Although teachers are usually the focus of most discussions of school staffing, it is important to remember that the 2,630,000 U.S. teachers work with 103,000 principals, 86,000 guidance counselors, 79,000 librarians and media personnel, 109,000 other professionals, 408,000 teacher aides, and 498,000 other noninstructional personnel (NCES 1993b). Without minimizing the importance of these almost 1.3 million other people who directly participate in student education, this section focuses on the characteristics of the teaching force-particularly those of mathematics and science teachers.

ContentsSearchContinue