Special Education Teachers: What Keeps Them in the Field?

The dilemma of securing a special education teacher supply is a critical issue. Understanding causes of attrition is vital to addressing the problem. This review analyzes literature and identifies factors for teacher retention/attrition while overlaying the concept of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to understand this phenomenon from a psychological perspective.

A qualitative study of selected fourth -grade teachers' perceptions of the Sunshine State Standards

Despite a history of grappling with educational standards, never before has the federal government attempted to establish explicit national standards for what American children should learn in school. Recently, U.S. educators have developed voluntary national content standards, or explicit expectations of what students should know and be able to do. Not surprisingly, this major curriculum reform has provoked considerable debate. Today, teachers face difficult challenges working towards the implementation of standards. The objective of this study was to describe and explain the perceptions of a selected team of fourth-grade teachers regarding the language arts component of their state's Sunshine State Standards (SSS). The exploratory questions that guided this qualitative study were: (a) How are the SSS perceived by these fourth-grade teachers? (b) In what ways do the SSS affect teachers' self-perceptions? and, (c) To what extent and how do the SSS affect the participants' professional classroom behavior? ^ Direct observations, interviews, analysis of relevant documents and the researcher's critical reflective journal served as the methods of inquiry employed in this qualitative study. Bandura's Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale was used as a tool to help categorize the data specifically related to self-perception. ^ Analysis of the data suggests that participants perceived the SSS as a useful guideline as they taught. The SSS were a decisive factor in teachers' planning. They were the actual guide lines used by teachers to plan their lessons. However, participants did not believe the SSS were attainable by all students or were fair to students with special needs. They also believed there was not sufficient time allocated for the effective implementation of the SSS. This lack of time created pressure among some of the participants and others even felt disempowered regarding the curriculum and the instructional focus implemented during the test preparation time. The SSS negatively affected the participants when they felt constraints during this time, which led to their inability to carry out important activities in their classrooms. Thus, the SSS directly affected the participants' behavior in their classrooms. ^

Occupational therapists' attitudes toward family -centered care

The purpose of this study was to examine pediatric occupational therapists attitudes towards family-centered care. Specific attributes identified by the literature (professional characteristics, educational experiences and organizational culture) were investigated to determine their influence on these attitudes. Study participants were 250 pediatric occupational therapists who were randomly selected from the American Occupational Therapy Association special interest sections. ^ Participants received a mail packet with three instruments to complete and mail back within 2 weeks. The instruments were (a) the Professional Attitude Scale, (b) the Professional Characteristics Questionnaire, and (c) the Family-Centered Program Rating Scale. There was a 50% return rate. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS using descriptive statistics, correlations and regression analysis. ^ The analysis showed that pediatric occupational therapists working in various practice settings demonstrate favorable attitudes toward family-centered care as measured by the Professional Attitude Scale. There was no correlation between professional characteristics and educational experiences to therapists' attitudes. A moderate correlation (r = .368, p < .05) was found between the occupational therapists attitudes and the organizational culture of their workplaces. A factor analysis was conducted on the organizational culture instrument (FamPRS) as this sample was exclusively pediatric occupational therapists and the original sample was interdisciplinary professionals. Two factors were extracted using a principal components extraction and varimax rotation, in addition to examination of the scree plot. These two factors accounted for 50% of the total variance of the scores on the instrument. Factor 1, called empowerment accounted for 45.6% of the variance, and Factor 2, responsiveness accounted for 4.3% of the variance of the entire instrument. Stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that these two factors accounted for 16% of the variance toward attitudes clinicians hold toward family-centered care. These factors support the tenets of family-centered care; empowering parents to be leaders in their child's health care and helping organizations become more responsive to family needs. ^ These study findings suggest that organizational culture has some influence on occupational therapists attitudes toward family-centered care (R 2 = .16). These findings suggest educators should consider families as valuable resources when considering program planning in family-centered care at preservice and workplace settings. ^

Teacher perception of self -determination skills in the inclusive and special education classroom

It has been proposed that special education teachers, who promote self-determination and link it to educational standards, help students with a disability succeed in school. The current school reform movement has focused on accountability through mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act, 2001, and has emphasized participation in the general curriculum through amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 and 2004. This study informs educators if educational setting, students' type of disability, and subject area taught, influence teachers' opinions about the importance of teaching components leading to self-determination and self-management. ^ The research questions that drive this study are: (1) do secondary school teachers who instruct students with a disability think that self-determination components taught in the classroom will make an important difference in students' school and later postsecondary achievements? and (2) does the type of classroom setting, students' type of disability, or specific subject matter influence teachers' opinions regarding the importance of teaching components related to self-determination and self-management? The collection and interpretation of data were done using descriptive and quantitative methods employing a teacher survey. The survey was administered to secondary teachers who instruct students with disabilities. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The sample consisted of 97 special education teachers currently teaching at the secondary level. ^ The results of the study indicated that teachers believe that self-determination is important for both school life and post school life. However teachers thought these skills to be more important for post school success. Teachers believe that self-determination is more important than self-management skills. Type of disability, educational environment, and subject area were not significant factors. ^