Research Spotlight

Research suggests that teachers are most vulnerable to attrition during their first five years of teaching. Effective teacher induction programs help teachers succeed and increase their intentions to remain in special education.

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Only 14 percent of special education teachers are from diverse backgrounds, compared to 38 percent of their students. COPSSE research suggests that recruitment and retention may be supported by providing incentives, improving work conditions, ensuring administrative support, and providing support to beginning teachers.

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Trends indicate that a significant number of special education administrator positions will remain open in the coming years because there will not be enough qualified candidates to fill them.

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Questions & Answers

Q:Help settle this debate: I say the shortage of special education personnel is a result of too much attrition, but my colleague says it is more a problem of inadequate supply. Who is correct?

A:Research suggests that both viewpoints are correct. More than 50,000 teachers are needed to solve the special education shortage, with 98 percent of the nation's largest school districts reporting shortages. However, some schools suffer more shortages than others. Attrition rates are highest in hard to staff schools (e.g., rural, urban, low socio-economic).

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Q:Our district has an excellent outreach recruitment plan. However, we still experience a shortage of special education teachers. What else can we do?

A:Recruiting qualified teachers is a must, but retaining them is just as important. The annual attrition rate for special educators is estimated at 13.5 percent resulting in an annual loss of approximately 22,000 special education teachers.

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Supply & Demand

There is a severe and chronic shortage of qualified special education personnel—including teachers, administrators, and related service providers. COPSSE research analyzes current trends and offers suggestions for recruiting and retaining qualified professionals.

Date	Type	Title/Description	Download
04/19/2007	Presentation	Teacher Turnover in Special Education Provides research insights and examines various trends related to special education teacher shortages and teacher turnover trends.	Download Full Document
11/10/2006	Presentation	The Supply of Teachers from Traditional and Alternative Preparation Routes in Special and General Education Discusses the productivity and adequacy of a variety of teacher sources to address the need for developing a highly qualified national teaching force in both special and general education.	Download Full Document
11/09/2006	Presentation	Special Education Teacher Education: An Update Presents overviews of research in the areas of special education teacher supply and demand; attrition and retention; initial preparation and beginning teacher quality; technology applications in teacher education; the current status of alternative route preparation and teacher preparation cost effectiveness.	Download Full Document
11/09/2006	Presentation	Special Education Teacher Attrition: What We Know, What We Can Do Explores the effects of teacher characteristics and preparation, teacher recruitment and induction, work assignment factors, and personal influences on teachers’ career decisions.	Download Full Document
11/08/2006	Presentation	Cost Effectiveness of Teacher Preparation Routes Presents findings from University of Florida and Johns Hopkins University researchers concerning their study of cost and cost effectiveness with a focus on alternative routes and their design.	Download Full Document
02/01/2005	Research Preview	Increasing Supply—Are Some Alternative Route Options More Cost Effective Than Others? Discusses how cost effectiveness varies as a function of cost and attrition.	Download Full Document
02/01/2005	Research Preview	Mid-Career Changers—Here To Stay or Passing Through? Discusses the challenges of keeping mid-career changers from leaving teaching.	Download Full Document
02/01/2005	Workforce Watch	Growing and Improving the Special Education Teacher Workforce—A Focus on Beginning Teachers Can Help Suggests strategies for supporting beginning teachers and describes three promising induction programs.	Download Full Document
02/01/2005	Research Preview	Can We Allocate Funds Across Training Programs to Maximize Special Education Teacher Supply? A Model for Determining Cost Effectiveness Describes a model for determining the cost effectiveness of preparation routes in addressing teacher shortages.	Download Full Document
04/01/2004	Presentation	Special Educator Supply and Teacher Quality: The Critical Role of Teacher Induction Discusses the potential of induction programs to reduce teacher shortages and increase teacher quality.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Diversifying the Special Education Workforce—District Recruitment and Retention Strategies Overviews supply needs for teachers from diverse backgrounds and suggests recruitment and retention strategies.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	An Insufficient Supply and a Growing Demand for Qualified Special Education Personnel: What State Policymakers Should Know Overviews special education personnel shortage issues facing states.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	A Dwindling Supply of Qualified Personnel of Students with Visual Impairments and Blindness—What States Should Know Overviews shortage issues and suggests state level strategies for increasing supply.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	An Insufficient Supply and a Growing Demand for Qualified Related Service Personnel: Are School Districts Prepared? Overviews shortage issues for physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	An Insufficient Supply and a Growing Demand for Qualified Special Education Personnel: What School Districts Should Know Overviews special education personnel shortage issues facing school districts.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	An Insufficient Supply and a Growing Demand for Qualified Special Education Teachers: What School Districts Should Know Overviews shortage issues related to special education personnel and suggests district level strategies.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	An Insufficient Supply and a Growing Demand for Qualified Special Education Teachers: What State Policymakers Can Do Describes special education teacher shortages and suggests state level strategies.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Getting Teachers Where They Are Needed Most—Can License Reciprocity Facilitate Mobility? Discusses the limited potential of license reciprocity agreements to alleviate special education teacher shortages.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Paraprofessionals: What You Should Know About Ensuring a Highly Qualified Workforce Discusses retention considerations and how to ensure paraprofessionals are qualified.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Retaining Qualified Special Education Teachers—Understanding Why Teachers Leave and What Principals Can Do About It Describes factors associated with special education teachers who leave teaching and offers retention strategies for principals.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Retaining Qualified Special Education Teachers—Understanding Why Teachers Leave and What School Districts Can Do About It Describes factors associated with special education teachers who leave teaching and offers retention strategies for school districts.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Shortages and Demographic Changes Require New Approaches—The Preparation of Qualified Deaf Education Teachers: What States Should Know Considers how demographics of deaf and hard of hearing students affect teacher quality and preparation.	Download Full Document
02/01/2004	Workforce Watch	Special Education Administrators—What Should Districts Know About New Candidates? Overviews shortages, preparation, certification, and licensure for special education administrators.	Download Full Document
11/14/2003	Presentation	Teacher Supply and Teacher Quality: Effective Policies and Strategies Discusses factors contributing to special education teacher shortages.	Download Full Document
10/01/2003	Research Synthesis	The Supply of and Demand for Special Education Teachers: A Review of Research Regarding the Nature of the Chronic Shortage in Special Education Describes teacher shortages, trends in supply and demand, and polices that address shortages.	Download Full Document Download Summary
07/01/2003	Issue Brief	Audiology Services in the Schools Examines supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure for audiologists.	Download Full Document Download Summary
07/01/2003	Issue Brief	Paraprofessionals Examines supply and demand, preparation, and certification and licensure for paraprofessionals.	Download Full Document Download Summary
06/01/2003	Issue Brief	Issue Brief on Personnel Preparation and Credentialing in Speech-Language Pathology Describes supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure for speech-language pathologists.	Download Full Document Download Summary
06/01/2003	Issue Brief	U.S. Deaf Education Teacher Preparation Programs: A Look at the Present and a Vision for the Future Examines shortages and issues related to the preparation of teachers of students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.	Download Full Document Download Summary
05/01/2003	Research Synthesis	Getting Teachers Where They Are Needed Most: The Case for Licensure Reciprocity Describes reciprocity agreements and analyzes their potential for alleviating teacher shortages.	Download Full Document Download Summary
05/01/2003	Issue Brief	Personnel Issues in School-Based Occupational Therapy: Supply and Demand, Preparation, and Certification and Licensure Describes supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure for occupational therapists.	Download Full Document Download Summary
04/01/2003	Issue Brief	Free and Appropriate Public Education and the Personnel Crisis for Students with Visual Impairments and Blindness Examines shortages, preparation, and certification of personnel who work with students with visual impairments and blindness.	Download Full Document Download Summary
04/01/2003	Issue Brief	Personnel Issues in School-Based Physical Therapy: Supply and Demand, Professional Preparation, Certification, and Licensure Discusses supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure for physical therapists.	Download Full Document Download Summary
04/01/2003	Research Synthesis	Special Education Teacher Retention and Attrition: A Critical Analysis of the Literature Analyzes factors that contribute to special education teacher attrition and retention.	Download Full Document Download Summary
03/01/2003	Issue Brief	Special Education Administration at a Crossroads: Availability, Licensure, and Preparation of Special Education Administrators Reviews availability, licensure, and preparation of special education administrators.	Download Full Document Download Summary
10/01/2002	Presentation	Growing and Improving the Special Education Teacher Workforce: Balancing Competing Demands Describes factors that contribute to teacher shortages in special education.	Download Full Document
09/01/2002	Research Synthesis	Diversifying the Special Education Workforce Presents demographics for teachers from diverse backgrounds.	Download Full Document Download Summary