Research suggests that substantial pre-service student teaching is essential for the preparation and retention of special educators. Using logistic regression analysis, survey responses of beginning special educators were analyzed to answer the following questions: Are beginning special educators more likely to leave the field if they have had minimal or no pre-service student teaching? Are other characteristics of preparation related to the probability of attrition? It was found that substantial pre-service student teaching experience has a strong effect on the probability that a beginning special educator will remain in the field 1 year later (estimated odds ratio = 2.18). In addition, none of the effects of aspects of teacher pre-service preparation or teacher or school demographics analyzed had an impact on attrition, when controlling for the number of weeks of student teaching.
Anderson, D., Menlove, R., & Salzberg, C.L. (2001). Special education teacher attrition: How many are leaving? Where are they going?The Researcher, 16(1), 28-35.
2.
Benner, A.D. (2000). The cost of teacher turnover. Austin: Texas Center for Educational Research.
3.
Bergert, S., & Burnette, J. (2001). Educating exceptional children: A statistical profile. Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED452649)
4.
Berry, B. (2001). No short cuts to preparing good teachers. Educational Leadership, 58(8), 32-36.
5.
Billingsley, B.S. (1993). Teacher retention and attrition in special and general education: A critical review of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 27(2), 137-174.
6.
Billingsley, B.S. (2003). Special education teacher retention and attrition: A critical analysis of the literature (COPSSE Document No. RS-2). Gainesville: University of Florida, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education.
7.
Billingsley, B.S. (2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district leaders can do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
8.
Billingsley, B., & Cross, L. (1991). Teachers' decisions to transfer from special to general education. The Journal of Special Education, 24, 496-511.
9.
Boe, E., Bobbitt, S., & Cook, L. (1997). Whither didst thou go? Retention, reassignment, migration, and attrition of special and general education teachers in national perspective. The Journal of Special Education, 30(4), 371-389.
10.
Boe, E., Bobbitt, S., Cook, L., & Barkanic, G. (1998). National trends in teacher supply and turnover (Report No. 1998-DAR1). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy.
11.
Boe, E., Cook, L., Bobbitt, S., & Weber, A. (1996). Retention and attrition of teachers at the district level: National trends in special and general education. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy.
12.
Boe, E., Cook, L., & Sunderland, R. (2007). Teacher turnover in special and general education: Attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration (Research Report 2006-TSD-Q3). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy.
13.
Brownell, M.T., Hirsch, E., & Seo, S. (2004). Meeting the demand for highly qualified special education teachers during severe shortages: What should policymakers consider ? The Journal of Special Education, 38(1), 56-61.
14.
Brownell, M.T., Ross, D.D., Colon, E.P., & McCallum, C.L. (2005). Critical features of special education teacher preparation: A comparison with general teacher education . The Journal of Special Education, 38(4), 242-252.
15.
Brownell, M.T., & Smith, S.W. (1992). Attrition/ retention of special education teachers: Critique of current research and recommendations for retention efforts. Teacher Education and Special Education, 15(4), 229-248.
16.
Connelly, V.J. (2006, April). The effects of context: The preparation and experiences of beginning special educators. Paper presented at the 2006 Council for Exceptional Children Conference and Expo, Salt Lake City, UT.
17.
Dai, C., Sindelar, P.T., Denslow, D., Dewey, J., & Rosenberg, M.S. (2007). Economic analysis and the design of alternative-route teacher education programs. The Journal of Special Education, 58(5), 422-439.
18.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1999). Solving the dilemmas of teacher supply, demand, and standards. New York: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
19.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Youngs, P. (2002). Defining "highly qualified teacher": What does "scientificallybased research" actually tell us? Educational Researcher, 31(9), 13-35.
20.
Gerald, D.E., & Hussar, W.J. (2000). Projections of education statistics to 2010. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics .
21.
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.
22.
Hope, W.C. (1999). Principals' orientation and induction activities as factors in teacher retention. Clearinghouse, 73(1), 54-56.
23.
Ingersoll, R. (1999). The problem of out of field teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 79(10), 773-776.
24.
Ingersoll, R. (2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 499-534.
25.
Ingersoll, R. (2002). The teacher shortage: A case of wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription. The NASSP Bulletin, 86, 16-31.
26.
Ingersoll, R. (2003). Is there really a teacher shortage? (A report co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy and the Center for Policy Research in Education). Seattle: University of Washington, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy.
27.
Ingersoll, R. (2004). Four myths about America's teacher quality problem . In M. A. Smylie & D. Miretzky (Eds.), Developing the teacher workforce: The 103rd yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (pp. 1-33). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
28.
Katsiyannis, A., Zhang, D., & Conroy, M.A. (2003). Availability of special education teachers: Trends and tests. Remedial and Special Education, 24(4), 246-253.
29.
McLeskey, J., & Ross, D. (2004). The politics of teacher education in the new millennium: Implications for special education teacher educators. Teacher Education and Special Education, 27(4), 342-349.
30.
McLeskey, J., Tyler, N., & Saunders Flippin, S. (2004). The supply and demand for special education teachers : A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers. The Journal of Special Education, 38(1), 5-21.
31.
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.
32.
Prater, M.A., & Sileo, T.W. (2004). Fieldwork requirements in special education preparation: A national study. Teacher Education and Special Education , 24(3), 251-263.
33.
Rice, J.K. (2003). Teacher quality: Understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.
34.
Rosenberg, M.S., & Sindelar, P.T. (2005). The proliferation of alternative routes to certification in special education: A critical review of the literature . The Journal of Special Education, 39(2), 117-127.
35.
Rosenberg, M.S. (2007, April). Twenty-first century teacher education research: challenges, opportunities and emerging models. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council for Exceptional Children , Baltimore, MD.
36.
U. S. Department of Education. (2002). The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Title II-Preparing, training, and recruiting high quality teachers and principals. Retrieved February 5, 2006, from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg20.html
37.
U. S. Department of Education. (2003). 25th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author.
38.
U. S. Department of Education. (2005). 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author.
39.
U. S. Department of Education, Office of Post-Secondary Education. (2002). Meeting the highly qualified teachers challenge: The Secretary's annual report on teacher quality. Washington, DC: Author.
