MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL How to Keep Your Special Education Teachers PREVIEW Severe teacher shortages and widespread attrition have characterized special education staffing. Principals play an important role in special education teachers’ sense of well-being and their decisions to stay in the special education field. Principals can use four simple strategies to help retain special education teachers. B Y L EAH W ASBURN -M OSES T eacher burnout and attrition are epidemic in the field of special education. The annual attrition rate for special education teachers has been estimated to be between 8% and 10% (Whitaker, 2000), and special education teachers are leaving the field in much greater numbers than their peers in general education (Nichols & Sosnowsky, 2002). Nationally, there is a persistent annual shortage of approximately 29,000 fully certified special education teachers (Boe, Cook, Bobbitt, & Terbanian, 1998). High teacher turnover creates expense and hassle for schools and districts and it also affects students. The Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPeNSE) (2002) reports that limiting teacher turnover enhances both student learning and teacher quality and urges school administrators to develop and implement plans to lower their teacher turnover rate. Leah Wasburn-Moses ([email protected]) is a doctoral student at Michigan State University. Her research interests are in teacher education and retention and the changing policy environment in special education. PL JANUARY 2005 35 STOCK PHOTO IMAGE MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL 36 leagues on a regular basis. Because 75% of special education students spend a significant part of their school day in general education settings, such collaboration benefits general and special education teachers as well as their students (SPeNSE, 2002). In the SPeNSE (2002) study, special education teachers who had opportunities to collaborate with their general education colleagues reported using the time to discuss how to incorporate work on students’ individualized education program (IEP) goals into the general education setting, to provide general education teachers with the information and resources to address stuTeachers like to know that they have someone to talk to when things are good—and when they aren’t. dents’ learning and behavioral needs, and to explain how students with speWhen special education teachers are asked why they left cial needs benefit from inclusion. or intend to leave the field, they cite such reasons as large Shoho, Katims, and Meza (1998) report that to minicaseloads; burdensome paperwork; problems with behavior mize stress and burnout, administrators should “create management; and difficulties relating to their general edustructures that enhance professional collegiality across tradication colleagues, administrators, and parents. However, tional boundaries and a professional environment that valteachers’ decisions about whether or not to remain in the ues all participants” (p. 22). For example, they recommend field are probably due to an interaction of several of these adopting a problem-solving process to aid general and spefactors. cial educators in finding solutions to problems with individual students. At a time when both general and special Four Strategies for Principals education students are being held to higher standards and Several studies mention the role of principals in special edspecial education students are required to be given access to ucation teachers’ decisions to remain in or to leave the the general education curriculum, such collaboration is necfield. For example, in a study of more than 600 general and essary for student success (President’s Commission on Exspecial education teachers, Littrell, Billingsley, and Cross cellence in Special Education, 2002). (1994) found principal support to be necessary for teachers’ Be Personally Supportive sense of well-being. Researchers have also found principal Research shows that principals can play a pivotal role in support to be positively related to teacher retention (Germediating other factors that cause special education teachsten, Keating, Yovanoff, & Harniss, 2001; Littrell et al., ers to leave the field. For example, principals can support 1994; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997). Principals can use teachers in the area of discipline and behavior management four strategies—prioritizing collaboration, being personally and in their dealings with parents. Principals can also supsupportive, handpicking mentors, and emphasizing continport special education teachers by obtaining necessary reued learning—to increase retention rates for special educasources and materials (Sires & Tonnsen, 1993). If principals tion teachers. have such funds available, the Council for Exceptional Prioritize Collaboration Children (2001) recommends significant clerical and techIn their review of the literature of occupational stress and nological support to help special educators manage the burburnout among special educators, Wisniewski and Gargiulo den of paperwork. (1997) found professional interactions to be a significant Special education teachers often feel a lack of recognisource of stress for teachers, which contributes to lowered tion for their work by principals and other teachers, which feelings of self-efficacy. In addition, teachers often cite the contributes to stress and burnout (Gersten et al., 2001; lack of opportunities to collaborate with general education Nichols & Sosnowsky, 2002; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, colleagues as a serious problem (Gersten et al., 2001). Spe1997). Through direct personal contact, principals can help cial education teachers need the time, opportunity, and ensure that this does not occur. Such contact is also related support to collaborate with their general education colto feelings of optimism and camaraderie in a working enviPL JANUARY 2005 does not have to take the form of professional development workshops or formal mentoring; some authors recommend preparing teachers for the real world of teaching by providing them with time- and stress-management skills (Cessarone, 1999; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997). SPeNSE (2002) argues for professional development that targets teachers’ areas of need. Special education teachers report three areas of relative skill weakness: teaching students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, collaborating, and using technology in instruction. All three of these professional development skills are important if special education students are to be provided with the same opportunities as their general education peers. SPeNSE (2002) also recommends that inservice topics be aligned with the Council for Exceptional Children’s Standards for Entry into Practice (see www.cec.sped.org/ps/ ps-entry.html). Teachers whose inservice training covered these topics or who perceived their training as generally relevant to their daily work scored more highly on the SPeNSE teacher quality index. STOCK PHOTO IMAGE ronment (Littrell et al., 1994). Littrell et al. (1994) found principal support to be highly related to job satisfaction among special educators. Teachers rated emotional support as being the most important type of support to receive from principals. Emotional support includes seeking teachers’ input in decision-making processes, taking genuine interest in their work, and showing support and concern for their students and their programs (Littrell et al., 1994). Also of importance were appraisal support, which shows respect for and confidence in teachers’ judgments and actions; instrumental support, which helps teachers directly with their work; and informational support, which provides teachers with opportunities to learn and assists with knowledge of legal policies). Littrell et al. (1994) conclude that principals should “provide an atmosphere of optimism and camaraderie rather than an environment of competition and confrontation” (p. 307). Other studies have also cited a positive school climate as a factor that contributes to teachers’ decisions to stay in the field of special education (Gersten et al., 2001; Miller, Brownell, & Smith, 1999). Gersten et al. (2001) stress the need for building support among teachers and administrators that is genuine and sustainable. In addition, the SPeNSE (2002) study reports that a positive school climate may serve to ameliorate some of a teacher’s job stress, promote job retention, and improve teacher quality. Handpick Mentors Researchers point to the first year of teaching as being pivotal to teachers’ futures in the field (Boe, Bobbitt, Cook, Whitener, & Weber, 1997; Mastropieri, 2001; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997) and recommend that new teachers be given mentors. Mentors are teachers who teach the same students, work in close proximity with the new teacher, and have similar teaching styles. Important mentor characteristics included trustworthiness and an ability to keep work confidential. Mentors, however, should not play a role in formal evaluation because that tends to discourage openness and collegiality. When it is not possible to obtain a special education mentor within the school building, new teachers should be given both a special education mentor and a building-based mentor to initiate the new teacher into the school culture (Whitaker, 2000). Principals can play an important role in this process. In fact, the SPeNSE (2002) study reports that beginning special educators often found meeting with other new teachers and their special education colleagues to be more beneficial than formal inservices. Emphasize Continued Learning Gerstsen et al. (2001) note that “teachers who felt they were provided with opportunities to learn on the job tended to be less likely to leave” (p. 559). Such learning Working with students is the most important aspect of a teacher’s job, and they should be recognized for doing it well. Conclusion Principals play an important role in special educators’ sense of efficacy and well-being, as well as in their decisions to leave or remain in the field. Prioritizing collaboration, being personally supportive, handpicking mentors, and emphasizing continued learning can help create the kind of environment in which special education teachers feel supported and valued. The success of our students and our schools depends on our efforts at collaboration and our PL JANUARY 2005 37 MANAGING YOUR SCHOOL willingness to change. By making these small efforts on a daily basis, principals can provide an inclusive school climate that values and supports all individuals. PL References ❏ Boe, E. E., Bobbitt, S. A., Cook, L. H., Whitener, S. D., & Weber, A. L. (1997). Why didst thou go? Predictors of retention, transfer, and attrition of special and general education teachers from a national perspective. Journal of Special Education, 30(4), 390–411. ❏ Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., Bobbitt, S. A., & Terbanian, G. (1998). The shortage of fully certified teachers in special and general education. 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