Recruitment and Retention and Special Education Teacher Preparation in Rural Areas: Diversity, Federal Funding, and Technical Assistance Considerations

Rural Special Education Quarterly, Summer 2003 by Tyler, Naomi C, Cantou-Clarke, Cynthia D, Easterling, Jeffrey, Klepper, Tanya

Abstract

Eight faculty members at rural colleges and universities who received funding from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to support personnel preparation ef�brts in their special education programs were surveyed regarding the impact of those Rinds. The faculty taught at minority institutions of higher education and the students supported with the grant funding were from historically underrepresented groups. A total of 117 African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian students had graduated from these programs at the time of the survey, and were currently employed in 42 rural school districts. Strategics on recruiting and retaining diverse students in rural areas are provided, as well as a summary of the impact of technical assistance efforts with minority institutions nationwide.

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Education (U.S. Department of Education, 2003) reports that during the 2000-2001 school year, 47,532 individuals filling special education positions (approximately 11.4% of all teachers) lacked appropriate special education certification. In school systems throughout the United States the lack of adequately trained and certified personnel has been, and continues to be, a formidable barrier to providing appropriate educational services to students with disabilities (Berkeley & Ludlow, 1991; Bowen & Klass, 1993; Whitworth, 2000). The national teacher shortage has received a great deal of public attention (Hellmich, 2001; Levinson, 2001) and special education contains some of the most severe deficits (American Association for Employment in Education, 2000; National Education Association, 2001). Special education teacher shortages have been reported by 98% of the nation's school districts (Fideler, Foster, & Schwartz, 2000). Shortages are especially severe in rural areas, where districts can often experience 100% turnover of their special education personnel during a three-year period (Helge & Marrs, 1982; Hicks, 1994), and yearly attrition rates of 30 to 50 percent are considered the norm (Helge, 1992). McLaughlin, Smith-Davis, and Burk (1986) have described the rural personnel attrition rates as "alarming." Projections for the future are disheartening. For example, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) estimates that over 200,000 special education teachers will be needed to fill vacancies by the year 2005 (Kozlcski, Mainzer, Deshler, Coleman, & Rodriguez-Walling, 2000). Although the national rate of noncertified teachers hovers around 11% (U.S.D.O.E., 2003), the percentages in rural districts are much higher (35.8%).

Special Education Staffing in Rural Communities

The lack of trained and qualified personnel working in rural areas is confounded by difficulties with teacher recruitment and retention (Gold, Russell, & Williams, 1993; Lemke, 1994; Ludlow, 1996; Merrell, et al., 1994; Ryan, 1999; Savclsbergh, 1995; Williams, Gold, & Russell, 1995). Reasons for initial recruitment difficulties include: geographic and social isolation (Sealander, Eigenberger, Peterson, Shellady, & Prater, 2001); limited availability of training and resources (Keiper & Busselle, 1996; Westling & Whitten, 1996); and competition with higher paying jobs in more attractive urban and suburban areas (Helge, 1992; Lemke, 1995). Retention of qualified professionals becomes difficult as teachers, trained in urban areas, lack the necessary skills to meet the unique challenges of rural education (Carr, 1995; Demchak & Morgan, 1997). Institutions of higher education play an important role in the provision of teachers to rural areas (Lasseter & Ryndak, 1998), but access to specialized preparation impacts recruitment and retention. Individuals living in rural areas who would like to become certified in special education often do not have access to university and college training programs because of long distances, topography, and weather conditions (Sebastian, 1997). Finally, socialization, which includes not only school policy and procedures but also the culture of the entire community, impacts the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel in rural school settings (Sebastian, 1997). Educators who are not fully socialized into a rural community are likely to leave. These problems have made personnel preparation one of the most critical issues in rural special education (Ludlow & Brannan, 1999).

The focus on training special education personnel from diverse backgrounds is a challenge (Tyler, Yzquierdo, Lopez-Reyna, & Flippin, in press), particularly for rural areas. For example, Pavel, Curtin, and Whitener (1997) report that 94% of public schools with high American Indian enrollments are located in rural areas and small towns. The issue is further complicated by the fact that students from culturally and/ or linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLD) are often over-represented in special education classes, while teachers from the same racial and ethnic groups are underrepresented in the teaching force. As a result, recruitment and retention of individuals from historically underrepresented groups is a priority for many school districts (American Federation of Teachers, 1999). Yet challenges common among CLD individuals create barriers to successful recruitment and retention (Tyler et al., in press). Fewer CLD students become teachers due to barriers that include inequitable educational opportunities at the public school level, high secondary-school dropout rates, low college entrance and completion rates, and lower passing scores on national exams such as the NTE (Michael-Bandele, 1993; Ford, Grantham, & Harris, 1997). The attractiveness of other careers lures many CLD students away from teaching (Cartledge, Gardner III and Tillman,1995; Tyler et al., in press). The normal concerns with recruiting teachers to rural areas are intensified with teachers from underrepresented groups, particularly when there are no other individuals from similar groups residing in those areas. One way to increase the numbers of CLD teachers who become teachers in rural areas is to provide training for local residents (Sealander et al., 2001). These teachers typically reflect the racial/ethnic makeup of the community, are committed to the area for personal and family reasons, and thus unlikely to leave.