The D.C. region could be doing more to attract and retain special education and English language teachers, according to a new analysis from the National Council on Teacher Quality.
The report found that Hawaii is the only state that pays special education teachers enough to “make a meaningful difference” in attracting new educators into the classroom.
In the D.C. area, Heather Peske, the council’s president, said incentives are critical, because D.C. and Maryland are in the top 10 jurisdictions with the highest proportion of English language learning students.
Broadly, “the stakes are really high right now,” Peske said.
“We see chronic shortages of special education and English learner teachers, and this means that students miss out on the effective instruction they need,” she said. “What we see in the data is that students with disabilities and English learners face persistent and troubling academic disparities, because we’re not giving them enough access to effective teachers.”
The report considered different factors — including compensation, financial incentives such as loan forgiveness and licensure tests — to determine how districts could attract and retain teachers.
D.C. is offering strong professional learning to English learner and special education teachers, Peske said. However, the city “could be doing much more when it comes to offering financial incentives.”
Maryland, she said, does a good job of providing specific standards for teacher and principal preparation programs, but similarly falls short for providing financial incentives. Virginia, according to Peske, does well in providing standards and expectations for teacher and principal preparation.
“D.C., Maryland and Virginia all could be doing much more when it comes to offering financial incentives, differentiated pay, for example, for teachers of English learners and teachers who teach special education,” Peske said.
Offering more money or a loan forgiveness program helps to boost the number of teachers that can be drawn to a district or state, Peske said.
Stronger preparation programs, compensation and other financial incentives can help states “really tackle persistent special ed and English language teacher vacancies,” Peske said.