Qualifications of Public Secondary School Biology Teachers, 1999-2000

This Issue Brief describes the qualifications of public middle school and high school biology teachers in terms of the subject matter of their certifications and postsecondary majors and minors. Data are drawn from the 1999–2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). At the middle and high school level, 52 percent of biology students had a teacher with both certification in biology and a postsecondary major or minor in biology; 16 percent of biology students had a teacher with neither a certification nor a postsecondary major or minor in biology. Of those with a teacher lacking a certification or major or minor in biology, 40 percent of students had a teacher with a major or minor in another natural science. However, in schools with more than 50 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, 10 percent of biology students who had a teacher lacking certification or major or minor in biology had a teacher with a major or minor in another natural science. In those schools, 53 percent of biology students of teachers lacking a certification or major or minor in biology had a teacher with a major or minor in elementary education.

Online Availability

• Download, view and print the report as a pdf file.
• Download, view and print the standard error table as a pdf file.