State Practices in Personnel Recruitment and Retention Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D. Director National Center to improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel For Children with Disabilities (Personnel Improvement Center) NASDSE

State of the States’ Personnel Needs Greatest in rural and urban areas Percent of SE practitioners, not fully certified in special education, can be alarming in mostly, small rural areas – can range from % in as many as 60% of local districts within a state – No data is being collected on this at the federal level – only collecting HQT data – can “mask” uncertified teachers.

Who are the highest need professionals in special education and related services? 2009 AAEE Supply and Demand Research Report – Emotional disabilities – Severe disabilities – Mild/moderate disabilities – Multi-categorical Personnel Improvement Center work – SLPs – Severe-profound disabilities – Emotional disabilities – Moderate intellectual disabilities

How are states addressing the need? Funding – SPDG activities related to recruitment and retention at local level – IDEA Part B funds for stipends, loan forgiveness and scholarships for high need areas statewide Dedicated personnel – At state agencies – Regional recruiters

How are states addressing the need? Resources – Online recruitment centers – AK, CA, FL, GA, TN – Mentoring guidelines - GA – Facilitation of LEA /IHE partnerships – DC, MS, UT – Distance education infrastructure – GA, NC – Recruitment campaigns with materials distribution – AR, KY, MO, NC – On-line Mentoring – NV, LA

What practices are most successful? Special ed-specific online-mentoring Personnel preparation program partnerships with high-need LEAs Dedicated personnel at state and regional levels Distance education infrastructure Stipends, loan forgivenesss and scholarships with pay-back clauses

What is ‘best practice’ at state level? Examine supply and demand data – By LEA and preparation program – By certification/staffing area Collect and analyze retention and attrition data – Numbers and percentages by LEAs – Statewide - reasons for staying and leaving Using data, identify specific areas of need to address Develop a TARGETED, yet comprehensive, recruitment and retention plan with wide stakeholder group based on data, resources and opportunities. Assign resources and personnel to IMPLEMENT the plan, collect impact data and adjust as needed.

Contact Us Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D. Director Personnel Improvement NASDSE ext. 337