In response to high rates of attrition, increasing numbers of states and localities are developing mentoring programs as a means of retaining qualified special education personnel. Based on examples drawn from around the country, including states and localities with which the Personnel Improvement Center (PIC) has worked, this practice brief…

Critical to any comprehensive plan for addressing personnel shortages in the field of special education is the gathering of data on supply and demand at the state and local education agency (LEA) levels. Many states now conduct regular supply and demand studies in order to inform decisions regarding the recruitment, preparation and retention of…

As communication technologies continue to evolve at an ever-expanding rate, some states and localities are turning to new social media tools as a means of recruiting and retaining qualified education personnel. Based on examples from around the country drawn from early intervention (EI) programs, state education agencies (SEAs), local education…

Although co-teaching has been a topic of interest for more than two decades among professionals advocating inclusive practices (e.g., Bauwens, Hourcade, & Friend, 1989; Garvar & Papania, 1982), the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates for curriculum access, high…

According to the U.S. Department of Education, shortages of special education and/or related services personnel continue to be a significant challenge for all states. In response to this challenge, state education agencies (SEAs) are implementing various strategies to improve recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this document is to…

Recruitment and retention of qualified education personnel remains an ongoing challenge and all 50 states have reported teacher shortages for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years. Although there was some variation from state to state in terms of which types of personnel were most difficult to recruit and retain, a shortage of qualified special…

In response to teacher shortages around the country, the number of virtual personnel preparation programs has grown dramatically over the past few years. Many of these programs have been created in order to assist in the preparation of special education professionals in a variety of specializations, including high incidence disabilities (e.g.,…

As part of the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states are "required to ensure that highly qualified personnel are recruited, hired, trained and retained to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities" [Section 612(a)(14)(D)]. The purpose of this document…

Teacher shortages have been steadily increasing across the nation, particularly in the field of special education. According to analyses conducted by the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE), reasons for this include the fact that veteran special education teachers are retiring at a faster rate than new teachers are being…

According to data collected by the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC), states are increasingly offering what they describe as a "single certificate" for early childhood and early childhood special education (i.e., certification that covers children both with and without disabilities). This document describes…

Recent research demonstrates that teacher quality has a greater impact on student achievement than any other educational factor. Yet there is concern that overall teacher quality is variable, and hard-to-staff schools (i.e., high poverty and minority schools) have an even more difficult time recruiting and retaining quality teachers. The No Child…

Requirements under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) for teachers to be highly qualified in specific content areas in which they are teaching has resulted in an increase in the availability of state-approved "alternative routes to certification"…

This paper summarizes key findings from three 2002 documents on availability of special education professionals: "The Supply and Demand of Special Education Teachers: The Nature of the Chronic Shortage of Special Education Teachers" (J. McLeskey and others); "Special Education Teacher Retention and Attrition" (B. Billingsley); and "The…

English language learners (ELLs) pose particularly difficult challenges relating to special education referral, assessment and instruction. The purpose of this document is to provide a brief synthesis of the research on and information about ELLs with disabilities. The document is intended to provide state- and local-level policy makers with…