In this study, using Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) personnel data from 2006 to 2014, we identified seven states with consistently low shortages of highly qualified special education teachers and seven states with persistently high shortages. We employed Guarino et al.’s framework to guide our assumptions and selection of demographic, supply, and demand variables and compared two groups in this descriptive analysis. We found significant differences across supply and demand variables. Low shortage states make greater investments in per pupil expenditures; have higher teacher salaries, generally; have greater preparation capacity; and produce more special education graduates. Taken together, our findings suggest that special education teaching is a relatively better job in low shortage states than in high shortage states. We situate the discussion of our findings within policy recommendations that states may use to address shortages. Limitations of our analysis are addressed, and implications for future research are proposed.

在这项研究中，我们使用2006年至2014年的特殊教育计划办公室（OSEP）的人员数据，我们确定了高素质特殊教育教师短缺率一直较低的七个州和持续短缺的七个州。我们采用了瓜里诺（Guarino）等人的框架来指导我们的假设和人口统计，供给和需求变量的选择，并在此描述性分析中比较了两组。我们发现供需变量之间存在显着差异。短缺程度低的州在每名学生的支出上投入更多；一般来说，教师的工资较高；具有更大的准备能力；并培养出更多的特殊教育毕业生。综上，我们的发现表明，特殊教育教学在低短缺状态下比高短缺状态下相对更好。我们将对调查结果的讨论置于各国可能用来解决短缺的政策建议之内。解决了我们分析的局限性，并提出了对未来研究的启示。