The Landscape of Special Education Licensure, 2016

With vetted data from state department of education websites, the authors undertook to update previous studies of special education licensure. They organized state licensure structures by the presence or absence of (a) grade bands and (b) differentiations (by category or severity). They assessed the impact of structure on student outcomes and special education teacher (SET) shortage, and sought commonalities in structures of effective states. They found that almost all states differentiate licensure for preschool teachers and teachers of students with visual or hearing impairments. Most states also offer a generic license. Currently, fewer states use other disability categories than was true in the past, and more states now use grade and severity distinctions. Structure was unrelated to student outcomes and SET shortage, and the authors found only two commonalities among effective states. As a unit of analysis, state may be too coarse, and the authors argue for within-state time series analysis as an alternative.