Issues in Professional Development and Teacher Retention:
Conceptual and Empirical Considerations in Supporting Rural Teachers
Ann Berry Rob Petrin
The Pennsylvania State UniversityNational Research Center for Rural Education Support
3 Surveys Number of Rural Districts
Number of States % SRSA % RLIS
2007 Teacher Retention Study
320 44 29.4 22.5
2009 Special Education Administrator Survey 373 43 47.4 16.4
2009 Special Education Teacher Survey(190 teachers to date)
46 29 42.0 15.0
Themes:
Teacher Recruitment
Teacher Retention
Professional Development
Special Education Teacher Characteristics• Average teacher - 8 years teaching in special education position
- 13 years experience in special education
• Aging of the workforce - 34% over 50
• Commitment to rural area - 54% are teaching in the same general area as the place where
they grew up.- 56% have been living in the rural area 16+ years
Confirms the need for recruitment strategies targeting local members of the community desiring a career as a special educator. Teachers who have ties to the rural area tend have lower rates of attrition (Bornfield et al., 1997; Davis 2002).
Teacher Recruitment
Recruiting Rural Education Professionals
• Roughly 95% of districts had teaching and professional staff positions they attempted to fill in previous year
• 82.5% of these districts filled all open positions
• 17.5% were unable to fill all open positions
Roughly 74% of Districts Have Moderate to Extreme Difficulty in Filling Teacher Vacancies
16%
33%41%
11%
NoneMinimalModerateExtreme
Factors Most Disadvantageous to Recruiting
GEOGRAPHIC ISOLA
TION
FUNDING SH
ORTAGES
SALA
RY LEVELS
LACK OF P
ERKS
BENEFITS P
ACKAGE
LIMITED RESO
URCES
ACCOUNT. TEST
SCORES
REQ. TO PASS
LICENSU
RE05
1015202530 Had Large Effect
Top 3: Geographic isolation, funding shortages, and competition from other districts
The most difficult positions to fill wereMath, Science, and Special Education
Recruiting Special Education Professionals
• Roughly 53.5% of districts had a special education position they attempted to fill in past year
• 93 % of these districts filled all open positions
• 7 % of districts were unable to fill all positions
Over Half of Districts Report Difficulty in Filling Special Education Vacancies
16%
26%
29%
21%7%
Very EasySomewhat EasySomewhat DifficultVery DifficultN/A or Don't Know
Districts Often Use Incentives Above and Beyond What Is Used to Recruit Other Educational Professionals
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
All Teachers
Above and Beyond for Special Ed
One of 3 Most Effective
• 13 % districts filled one or more open positions using emergency or provisional licenses
• More than 50% of districts filling positions, filled at least one with a teacher who failed to meet the NCLB highly qualified standard
• 26% on beginning/provisionary licenses
• 33 % of teachers felt they were providing services to students outside their area of certification
Areas named:
29% Behavioral/emotional disabilities 24% Content areas 16% Cognitive disability/severe disabilities14% Autism 9% Services usually provided by a related service
Teachers with inadequate training or credentials are at an increased risk for attrition. (Miller et al., 1999; Stempien & Loeb, 2002)
Retention of Rural Educators
One-third (33.3%) of districts characterized teacherretention as “Somewhat” or “Very Much” a problem.
33%
23%
17%
16%
11%Large Effect on
Teacher Retention
Competition from other districts
Salary
Funding shortages
Geographic isolation
Limited resources
Retention of Rural Special Educators• 28 % of districts reported not having a problem with
retention of special educators
• 5 Factors most frequently selected by administrators as reasons why special educators have left the district
1. Personal Reasons 37%2. Retirement 21%3. Better Pay / Benefits Elsewhere 13%4. Termination 8%5. Excessive Paperwork 8%
020406080
100 93 92 8866 62
50
Special Education Teacher Retention
1 Year5 Years
Special Education Teacher Attrition
In 5 years teachers expected they would:17% leave teaching altogether
9% leave special education altogether
20% leave their rural school
53% leave their special education position
(12% moving to a different special education position in their school, 4% leaving special education but staying in their school, 20% leaving school, 17% leaving teaching)
Professional Development
70% of Districts Offered Staff Development Opportunities at Least Once a Month
12%
14%
25%10%1%
12%
12%
14%Weekly
Bi-Monthly
Monthly
Once per Grading Period
Once per Academic Year
Other
Weekly
Bi-Monthly
Districts Offered a Wide Range of Professional Development Activities
7%9%
9%
4%
8%
9%8%5%
8%
6%
6%
9%
9%4%
TEST PREPARATION
TECHNOLOGY
CONTENT-SPECIFIC TRAINING
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT
CURRICULUM MAPPING
REFORM MODEL-SPECIFIC
GRADE-LEVEL COLLABORATION
EQUITY AND DIVERSITY
WORKING WITH PARENTS
DATA-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT
SPECIAL NEEDS
OTHER
Most Common Special Education Professional Development Delivery Mechanism was State, Local, or Regional Training
DISTRICT-LEVEL T
RAININ
G
LOCAL O
R REGIONAL T
RAININ
G
STATE OR NATIO
NAL TRAIN
ING
ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATIO
N
VIDEO-BASED DISTANCE EDUCATION
OWN TIM
E - READIN
GS/MEDIA
0102030405060708090
100
Professional Development OpportunitiesSpecial Education Teachers Appreciated
• Special education processes (e.g., IEP’s, assessments) 21%
• Technology 17%
• Content-specific training 15%
• Training in specific disability category 11 %
• Inclusion of students in general education curriculum 7 %
• Positive behavior support 6%
• Physical management/behavior 5%
• Grade-level or school-level collaboration 4%
Professional Development Teachers Wanted
• Working with paraprofessionals 24%
• Working with parents23%
• Training in specific disability category 13%
• Inclusion of students in the GE curriculum 12%
• Positive behavior support 11%
• Special education processes (IEP’s, assessment) 7%
• Physical management/behavior 7%
• Grade-level or school-level collaboration 6%
• Content-specific training 6%
35
42
125 132
Preferred Format for Professional Development
District Local or StateRegional or National
Online Distance
Video Distance Media/ReadingOther
Difficulty Attending Professional Development
32%
33%
13%
15%
7%Classroom Cov-erage Travel DistanceFamily Issues (e.g., childcare)Payment/Re-imbursementTime Issues
Summary
1. Retention and recruitment of educators in rural schools is persistent issue for administrators.
2. Attrition factors: maturing of work force, funding shortages, geographic isolation, competition from other districts.
3. Special education teachers are hired with provisionary licenses or inadequate credentials.
4. Teachers are being asked to stretch their training to provide services to students on their caseload.
5. Impact on special education services:
Sometime in the next 5 years half of the special education students, of the teachers we spoke with, will experience a disruption in the continuity of who is providing their special education services.
6. A need for recruitment strategies• Focus on training members of rural school community and local
community• Make salaries and benefits competitive with other districts• Tuition assistance, workload scheduling
7. A need for retention strategies• Additional training for teachers so they feel prepared to meet
students’ needs
• Professional development:– Working with paraprofessionals, parents – Training in disability categories– Inclusion in general education classrooms– Content specific training, and technology
For copies of this presentation:
Ann Berry [email protected] Petrin [email protected]
References:Bornfield, G., Hall, N., Hall, P., & Hoover, J. (1997). Leaving rural special education
positions: It’s a matter of roots. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 16, 30-37.Davis, M. (2002). Teacher retention and small rural school districts in Montana. The
Rural Educator, 24, 45-52. Miller, D., Brownell, M., & Smith, S. (1999). Factors that predict teachers staying in,
leaving, or transferring from the special education classroom. Exceptional Children, 65, 201-218.
Stempien, L., & Loeb, R. (2002). Differences in job satisfaction between general education and special education teachers: Implications for retention. Remedial and Special Education, 23, 258-267.
Extra Slides
Composition of Surveys• Likert-scale
• Multiple option“ Thinking a little further into the future what are likely tobe doing 5 years from now?”
• Open ended“ Do you feel you are asked to provide services to studentsoutside your areas of certification? Which areas?”
2009 Rural Special Education Teacher Survey
10% of all rural districts were randomly selected.
180 teacher interviews to date: projected total 200
• 46 districts in 29 stateso 41% small rural schools
o 15% rural and low-income schools
o 44% NCES designated as rural
Number One Factor Making it Difficult to Retain Qualified Rural Teachers is Competition from Other School Districts
Number One Factor Making it Difficult to Retain Qualified Rural Teachers is Competition from Other School Districts
GEOGRAPHIC IS
OLATIO
N
SALA
RY LEV
ELS
BENEF
ITS PACKAGE
LACK OF P
ERKS
REQ. T
O PASS LIC
ENSU
RE
FUNDING SH
ORTAGES
LIMITE
D RESOURCES
ACCOUNT. TE
ST SC
ORES
HIGH STU:TC
H RATIO
INSUFF
IC. PROFL
SUPPORT
TYPE C
ALENDAR
HISTORY O
F LAYO
FFS
HEAVY W
ORKLOAD
COMPETITI
ON OTHER
DISTRICTS
OTHER
05
10152025303540
Had Large Effect
In Terms of Other Forms of Support, Tuition Reimbursement Was Offered Less Often than
Mentoring and Extra Time
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
STRUCTURED MENTORING
INFORMAL MENTORING
PERIODIC TEACHER MEETINGS
PLANNING TIME RELEASE TIME -CONFERENCES
OTHER
Have You Provided Any Other Forms of Professional Support
Provided
88% of Districts Reported Special Education Professional Development was Required at Least Once Per Year (59% Reported Required at Least 3 Times Per Year)
12%
29%
24%
35%
How Often is Special Education Professional Development Required?
< 1 TIME PER YEAR
1-2 TIMES PER YEAR
3-4 TIMES PER YEAR
5+ TIMES PER YEAR
Content of Special Education Professional Development Most Frequently Focuses on Disability Categories,
Behavior Management, Legal Issues
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
What Are Special Educators Learning Most in Professional Development (and, What Would You Like to Offer in the Future)?
Receiving Training In
Would Like to Offer More Training In
3 Surveys
Districts Overall Think They are Able to Support the Needs of Special Education Students “Very” or “Moderately” Well
54%43%
2% 1%
Perceived Ability to Support Special Education Students
Very Well
Moderately Well
Not Well
Not at All
Don't Know / Re-fused
