The brief also provides strategies for schools, including partnerships with local teacher preparation programs, financial incentives, and “grow your own” programs to increase the number of qualified special education teachers.
Partnerships with local teacher preparation programs align student teaching experiences with district-specific needs, which has been shown to improve the supply, effectiveness, and retention of educators, especially in high-need areas.
Financial incentives for teachers in surplus areas to transition into special education roles can help address the special education teacher shortage by leveraging the existing workforce.
“Grow your own” programs can increase the number of local candidates and candidates of color to be special education teachers.
Special educators are more effective and experience less stress and burnout when they have access to strong curricula, feel supported by administrators, and receive targeted professional learning.
Adequate planning time and reasonable workloads enable special educators to fulfill their responsibilities well, reducing burnout, increasing job retention, and improving the quality of instruction.