This working group will focus on factors and circumstances related to the recruitment and retention of special educators including but not limited to state and local trends overtime, the need to support diversification of the educator workforce, and innovative strategies to support new teachers in the field of special education.
Specifically, the group will conduct a landscape analysis of currently available data, research, and reports to examine relevant trends in the preparation, recruitment, induction, and retention of special educators, particularly educators of color. This work is currently underway:
- Review, document, and create a visual map of data sources from OSPI, districts, and EPPs to report upon current trends in educator retention.
- Identify promising practices and novel strategies being used in Washington State at the state, local, and school levels.
- Conduct a literature review of scholarly and professional articles and reports related to preparation, recruitment, induction, and retention of special educators, particularly educators of color.
- Create a dissemination plan to provide information about preparation, recruitment, induction, and retention of special educators.
In the coming months, the group will create a recommendations report that is informed by the landscape analysis
- Consider relevant levels of action – statewide, district wide, school based and the particular stakeholders who could action those levels and create a stakeholder map.
- Develop initial recommendations and conduct targeted focus groups with stakeholders identified in the mapping.
- Write a recommendations report to suggest possible means of addressing the problems identified in the landscape analysis at multiple points in the system.
