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Recruitment of Special Education Teachers

The number of special education teachers is expected to increase by 15 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than the average for all occupations. Although student enrollments in general are expected to grow slowly, continued increases in the number of students needing special education services will generate a greater need for special education teachers.

In addition to those resulting from growth, a large number of job openings will result from the need to replace special education teachers who switch to teaching general education, change careers altogether, or retire. At the same time, many school districts report difficulty in finding sufficient numbers of qualified teachers. As a result, special education teachers should have excellent job prospects.

Highly Qualified Teachers

Teachers are considered to be highly qualified if they 1) have a bachelor's degree; 2) have a full state certification; and 3) have demonstrated subject-matter competence in the area(s) taught. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 required that, by the end of the 2005-06 school year, all teachers in core academic subjects must be highly qualified in the areas of teaching assignments. All teachers in programs supported by Title I funds or newly hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year must be highly qualified at the time of employment.

Online Job Boards: Online job boards such as CEC's www.specialedcareers.org allow potential employers to post job openings for candidates to browse online.

Save time and use the job agent! The job agent functionality allows you to receive daily updates of all the new jobs added that match your search criteria. To create a job agent, log in to your account, click "Create/Manage Job Agent" on the "My Account" tab. Enter your e-mail address, a description (title) of the search and the date you would like to stop receiving job agent e-mails. Select your search criteria, then click "Create Job Agent."

Facebook: An enormously popular social networking site, Facebookcurrently has more than 350 million active users worldwide. It is no longer just for individuals, but is now embraced by companies, businesses, universities, school districts, and other organizations as a way to form an identity online. (A simple search for school district sites yielded more than 500 results.)

Once your district starts a Facebook page, the opportunity for sharing the wonderful resources and opportunities you offer grows exponentially. The pages of the Anchorage School District and the Burlington School District are good examples of how districts are using Facebook. Check out CEC's guidance on making the most of your Facebook page.

Does your school district already have a Facebook page? Let your potential teacher applicants become a "fan" as they seek more information about the district's job opportunities. Adding recent graduates to your district's group page is also a great recruiting tool. Already familiar with the school district as a student, now they can find out more about your district in terms of employment opportunities.

Looking for more students to add? Look to the CEC Headquarters Facebook page for inspiration and invite local members to join your site. Don't forget to become a fan!

YouTube: Some school systems have begun to use YouTube as a recruitment vehicle. If you have the capability to create videos, it can be a great way to share all that your district has to offer. Check out an example from the Kansas Department of Education.

Twitter: "Tweet" your way to prospective applicants! Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as "tweets." Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers, who are known as "followers." State school systems such as Kansas and Michigan are using Twitter as free advertising for teaching positions also posted on their DOE Web sites.

Retention: Now that you have them, how to you keep them?

Teacher retention has long been an issue of concern in the education field. Characteristics of teacher burnout include anxiety and frustration, impaired performance, and even disruption in personal relationships at home or work (Wood & McCarthy, 2000). Teacher burnout stems from a variety of reasons and situations.

Teachers can feel burned out from dynamics at a specific school, teaching a specific grade level or subject for too long, needing a change in the population (elementary to middle school, public school to higher education), needing the challenge of new responsibilities (from the classroom to administration at district- or state-level positions), or even needing to leave the field entirely.

Special education brings a unique set of stressors that contributes to teacher burnout as well. Dealing with a very heterogeneous group of students in the classroom can be difficult as special education teachers strive to meet the diverse individual needs of their students. Special education teachers in both inclusive and self-contained classrooms deal daily with how instruction should be presented and assessed to meet each student's needs for optimal learning, addressing social and behavioral issues, planning how to merge the teaching of functional skills such as communication and life skills with academic curriculum, and dealing with physical needs of students, including ensuring barrier-free environments, lifting for positioning, and dealing with personal care needs such as toileting and feeding.

In addition to the increased demands of the classroom, special education teachers also deal with legal mandates regarding individual planning, increased accountability demands that include a need for clear and accurate data documentation, and working with parents and advocates to ensure each student is receiving the correct services and appropriate instruction. On top of these issues, special education teachers are often in the position of managing adults who work as assistants in the classroom. This management role is one not often described in job descriptions and the role is not a clear one in terms of being "the boss," which can in turn lead to increased stress without the proper support.

Supports to Increase Retention in Special Education

There are a number of wellness strategies for reducing stress and burnout across numerous professions, including but not limited to the offering of training sessions in stress management, time management, relaxation, nutrition, exercise, and coping strategies.

Supports to assist in retention for educators in general include offering competitive salaries and increases in salary for higher levels of technical expertise (often accounted for through increases for post-graduate degrees, but may include additional earned certifications in areas such as assistive technology). In addition, maintaining an environment of diversity awareness where cultural differences are respected and accommodated will reduce stress for all. This includes flexibility for religious holidays and events as outlined by state and district policies.

While each of the supports listed above will certainly assist teachers in dealing with burnout, more specific strategies are needed to get at the heart of the unique concerns that special education teachers face daily. The following suggestions are described in relation to the special educator's needs:

Offer professional development activities/trainings: Be sure that there is a spectrum of opportunities available to meet the diverse needs of teachers within a particular school or district. Some special educators may need basic support types of trainings such as how to complete district/state paperwork, others may need additional training on learning strategies and how to implement them effectively with current curricula, while still others may require in-depth trainings to learn how to implement a specific type of technology, for example how to teach an individual student to use a computer-based communication system. Other topics may include dealing with parents, taking data on individual goals, managing adults, and so on.

Support and improve working conditions: Often special educators have needs that are specific to the individual needs of the students in their classroom—and these may change from year to year. Supporting teachers and teacher assistants with training opportunities, troubleshooting potential or existing problems, and keeping an "open door" policy regarding communication is critical. Placing administrators who intrinsically value and support special education programs strategically throughout the district is an important step in making sure that special education classrooms have the support that they need.

Classroom environment: Beyond supporting the training and personnel needs of special education teachers and assistants, support for the physical environment in the classroom and school is required as well. Needs for the classroom include reexamining the physical space from year to year to assess upkeep and maintenance that may need to be done. Portables often grow mold inside the walls and under the floor from year to year. While this may have little effect of the majority of students and faculty who work in the environment, for those with medical issues (as is often the case in severe/profound classrooms), it takes on increased importance. In addition, some children require food that needs to be kept at a certain temperature so ensuring that the classroom has access to items such as hot water, refrigerators, and microwaves is key.

References:
Ann, S. (2006). How to Recognize Job Burnout. Retrieved from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/103956/how_to_recognize_job_burnout.html
Wood, T. & McCarthy, C. (2002). Understanding and Preventing Teacher Burnout. Retrieved from: http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/burnout.htm
Dyck, B. (nd). The Rebooting of a Teacher's Mind: Rebooting Online Companion. Retrieved from: http://www.nmsa.org/services/online/rebooting.html