Working Together: Graduate Level Special Education Teacher Recruitment through a School-University Partnership

Overview & Synopsis

Recruiting special education teacher candidates to teacher preparation programs and to special education classrooms continues to be a national struggle (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022; United States Department of Education, 2021). While a number of solutions to this decades-long problem have been explored, we offer the analysis of a school-university partnership designed to target active, certificate-holding general education teachers for inclusion in a special education certificate program. The program of focus is designed to prepare general educators for certification eligibility and practice as highly-qualified special education teachers intent upon remaining in their current P-12 districts. The value of having general education teachers and special education teachers engage in co-professional development, particularly focused on co-teaching, has a history of successful collaboration (Miller & Oh, 2013). It is plausible, then, to recognize the value of preparing successful general educators to transition to the special educator role (Fee et al., 2012). An outline of a cohort-designed special education graduate certificate program is described. Results are reported based on data obtained from completer surveys, qualitative interviews, and Praxis examination scores. Suggestions for ways in which human resource professionals can help foster school-university partnerships are provided.