Newly released data show that both the numbers of enrollments in, and completers of, teacher-preparation programs continued to decline through 2014, but not as sharply as they had a few years before.
In all, enrollments are down by more than a third from 2009-10—the height of enrollment over the past decade—while completers are down by a quarter. The period with the heaviest declines seems to have been between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Some states have been much more heavily hit than others. Nevada, whose Clark County district has struggled mightily to recruit teachers, saw teacher-prep enrollments plummet by 50 percent between 2009 and 2014, the federal data show.