Retaining Special Education Teachers:  Examining the Impact of School Leaders with Prior Special Education Experience

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Retaining Special Education Teachers:  Examining the Impact of School Leaders with Prior Special Education Experience

Special education teachers are essential to school success however, the uniquely challenging position they occupy often lacks clarity and leads to high rates of burnout and turnover. In addition to providing classroom instruction to students with varying abilities across all major subject areas, special education teachers provide guidance for paraprofessionals and manage a caseload of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) This extensive workload alongside classroom behavioral challenges significantly impact the working conditions of special education teachers. Indeed, students with disabilities disproportionately suffer from inequitable access to a stable teacher workforce, with special education teachers being particularly susceptible to both turnover and subject changes, both of which have a substantial impact on the stability of the teaching workforce. While prior research has focused on classroom-level factors contributing to these high rates of exit, emerging literature suggests that principals play a pivotal role in reducing teacher attrition. Administrators control school characteristics such as culture and working conditions which are shown to have a tremendous impact on a teacher’s likelihood to leave. Within special education, there is often a disconnect in how teachers and leaders perceive workload and expectations, a miscommunication that can result in feelings of burnout and turnover. Indeed, school leaders who enter the field with special education experience bring a unique skillset that has yet to be examined, particularly as it relates to special education teacher retention. Thus, this paper aims to examine if an association between principal experience and/or certification in special education and teacher turnover exists.

Author

• Zoe Rose Mandel, The Pennsylvania State University