NCPSSERS

Solving the School Therapist Shortage

By Mackenzie Ryan
Originally posted by District Administration on February 26, 2015.

“Last year, an occupational therapist job posting went six months without a single application being submitted to Educational Services District 112, which provides special education services to 28 rural districts across six counties near the Oregon border.

And that sent the district’s special education director, Michelle Murer, searching to find another way to provide occupational therapies to rural students. She found the answer this past fall, which bypassed the difficulty of geography altogether: a burgeoning model known as telepractice, in which students receive services from therapists online.”

Read the full story.

Sharp Rise in Occupational Therapy Cases at New York’s Schools

By Elizabeth A. Harris
Originally posted by The New York Times on February 17, 2015.

“The number of children receiving such [occupational] therapy in New York and elsewhere has shot up in recent years, the byproduct of increasing numbers of special-needs students, a new approach toward teaching them and, to a lesser extent, greater academic demands on all young children.”

Read the full story.

In Mississippi, Lack of School Nurses a Threat to Health, Education

By Jackie Mader
Originally posted by The Hechinger Report on November 16, 2014.

“…In recent years, the number of school nurses in the state has fluctuated. In 2008, 20 districts were without a school nurse. By 2010, that number dwindled to two districts. By 2011, though, the number of districts without nurses had skyrocketed to 14, which a state report attributes to the “economy and elimination of time limited grants.”

One reason is that many school districts decide they simply can’t afford to have a nurse, said Estelle Watts, the state’s school nurse consultant for the Mississippi Office of Healthy Schools.

Employing a school nurse often comes down to funding decisions by individual districts and how they budget the little money they have. Since 1997, the state has only fully funded schools twice, which means cash-strapped districts have had to cut teachers and skimp on supplies at a time when they are also expected to upgrade technology for new, online exams rolling out this spring…”

Read the full story.

Autism Surge Creates Special Education Teacher Shortages in Castro Valley

By Rebecca Parr, The Daily Review
Originally posted by Contra Costa Times on October 27, 2014.

“Like many area school districts, Castro Valley Unified has had a shortage of specialized teachers, especially special-education ones. The demand for special-education teachers nationwide has grown, as more children are diagnosed with autism.”

Read the full story.

Nonteaching Staff Contributes to Successful Student Learning

By Kelly Vaillancourt, Libby Nealis, and Neil A. Snyder – Co-Chairs of the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel
Originally posted by Education Week on October 3, 2014.

A letter to the editor in response to “The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don’t Teach,” by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

“This report implies that the increase in “nonteaching” staff constitutes a potential luxury our schools can do without. Particularly troublesome is the statement that these professionals do not contribute to the academic achievement of students. This is simply not true.”

Read the full story.

School Districts Stressed By Lack Of Trained Specialists

By Jessica Bies
Originally posted by Disability Scoop on September 2, 2014.

“A shortage of school psychologists and other highly trained specialists is making state and local school districts reconsider how they fill their special education departments — and in some cases has driven administrators to new extremes when it comes to hiring staff.”

Read the full story.

Retired Teachers to Fill CCSD Vacancies

By Trevon Milliard
Originally posted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on August 28, 2014.

“Teachers in math, English, science and special education have been so hard to find that the Clark County School Board approved rehiring retired teachers Thursday to help fill 269 vacancies.”

Read the full story.

New Mexico Faces Teacher Shortage Two Days Before School Begins

By Joseph Kolb
Originally posted by Reuters on August 11, 2014.

“Just two days before classes resume, New Mexico’s biggest school district faces a shortage of almost 200 teachers, officials say, with the majority of the unfilled positions in special education and elementary grades.”

“…The elementary and special education areas are typically problematic, King said. ‘It’s not unusual for those departments to deal with teacher shortages all year,’ the [Albuquerque Public Schools] spokeswoman said.”

Read the full story.