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sparccenter.bsky.social
SPARC Center
@sparccenter.bsky.social
160 followers 64 following 76 posts
The SPARC Center at @airinforms.bsky.social conducts research & leads systemic change to strengthen the special educator workforce. Visit us at https://sparccenter.org/!
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sparccenter.bsky.social
Did you know recruitment and retention of #SpecialEducation teachers varies widely by school contexts, including by poverty level, enrollment demographics, and location?

🔎Explore more with our data visualizer: sparccenter.org/data-explore...
Screenshot from the SPARC Center Data Explorer. The graph looks at the percentage of special education teachers (SETs) who changed schools by school-poverty level. Seven states are included: Hawai‘i, Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. For each state, there are three dots showing the percent of SETs moving schools at low-poverty schools, middle-poverty schools, and high-poverty schools. In all states except Hawai‘i, the rate is highest for high-poverty schools.
November 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
🎉 Congratulations to SPARC Center’s @lmasonwms.bsky.social for receiving the Excellence in Teacher Education Award from @ted-cec.bsky.social!

This honor recognizes Lucky's outstanding contributions to preparing and supporting #SpecialEducation teachers.
Photo from the award presentation for the Excellence in Teacher Education Award from the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. Two people stand in the center of the photo, both smiling. LaRon Scott, left, wears a tan suit. Lucky Mason-Williams, right, wears a black suit and holds the award plaque in her hand.
November 14, 2025 at 5:15 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
🌟SPARC Center researchers are presenting at @ted-cec.bsky.social next week. Check out this thread for their sessions:
Promotional graphic for an upcoming conference. The background shows a twilight view of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. White bold text at the top reads: “Upcoming Conference.” Below, in smaller text: “Teacher Education Division 2025, Nov 11–14 | Kansas City, MO.” At the bottom, the SPARC logo appears with colorful starburst lines. The website “sparccenter.org” is displayed in blue on the lower right.
November 7, 2025 at 6:33 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
➡️ Patterns of turnover varied across school types, with the highest turnover in charter schools.
A stacked bar chart showing turnover rates of special education teachers in seven states, broken down by school type and by turnover type (attrition from teaching, moving schools, or switching to general education).
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
➡️ Special education teacher turnover rates were generally higher in higher-poverty schools.
A stacked bar chart showing turnover rates of special education teachers in seven states, broken down by school poverty level and by turnover type (attrition from teaching, moving schools, or switching to general education).
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
➡️After the first year of the pandemic, special education teacher attrition rates declined, spiked, and then stabilized.
A line graph showing attrition rates for special education teachers between 2015 and 2023.
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
➡️ In most states, special education teacher attrition rates were higher than attrition rates for other teachers.
A bar chart showing attrition rates of special education teachers vs non-special education teachers in seven states. Most states had higher rates of attrition for SETs.
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
➡️ States varied considerably in how they identify special education teachers in their data and how they staff special education, leading to different staffing ratios.
A bar chart showing the ratios of students with disabilities to special education teachers in seven states. Ratios vary widely.
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
📢 Our new Working Paper provides important cross-state insights into the #SpecialEducation teacher workforce.

We highlight some of our major findings in this thread⬇️
Abstract of SPARC Working Paper No. 01-1025, titled "The Composition, Distribution, and Stability of the Special Education Teacher Workforce in Seven States." The abstract reads: Special education staffing challenges threaten the delivery of effective special education services to students with disabilities. We investigated the composition, distribution, and stability of the special education teacher (SET) workforce over time and across seven states. Some challenges were similar across states, such as trends in SET workforce stability over time, while other challenges (e.g., SET certification rates) varied considerably by state. Staffing challenges also varied within some states, contributing to considerable inequity in SET stability and in the distribution of novice SETs, SETs without full certification, and SETs of color. These findings suggest a need for policies and practices that vary by state context and target the districts and schools most affected by SET staffing challenges.
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
⭐Resource #1: A Working Paper with details of our cross-state analysis of the special education teacher workforce: sparccenter.org/research-fin...
Abstract of SPARC Working Paper No. 01-1025, titled "The Composition, Distribution, and Stability of the Special Education Teacher Workforce in Seven States." The abstract reads: Special education staffing challenges threaten the delivery of effective special education services to students with disabilities. We investigated the composition, distribution, and stability of the special education teacher (SET) workforce over time and across seven states. Some challenges were similar across states, such as trends in SET workforce stability over time, while other challenges (e.g., SET certification rates) varied considerably by state. Staffing challenges also varied within some states, contributing to considerable inequity in SET stability and in the distribution of novice SETs,SETs without full certification, and SETs of color. These findings suggest a need for policies and practices that vary by state context and target the districts and schools most affected by SET staffing challenges.
October 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
📢 NEW RESEARCH ALERT! The SPARC Center is excited to share THREE new resources with our findings from our first year of research on the #SpecialEducation teacher workforce.

Explore the resources in this thread, or visit our website to learn more: sparccenter.org
Promotional graphic for the SPARC Center’s new multi-state analysis resources. It includes a bulleted list detailing the resources, including a working paper, fact sheets with state-specific summaries, and a data visualizer tool.
October 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
💡Attending #SREE2025 this week? Join SPARC Center experts @lizbettini.bsky.social and @afgilmour.bsky.social for their session on Measuring and Strengthening the Special Education Teacher Workforce on Saturday, Oct 11 from 12-1:30 CT at Palmer House Hilton – Crystal.
Promotional graphic for the SREE 2025 session titled "Measuring and Strengthening the Special Education Teacher Workforce." Scheduled for October 11 at 12 PM CT at Palmer House Hilton – Crystal. Includes headshots of speakers Elizabeth Bettini and Allison Gilmour, both Co-Directors of the SPARC Center. The bottom features the SPARC logo with the tagline "The Special Educator Workforce: A Research Collaborative," and icons for Twitter and LinkedIn.
October 8, 2025 at 8:36 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
SPARC Center Co-Directors @afgilmour.bsky.social and @lizbettini.bsky.social will join @aefpweb.bsky.social for a free forum on teacher shortages and vacancies on August 28 from 1–2pm ET.

Register to attend: aefpweb.org/ev_calendar_...
August 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
Join SPARC Center Director @roddy-theobald.bsky.social and Co-Director @afgilmour.bsky.social on August 13 at 11am ET for a free, virtual event hosted by the PROGRESS Center!

Register: promotingprogress.org/events/prepp...
August 6, 2025 at 6:24 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
Our researchers recently hosted a webinar on the challenges of identifying #SpecialEducation teachers in state longitudinal data systems (#SLDS). Scroll through some of our initial learnings from our first year analyzing data and stay tuned for a working paper with these results.
July 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
TOMORROW! 🚨
Don’t miss our webinar on how we define and track #SpecialEducation teachers in workforce data.
⏰ June 26 | 3pm ET
🔗 sparccenter.org/events/regis...
Using State Longitudinal Data Systems to Study Special Education Teachers
June 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
Happening next week! Join our webinar on June 26 at 3pm ET to discuss how we define and track #SpecialEducation teachers in data systems. Register: sparccenter.org/events/regis...
Using State Longitudinal Data Systems to Study Special Education Teachers
June 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
2️⃣ weeks out!
#SpecialEducation teacher shortages can only be solved if we can define who is in the workforce. We’ll explore this during our upcoming webinar on June 26 at 3pm ET: sparccenter.org/events/regis...
Two Weeks Away: Using State Longitudinal Data Systems to Study Special Education Teachers Webinar
June 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
⏳Three weeks away! Join #SPARCCenter experts for a webinar on how we define and track special education teachers in workforce data.
🔗 Register: sparccenter.org/events/regis...
Three Weeks Away: Using State Longitudinal Data Systems to Study Special Education Teachers Webinar
June 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
There's a #SpecialEducation teacher shortage—but defining and identifying special education teachers varies by state and system. We’re unpacking the complexity in our upcoming webinar.

🗓️ June 26 at 3pm ET

🔗 Register: sparccenter.org/events/regis...
Upcoming Webinar: Using State Longitudinal Data Systems to Study Special Education Teachers
May 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
The #SPARCCenter now has a website! 🎉 Check it out for a wealth of resources, groundbreaking research, and a community committed to enhancing the special education workforce. Join us in making a difference!
🔗 sparccenter.org
April 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
What an inspiring day at the SPARC Center Launch Event! 🎉 Thank you to everyone who joined us and shared ideas on how we can collaborate to drive transformation in #SpecialEducation. Excited for the journey ahead to create lasting change for educators and students! 🙌
SPARC Leadership and Advisory Board gathering.
March 11, 2025 at 8:49 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
🚨 It’s tomorrow! 🚨

The #SPARCCenter Launch Event is happening March 11, 2025, from 1-2pm ET! Join us and hear from some of our experts on #SpecialEducation research, leadership, and more!

👉 Register now: tinyurl.com/SPARCLaunch
Reminder the SPARC Center Launch event is happening on March 11, 2025.
March 10, 2025 at 2:09 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
⏰ One week to go! ⏰

The #SPARCCenter Launch Event is on March 11, 2025, 1-2pm EST. Join us for an exciting discussion on the future of #SpecialEducation with presentations from our experts and leadership team.

👉 Register: tinyurl.com/SPARCLaunch
Reminder of SPARC Center Launch Event on March 11, 2025.
March 4, 2025 at 6:05 PM
sparccenter.bsky.social
🚨 Only TWO weeks left until the #SPARCCenter Launch Event! 🚨

Join us on March 11, 2025, with @lizbettini.bsky.social, who will share next steps for our mixed-methods research and how the results can drive positive change in #SpecialEducation.

👉 Register: tinyurl.com/SPARCLaunch
Reminder of SPARC Center Launch Event on March 11, 2025, featuring event speaker and SPARC Center Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Elizabeth Bettini.
February 25, 2025 at 3:08 PM