Recruitment and Retention

National Centers and Clearinghouses

The OSEP-funded Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE) provides Research Syntheses and Policy Briefs regarding supply and demand and teacher retention and attrition.

The OSEP-funded National Center for Special Education Personnel and Related Service Providers works to increase the nation's capacity to recruit, prepare and retain diverse highly qualified personnel.

The National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education has resources on recruitment and retention

The Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPEnSE), a former OSEP-funded research center, was designed to address concerns regarding personnel shortages and the need for improvement in qualifications of those employed.

Reports, Position Papers and Studies

The Office of Special Education Programs' (OSEP) Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act reports national data on research conducted by SPEnSE, a previously funded national research center on Special Education Teacher Recruitment and Hiring (PDF: 370kb) which included preschool data.

The SPEnSE Web site also contains reports, fact sheets and data tables including study results regarding preschool special education. (PDF: 159kb)

The American Association for Employment in Education provides a Supply and Demand Study (PDF: 226kb) and other recruitment resources.

The National Center for Education Statistics predicts the need for newly hired teachers to 2008-2009.

The Urban Institute's report, Absence Unexcused (PDF: 1,349kb) highlights the need for a larger pool of teachers.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association provides workforce reports regarding state and national supply and demand for the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology.

State Projects and Initiatives

The Arkansas State Improvement Grant has a focused effort to increase recruitment and retention of special education teachers.

The Oregon Special Education Recruitment and Retention Project is a collaborative effort to build a qualified Special Education workforce. A comprehensive plan for recruiting and retaining staff is provided.

For additional examples of state recruitment and retention efforts, visit the OSEP-funded National Center for Special Education Personnel and Related Service Providers' page on Resources which features selected state initiatives.

Recruiting and Maintaining a Diverse Workforce

Exemplary practices and a review of the literature can be found in the Recruitment, Retention and Career Transition of Racial/Ethnic Minorities to Communication Science Disorders

Philippa Campbell and Brian Hurwitz presented Ideas and Strategies at the 2000 OSEP / NECTAC annual meeting.

The OSEP-funded Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE) developed a Research Synthesis Policy Brief entitled Diversifying the Special Education Workforce (PDF: 245kb)

ERIC Digest on Creating and Maintaining a Diverse Faculty

ERIC Digest on Multicultural Strategies for Community Colleges: Expanding Faculty Diversity

Also see the NECTAC Web page for Preparing Personnel to Meet the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families for additional resources