The authors used teacher data from the Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education to compare the district and school supports, work manageability, professional development, and induction of early career special educators in high- and low-poverty districts. Teachers in high-poverty districts reported less desirable work conditions than their counterparts in more affluent districts. When compared to teachers in low-poverty districts, those in less affluent districts viewed their principals and colleagues as less supportive, perceived less involvement in school decisions, reported having fewer materials, and indicated higher and more diverse caseloads. By contrast, the two teacher groups reported similar professional development and induction opportunities.
Billingsley, B.S. ( 1993). Teacher retention and attrition in special and general education: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Special Education, 27(2), 137-174.
2.
Billingsley, B.S. ( 2004). Special education teacher retention and attrition: A critical analysis of the research literature. Journal of Special Education, 38(1), 39-55.
3.
Billingsley, B.S. ( 2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district administrators can do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
4.
Billingsley, B.S., Carlson, E., & Klein, S. ( 2004). The working conditions and induction support of early career special educators. Exceptional Children, 70(3), 333-347.
5.
Billingsley, B.S., & Cross, L.H. ( 1991). Teachers’ decisions to transfer from special to general education. Journal of Special Education, 24(4), 496-511.
6.
Billingsley, B.S., & Cross, L.H. ( 1992). Predictors of commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in teaching: A comparison of general and special educators. Journal of Special Education, 25(4), 453-471.
7.
Billingsley, B.S., Griffin, C.C., Smith, S.J., Kamman, M., & Israel, M. ( 2008). A review of teacher induction in special education: Research, practice, and technology solutions. Gainesville: University of Florida, National Center to Inform Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development.
8.
Billingsley, B.S., & Tomchin, E.M. ( 1992). Four beginning LD teachers: What their experiences suggest for trainers and employers. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 7, 104-112.
9.
Blanchett, W.J., Mumford, V., & Beachum, F. ( 2005). Urban school failure and disproportionality in a post-Brown era: Benign neglect of the constitutional rights of students of color. Remedial and Special Education, 26, 70-81.
10.
Boe, E.E., Barkanic, G., & Leow, C.S. ( 1999). Retention and attrition of teachers at the school level: National trends and predictors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED436485)
11.
Borman, G.D., & Dowling, M. ( 2008). Teacher attrition and retention: A meta-analytic and narrative review of the research. Review of Educational Research , 78(3), 367-409.
12.
Boyer, L., & Gillespie, P. ( 2000). Keeping the committed: The importance of induction and support programs for new special educators. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(6), 10-15.
13.
Boyer, L., & Lee, C. ( 2001). Converting challenge to success: Supporting a new teacher of students with autism. Journal of Special Education, 35(2), 75-83.
14.
Brill, S., & McCartney, A. ( 2008). Stopping the revolving door: Increasing teacher retention . Politics & Policy, 36(5), 750-774.
15.
Brownell, M.T., Adams, A., Sindelar, P., Waldron, N., & Vanhover, S. ( 2006). Learning from collaboration: The role of teacher qualities . Exceptional Children, 72(2), 169-185.
16.
Brownell, M.T., Smith, S.W., McNellis, J., & Lenk, L. ( 1994- 1995). Career decisions in special education: Current and former teachers’ personal views. Exceptionality , 5(2), 83-102.
17.
Brownell, M.T., Smith, S.W., McNellis, J., & Miller, M.D. ( 1997). Attrition in special education: Why teachers leave the classroom and where they go. Exceptionality, 7(3), 143-155.
18.
Brownell, M.T., Yeager, E., Rennells, M.S., & Riley, T. ( 1997). Teachers working together: What teacher educators and researchers should know. Teacher Education and Special Education , 20, 340-359.
19.
Carlson, E., & Billingsley, B. (2001, July). Working conditions in special education: Current research and implications for the field. Paper presented at the Office of Special Education Programs Project Directors’ Conference, Washington, DC.
20.
Cross, L.H., & Billingsley, B. (1994). Testing a model of special educators’ intent to stay in teaching. Exceptional Children , 60(5), 411-421.
21.
Darling-Hammond, L. ( 2000). Solving the dilemmas of teacher supply, demand, and standards: How we can ensure a competent, caring, and qualified teacher for every child . New York: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
22.
Darling-Hammond, L. ( 2004). The color line in American education: Race, resources, and student achievement. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 1(2), 213-246.
23.
Darling-Hammond, L. ( 2006). Securing the right to learn: Policy and practice for powerful teaching and learning. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 13-24.
24.
Darling-Hammond, L. ( 2007). The flat earth and education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our future. Educational Researcher , 36(6), 318-334.
25.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Sykes, G. ( 2003). Wanted: A national teacher supply policy for education: The right way to meet the "highly qualified teacher" challenge. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(33). Retrieved September 7, 2007, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n33/
26.
Data Accountability Center. ((2007). Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved November 14, 2008, from https://www.ideadata.org/TABLES31ST/AR_2-2.htm
27.
Evertson, C.M., & Smithey, M.W. ( 2000). Mentoring effects on protégés’ classroom practice: An experimental field study. Journal of Educational Research, 93(5), 294-304.
28.
Fall, A.-M., & Billingsley, B.S. (2007, April). Structural inequalities in special education: A comparison of special educators’ qualifications, working conditions and local policies. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Chicago.
29.
Fall, A.-M., & Billingsley, B. (2008). Disparities in teacher quality among early career special educators in high- and low-poverty districts . In T. E. Scruggs & M. A. Mastropieri (Eds.), Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities: Personnel preparation (Vol. 21, pp. 181-206). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
30.
Feiman-Nemser, S. ( 2001). Helping novices learn to teach: Lessons from an exemplary support teacher. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 17-30.
31.
Fisher, G.M. ( 1992). The development and history of the poverty thresholds . Social Security Bulletin, 55(4), 3-14.
32.
Fullan, M. ( 2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
33.
Gehrke, R.S., & Murri, N. ( 2006). Beginning special educators’ intent to stay in special education: Why they like it here. Teacher Education and Special Education, 29, 179-190.
34.
George, N.L., George, M.P., Gersten, R., & Grosenick, J.R. (1995). To leave or to stay? An exploratory study of teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders . Remedial and Special Education, 16, 227-236.
35.
Gersten, R., Keating, T., Yovanoff, P., & Harniss, M.K. ( 2001). Working in special education: Factors that enhance special educators’ intent to stay. Exceptional Children, 67(4), 549-567.
36.
Griffin, C.C., Winn, J.A., Otis-Wilborn, A., & Kilgore, K.L. ( 2003). New teacher induction in special education. Gainesville: University of Florida, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education.
37.
Guarino, C.M., Santibanez, L., & Daley, G.A. ( 2006). Teacher recruitment and retention: A review of the recent empirical literature. Review of Educational Research, 76(2), 173-208.
38.
Guin, K. ( 2004). Chronic teacher turnover in urban elementary schools . Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(42). Retrieved October 16, 2008, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n42/
39.
Harry, B., & Klingner, J. ( 2006). Why are so many minority students in special education? Understanding race and disability in schools. New York : Teachers College Press.
40.
Hirsch, E., Emerick, S., Church, K., & Fuller, E. ( 2007). Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions : A report on the 2006 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. Hillsborough, NC: Center for Teaching Quality. Retrieved December 12, 2008 , from http://www.teachingquality.org/pdfs/twcnc2006.pdf
41.
Ingersoll, R.M. ( 2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 37(3), 499-534.
42.
Ingersoll, R.M. ( 2003). Who controls teachers’ work? Power and accountability in America’s schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
43.
Johnson, S.M. ( 2006). The workplace matters, Teacher quality, retention, and effectiveness. Washington, DC: National Education Association. Retrieved October 12, 2008 , from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/28/05/13.pdf
44.
Johnson, S.M., & Birkeland, S.E. (2003). Pursuing a "sense of success": New teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 581-617.
45.
Johnson, S.M., & Kardos, S. ( 2008). The next generation of teachers: Who enters, who stays, and why. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, & J. McIntyre (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 445-467). New York: Routledge .
46.
Johnson, S.M., Kardos, S.M., Kauffman, D., Liu, E., & Donaldson, M.L. (2004, October 29). The support gap: New teachers’ early experiences in high-income and low-income schools . Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(61). Retrieved November 20, 2009 , from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n61/
47.
Johnson, S.M., & the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers (2004). Finders and keepers: Helping new teachers survive and thrive in our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
48.
Kardos, S.M., Johnson, H.G., Peske, D., Kauffman, D., & Liu, E. ( 2001). Counting on colleagues: New teachers encounter the professional cultures of their schools. Educational Administration Quarterly , 37(2), 250-290.
49.
Karge, B.D., Robb, S.M., Lasky, B., & McCabe, M. (1995). University and district collaborative support for beginning special education teachers. Teacher Education and Special Education, 18, 103-114.
50.
Kilgore, K.L., & Griffin, C.C. ( 1998). Beginning special educators: Problems of practice and the influence of school context. Teacher Education and Special Education, 21, 155-173.
51.
Kilgore, K.L., Griffin, C.C., Otis-Wilborn, A., & Winn, J. ( 2003). The problems of beginning special education teachers: Exploring the contextual factors influencing their work. Action in Teacher Education, 25, 38-47.
52.
Kohl, F.L., McLaughlin, M.J., & Nagle, K. ( 2006). Alternate achievement standards and assessments: A descriptive investigation of 16 states. Exceptional Children, 73(1), 107-124.
53.
Kozleski, E., Mainzer, R., & Deshler, D. ( 2000). Bright futures for exceptional learners: An action agenda to achieve quality conditions for teaching and learning. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
54.
Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. ( 2002). Teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: A descriptive analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(1), 37-62.
55.
Lippman, L., Burns, S., & McArthur, E. ( 1996). Urban schools: The challenge of location and poverty . Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
56.
Little, J.W. ( 1982). Norms of collegiality and experimentation: Workplace conditions of school success. American Educational Research Journal, 19(3), 325-340.
57.
Little, J.W. ( 2002). Locating learning in teachers’ communities of practice: Opening up problems of analysis in records of everyday work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 917-946.
58.
Littrell, P.C., & Billingsley, B. (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.
59.
Liu, X.S. ( 2007). The effect of teacher influence at school on first-year teacher attrition: A multilevel analysis of the Schools and Staffing Survey for 1999-2000. Educational Research and Evaluation, 13(1), 1-16.
60.
Loeb, S., Darling-Hammond, L., & Luczak, J. ( 2005). How teaching conditions predict teacher turnover in California schools. Peabody Journal of Education, 80(3), 44-70.
61.
Mainzer, R.W., Deshler, D., Coleman, R.C., Kozleski, E., & Rodriguez-Walling, M. (2003). To ensure the learning of every child with a disability. Focus on Exceptional Children , 35(5), 1-12.
62.
Mandlawitz, M. ( 2003). A tale of 3 cities: Urban perspectives on special education. Washington, DC: Center of Educational Policy.
63.
Mastropieri, M.A. ( 2001). Is the glass half full or half empty? Challenges encountered by first-year special education teachers. Journal of Special Education, 35(2), 66-74.
64.
McLaughlin, M.J., & Rhim, L.M. ( 2007). Accountability frameworks and children with disabilities: A test of assumptions about improving public education for all students. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 54(1), 25-49.
65.
McLaughlin, M.W., & Talbert, J.E. ( 2001). Professional communities and the work of high school teaching. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
66.
McLeskey, J., & Billingsley, B.S. (2008). How does the quality and stability of the teaching force influence the research-to-practice gap? A perspective on the teacher shortage in special education. Remedial and Special Education, 29, 293-305.
67.
Miller, M.D., Brownell, M., & Smith, S.W. ( 1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or transferring from the special education classroom. Exceptional Children, 65(2), 201-218.
68.
Moody, S.W., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M.T., & Fischer, M. ( 2000). Reading instruction in the resource room: Set up for failure. Exceptional Children, 66(3), 305-316.
69.
Oakes, J., Franke, M., Quartz, K., & Rogers, J. ( 2002). Research for high-quality urban teaching: Defining it, developing it, assessing it. Journal for Teacher Education , 53(3), 228-234.
70.
Oakes, J., & Saunders, M. ( 2002). Access to textbooks, instructional materials, equipment, and technology: Inadequacy and inequality in California’s public schools. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, Institute for Democracy, Education, & Access .
71.
Oakes, J., & Saunders, M. ( 2004). Education’s most basic tools: Access to textbooks and instructional materials in California’s public schools. Teachers College Record, 106(10), 1967-1988.
72.
Public Education Network. (2003). The voice of the new teacher. Washington, DC: Public Education Network. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from http://www.publiceducation.org/pdf/Publications/Teacher_Quality/Voice_of_the_New_Teacher.pdf
73.
Quartz, K.H., Barazza-Lyons, K., & Thomas, A. ( 2005). Retaining teachers in high-poverty schools: A policy framework. In N. Bascia, A. Cumming, A. Datnow, K. Leithwood, & D. Livingstone (Eds.), International handbook of educational policy (pp. 491-507). New York: Springer-Verlag.
74.
Rosenberg, M.S., Griffin, C.C., Kilgore, K.L., & Carpenter, S.L. (1997). Beginning teachers in special education: A model for providing individualized support. Teacher Education and Special Education, 20, 301-321.
75.
Rosenholtz, S.J. ( 1989). Teachers’ workplace: The social organization of schools. New York: Longman.
76.
Russ, S., Chiano, B., Rylance, B.J., & Bongers, J. ( 2001). Case-load in special education: An integration of research findings. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 161-172.
77.
Singh, K., & Billingsley, B.S. (1996). Intent to stay in teaching: Teachers of students with emotional disorders versus other special educators . Remedial and Special Education, 17, 37-47.
78.
Smith, T.M., & Ingersoll, R.M. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover? American Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 681-714.
79.
Swanstrom, T., Ryan, R., & Stigers, K.M. ( 2006). Measuring concentrated poverty: Did it really decline in the 1990s?Berkeley: University of California, Institute of Urban and Regional Development.
80.
Weiss, E.M. ( 1999). Perceived workplace conditions and first-year teachers’ morale, career choice commitment, and planned retention: A secondary analysis . Teaching and Teacher Education, 15, 861-879.
81.
Westat, Inc. (2002). WesVar 4.3 user’s guide. Rockville, MD: Author.
82.
Westling, D.L., & Whitten, T.M. ( 1996). Rural special education teachers’ plans to continue or leave their teaching positions. Exceptional Children, 62(4), 319-335.
83.
Whitaker, S.D. ( 2000). What do first-year special education teachers need? Implications for induction programs. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(6), 28-36.
84.
White, M., & Mason, C.Y. ( 2006). Components of a successful mentoring program for beginning special education teachers: Perspectives from new teachers and mentors. Teacher Education and Special Education, 29, 191-201.
85.
Zarghami, F., & Schnellert, G. (2004). Class size reduction: No silver bullet for special education students’ achievement. International Journal of Special Education, 19(1), 89-96.
