Transforming the Special Education Workforce: Research and Complex Systems Perspectives – An AERA Publication

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Transforming the Special Education Workforce: Research and Complex Systems Perspectives offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the national crisis in special education staffing. Edited by leading scholars Marcia L. Rock, Bonnie Billingsley, Lisa Dieker, and Melinda Leko, this book brings together innovative research, policy analysis, and systems thinking to propose theoretically sound, empirically validated, and sustainable solutions. Through a blend of empirical studies and conceptual frameworks, the volume highlights the interconnected factors contributing to workforce instability. The authors provide theoretical frameworks for conducting systems thinking using informed workforce research as well as actionable strategies for educators, administrators, and policymakers to recruit, develop, improve, and sustain the special education workforce.

Sub Unit

• AERA Science and Policy Sessions

Chair

• Erica D. McCray, University of Florida

Participants

• Marcia L. Rock, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Lisa Dieker, University of Kansas

Discussants

• Roddy Theobald, American Institutes for Research

• Jason C. Chow, Vanderbilt University