Your Special How to Keep

MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL
How to Keep
Your Special
Education
Teachers
PREVIEW
Severe teacher shortages
and widespread attrition
have characterized special
education staffing.
Principals play an important
role in special education
teachers’ sense of well-being
and their decisions to stay in
the special education field.
Principals can use four simple strategies to help retain
special education teachers.
B Y L EAH W ASBURN -M OSES
T
eacher burnout and attrition are epidemic in the field of special education.
The annual attrition rate for special education teachers has been estimated to be
between 8% and 10% (Whitaker, 2000),
and special education teachers are leaving
the field in much greater numbers than
their peers in general education (Nichols & Sosnowsky, 2002). Nationally, there is a persistent
annual shortage of approximately 29,000 fully
certified special education teachers (Boe, Cook,
Bobbitt, & Terbanian, 1998).
High teacher turnover creates expense and
hassle for schools and districts and it also affects
students. The Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPeNSE) (2002) reports that
limiting teacher turnover enhances both student
learning and teacher quality and urges school administrators to develop and implement plans to
lower their teacher turnover rate.
Leah Wasburn-Moses (wasburnm@msu.edu) is a doctoral
student at Michigan State University. Her research interests
are in teacher education and retention and the changing
policy environment in special education.
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MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL
36
leagues on a regular basis. Because
75% of special education students
spend a significant part of their school
day in general education settings, such
collaboration benefits general and special education teachers as well as their
students (SPeNSE, 2002).
In the SPeNSE (2002) study, special education teachers who had opportunities to collaborate with their general education colleagues reported
using the time to discuss how to incorporate work on students’ individualized
education program (IEP) goals into the
general education setting, to provide
general education teachers with the information and resources to address stuTeachers like to know that they have someone to talk to when things are good—and when they aren’t.
dents’ learning and behavioral needs,
and to explain how students with speWhen special education teachers are asked why they left
cial needs benefit from inclusion.
or intend to leave the field, they cite such reasons as large
Shoho, Katims, and Meza (1998) report that to minicaseloads; burdensome paperwork; problems with behavior
mize stress and burnout, administrators should “create
management; and difficulties relating to their general edustructures that enhance professional collegiality across tradication colleagues, administrators, and parents. However,
tional boundaries and a professional environment that valteachers’ decisions about whether or not to remain in the
ues all participants” (p. 22). For example, they recommend
field are probably due to an interaction of several of these
adopting a problem-solving process to aid general and spefactors.
cial educators in finding solutions to problems with individual students. At a time when both general and special
Four Strategies for Principals
education students are being held to higher standards and
Several studies mention the role of principals in special edspecial education students are required to be given access to
ucation teachers’ decisions to remain in or to leave the
the general education curriculum, such collaboration is necfield. For example, in a study of more than 600 general and
essary for student success (President’s Commission on Exspecial education teachers, Littrell, Billingsley, and Cross
cellence in Special Education, 2002).
(1994) found principal support to be necessary for teachers’
Be Personally Supportive
sense of well-being. Researchers have also found principal
Research shows that principals can play a pivotal role in
support to be positively related to teacher retention (Germediating other factors that cause special education teachsten, Keating, Yovanoff, & Harniss, 2001; Littrell et al.,
ers to leave the field. For example, principals can support
1994; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997). Principals can use
teachers in the area of discipline and behavior management
four strategies—prioritizing collaboration, being personally
and in their dealings with parents. Principals can also supsupportive, handpicking mentors, and emphasizing continport special education teachers by obtaining necessary reued learning—to increase retention rates for special educasources and materials (Sires & Tonnsen, 1993). If principals
tion teachers.
have such funds available, the Council for Exceptional
Prioritize Collaboration
Children (2001) recommends significant clerical and techIn their review of the literature of occupational stress and
nological support to help special educators manage the burburnout among special educators, Wisniewski and Gargiulo
den of paperwork.
(1997) found professional interactions to be a significant
Special education teachers often feel a lack of recognisource of stress for teachers, which contributes to lowered
tion for their work by principals and other teachers, which
feelings of self-efficacy. In addition, teachers often cite the
contributes to stress and burnout (Gersten et al., 2001;
lack of opportunities to collaborate with general education
Nichols & Sosnowsky, 2002; Wisniewski & Gargiulo,
colleagues as a serious problem (Gersten et al., 2001). Spe1997). Through direct personal contact, principals can help
cial education teachers need the time, opportunity, and
ensure that this does not occur. Such contact is also related
support to collaborate with their general education colto feelings of optimism and camaraderie in a working enviPL JANUARY 2005
does not have to take the form of professional development
workshops or formal mentoring; some authors recommend
preparing teachers for the real world of teaching by providing them with time- and stress-management skills (Cessarone, 1999; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997).
SPeNSE (2002) argues for professional development
that targets teachers’ areas of need. Special education teachers report three areas of relative skill weakness: teaching students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds,
collaborating, and using technology in instruction. All three
of these professional development skills are important if
special education students are to be provided with the same
opportunities as their general education peers.
SPeNSE (2002) also recommends that inservice topics
be aligned with the Council for Exceptional Children’s
Standards for Entry into Practice (see www.cec.sped.org/ps/
ps-entry.html). Teachers whose inservice training covered
these topics or who perceived their training as generally relevant to their daily work scored more highly on the
SPeNSE teacher quality index.
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ronment (Littrell et al., 1994).
Littrell et al. (1994) found principal support to be highly
related to job satisfaction among special educators. Teachers
rated emotional support as being the most important type of
support to receive from principals. Emotional support includes seeking teachers’ input in decision-making processes,
taking genuine interest in their work, and showing support
and concern for their students and their programs (Littrell et
al., 1994). Also of importance were appraisal support, which
shows respect for and confidence in teachers’ judgments and
actions; instrumental support, which helps teachers directly
with their work; and informational support, which provides
teachers with opportunities to learn and assists with knowledge of legal policies). Littrell et al. (1994) conclude that
principals should “provide an atmosphere of optimism and
camaraderie rather than an environment of competition and
confrontation” (p. 307).
Other studies have also cited a positive school climate as a
factor that contributes to teachers’ decisions to stay in the
field of special education (Gersten et al., 2001; Miller,
Brownell, & Smith, 1999). Gersten et al. (2001) stress the
need for building support among teachers and administrators
that is genuine and sustainable. In addition, the SPeNSE
(2002) study reports that a positive school climate may serve
to ameliorate some of a teacher’s job stress, promote job retention, and improve teacher quality.
Handpick Mentors
Researchers point to the first year of teaching as being pivotal to teachers’ futures in the field (Boe, Bobbitt, Cook,
Whitener, & Weber, 1997; Mastropieri, 2001; Wisniewski
& Gargiulo, 1997) and recommend that new teachers be
given mentors. Mentors are teachers who teach the same
students, work in close proximity with the new teacher,
and have similar teaching styles. Important mentor characteristics included trustworthiness and an ability to keep
work confidential. Mentors, however, should not play a role
in formal evaluation because that tends to discourage openness and collegiality.
When it is not possible to obtain a special education
mentor within the school building, new teachers should be
given both a special education mentor and a building-based
mentor to initiate the new teacher into the school culture
(Whitaker, 2000). Principals can play an important role in
this process. In fact, the SPeNSE (2002) study reports that
beginning special educators often found meeting with other
new teachers and their special education colleagues to be
more beneficial than formal inservices.
Emphasize Continued Learning
Gerstsen et al. (2001) note that “teachers who felt they
were provided with opportunities to learn on the job
tended to be less likely to leave” (p. 559). Such learning
Working with students is the most important aspect of a teacher’s job, and
they should be recognized for doing it well.
Conclusion
Principals play an important role in special educators’ sense
of efficacy and well-being, as well as in their decisions to
leave or remain in the field. Prioritizing collaboration, being personally supportive, handpicking mentors, and emphasizing continued learning can help create the kind of
environment in which special education teachers feel supported and valued. The success of our students and our
schools depends on our efforts at collaboration and our
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MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL
willingness to change. By making these small efforts on a
daily basis, principals can provide an inclusive school climate that values and supports all individuals. PL
References
❏ Boe, E. E., Bobbitt, S. A., Cook, L. H., Whitener, S. D., & Weber, A. L. (1997). Why didst thou go? Predictors of retention, transfer, and attrition of special and general education teachers from a
national perspective. Journal of Special Education, 30(4), 390–411.
❏ Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., Bobbitt, S. A., & Terbanian, G. (1998).
The shortage of fully certified teachers in special and general education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 21(2), 132–149.
❏ Brownell, M. T., Smith, S. W., & McNellis, J. R. (1997). Reflections on “Attrition in special education: Why teachers leave
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roles. Childhood Education, 75(5), 317–318.
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❏ Miller, M. D., Brownell, M. T., & Smith, S. W. (1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or transferring from
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❏ Nichols, A. S., & Sosnowsky, F. L. (2002). Burnout among
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❏ President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education.
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❏ Shoho, A. R., Katims, D. S., & Meza, P. (1998). The alienation of special education teachers. ERS Spectrum, 16(4), 18–23.
❏ Sires, C., & Tonnsen, S. (1993). Special education: A challenge
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