A profile of the qualifications of special education teachers among high poverty, urban, and rural schools

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive profile of the special education teachers in the SASS:04 sample and to examine how the qualifications of special education teachers varied among K-12 public schools according to the urbanicity or proportion of students in poverty within a school. Variables related to teacher qualifications, demographic characteristics, teaching positions, and school characteristics were identified from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey database. Descriptive bivariate statistics and logistic regression analysis were used in this study.;The findings demonstrated statistically significant differences in the qualifications of special educators among many of the subgroups analyzed. The analysis by demographic characteristics revealed that minority group members, younger special educators, and male special educators were less qualified than other special education teachers. Inspection of qualifications by school level and teaching assignment also found statistically significant differences. The investigation of the qualifications of special educators by poverty quartiles and by urban areas revealed a statistically significant relationship between qualifications and the type of school analyzed.;The findings emphasize the need to provide targeted interventions to promote supplying all schools with qualified special education teachers. The findings also indicate that qualified special education teachers may not be equitably distributed and that further work in this area is necessary.