Lit Review 2 Theme 4 and 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10

Theme I: Historical Perspectives on Teacher Attrition .............................................. 11 Evolution of Teacher Attrition in the United States ..................................................... 12 Legislative and Policy Impacts on Teacher Retention ................................................. 13 Theoretical Foundations of Teacher Attrition ............................................................. 14

Theme II: Mental Health and Teacher Well-being ..................................................... 15 Stress and Emotional Exhaustion in the Teaching Profession .................................... 16 Building Resilience and Promoting Self-Care ............................................................. 17 Mental Health Support and Access in School Environments ...................................... 18

Theme III: Special Education Context ......................................................................... 19 Overview of Special Education and Legal Mandates .................................................. 20 Teacher Preparation and Challenges in Special Education ........................................ 21 Burnout and Retention Among Special Education Teachers ...................................... 22

Theme IV: Administrative Support and Leadership .................................................... 23 Leadership Styles and Their Influence on Teacher Retention ..................................... 24 Administrative Support and Professional Empowerment ........................................... 25 School Culture, Morale, and Shared Decision-Making ................................................ 26

Theme V: Professional Development and Training ................................................... 27 Effective Professional Development for Teacher Retention ....................................... 28 Mentorship, Coaching, and Collaborative Practices ................................................... 29 Barriers to Continuous Learning and Skill Application ............................................... 30

Summary ..................................................................................................................... 31

References

Thomas, Michael Dean (2024): Special Education Teacher Retention: Identifying Factors Influencing Retention and Attrition

Pollard, Kristina Rayshelle (2024): The Challenges and Opportunities in the Retention of Novice Teachers in Grades K–12 in Rural South Mississippi

Williams, Jacquelyn Nicole (2021): “It Comes with the Job”: A Mixed Methods Study on Teacher Mental Health, the School Environment, and School Leader Practices

Vandegriffe, Kathy et al. (2024): Principal Perceived Strategies to Support Teacher Retention Throughout a Teacher’s Career

Wheaton, Cayla Jeanette (2022): Special Education Teacher Shortage: Reducing Attrition and Increasing Retention of Special Education Teachers

Bettini, E. L., Gilmour, A., & Jacobson, A. (2024): Addressing Special Education Staffing Shortages: Strategies for Schools

Bettini, E. L., Gilmour, A., & Jacobson, A. (2024): Retention Is the Missing Ingredient in Special Education Staffing

Agyapong, B., Obuobi-Donkor, G., Burback, L., & Wei, Y. (2023): Stress, Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression Among Teachers: A Scoping Review

Clarà, M., Vallés, A., Coiduras, J., Silva, P., Justiniano, B., López, T., Padula, B., Barril, J. P., Cavalcante, S., Chávez, J., Donoso, D., Marchán, P., Silvestre Ramos, F., & Uribe, C. P. (2022): Unpacking the Role of Work Demands in Teacher Burnout: Cognitive Effort as a Protective Factor

Doan, S., Steiner, E. D., Pandey, R., & Woo, A. (2023): Teacher Well-being and Intentions to Leave: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey

Walker, T. (2021). Burnout Solutions to Prevent Teacher Resignations

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Teacher Self-efficacy and Teacher Burnout: A Study of Relations

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Teacher Stress and Teachers' Well-being: A Study of Relations with Job Satisfaction and Motivation

Singer, E. A. (2023). Drawn to the Flame: Teachers’ Stories of Burnout

Shann, M. H. (2001). Professional Commitment and Satisfaction of Teachers in Urban Middle Schools

Richards, K. A. R., Levesque-Bristol, C., Templin, T. J., & Graber, K. C. (2016). The Impact of Resilience on Role Stressors and Burnout in Elementary and Secondary Teachers

Papay, J. P., Bacher-Hicks, A., Page, L. C., & Marinell, W. H. (2017). The Challenge of Teacher Retention in Urban Schools: Evidence of Variation from a Cross-site Analysis

Öztürk, M., Bulut, M. B., & Yildiz, M. (2021). Predictors of Teacher Burnout in Middle Education: School Culture and Self-Efficacy

Nordell, B. B. (2021). Avoiding Burnout: How Exemplary Teachers Find Fuel and Cultivate Success

Mielke, C. (2019). The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again

Menzies, L. (2023). Continuity and Churn: Understanding and Responding to the Impact of Teacher Turnover

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the Burnout Experience: Recent Research and Its Implications for Psychiatry

Kasalak, G., & Dagyar, M. (2022). Teacher Burnout and Demographic Variables as Predictors of Teachers’ Enthusiasm

Kalu, G. (2020). Teacher Retention in Rural School Districts: Challenges and Opportunities

Johnson, S. M., & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a Sense of Success: New Teachers Explain Their Career Decisions

Ingersoll, R. M. (2001). Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis

Genoud, P. A., & Waroux, E. L. (2021). The Impact of Negative Affectivity on Teacher Burnout

Dung, V., Trang, V. T., & Lan, N. T. M. (2024). Workload Doesn't Mean Exhaustion: Antecedents of Teacher Burnout

Darling-Hammond, L., & Sykes, G. (2003). Wanted: A National Teacher Supply Policy for Education

Clarà, M., Vallés, A., Coiduras, J., et al. (2022). Unpacking the Role of Work Demands in Teacher Burnout: Cognitive Effort as a Protective Factor

Borman, G. D., & Dowling, N. M. (2008). Teacher Attrition and Retention: A Meta-Analytic and Narrative Review

Doan, S., Steiner, E. D., Pandey, R., & Woo, A. (2023). Teacher Well-being and Intentions to Leave

Padmanabhanunni, A., & Pretorius, T. B. (2023). Teacher Burnout in the Time of COVID-19: Antecedents and Psychological Consequences

7

Theme III - Special Education Context

Submitted to Dr

EDL 821: Capstone I

Summer 2025

Theme III - Special Education Context

In this part, the essay emphasizes on stress, emotional exhaustion, and well-being in special education. In the previous section, it has been revealed how the general classroom pressures undermine teacher resilience. Special education involves distinctive legal needs, heavy loads of work and risks of experiencing burnout. This part of the work reviews three aspects: the description of special education and legal requirements that should be met; the routes of preparation and special educator shortages; and trends in burnout and choosing to remain in this occupation.

Overview of Special Education and Legal Mandates

The origin of special education law dates back to 1975 when the Education of All Handicapped Children Act was conceptualized; this law challenged the implementation of a compulsory special education program in the government schools (Dragoo, 2024). In 1990 and 2004 it was reauthorized again as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In order to deliver the least restrictive environment, IDEA ensures that every authoritative student receives Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) (Dragoo, 2024). The districts are required to comply with the specific guidelines of the federal government to be able to get such federal funds. They need to take formal evaluation, organize multidisciplinary IEP and make written progress reports.

Under IDEA, schools are required to formulate the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) that state individual needs of each student (their special requirements, accommodations, and services). These plans involve the cooperation of teachers, therapists, parents and administrators (Hayes & Bulat, 2017). However, special educators dedicate a greater volume of time to the paper works and meetings than they would to the instructions. In a national survey, special educators declared spending more than 32% of the time mainly through direct instructing on the job, and the rest in compliance tasks. Institutional leaders and teachers lose morale and lower institutional instructional quality with that imbalance (Blad, 2024). In spite of these protection mechanisms, there are shortages. In March 2024 the U.S had filled 51% of special education jobs in the public school sector (Bettini & Gilmour, 2024). There are approximately 13.5 million students who are dependent on 445,215 special educators but nearly 8% of the teachers are not completely credentialed (Bettini & Gilmour, 2024). Constant vacancies make remaining staff to accommodate additional caseload and paper works. This strain aggravates the turnover and leads to the destabilizing of the program.

Adequacy is also a liability to the rules of the law. IDEA gives a special educator duty to fill vacancies with the highly qualified special educators. Practically, districts have history of recruiting teachers with emergency, or uncertified credential to fill basic staffing requirements. The strategy is capable of flouting the federal regulations and exacerbating inequalities since the low-income schools have the highest chances of recruiting the emergency hires. According to Wheaton (2022), such hires often have no experience with the development of IEPs or inclusive practice, creating even more disparities in the provision of services. Thomas (2024) insists that the extent of such compliance requirements- combined with large caseload requirements- is the cause of turnover among those working as special educators. Federal requirements guard the interests of the students and at the same time increase the workload burden on the already crumbled workforce. To reconcile the needs of quality teaching and the legal requirements, the shortage of the staff will have to be addressed in a more chronic way. It is critical to get a grasp on this law-practice-capacity interaction before breaking down preparation routes and retention plans in the field of special education.

Teacher Preparation and Challenges in Special Education

The process of becoming a special education teacher normally entails the acquisition of a bachelor degree and engaging in some special needs course work, qualifying score in state certification exams and doing a student teaching in special education settings. It has been found that a sufficient amount of clinical experience is essential: the candidates who go through at least ten weeks of student teaching show better retention in the early years of meeting their career goals as opposed to the candidates who receive minimal exposure to the field (Francies et al., 2021; Ronfeldt, 2021). Long internships enable inexperienced people to understand how to develop IEP, manage behavior and partner with service providers in the real world.

To prepare is such an array of preparation programs of different levels of rigorous and length. Prolonged and more intensified fieldwork experiences have the potential to protect the newcomers and inexperienced workers against premature disillusionment due to the confusion that is caused by the unrealistic expectations about the job (Francies et al., 2021). On the other hand, there is little or no preparation, which makes the teachers ill-prepared to handle their complex caseload and paperwork that characterizes the profession. According to Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond (2017), the overall preparation was strongly linked to turnover rates lower among the special education and the value of field based learning in the securing steadfast commitment.

Though alternative certification programs and garden-grow-your-own programs provide general skillful paths into special education, they do not usually permit constant clinical training. As it has been emphasized by Wheaton (2022), educators who arrive through emergency credentials need an effective induction and a strong professional learning experience in order to work with high-need classrooms efficiently. These candidates have to struggle with high learning curves unless there is a specific support that would get them down without stress and turnover.

To stimulate the areas of gaps in preparation, the scholars offer the substantiated mentoring, organizing feedback, and coaching models in the frame of Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs). SMIRC framework is a multilevel framework based on the principles of Self-care, Management, Interaction, Relationships, and Collaboration with the candidates to provide them with coping skills and real practical skills as the tools to sustain practice within the profession (Jackson & Parker, 2023). The timely combination of these principles by means of controlled fieldwork, checkpoints of reflection and interaction with more experienced mentors can reinforce the newcomer resilience and connection to the field.

Burnout and Retention Among Special Education Teachers

The causes of burnout among the special educators entail high workload, emotional pressure, and lack of support. The needs of people with IEPs and the conducted low-level dialogues with service providers create constant pressure and stress (Bettini et al., 2024; Thomas, 2024). Excessive paperwork, stagnation-of-the-jobs compliance deadlines, and short planning time add on to the stress. As Thomas (2024) highlights, the scope of the needs of students and observance of the requirements of IDEA/ESSA reflect the direct increase in work-related stress levels of special educators, which drives their exit decisions in great numbers.

Burnout is determined by leadership and collegial support a lot. The goal of special educators should be to seek jobs that can increase job satisfaction and reduce the intention to leave when the administrators provide them enough time to plan their lessons, simplify non-instructional tasks, and embrace cultures of collaboration (Blad, 2024). On the other hand, isolation, vague policy, and top down directive kill the morale. Blad (2024) claim that when a policy-based leadership support is absent and embedded support-based training is not provided, then the recruitment of vacancies comes as a short-term solution instead of a long-term one.

Keeping the trained special educators is good to the students, schools and districts. Special education stability can facilitate long-term planning, a regular assessment of the intervention application, and resource utilization (Thomas, 2024; Wheaton, 2022). Retention saves the cost of recruitment and training, improves the quality of instructions and ensures legality (Thomas, 2024). Where there is a decrease of turnover, the districts will be able to reinvest in professional learning communities, data-driven direction and continuity of the curricula that raise student performance.

The main idea of effective retention strategies is to be focused on the improvement of teacher well-being and professional growth. Capacity and solidarity is developed through mentorship programs, peer coaching circles and target workshops (Shuls & Flores, 2020). Constant feedback, acknowledgment of success and decision making over the instructional decisions allow special educators to exercise control and confirm their authority. Monetary benefits, canceling loans, and “grow-your-own” programs are tools that draw individuals and need to be accompanied by a change in culture in the system itself to decrease burnout and increase a sense of belonging (Bettini et al., 2024). Chronic overload can be reduced by addressing work load; for example, by simplifying the IEP process, changing the caseload, and including paraeducators (Blad, 2024). In the same manner, collaborative planning, namely included between general and special educator time, will improve the level of aligned instructions and decrease the number of planning redundancies. The shared responsibility and reductions in isolation are supported by this coordinated model of scheduling.

Retention of the special education personnel requires a twofold approach of policy and practice. The statutes of the federal government and the state governments should not be too high on accountability levels or on the allocation of resources based on the realities at hand. The district leaders should have specific directives and funds that will allow the establishment of induction, mentoring, and professional learning frameworks. Meanwhile, the schools are to nurture inclusive cultures in which special educators should feel they have been heard, assisted, and valued.

References

Bettini, E. L., Gilmour, A., & Jacobson, A. (2024). Addressing special education staffing shortages: Strategies for schools. Education Commission of the States

Blad, E. (2024, May 13). Retention Is the Missing Ingredient in Special Education Staffing. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/retention-is-the-missing-ingredient-in-special-education-staffing/2024/05

Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/media/174/download?inline&file=Teacher_Turnover_REPORT.pdf

Dragoo, K. (2024, August 20). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B: Key Statutory and Regulatory Provisions. Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R41833

Francies, C., Glover, S., & Jamieson, C. (2021). Enhancing Teacher Preparation Through Clinical Experience " ". In ecs.org | @EdCommission POLICY BRIEF. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED615164.pdf

Jackson, K., & Parker, L. (2023). Building Resilience: Strategies to Combat Burnout and Attrition in New Special Education Teachers. Journal of Special Education Preparation, 3(3), 56–70. https://doi.org/10.33043/josep.3.3.56-70

Ronfeldt, M. (2021). Links Among Teacher Preparation, Retention, and Teaching Effectiveness. In Evaluating and Improving Teacher Preparation Programs (pp. 1–31). https://doi.org/10.31094/2021/3/1

Shuls, J., & Flores, J. (2020). Improving teacher retention through support and development. Journal of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (JELPS), 4(1). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1282763.pdf

Thomas, M. D. (2024). Special Education Teacher Retention: Identifying Factors Influencing Retention and Attrition. In ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=special+education+&ff1=dtySince_2016&id=ED653619

Wheaton, C. J. (2022). Special education teacher shortage: Reducing attrition and increasing retention of special education teachers. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2934048035