How Many Qualified Teachers Are Needed for Students with Disabilities?

Overview & Synopsis

This report discusses findings on the shortage of qualified teachers for students with disabilities. Data from the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 1992 Teacher Followup Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics, along with annual data reported by the Office of Special Education Programs and other data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics, were analyzed to reveal the reasons underlying the demand for hiring more teachers in special education at the national level. Results indicate that the number of teaching positions in special education increased steadily during a recent 9-year period and that positions for special education teachers grew at a higher rate than positions for general education teachers. The annual demand for newly hired teachers in special education in 1990-91 was 14 percent of the total teaching positions in this field, a figure that was almost twice the percentage of openings for newly hired teachers in general education. There is also an annual shortage of about 28,000 fully certified teachers needed to replace employed special education teachers who are not fully certified in their main teaching assignment. The report concludes there are more opportunities for teaching positions in special education than in general education. (CR)