Social Studies is as bad as elmentary ed in Middle or High
school. For every job, there are a thousand applicants for a
social studies position. Yeah, you're right in that there are
elem ed people who can teach MS too, so instead of 1000
applicants to compete against, you'll probably have 2000, but
its long odds either way.
If you had other secondary endorsements, you might be better
off. If you could get math or some of the science
endorsements, those fields have fewer applicants. Of course,
in MI, there are still many out of work math and science
teachers, but its a bit better than social studies.
Even in the "shortage" states like Nevada they aren't taking
applications from Social Studies teachers if they don't have
another endorsement. Most states don't test in Social Studies
for AYP, which means less jobs, and there are many, many
history majors who go into teaching to fill the slots they do
have. What else are history majors going to do?
Don't mean to burst your bubble, but I have a cousin coming
out of college in MI who is in much the same boat as you. She
has no idea what the employment field looks like in MI for
social studies. My advice is to be open to moving and in
social studies, be willing to go ANYWHERE!
On 5/06/08, S.H.Teacher wrote:
> Can anyone shed some light on the availability of high
> school jobs versus elementary ed? I'm hearing that there
> are lots of elem ed teachers searching for work but the
> secondary ed pool is slimmer. I will be certified in Social
> Studies 6-12. Someone told me that I will have a better
> chance of getting a job if I teach high school because
> fewer people want to teach high school. Anyone know if this
> is true?
1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. Please review our Terms of Use, Mission Statement, and Privacy Policy.