NCPSSERS

Resources

NCPSSERS is committed to providing practitioners, researchers and policymakers with useful resources, reports and data about the specialized instructional support and special education teacher shortage.

NCPSSERS & Member-Produced Materials

Policy Recommendations | NCPSSERS
Local, state and federal policy recommendations that may be useful for recruiting and retaining special education teachers and specialized instructional support personnel.

Special Education Personnel Shortages Factsheet | NCPSSERS

  • 49 states report a shortage of special education teachers/related services personnel for 2013-2014
  • 82% of special educators and SISPs from across the nation report that there are not enough professionals to meet the needs of students with disabilities
  • Special education teachers leave the profession at nearly double the rate of their general education colleagues

Impact of Budget Cuts on Special Education Professionals | NCPSSERS
This report looks at the how the sequester and other budget cuts are impacting the special education and services school districts must deliver to students with disabilities.

  • 82% of respondents state that there are ‘too few personnel to meet the needs of students with disabilities’ in their school district
  • 78% of respondents state that budget cuts have resulted in an increase in caseload
  • 61% of respondents state that budget cuts have resulted in an increase in class size

Coalition Submits Response to HEAA Draft | NCPSSERS
Letter to Senator Tom Harkin with feedback to key provisions within the draft Higher Education Affordability Act (HEAA).

Coalition Submits ESEA Reauthorization Recommendations to House and Senate | NCPSSERS
Letter to the U.S. Senate, Health Education Labor Pensions Committee with key recommendations for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Understanding Shortages of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel: Dialogue Guide | NCPSSERS
Dialogue guide for discussion with policymakers, practitioners and educators, the general public, school administrators, and higher education programs on the issue of personnel shortages.

Shortage of Special Education Expertise Among Teachers & Higher Education Faculty | HECSE
This report looks at the shortages of special education teachers in K-12 schools, as well as special education faculty.

  • 98% of the nation’s school districts report special education teacher shortages
  • The demand for special educators is expected to increase by 17% through 2018

Schools Survey Report: SLP Workforce & Work Condition Trends, 2000-2016 | ASHA
This report gathers information about professional issues for speech-language pathologists in school settings from 2000-2016.

Schools Survey Report: Trends in Educational Audiology, 2010-2012 | ASHA
This report gathers information about professional issues for audiologists in school settings from 2010-2012.

  • 67%-83% indicuated increased caseload or workload
  • 73% reported “budget cuts” as their greatest professional challenge

National & State Personnel Data and National & State Personnel Data Briefs | PIC

In CASE Newsletter: Tips for Recruiting and Retaining Specialized Instruction Support Personnel | CASE
Article written by NCPSSERS

Related Services: Common Supports for Students with Disabilities | The IRIS Center
Model offers a description of related services and overview of benefits to students with disabilities in the general education classroom, highlighting five commonly used related services: physical and occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology, social work, and psychological services.

U.S. Department of Education Materials

Teacher Shortage Areas, Nationwide Listing: 1990-1991 through 2014-2015 (Full Report)
2011-2012 Special Education/Related Services Personnel Shortages List (Chart)

  • 23 states have a shortage of speech-language pathologists
  • 14 states have a shortage of personnel to assist deaf or hearing impaired students
  • 11 states are experiencing shortages of personnel to work with students with learning disabilities
  • 10 states lack personnel to teach emotionally disturbed students
  • 7 states do not have enough school nurses

Teacher Attrition & Mobility: Results from the 2008-2009 Teacher Follow-Up Survey
This report provides select findings from the 2008-2009 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS). Its purpose was to determine how many teachers stayed at the same school, moved to another school, or left the profession in the year following the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) administration.

  • Of the 3,380,300 teachers who taught in public schools during 2007-2008, 84.5% stayed, 7.6% moved and 8% left.
  • Of the 396,500 special education teachers who taught in public schools during 2007-2008, 78% stayed, 9.8% moved and 12.3% left.

Overview of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP) Collection
IDEA Partnership: Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
The SISP Collection provides school personnel with a comprehensive collection of materials and resources to assist in furthering their understanding of SISP.

Additional Resources

National Trends in the Sources of Supply of Teachers in Special and General Education
Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
Lynne H. Cook, Erling E. Boe

Occupational Outlook Handbook | Bureau of Labor Statistics

Policy Brief: The High Cost of Teacher Turnover | NCTAF
The national cost of public school teacher turnover could be more than $7.3 billion per year. As a result, high-need urban and rural schools are frequently staffed with inequitable concentrations of under-prepared, inexperienced teachers and few, if any, specialized instructional support personnel. The constant retraining of new staff means that high-needs schools can close neither teacher quality staff nor student achievement gaps.

Projections Central
Long- and short-term projections of occupational employment growth for all states and the nation.

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy
Harris Interactive; Sponsored by MetLife
Twenty-eighth in a series of surveys sponsored annually by MetLife since 1984, this survey examines the views of teachers, parents and students about the teaching profession, parent and community engagement, and effects of the current economy on families and schools.

Variability in Demand for Special Education Teachers: Indicators, Explanations, and Impacts
Exceptionality
Erling E. Bow, Laurie U. deBettencourt, James Dewey, Michael Rosenberg, Paul Sindelar, and Christopher Leko