College of Education News

Despite Economic Woes, Most Recent Graduates Still Find Employment in Education

October 21, 2009

By Erica Yuenger

Ellen Dahlke, a 2008 graduate of the College of Education, works as a teacher at Urbana High School

Jenny Morris graduated from the College of Education in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in physics and a minor in Secondary Education. Despite a shaky economy, Morris said her time at the College prepared her for finding a job in a competitive market and tackling the challenges she faced during her first year of teaching.

With the lack of jobs in today's economy, entering the market fresh out of college can be a daunting prospect. But having skills beyond an employer's expectations, combined with a degree from a prestigious program, seems to be a recipe for success among recent graduates of the College of Education.

"The things I learned through the secondary education program not only benefited my current classroom and students but also helped me secure a job in today's rough economic times," said Morris, now a physics teacher at Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

A recent survey conducted by the Council on Teacher Education (CTE) shows that, overall, about 89 percent of the survey respondents who graduated from the K-12 certification program in 2008 found employment in education, and a total of 95 percent found employment in general.

Cheryll Douglas, Director of Clinical Experiences, said many factors contribute to the ability of Education students to obtain degree-relevant jobs after graduation. Overall, she said, the College has an excellent reputation for preparing students for future jobs, as well as making students marketable to potential employers. Part of this reputation is because of the mix of teaching theory and practice, Douglas added, which happens through collaboration between the professors, clinical faculty, and teachers in the surrounding community.

On the practical side, Douglas said the students are placed in a classroom setting as often as possible, beginning as soon as students are accepted into the program their junior year. "By the time they get to student teaching, they've already been in the classroom for three semesters," Douglas said, adding that the College collaborates with "extremely cooperative, capable teachers" who instruct and encourage students as they work in the classroom.

One of these teachers is Pat Porter, a fifth grade teacher at Lincoln Trail Elementary School in Mahomet. She said that working in her classroom, students learn about classroom management, the scope and sequence of day-to-day teaching, and lesson planning and implementation.

Porter said what makes College of Education students appealing to prospective employers is their "ability to think fast on their feet, adapt their lessons to fit the needs of a particular classroom at any particular time, have a genuine fondness for children, and a keen sense of humor."

In addition to time spent in the classroom, Douglas said the diversity of placement also helps prepare students for their future jobs in education. She tries to place students in a rural community school for a semester and an urban community school for another. Also, she tries to diversify the people each student works with in regards to gender, race and social class. "They learn to work together and cooperate with all different types of teams," Douglas said.

It was working in teams within the College that helped prepare Chris Cloy, a 2008 graduate of the Secondary Education program, for his job as a math teacher at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois.

"I especially appreciated the cohort model that we used in our classes because that is how the work environment functions," Cloy said. Another aspect of the College that helped him secure a job, said Cloy, was its outstanding reputation.

Douglas underscores this fact, adding that the structure of the programs, the quality of professors and clinical faculty, and the involvement with local schools gives College of Education graduates an upper hand when looking for a job.

She said the quality of students accepted into the program also boosts the College's reputation. The students are mature, have high grade point averages, a desire to work with children, and a professional attitude toward education. "Their goal is to become life-long self-learners, and we like to instill this in them as they are training," Douglas said.

Jill Heaton said her degree from the University of Illinois played a large part in getting her current job as a science teacher at York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois. She said many science teachers at her school graduated from U of I, including the department coordinator.

"It seems like U of I graduates are automatically seen as very knowledgeable about their content and well prepared to teach," Heaton said.

For Ashley Mondul, 2008 graduate of the Secondary Education program, the College's reputation permeated state lines. Mondul said her U of I College of Education training helped get her foot in the door for many employment opportunities, including her current job as a social studies teacher at North Point High School in Charles County, Maryland.

"The reputation of the secondary education program at the U of I, in many cases, identified me as marketable to potential employers," Mondul said. "Many employers with whom I interviewed told me that they chose to interview, and hire, teachers from the U of I because of the reputation of the program for producing excellent teachers."

Despite the tough job market, graduates like Ellen Dahlke, now an English teacher at Urbana High School, are appreciative of the time they spent in the College of Education.

"I'm very grateful to my professors who made it easier for me to better understand the dynamics of what goes on in my diverse classroom and school," Dahlke said. "I'm a better teacher for it."

For more information about the College of Education, contact our Communications Office at 217-244-8335 or email communications@education.illinois.edu