Districts nationwide continue to struggle to recruit and retain enough teachers to support the steadily growing populations of students with disabilities and English learners, a problem that long predates the broader staffing challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new nationwide report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality warns that states need significant structural improvements to their teacher- preparation programs, in-service support, and pay systems to increase the teaching pipeline for the most vulnerable groups of students.
The number of English learners has grown by 40% since 2000, to 5.3 million K-12 students in 2022-23, while the population of students with disabilities has swelled nearly 20% in the same time, to 7.5 million students in 2022-23. But special education has remained the top educator shortage area for roughly 30 years, and teachers for English-learners have stayed among the top five most scarce for at least 20 years, the NCTQ found.
Recent federal policy changes, including defunding grants used for grow-your-own programs and freezing visa programs that states like Florida and Texas have used to staff foreign language and STEM programs, may further shrink the teacher pipeline.
For the report, NCTQ analyzed policies on teacher training, licensure, and financial incentives across 50 states and the District of Columbia.
For example, research suggests that for financial incentives to significantly increase the number of teachers entering and staying in jobs working with high-need students, the pay bump needs to represent at least 7.5 percent of a teacher’s base pay, or about $5,000.
NCTQ found that while many states provide at least some bonuses or stipends to encourage teachers to serve specific student groups, only one—Hawaii—provides incentives large enough to make a real difference in the number of specialist teachers. In 2020, Hawaii launched a $10,000 bonus for special education teachers—a 20 percent raise from typical teacher base pay in the state at the time. The number of unfilled special education positions has fallen by about a third since the bonus went into effect, and the state has found more general education teachers choosing to specialize. However, Hawaii does not have a similar bonus for teachers of English learners.
The analysis also found no consistency in licensure for teachers, with states offering anywhere from three to 34 different special education credentials. For English learners, some states required bilingual education or standalone certification in English-language development, while others offered EL certification only as an add-on to a general teaching license, or no certification at all.
Most states require at least some preservice training for general and specialty teachers on how disabilities or non-native language acquisition affects learning. However, the analysis found less than half of states require principal-preparation programs to address special education, and only 13 states require similar training for school leaders on English learners.
While at least 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws calling for schools to use evidence-based approaches to teach students to read, NCTQ found only four states—Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, and Maryland—require EL and special education teachers to pass a licensure test on reading instruction.
NCTQ recommends state and district policymakers:
- Set clear standards for what educators need to know about special education and English-learner education to certify future teachers and administrators.
- Require student-teachers to complete classroom practice under a teacher certified in the same subject areas in which they plan to get certification.
- Offer at least $5,000 in incentives above base pay to recruit and retain special education and ELL teachers.
- Provide ongoing induction and early-career professional development for teachers serving special student populations—both in general education and specific subjects.