Leadership Training in Special Education: A Status Analysis. Information Bulletin #29.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper synthesizes issues and informational needs regarding the supply and demand for doctoral level personnel in special education and stresses the importance of obtaining accurate data on teacher supply and demand for planning training activities and analyzing manpower needs. Existing findings on teacher employment, teacher shortages, teacher supply, and teacher attrition are reviewed. The insufficient supply of doctoral level special education personnel is then documented. Among barriers to leadership training identified are lack of adequate financial support, poor working conditions for faculty, and attrition through retirement. Data are then given on leadership needs in the following specialty areas: behavior disorders, bilingual/language minority, rural special education, early childhood special education, career/vocational/transitional special education, special education research, special education administration and supervision, speech/language/hearing personnel, severe/profound/multiple handicaps, and adapted physical education and therapeutic recreation. Sixteen specific issues are considered. These include the need for a comprehensive data base that tracks the production of doctoral level personnel, the need for a national disseminator of specific supply and demand data, the need for closer working relationships between institutions of higher education and employers, and a need for studies on the retirement trends and patterns of educators. (96 references) (DB)