How Access to Social Networks Through Leadership Opportunities Shapes Special Education Teachers' Jobs

• In Event: Park Central Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Roundtable Session: Retaining Special Education Teachers

Abstract

Previous research indicates access to social networks, the social ties teachers make with their colleagues (e.g., leadership opportunities), can influence their access to information and, in turn, job efficacy, autonomy, and satisfaction because However, few research studies have examined this phenomenon with special education teachers. To that end, we take advantage of the special education teachers in the School and Staffing Survey of 2011-12 to study how leadership opportunities, through access to social networks, shape special education teachers’ job outcomes. We find that leadership improves teacher efficacy, satisfaction, and autonomy but these relationships are likely moderated by individual and institutional factors such as teaching in a self-contained classroom or in rural communities, respectively.

Authors

• Kim W. Wolowiec-Fisher, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

• Andrea Ruppar, University of Wisconsin

• Meaghan McCollow, California State University - East Bay

• Katie Mae McCabe, University of Wisconsin - Madison