Annually, 13% of special educators leave teaching, twice that of general educators (Wong et al., 2017). In June 2017, the U.S. Department of Education and Office of Postsecondary Education announced that 46 states were drastically short of special education teachers (Robinson et al., 2019). This study explores how university special education…

Like many districts across the U.S., Miami-Dade County Public Schools is experiencing a large number of open staff positions due to higher-than-normal numbers of retirements and resignations in the face of COVID-19 coupled with enrollment declines in local universities' education departments. The district, in partnership with New Teacher Center,…

Public school leaders struggle to find teachers to fill the vacancies in America's classrooms. The teacher shortage crisis is a result of many overlapping causes which include the disparity in resources to attract potential teachers, a declining enrollment in teacher preparatory programs, a lack of teachers certified to teach critical shortage…

When public schools closed their doors in the spring of 2020, an estimated 3 million students went missing from formal schooling of any sort. During the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, a mixture of public confusion and mistrust of guidelines coming from state and federal authorities led to a churn of reopening and reclosing schools. However,…

Teaching is a difficult profession in ideal circumstances. The job requires immense talent and training when students have the overwhelming challenges associated with poverty. Teachers will succeed only if they are given excellent preparation and valuable fieldwork experience with effective teachers. School boards and leaders can and must insist…

Districts across the country are facing severe shortages of teachers--especially in certain subjects (math, science, special education, career and technical education, and bilingual education) and in specific schools (urban, rural, high-poverty, high-minority, and low-achieving). The severity of the teacher shortage problem varies significantly by…

Creating a pipeline of great teachers for all schools and students in each state is a crucial policy goal. Strengthening teacher pipelines requires states to examine multiple policy areas, including certification requirements, educator evaluation, compensation and career ladders, educator environment (e.g., working conditions), and the range of…

In light of the current challenges in addressing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students, the persistent problems of disproportionality in special education, and the dismal post-school outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and those living in poverty, it is critical that successful models of…

Although states have maintained a focus on recruiting and retaining teachers, many schools and districts still face daunting challenges in ensuring a qualified and competent teaching corps. It is particularly difficult for schools considered hard to staff-those with high concentrations of low-performing, low-income students; high teacher turnover;…

The Florida edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

In accordance with Florida statutes, the state's Division of Community Colleges conducted a program review of teacher education in Florida's community colleges. Two questions were examined: (1) What role does the community college system currently play in teacher preparation and continuing education? and (2) What role should the community college…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Florida edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

The final report of an extensive national study of migrant students' educational needs, this document reviews the literature, describes specific migrant education programs, and summarizes the findings of two surveys--a preliminary survey conducted in California, Texas, and Florida and a nationwide survey. Data from the national survey of…

A study identified strategies for increasing the retention of disadvantaged students in nontraditional programs in Florida. The first phase of the study consisted of a review of literature concerning working women, the earnings gap between men and women, barriers to enrollment in nontraditional programs, and recruitment and retention strategies.…

These proceedings contain 48 presentations and 15 poster abstracts. Papers include "Computer Tasks Required in Selected Undergraduate Agriculture Courses" (Johnson, Ferguson, Vokinnns, Lester); "College of Agriculture Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Technologies in Teaching" (Dooley, Murphy); "Steering Through Turbulent…