
For Direct or FFEL loans, an individual may receive $17,500 in loan repayment after working as a highly qualified math/science teacher for 5 consecutive years in a low-income school.
For the Perkins Program a percentage of your loan is forgiven for each year you teach.

9. Teacher Retention
What fraction of grade 7-12 teachers remain in the profession at year 5?
28%
41%
59%
78%
90%
Now that you know about the pay and other financial benefits, what about the job satisfaction and retention of teachers?
Ans: D

10. Retention and Job Satisfaction
78% of secondary teachers continue into year 5.†
Five out of six science teachers said they would choose the same career again.
27.8% of Teach For America Teachers remain in the profession after 5 years.‡
Teachers are actually very satisfied in their profession. 78% remain in the profession after 5 years; this rate is actually higher than those in many different fields of engineering.
And the large majority of science teachers said they would choose the same career again.
So, maybe you are thinking, oh well – that’s cool. I might consider pursuing a teaching license, but I am just going to do one of those alternative programs after I graduate and when I am ready for the change.
Unfortunately, alternative license programs like “Teach for America” have extremely poor retention rates. Research suggest these teachers enter the classroom without the training and tools to make them successful. As a result their first few years in the classroom is very stressful.
†2015 U.S. Dept. of Ed
Public School Teacher Attrition and Mobility in the First Five Years:
Results From the First Through Fifth Waves of the 2007–08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study
‡Donaldson & Johnson. "Teach For America teachers: How long do they teach? Why do they leave?." Phi Delta Kappan 93.2 (2011):

11. Intellectual Challenge and Satisfaction
When you compare teaching to the private sector STEM jobs – surveys of Collegiate Physic graduates showed that high school science teachers expressed similar levels of intellectual challenge and higher levels of satisfaction then those in private sector STEM.

12. Day-to-Day Satisfaction
Science and Math teachers’ responses when asked, “What provides you with day-to-day satisfaction?”
60 total responses
- Strong relationships between fellow teachers, “other committed teachers make amazing coworkers and friends”
Always learning new and emerging areas of my content (eg. physics)
Teaching is a science; teachers constantly use their STEM skills as teachers!
“Teaching provides the drive/reason to explore new and challenging areas of my content.”

13. Relative Demand by Field
Considerable shortage (5.00 – 4.21)
Spec. Ed. – Severe/Profound Disability 4.61
Spec. Ed. – Visually Impaired 4.59
Physics 4.53
Mathematics 4.42
Chemistry 4.42
Not only is the pay better than most people think, but the demand for teachers overall, and teachers of math and science in particular, is really high.
In high demand
2014 AAEE (American Association of Employment in Education)
Educator Supply and Demand in the United States Report

14. Summary of Teacher Benefits
Starting pay ~$43K, school year base
Mid-career ~$75K, school year base
Retire before age 60 w/ pension % HEI
74 days not under contract (breaks & holidays)
78% teaching in year 5†
Intellectual challenge and satisfaction rated equal to or higher than private sector STEM careers††
Summarize the benefits.
Suggested modifications: Update with data from your local region.
†2015 U.S. Dept. of Ed
Public School Teacher Attrition and Mobility in the First Five Years: Results From the First Through Fifth Waves of the 2007–08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study ††

15. Turn and talk
What surprised you?
What questions do you still have?

16. What would you think if …
I would think it’s great if one of my best classmates who was passionate about STEM and teaching decided to become a high school or middle school teacher.
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Goal is to have even the students who aren’t interested in becoming teachers themselves feel positively about their best classmates becoming teachers.

17. TEAM-UP Student Ambassadors
Kayla Kurkowski
Megan Kallis
Suggested modification: Get rid of, or replace with names/pictures of students in the program willing to talk to prospective students.

18. TEAM-UP Faculty Advisors
Wendy Adams
Lacy Cleveland
Make sure to distribute handouts (if you haven’t already) and encourage interested students to add their names to the sign up sheet.
Suggested modification: Replace with your program’s main contacts.
Kristine Callan
Stephanie Fanselow