Research shows that without relevant support from principals, special education teachers (SETs), especially those of color, are more likely to move schools or leave the teaching profession altogether. Yet, effective administrator support remains elusive, often due to school leaders lacking competencies to effectively address the unique needs of diverse SETs. Our study analyzed licensure data files of 33,611 SETs from 2005 to 2019, with a specific focus on mobility into assistant principal or principal roles, disaggregated by race and gender. Our analysis of the state longitudinal dataset revealed that a small percentage of those who earned degrees in special education also earned a leadership endorsement, and the total number of SETs of color moving into leadership roles is consequential. We discuss the implications of these trends for supporting SETs and enhancing diversity of the school leadership pipeline.
BartanenB.GrissomJ. A. (2023). School principal race, teacher racial diversity, and student achievement. Journal of Human Resources, 58(2), 666–712. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.4.0218-9328R2
2.
BerryR. R.ReardonR. M. (2022). Leadership preparation and the career paths of Black principals. Education and Urban Society, 54(1), 29–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131245211001905
3.
BettiniE.KathrynM. M.KristabelS. (2024). Gendered discourse about special education teaching as care work: Implications for improving inequitable working conditions. In Handbook of research on SET preparation (pp. 412–439). Routledge.
4.
BillingsleyB.BettiniE. (2019). SET attrition and retention: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 89(5), 697–744. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319862495
5.
BillingsleyB.BettiniE.MathewsH. M.McLeskeyJ. (2020). Improving working conditions to support special educators’ effectiveness: A call for leadership. Teacher Education and Special Education, 43(1), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419880353
6.
BillingsleyB. S.BettiniE. A.WilliamsT. O. (2019). Teacher racial/ethnic diversity: Distribution of special and general educators of color across schools. Remedial and Special Education, 40(4), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517733047
7.
CallenderC. (2020). Black male teachers, white education spaces: Troubling school practices of othering and surveillance. British Educational Research Journal, 46(5), 1081–1098. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3614
8.
CasaleE. G.GreenA. F.GoldmanS. E.BurkeM. M.HodappR. M. (2024). Preparing special educators and school principals in special education law: An undervalued area of professional training?Teacher Education and Special Education, 47(3), 225–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064241234635
9.
CormierC. J.ScottL. A.CorneliusK. E.RosenbergM. S. (2024). Achieving a more diverse SET workforce: Guiding questions for researchers and policymakers. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 19(2), 151–172. https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2022-0007
10.
CormierC. J.ScottL. A.PowellC.HallK. (2022). Locked in glass classrooms: Black male SETs socialized as everything but educators. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211061038
11.
CovielloJ.DeMatthewsD. E. (2021). Failure is not final: Principals’ perspectives on creating inclusive schools for students with disabilities. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(4), 514–531. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-08-2020-0170
12.
DelpitL.MilnerH. R. (2021). Millennial teachers of color. Harvard Education Press.
13.
DeMatthewsD. E.KnightD. S.ShinJ. (2022). The principal-teacher churn: Understanding the relationship between leadership turnover and teacher attrition. Educational Administration Quarterly, 58(1), 76–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X211051974
14.
DeMatthewsD. E.KotokS.SerafiniA. (2020). Leadership preparation for special education and inclusive schools: Beliefs and recommendations from successful principals. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 15(4), 303–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942775119838308
15.
EgaliteA. J.KisidaB.WintersM. A. (2015). Representation in the classroom: The effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. Economics of Education Review, 45, 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.007
16.
FengL.SassT. R. (2017). Teacher quality and teacher mobility. Education Finance and Policy, 12(3), 396–418. https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00214
17.
FullerE.YoungM. D.OrrM. T. (2007, April). Career pathways of principals in Texas. In. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
18.
GershensonS.HartC.HymanJ.LindsayC.PapageorgeN. (2022). Long-run impacts of same-race teachers. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14(4), 300–342.
19.
GilmourA. F.FengL.TheobaldR. (2025). Leveraging administrative data to study the special education teacher workforce. Remedial and Special Education, 46(2), 118–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325241262971
20.
GoldhaberD.TheobaldR. (2023). Teacher Attrition and Mobility in the Pandemic. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 45(4), 682–687. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737221139285
21.
HesterO. R.BridgesS. A.RollinsL. H. (2020). ‘Overworked and underappreciated’: SETs describe stress and attrition. Teacher Development, 24(3), 348–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2020.1767189
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, P.L 108-446, Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2647.
24.
IngersollR.MerrillE.StuckeyD.CollinsG.HarrisonB. (2021). The demographic transformation of the teaching force in the United States. Education Sciences, 11(5), 234. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11050234
25.
KalerL. R. (2024). The paraeducator workforce: Patterns in distribution, turnover, and impact [Doctoral dissertation].
LittrellP.BillingsleyB.CrossL. (1994). The effects of principal support on special and general educators’ stress, job satisfaction, school commitment, health, and intent to stay in teaching. Remedial and Special Education, 15, 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193259401500505
28.
Mason-WilliamsL.BettiniE.PeytonD.HarveyA.RosenbergM.SindelarP. T. (2020). Rethinking shortages in special education: Making good on the promise of an equal opportunity for students with disabilities. Teacher Education and Special Education, 43(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419880352
29.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Principals’ age and sex: Average and median age of public K-12 school principals and percentage distribution of public school principals, by age category, sex, and state: 2020-21. National Teacher and Principal Survey. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/estable/table/ntps/ntps2021_sflt02_a1s
30.
PendolaA.PerroneF. (2025). From school to school: Examining the contours of within-field switching in the special education teacher labor market. AERA Open. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251347941
31.
PerroneF.TuckerP. D. (2019). Shifting profile of leadership preparation programs in the 21st century. Educational Administration Quarterly, 55(2), 253–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18799473
32.
ReddingC. (2019). A teacher like me: A review of the effect of student–teacher racial/ethnic matching on teacher perceptions of students and student academic and behavioral outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 89(4), 499–535. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319853545
33.
SchulzeR.BoscardinM. L. (2018). Leadership perceptions of principals with and without special education backgrounds. Journal of School Leadership, 28(1), 4–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461802800101
34.
ScottL. A. (2025). A theory towards special education teachers of color Turnover: A critical analysis of racialized working conditions. The New Educator. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688X.2025.2485453
35.
ScottL. A.BellN.BowmanR. W.EvansI.DaytonM. (2024). Factors Influencing the attrition and retention of SETs based on gender and racial differences. The Urban Review, 56(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-023-00670-9
36.
ScottL. A.BellN.DaytonM.BowmanR. W.EvansI.GrilloM.SpenceC.LaydenS. J. (2023a). SETs of color retention decisions: Findings from a national study. Exceptional Children, 89(3), 256–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029221109850
37.
ScottL. A.PowellC.BrunoL.CormierC. J.TaylorJ. P.BrendliK. (2023b). The other fifty percent: Expressions from special education teachers about why they persist in the profession. Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning, 16(1), 17–39. https://doi.org/10.14305/jn.19440413.2023.16.1.02
38.
ScottL. A.PowellC.OyefugaE.CormierC. J.PadhyeI. (2021). Complementary review of the literature on attrition and retention patterns of SETs of color: What we know and how we move forward. Multiple Voices, 21(1), 3–39.
39.
TaieS.LewisL. (2022). Characteristics of 2020–21 Public and Private K–12 School Principals in the United States: Results From the National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look (NCES 2022-112). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2022112
40.
TheobaldR.XuZ.GilmourA.Lachlan-HacheL.BettiniL.JonesN. (2023). The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on SET Shortages in Hawai’i. Working Paper No. 290-0823. National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER).
WangY. A.RhemtullaM. (2021). Power analysis for parametric estimation in structural equation modeling: A discussion and tutorial. Advances in Methods and Practices in the Psychological Science, 4(1). https://doi.10.1177/2515245920918253
44.
WeinerJ.Garrett-WalkerW.StricklandT.BurtonL. (2022). Reifying discrimination on the path to school leadership: Black female principals’ experiences of district hiring/promotion practices. Frontiers in Education Volume, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.925510
45.
WhittakerT. A.SchumackerR. E. (2022). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling (5th ed.). Routledge.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
