NCPSSERS

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Miami University, Hamilton County Confront School Psychologist Shortage With Win-Win Solution

An aspiring school psychologist splits his time between two local schools in Hamilton County, Ohio.

During an average week, Christopher Perry, a Miami University graduate student in the educational psychology department, works directly alongside professional school psychologists to help boost the academic, social, and emotional success of students in each school.

He’s been placed by the Hamilton County Educational Service Center (HCESC) to support a severely understaffed area of education, to provide a critical service desperately needed in most school districts everywhere, and all while getting the experience he’ll need to soon do the job himself.

Read more.

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Attract, Prepare, Retain: Effective Personnel For All – Information and Resources

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is focusing on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel—general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers—who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities. This is a topic that is important for schools, states, communities, businesses, districts, and professional organizations. This topic disproportionately affects children with disabilities and their families due to the many unfilled positions and high attrition rates among special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers. This page provides research and resources for stakeholders to explore potential strategies and innovative approaches to address this critical need. 

Learn more.

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2020 Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Virtual Summit

Attract, Prepare, Retain: OSEP National Summit on Improving Effective Personnel for Children with Disabilities

October 27–29, 2020

The event host and moderator is Laurie VanderPloeg, OSEP Director, U.S. Department of Education.

Learn more about this event.

Tuesday October 27, 2020:  Panel on Attracting Effective Personnel  

Wednesday, October 28, 2020: Panel on Preparing Effective Personnel

Thursday, October 29, 2020: Panel on Retaining Effective Personnel

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California’s Special Education Teacher Shortage

Naomi Ondrasek, Desiree Carver-Thomas, Caitlin Scott, Linda Darling-Hammond

Originally posted by the Learning Policy Institute

California is in the midst of a severe and deepening shortage of special education teachers—and it is not alone. The field of special education at large has long been plagued by persistent shortages of fully certified teachers, in large part due to a severe drop in teacher education enrollments and high attrition for special educators. As a result, students with disabilities who often have the greatest needs are frequently taught by the least qualified teachers.

To better understand the nature of the shortage in California, and what can be done about it, the Learning Policy Institute released California’s Special Education Teacher Shortage. 

Read the full article.

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Watch Video of ASHA Town Hall on Attracting, Preparing, and Retaining School-Based SLPs

Video recordings and slides from the 2019 ASHA Schools Virtual Town Hall, the second installment in the town hall series, are now available.

The event featured a moderator and panel to address the need to expand the school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) workforce. Panelists presented innovative strategies and solutions to attract, prepare, and retain school-based SLPs. View presentation slides and video from the event.

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Free Toolkit Helps Address Special Education Teacher Shortages Locally

A new, free toolkit is now available to help lead state and district teams through a collaborative process in developing a comprehensive approach for addressing special education teacher shortages.

The toolkit, “Educator Shortages in Special Education: Toolkit for Developing Local Strategies,” is a collaborative effort between the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders and the Collaborative for Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform, both funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

The free resource is organized around a facilitation guide and three supporting tools. Aligned with current efforts from OSEP, the collaborative process featured in the toolkit intentionally examines shortages across the entire career continuum—from attracting to preparing to retaining teachers—so that all students with disabilities have access to effective teachers.

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Get Resources and Solutions to Attract, Prepare, and Retain School-Based SLPs

Please join the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) for the 2019 ASHA Schools Virtual Town Hall, “Attract, Prepare, and Retain School-Based SLPs,” on Monday, December 9, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., EST. This free livestream event will feature a moderator and panel to address the need to expand the school-based SLP workforce.

Town Hall participants will learn from school-based SLPs, school district decision makers, and state education departments about strategies to attract, prepare, and retain school-based SLPs. Attendees will be able to ask questions and comment during the event. Register today.

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2019 OSEP Symposia Series to Focus on Preparing, Retaining, Attracting Personnel to Serve Children With Disabilities

This year’s Symposia Series from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) will focus on strategies to attract, prepare, and retain effective personnel — general and special education teachers, early childhood personnel, and related services providers — who have the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction, interventions, supports, and services to children with disabilities.

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Schools Struggle to Find Therapists

James D. Wolf, Jr.

Originally posted by the Monticello Herald Journal, June 26, 2019

Speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and even school psychologists are scarce, and they tend to go to clinics and hospitals, which pay more.

Read the full article.

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Nationwide Shortage of School Nurses Called a ‘Crisis’ That May Be Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk

Originally posted by CBS News, April 11, 2019

Only three out of five schools across the country have full-time school nurses often forcing school administrators, with no medical training, to step in and provide some level of care. Over the past several years, multiple children have died after facing medical emergencies in their schools when no nurse was on duty.

Read the full article.