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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHER TURNOVER IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHER TURNOVER IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. 2007 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference Bonnie S. Billingsley Virginia Tech School of Education July 17, 2007. OVERVIEW. Shortage and turnover trends Costs of turnover Contributors to turnover How to improve retention.

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WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHER TURNOVER IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

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  1. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHER TURNOVER IN SPECIAL EDUCATION 2007 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference Bonnie S. Billingsley Virginia Tech School of Education July 17, 2007

  2. OVERVIEW • Shortage and turnover trends • Costs of turnover • Contributors to turnover • How to improve retention

  3. TEACHER SHORTAGE TRENDS • Chronic • Pervasive • Growing • Inadequate supply • Inadequate diversity

  4. TURNOVER & TEACHER SHORTAGE

  5. TURNOVER RATES (3 year average)Boe, Cook, & Sunderland (in press)

  6. INCREASING TURNOVER Boe, Cook, & Sunderland (2006) • 18.8% (1991-92) • 21.4% (1994-95) • 27.7% (2001-02)

  7. TURNOVER COSTS • Financial • School • Inclusive reform • Student • Teacher

  8. COSTS UNEQUALLY DISTRIBUTEDFall & Billingsley (2007) • Administrators in high poverty schools • Significantly higher turnover rates • Significantly higher vacant positions • How districts address shortage • Employ uncertified/substitute teachers • Raise caseloads • Increase paraprofessionals

  9. RESEARCH ON TEACHER TURNOVER • Ask teachers why they left • Investigate factors associated with leaving • Teacher characteristics • Teacher preparation/induction • District/school characteristics • Work conditions

  10. REASONS FOR LEAVING • Special educators leave for: • Personal reasons • Work-related reasons • Other reasons (e.g., retirement, involuntary) • Special educators more likely than general educators to leave due to dissatisfaction

  11. TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS & TURNOVER • Strong support • High turnover rates among new teachers • Some support • Higher leaving rates among whites and females (Guarino et al., 2006) • No consistent findings about race and gender in special education

  12. HIGHER TURNOVER AMONG THOSE WITH LESS PREPARATIONBoe, Cook, & Sunderland, 2006

  13. WORK CONDITIONS & TURNOVER • School climate • Leader support • Collaboration/inclusion • Job design • role ambiguity • role conflict • role overload • Resources • Professional development • Compensation

  14. New Teachers Vulnerable to Poor Work ConditionsBillingsley et al., 2004 • 72% indicate that routine duties and paperwork interfere teaching • 29% of new teachers indicate that workload manageability is a problem • 25% do not feel a sense of belonging in their schools • 31% do not have the necessary resources to do their jobs

  15. Summary Teacher Shortage + Increasing Turnover + New Demands = MAJOR CHALLENGE!

  16. LABOR MARKET THEORY OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND* • Individuals will enter/remain if most attractive activity available • Overall compensation • Adjust attractiveness of the job • Elements of attractiveness become the policy levers to increase retention *Applied to teacher supply, demand and retention by Guarino, Santibanez, & Daley, 2006

  17. Conclusions & Further Study

  18. REFERENCES Billingsley, B. (2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district administrators can do. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA. Billingsley, B., Carlson, E., & Klein, S. (2004). The working conditions and induction support of early career special educators. Exceptional Children, 70(3), 333-347.Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2006). Attrition of beginning teachers: Does teacher preparation matter? (Report No. 2006-TSDQ2): Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2006). Teacher turnover in special and general education: Attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration. (Research Report No.2006-TSDQ3 ) Edgar, E., & Pair, A. (2005). Special education teacher attrition: It all depends on where you are standing. Teacher Education and Special Education, 28(3/4), 163-170. Fall, A., & Billingsley, B. (2007). Structural inequalities in special education: A comparison of special educators’ qualifications, working conditions and local policies. Manuscript in development. 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(3), 179-190. Gersten, R., T., K., Yovanoff, P., & Harniss, M. K. (2001). Working in special education: Factors that enhance special educators' intent to stay. Exceptional Children, 67(4), 549-567. 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. Kaff, M.S. (2004). Multitasking is multitaxing: Why special educators are leaving the field. Preventing School Failure, 48(2), 10-17. 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. Sindelar, P. T., Shearer, D. K., Yendol-Hoppey, D., & Liebert, T. W. (2006). The sustainability of inclusive school reform. Exceptional Children, 72(3), 317-331.

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