Teacher Retention: Reducing the Attrition of Special Educators

Transcript: Challenge

Narrator: Meet Clara Kamei, the Principal of Mars Hill Middle School. She’s reviewing applications, hoping to find highly qualified candidates for the recent teacher vacancies in special education. Several of her best early career teachers are leaving the field, and two mid-career teachers are hoping to transfer to general education positions. Yes, she knows that these teachers had some struggles. One was frustrated with the lack of collaboration with general education teachers, another complained about her growing caseload of students, and a third had a problem managing her students’ behavior. If only she had learned about what they had concerns about earlier, Clara might have been able to do something.

This is the fifth year in a row that Mars Hill Middle School has experienced high turnover. Clara believes she has implemented appropriate recruiting and hiring strategies since she took this position three years ago, but they have not improved the turnover rate. Clara is frustrated because she recognizes that this high turnover rate has important consequences for the quality of education that students with disabilities receive. Clara wonders what she can do to retain her special education teachers.
Here’s your Challenge:
What factors do you think influence special education teacher turnover?
What can school leaders do to reduce the number of special education teachers who leave each year?

Here’s Your Challenge:

What factors do you think influence special education teacher turnover?

What can school leaders do to reduce the number of special education teachers who leave each year?