Maintaining an adequate supply of qualified special education personnel is a major challenge. In particular, serious shortages of teachers of children with emotional disturbance (ED) jeopardize delivery of appropriate special education and services to this population. This article reports data from the national Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education on the quality of personnel who teach children with ED. Teachers of children with ED are compared with other special education teachers in terms of experience, working conditions, credentials, preservice preparation, instructional skill, and future plans. Teachers of children with ED are less experienced and worked in more restrictive settings than their special education teacher colleagues. They were less credentialed and more likely to have been credentialed via alternate certification programs. Teachers of children with ED judged themselves to be more skilled in assessing and addressing behavior but less skilled in other instructional tasks.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Association for Employment in Education. (2001). Educator supply and demand in the United States, 1999 research report.Columbus, OH: Author.
2.
AngelleP. S. (2002, April). Socialization experiences of beginning teachers in differentially effective schools. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
3.
BergertS., & BurnetteJ. (2001). Educating exceptional children: A statistical profile.Arlington, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. EC 308407.
4.
BillingsleyB. S. (2004). Special education teacher retention and attrition: A critical analysis of the research literature.Journal of Special Education, 38, 39–55.
5.
BiniaminovI., & GlasmanN. S. (1983, Summer). School determinants of student achievement in secondary education.American Educational Research Journal, 20, 251–268.
6.
BrownellM. T., SmithS. W., McNellisJ. R., & MillerM. D. (1997). Attrition in special education: Why teachers leave the classroom and where they go.Exceptionality, 7(3), 143–155.
7.
CarlsonE., BrauenM., KleinS., SchrollK., & WilligS. (2002, July). Study of personnel needs in special education: Key findings.Rockville, MD: Westat.
8.
CarlsonE., LeeH., SchrollK., KleinS., & WilligS. (2002, August). Study of personnel needs in special education: Final report.Rockville, MD: Westat.
9.
CenterD., & CallawayJ. (1999). Self-reported job stress and personality in teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders.Behavioral Disorders, 25, 41–51.
10.
CenterD. B., & StevensonC. (2001). The EBD teacher stressors questionnaire.Education and Treatment of Children, 24, 323–335.
11.
CrossL. H., & BillingsleyB. S. (1994). Testing a model of special educators' intent to stay in teaching.Exceptional Children, 60, 411–421.
12.
FeistritzerE., & ChesterD. (2001). Alternative teacher certification: A state-by-state analysis 2001.Washington, DC: National Center for Education Information. From http://www.ncei.com/2001_Alt_Teacher_Cert.htm
13.
FergusonR. F. (1991, Summer). Paying for public education: New evidence on how and why money matters.Harvard Journal on Legislation28, 464–498.
14.
FreibergH. J. (2002). Essential skills for new teachers.Educational Leadership, 59(6), 56–60.
15.
GerstenR., KeatingT., YovanoffP., & HarnissM. K. (2001). Working in special education: Factors that enhance special educators' intent to stay.Exceptional Children, 67(4), 549–567.
16.
Greer-ChaseM., RhodesW. A., & KellamS. G. (2002, May/June). Why the prevention of aggressive disruptive behaviors in middle school must begin in elementary school.Clearing House75(5), 242–248.
17.
HussarW. J. (1999). Predicting the need for newly hired teachers in the United States to 2008–09 (NCES 1999-026). Washington, DC: National Center on Education Statistics.
18.
KaiserA. P., CaiX., HancockT. B., & FosterE. M. (2002). Teacher-reported behavior problems and language delays in boys and girls enrolled in Head Start.Behavioral Disorders, 28(1), 23–29.
19.
KatsiyannisA., EllenburgJ. S., ActonO. M., & LockR. H. (2000). Twenty ways to address individual needs: The role of general educators.Intervention in School and Clinic, 36(2), 116–121.
20.
KatsiyannisA., ZhangD., & ConroyM. A. (2003). Availability of special education teachers: Trends and issues.Remedial and Special Education, 24, 246–253.
21.
KennedyM. M. (1992). The problems of improving teacher quality while balancing supply and demand. In BoeE. E., & GilfordD. M. (Eds.), Teacher supply, demand, and quality: Policy issues, models, and databases: Proceedings of a conference (pp. 65–108). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
22.
LauritzenP. (1999). Supply and demand of educational personnel for Wisconsin public schools: An examination of data trends. Retrieved on October 4, 2005, from http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/supdem99.html
23.
LauritzenP., & FriedmanS. J. (1991). Teachers for children with emotional/behavioral disorders.Preventing School Failure, 35(2), 11–16.
24.
LopezO. (1995). The effect of the relationship between classroom student diversity and teacher capacity on student performance.The Strategic Management of the Classroom Learning Enterprise Research Series. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED386423.
25.
MaagJ. W., & KatsiyannisA. (1999). Teacher preparation in E/BD: A national survey.Behavioral Disorders, 24(3), 189–196.
26.
McLeskeyJ., SmithD. D., TylerN., & SaundersS. (2003). The supply of and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the nature of the chronic shortage of special education teachers. (COPPSE Document Number RS-1). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education. From http://www.coe
27.
MurnaneR. J. (1981). Inner-city schools can make a difference. In Educational Testing Service (Ed.), The minority student in public schools: Fostering academic excellence (pp. 31–41). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, Office of Minority Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED243981)
28.
National Center on Education Statistics. (2002). Schools and staffing survey, 1999–2000: Overview of the data for public, private, public charter, and Bureau of Indian Affairs elementary and secondary schools. Retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002313 (NCES 2002313).
29.
Prather-JonesB. P. (2003, April). Teachers of students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders: Why some stay. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
30.
RosenbergM. S., & SindelarP. T. (2001). Developing the special education workforce—The proliferation of alternative routes to certification in special education: A critical review of the literature.Arlington, VA: National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education, Council for Exceptional Children. Retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://www.special-ed-careers.org/pdf/altcert.pdf
31.
RuckelC. (2000). Ensuring quality teachers through alternative certification programs: Policy brief.Aurora, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning.
32.
SparksK. (2004). Teacher demand study 2002–2003.Bryan: Texas A&M University System Institute for School-University Partnerships.
33.
Texas State Board for Educator Certification (1998, August 7). Report of the panel on novice teacher induction support system.Austin: SBEC.
34.
TurnerR. L., & CamilliG. (1988, April). The influence of salary schedule variables on teacher applicant pools, retention, and advanced degrees, and on student achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED310500)
35.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2000). Twenty-second annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.Washington, DC: Author.
36.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2002, May 7). SPeNSE Summary Sheet. Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers. Retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://ferdig.coe.ufl.edu/spense/policymaker5.pdf
37.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2002). Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.Washington, DC: Author.
38.
WendlingW., & CohenJ. (1980). The relationship of education resources to student achievement levels in New York state. Working paper in education finance no. 27.Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States, Education Finance Center. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED202176)
