Ann Berry Rob Petrin The Pennsylvania State University

1. Issues in Professional Development and Teacher Retention:Conceptual and Empirical Considerations in Supporting Rural Teachers Ann Berry Rob Petrin The Pennsylvania State University National Research Center for Rural Education Support

3. Themes: Teacher Recruitment Teacher Retention Professional Development

4. Special Education Teacher Characteristics • Average teacher - 8 years teaching in special education position - 13 years experience in special education • Aging of the workforce - 34% over 50 • Commitment to rural area • 54% are teaching in the same general area as the place where they grew up. - 56% have been living in the rural area 16+ years Confirms the need for recruitment strategies targeting local members of the community desiring a career as a special educator. Teachers who have ties to the rural area tend have lower rates of attrition (Bornfield et al., 1997; Davis 2002).

5. Teacher Recruitment

6. Recruiting Rural Education Professionals • Roughly 95% of districts had teaching and professional staff positions they attempted to fill in previous year • 82.5% of these districts filled all open positions • 17.5% were unable to fill all open positions

7. Roughly 74% of Districts Have Moderate to Extreme Difficulty in Filling Teacher Vacancies

8. Factors Most Disadvantageous to Recruiting Top 3: Geographic isolation, funding shortages, and competition from other districts

9. The most difficult positions to fill were Math, Science, and Special Education Recruiting Special Education Professionals • Roughly 53.5% of districts had a special education position they attempted to fill in past year • 93 % of these districts filled all open positions • 7 % of districts were unable to fill all positions

10. Over Half of Districts Report Difficulty in Filling Special Education Vacancies

11. Districts Often Use Incentives Above and Beyond What Is Used to Recruit Other Educational Professionals

12. 13 % districts filled one or more open positions using emergency or provisional licenses • More than 50% of districts filling positions, filled at least one with a teacher who failed to meet the NCLB highly qualified standard

13. 26% on beginning/provisionary licenses • 33 % of teachers felt they were providing services to students outside their area of certification Areas named: 29% Behavioral/emotional disabilities 24% Content areas 16% Cognitive disability/severe disabilities 14% Autism 9% Services usually provided by a related service Teachers with inadequate training or credentials are at an increased risk for attrition. (Miller et al., 1999; Stempien & Loeb, 2002)

14. Retention of Rural Educators

15. One-third (33.3%) of districts characterized teacher retention as “Somewhat” or “Very Much” a problem.

16. Retention of Rural Special Educators • 28 % of districts reported not having a problem with retention of special educators • 5 Factors most frequently selected by administrators as reasons why special educators have left the district • Personal Reasons 37% • Retirement 21% • Better Pay / Benefits Elsewhere 13% • Termination 8% • Excessive Paperwork 8%

18. Special Education Teacher Attrition In 5 years teachers expected they would: 17% leave teaching altogether 9% leave special education altogether 20% leave their rural school 53% leave their special education position (12% moving to a different special education position in their school, 4% leaving special education but staying in their school, 20% leaving school, 17% leaving teaching)

19. Professional Development

20. 70% of Districts Offered Staff Development Opportunities at Least Once a Month

21. Districts Offered a Wide Range of Professional Development Activities

22. Most Common Special Education Professional Development Delivery Mechanism was State, Local, or Regional Training

23. Professional Development OpportunitiesSpecial Education Teachers Appreciated • Special education processes (e.g., IEP’s, assessments) 21% • Technology 17% • Content-specific training 15% • Training in specific disability category 11 % • Inclusion of students in general education curriculum 7 % • Positive behavior support 6% • Physical management/behavior 5% • Grade-level or school-level collaboration 4%

24. Professional Development Teachers Wanted • Working with paraprofessionals 24% • Working with parents 23% • Training in specific disability category 13% • Inclusion of students in the GE curriculum 12% • Positive behavior support 11% • Special education processes (IEP’s, assessment) 7% • Physical management/behavior 7% • Grade-level or school-level collaboration 6% • Content-specific training 6%

26. Difficulty Attending Professional Development

27. Summary

28. Retention and recruitment of educators in rural schools is persistent issue for administrators. • Attrition factors: maturing of work force, funding shortages, geographic isolation, competition from other districts. • Special education teachers are hired with provisionary licenses or inadequate credentials. • Teachers are being asked to stretch their training to provide services to students on their caseload. • Impact on special education services: Sometime in the next 5 years half of the special education students, of the teachers we spoke with, will experience a disruption in the continuity of who is providing their special education services.

29. 6. A need for recruitment strategies • Focus on training members of rural school community and local community • Make salaries and benefits competitive with other districts • Tuition assistance, workload scheduling 7. A need for retention strategies • Additional training for teachers so they feel prepared to meet students’ needs • Professional development: • Working with paraprofessionals, parents • Training in disability categories • Inclusion in general education classrooms • Content specific training, and technology

30. For copies of this presentation: Ann Berry abb175@psu.edu Rob Petrin rap28@psu.edu References: Bornfield, G., Hall, N., Hall, P., & Hoover, J. (1997). Leaving rural special education positions: It’s a matter of roots. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 16, 30-37. Davis, M. (2002). Teacher retention and small rural school districts in Montana. The Rural Educator, 24, 45-52. Miller, D., Brownell, M., & Smith, S. (1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or transferring from the special education classroom. Exceptional Children, 65, 201-218. Stempien, L., & Loeb, R. (2002). Differences in job satisfaction between general education and special education teachers: Implications for retention. Remedial and Special Education, 23, 258-267.

31. Extra Slides

32. Composition of Surveys • Likert-scale • Multiple option “ Thinking a little further into the future what are likely to be doing 5 years from now?” • Open ended “ Do you feel you are asked to provide services to students outside your areas of certification? Which areas?”

33. 2009 Rural Special Education Teacher Survey 10% of all rural districts were randomly selected. 180 teacher interviews to date: projected total 200 46 districts in 29 states 41% small rural schools 15% rural and low-income schools 44% NCES designated as rural

34. Number One Factor Making it Difficult to Retain Qualified Rural Teachers is Competition from Other School Districts

35. Number One Factor Making it Difficult to Retain Qualified Rural Teachers is Competition from Other School Districts

36. In Terms of Other Forms of Support, Tuition Reimbursement Was Offered Less Often than Mentoring and Extra Time

37. 88% of Districts Reported Special Education Professional Development was Required at Least Once Per Year (59% Reported Required at Least 3 Times Per Year)

38. Content of Special Education Professional Development Most Frequently Focuses on Disability Categories, Behavior Management, Legal Issues

39. 3 Surveys

40. Districts Overall Think They are Able to Support the Needs of Special Education Students “Very” or “Moderately” Well