In the United States, teacher shortages in high-needs fields such as special education have considerable negative impacts on the academic and functional achievement of students with disabilities. Furthermore, strategies such as the employment of undercertified teachers to serve as teachers of record and fill vacant positions raise questions about students with disabilities' access to a free and appropriate public education. Even so, there are substantial gaps in researchers, policymakers, families, and other stakeholders' understanding of the extent to which these shortages are impacting states, communities, and schools across the country. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation, with its three sequential manuscripts, was to better understand the current state of special education teacher (SET) workforce needs, including data sources, indicators, and quantifiable representations of shortages across states. The first manuscript, Chapter Two, a systematic analysis of literature, examined peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed research on SET shortages to determine the SET workforce indicators and data used by special education researchers. Additionally, differences in the timeliness of shortage data were explored quantitatively. Next, in Chapter Three, Section F of state American Rescue Plan (ARP) applications were analyzed to determine and categorize SET workforce indicators across all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Finally, in Chapter Four, states that included indicators of "Vacancies" and "Undercertified" Teachers were quantified and compared across states to gain a national picture of SET workforce needs. Across all manuscripts, findings and implications were reported in each paper and synthesized together in Chapter Five. Ultimately, the outcomes of this dissertation serve to highlight a need for modifications to current SET workforce data collection, analysis, and reporting to ensure that stakeholders have an accurate understanding of the quantity and quality of our SET workforce. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]