Promising Strategies and Research for Attracting Special Education Teachers of Color

Attracting a more diverse special education teacher workforce is necessary for meeting the needs of students with disabilities. Despite decades of calls to diversify the teacher workforce, empirical studies on strategies to attract a more diverse special education teacher workforce are limited. This chapter focuses on promising research, as well as policy and state-level practices underway to promote diversity in the teacher workforce, with implications for attracting special education teachers of color. A conceptual model for attracting special education teachers of color is presented, which includes addressing systems changes (i.e., racial inequalities and biases in education, reforming access and funding streams for educator preparation programs, and policy-specific measures aimed at attracting teachers of color), as well as subfactors for addressing each system. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are shared to reduce racial inequalities in attracting special education teachers of color.