June, 2007
The Problem: Teacher Attrition - What the Research Says
The supply of adequately prepared teaching staff has long been a major challenge to the field of education (1). The US Department of Education estimates that 2.2 million teachers will need to be added over the next 10 years, specifically 700,000 in high-poverty urban and rural districts, "exceeding the annual production rate of new teachers" (2). Meanwhile, a review and summary of the national literature of teacher retention states that 30-50% teachers leave the profession within their first 3 to 5 years of teaching (3).
In Oregon, alongside the 8.1% increase in the student population over the past 12 years, the number of teachers has increased only 1% and has in fact decreased since 2001 (4). A 1996 national survey found 85% of responding districts faced an immediate need for special educators (5), supporting earlier findings that this will likely be a fundamental challenge for years to come. The American Association for Employment in Education Survey revealed that special education is the number one area of greatest need in Oregon (6).
Zabel and Zabel state that special educators tend to exhibit many of the same symptoms that are experienced by other human service professions such as nurses, physicians, and police officers who work frequently with people who have physical, social, and emotional problems (7). Many studies have been conducted examining the relationship between job related stress/burnout on attrition of special education teachers.
In the coming months we will use this site to look at the factors that influence attrition of special educators from the field and discuss possible strategies for improving retention. Check back here for future postings.
References
1. Ankeny, M. (2002). Oregon Research Report for Oregon Quality Assurance in Teaching. In K-12 Educator Supply and Demand Snapshots 2004. Oregon University System.
2. Johnson, J. (2005). Why rural matters. The facts about rural education in 50 states. Arlington, VA: Rural School and Community Trust.
3. Widerstrom, A, & Abelman, D. (1996). Team training issues. In D. Bricker and A. Widerstrom (Eds.). Preparing personnel to work with infants and young children and their families: A team approach. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
4. Oregon Department of Education. Oregon Report Card 2003-2004.
5. Recruiting New Teachers, 1999)
6. Oregon University System. (2005). K-12 Educator supply and demand: Snapshots. Retrieved July 10, 2006, from www.ous.edu/aca/studies.htm.
7. Zabel, R. H., & Zabel, M. K. (2001). Revisiting burnout among special education teachers: do age, experience, and preparation still matter? Teacher Education and Special Education, 24(2), 128-139.