Critical to any comprehensive plan for addressing personnel shortages in the field of special education is the gathering of data on supply and demand at the state and local education agency (LEA) levels. Many states now conduct regular supply and demand studies in order to inform decisions regarding the recruitment, preparation and retention of…

Insufficient supply and increasing demand have been two recurring themes of special education personnel studies for more than two decades. Critical and growing shortages of qualified special education teachers, related service providers, administrators, and college faculty are reported in every area of the United States. Nine of the 13 educational…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the employment market of adapted physical education (APE) careers in higher education since 1975 to see if the increase of this market has continued since 1998. Based on the data collected from the "Chronicle of Higher Education", a total of 887 APE job openings have been posted since 1975,…

National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) was asked to identify essential elements for supporting high performance and provision of high quality early intervention Part C services as determined by the Annual Performance Review (APR) required under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To respond, NECTAC…

In order to investigate what types of training and technical assistance (TA) are needed by Early Head Start programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin (EHS Waves I & II), particularly with regard to children with special needs, the Great Lakes Quality Improvement Center for Disabilities (GLQIC-D) and the Region V…

Brought together are two fact sheets on the supply of and demand for physical therapists and occupational therapists. The fact sheets cite statistical data from the National Easter Seal Society, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the American Occupational Therapy Association. The cited facts focus on the need to recruit and retain…

A two-year University of Illinois college curriculum in therapeutic recreation recognized the therapeutic value of recreation in the rehabilitation of the individual. (EA)

This article examines issues related to paraprofessionals in job coach roles for students with disabilities. It describes issues related to recruitment, retention, orientation, and training of paraprofessionals in job coach roles. In addition, roles and responsibilities, supervision, evaluation, and compensation issues are discussed.…

This rejoinder to comments on the authors' article (EC 623 392) on a renewed emphasis on parent education in early intervention discusses the nature of parent education, the intended outcomes of parent education, professional training needs, and a research agenda. (DB)

Focus groups of early intervention therapists, nontherapist professionals, administrators, and family members were interviewed to determine challenges to providing specialized therapies to young children with disabilities. Results indicated a perception that policy/administrative constraints and a shortage of pediatric therapists caused services…

This fact sheet offers suggestions for developing recruitment plans and retention strategies to entice and support providers of respite care services for individuals with disabilities and their families. Recruitment strategies include: tapping the program's current providers for referrals; focusing on reaching the greatest number of people in the…

This paper presents a methodology for assessing the teacher shortage in special education. The approach analyzes data on newly hired teachers from four categories: teachers trained out of state, experienced teachers returning or transferring, teachers newly trained in-state, and teachers on newly issued emergency licenses. These data can be…

This article reviews the literature on interdisciplinary approaches to training infant specialists and discusses the challenges of implementing such programs. The Interdisciplinary Infant Intervention Program at Temple University (Pennsylvania) is described as an example of how these challenges can be met. Challenges identified include…

A more businesslike approach to job development, which stresses meeting employer needs, is encouraged for growth in supported employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Seven job development guidelines are offered, including research businesses to identify personnel needs and problems, and define services so employers understand…

This paper concerns the supply and demand for special education personnel for the 1986-87 school year. Obtaining valid, reliable, and comparable data on all the elements that generated personnel need was not possible. Single indicators were most commonly used to obtain data for planning by states, school districts, universities, and the Federal…