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A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S.

Leib Sutcher, Linda Darling-Hammond, Desiree Carver-Thomas
Originally posted by the Learning Policy Institute, September 15, 2016

“Widespread media reports of local teacher shortages have become a hot topic in education since the summer of 2015. After years of teacher layoffs, districts began hiring again as the economy recovered from the Great Recession. Many were surprised to find they had serious difficulty finding qualified teachers for their positions, especially in fields like mathematics, science, special education, and bilingual education/English language development. A number of states greatly expanded emergency permits to allow hiring of untrained teachers to meet these demands—which is the classic definition of shortage. To date, however, there has not yet been a detailed national analysis of the sources and extent of these shortages, and the prognosis for the future.

This report details the outcomes of such a study, which analyzes evidence of teacher shortages, as well as national and regional trends in teacher supply and demand. Using several federal databases, the authors examine the current context and model projections of future trends under several different assumptions about factors influencing supply and demand, including new entrants, re-entrants, projected hires, and attrition rates. They also investigate policy strategies that might mitigate these effects based on research about effective approaches to recruitment and retention.”

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Critical Shortages in Special Education Teachers. Sound Familiar?

Lynn Holdheide, and Jenny DeMonte
Originally posted by American Institutes for Research, February 17, 2016

“Teacher shortages may be the most acute problem in special education. For years, states and districts have struggled to find qualified people to teach students with disabilities… Though not a new challenge, its impact has intensified as the number of students receiving special education services has increased over the past two decades.

Part of the problem may be the recent decline in enrollment in all teacher preparation programs. And retaining special education teachers is especially challenging. Often, school administrators say, it’s difficult to keep new special education teachers for more than a few years.

What drives them out? And how can we keep them?”

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Special Education Teacher Shortage Creates Opportunity for Students

Nika Anschuetz, USA Today
Originally posted by USA Today, December 14, 2015

The nation is in need for trained and qualified special education teachers. “Special ed teachers are so in demand that those pursuing general ed might consider this: The certification makes them more marketable.”

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NPR Investigates Why There’s A Shortage Of Special Education Teachers In 49 States

Sara Guaglione, iSchools Guide
Originally posted by iSchools Guide, November 9, 2015

This article discusses an NPR report that “looked into the massive shortage of special education teachers in the United States and the stress it is causing special ed teachers.”

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Behind The Shortage Of Special Ed Teachers: Long Hours, Crushing Paperwork

Lee Hale, NPR
Originally posted by NPR, November 9, 2015

“The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, requires that every student have what’s known as an IEP — Individualized Education Program. And almost always, those IEP’s spell out that students — either some of the time or all of the time — must be taught by a teacher fully certified in special education.

And yet, around the country, that’s exactly the category of teacher that’s most in demand, as many states and districts are reporting severe shortages.

…So what’s the answer? Aggressive recruitment, says Trevor Greene. He’s the human resources director of Highline Public Schools, a 19,000-student district south of Seattle…”

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Governor Signs Bill to Help Schools Hire More School Nurses

By Reporter Staff, The Reporter: News
Originally posted by The Reporter: News, October 12, 2015

“Last week Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to help schools take a lead role in managing chronic childhood diseases and hire more school nurses.

…Senate Bill 276, signed last Thursday, allows school districts, County Offices of Educations, and other Local Education Agency Medi-Cal providers (LEAs) to receive reimbursement for services provided to all Medi-Cal eligible students. LEAs currently cannot bill Medi-Cal for health services provided to special education students if those services are also provided to regular education students.

Under the new law, LEAs can now be reimbursed for providing services including health and mental health evaluations, medical transportation, nursing services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician services, mental health and counseling services, school health aide services, speech pathology services, audiology services and targeted case management services.”

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America’s Teaching Force, by the Numbers

By Laura McKenna, The Atlantic
Originally posted by The Atlantic, September 10, 2015

“Solutions to the teacher-shortage problem must take into account its complexities; across-the-board initiatives to increase the number of education majors are unlikely to address each state’s specific set of issues. Teacher-training programs could do a better job of providing students with concrete information about the employment realities—which subject areas need teachers and which ones don’t. Given that 14 percent of 20-somethings are unemployed, that information is certainly valuable. And greater certification portability would reduce barriers to relocation, while streamlined recertification options could help teachers who struggled to find work or were laid off during the recession return to the profession.”

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Districts Facing Teacher Shortages Look for Lifelines

By Ross Brenneman, Education Week
Originally posted by Education Week, August 6, 2015

“The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education have in fact shown significant drops in teacher-education enrollment in many states, including in large states like Texas, New York, and California. Many experts chalk up such declines, as well as regional teacher shortages, to the Great Recession and ensuing cutbacks in public spending. Others have charged that poor teacher working conditions, such as low salaries and test-driven school cultures, are nudging existing and potential educators toward other professions, especially with the economy improving…

…Drops in education-school enrollments don’t necessarily equal shortages, though. According to data from its state education department, for instance, New York has a major surplus of certified teachers.

In shortage areas, demographic trends and school-enrollment changes tend to combine with other factors to spur greater demand for teachers…”

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Wanted: More Special Ed Teachers, Apply Everywhere

By Tom Chorneau, Cabinet Report
Originally posted by the Cabinet Report, August 4, 2015

“In what is fast becoming a national crisis, school administrators throughout the country are scrambling to fill special education positions even as some states move to create new incentives…

…A report in March from the U.S. Department of Education found few districts in the country that have not experienced some shortage of applicants for special education jobs during the past five years and put the current deficit of highly qualified instructors for students with disabilities at about 11 percent nationally…”

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