WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEACHER TURNOVER IN SPECIAL EDUCATION 2007 OSEP Project Directors’ Conference Bonnie S. Billingsley Virginia Tech School of Education July 17, 2007

OVERVIEW Shortage and turnover trends Costs of turnover Contributors to turnover How to improve retention

TEACHER SHORTAGE TRENDS ChronicPervasiveGrowing Inadequate supply Inadequate diversity

TURNOVER & TEACHER SHORTAGE

TURNOVER RATES (3 year average) Boe, Cook, & Sunderland (in press) Switch/transfer to general education 8.27% Exit to non-teaching positions 6.74% Move or migrate to other special education positions 7.85% TOTAL (across 3 years) 22.85%

Boe, Cook, & Sunderland (2006) INCREASING TURNOVER Boe, Cook, & Sunderland (2006) 18.8% ( ) 21.4% ( ) 27.7% ( )

TURNOVER COSTS FinancialSchool Inclusive reform StudentTeacher

COSTS UNEQUALLY DISTRIBUTED Fall & Billingsley (2007) Administrators in high poverty schools Administrators in high poverty schools Significantly higher turnover rates Significantly higher turnover rates Significantly higher vacant positions Significantly higher vacant positions How districts address shortage How districts address shortage Employ uncertified/substitute teachers Employ uncertified/substitute teachers Raise caseloads Raise caseloads Increase paraprofessionals Increase paraprofessionals

RESEARCH ON TEACHER TURNOVER Ask teachers why they left Investigate factors associated with leaving Teacher characteristics Teacher characteristics Teacher preparation/induction Teacher preparation/induction District/school characteristics District/school characteristics Work conditions Work conditions

REASONS FOR LEAVING Special educators leave for: Personal reasons Personal reasons Work-related reasons Work-related reasons Other reasons (e.g., retirement, involuntary) Other reasons (e.g., retirement, involuntary) Special educators more likely than general educators to leave due to dissatisfaction

TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS & TURNOVER Strong support High turnover rates among new teachers High turnover rates among new teachers Some support Higher leaving rates among whites and females (Guarino et al., 2006) Higher leaving rates among whites and females (Guarino et al., 2006) No consistent findings about race and gender in special education No consistent findings about race and gender in special education

HIGHER TURNOVER AMONG THOSE WITH LESS PREPARATION Boe, Cook, & Sunderland, 2006

WORK CONDITIONS & TURNOVER School climate Leader support Collaboration/inclusion Job design role ambiguity role ambiguity role conflict role conflict role overload role overloadResources Professional development Compensation

New Teachers Vulnerable to Poor Work Conditions Billingsley et al., % indicate that routine duties and paperwork interfere teaching 29% of new teachers indicate that workload manageability is a problem 25% do not feel a sense of belonging in their schools 31% do not have the necessary resources to do their jobs

Summary Teacher Shortage + Increasing Turnover + New Demands = MAJOR CHALLENGE!

LABOR MARKET THEORY OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND* Individuals will enter/remain if most attractive activity available Overall compensation Overall compensation Adjust attractiveness of the job Elements of attractiveness become the policy levers to increase retention *Applied to teacher supply, demand and retention by Guarino, Santibanez, & Daley, 2006

Conclusions & Further Study

REFERENCES Billingsley, B. (2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district administrators can do. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA. Billingsley, B., Carlson, E., & Klein, S. (2004). The working conditions and induction support of early career special educators. Exceptional Children, 70(3), Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2006). Attrition of beginning teachers: Does teacher preparation matter? (Report No TSDQ2): Center for Research and Evaluation in Social Policy, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2006). Teacher turnover in special and general education: Attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration. (Research Report No TSDQ3 ) Edgar, E., & Pair, A. (2005). Special education teacher attrition: It all depends on where you are standing. Teacher Education and Special Education, 28(3/4), Fall, A., & Billingsley, B. (2007). Structural inequalities in special education: A comparison of special educators’ qualifications, working conditions and local policies. Manuscript in development. Gehrke, R.S., & Murri, N. (2006). Beginning special educators’ intent to stay in special education: Why they like it here. Teacher Education and Special Education, 29(3), Gersten, R., T., K., Yovanoff, P., & Harniss, M. K. (2001). Working in special education: Factors that enhance special educators' intent to stay. Exceptional Children, 67(4), Guarino, C. M., Santibanez, L., & Daley, G. A. (2006). Teacher recruitment and retention: A review of the recent empirical literature. Review of Educational Research, 76(2), Kaff, M.S. (2004). Multitasking is multitaxing: Why special educators are leaving the field. Preventing School Failure, 48(2), Miller, M. D., Brownell, M., & Smith, S. W. (1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or transferring from the special education classroom. Exceptional Children, 65(2), Sindelar, P. T., Shearer, D. K., Yendol-Hoppey, D., & Liebert, T. W. (2006). The sustainability of inclusive school reform. Exceptional Children, 72(3),