The first of my dissertation papers is officially out in @psjeditor.bsky.social! I started this paper in 2023, so I am happy it’s finally out! 🎉
I wrote about it in this post for the North Central College Political Science Bulletin!
Check out the manuscript here: tinyurl.com/38ka8c53
And the policy brief here: tinyurl.com/2d36dub7
Also, check out the other really interesting studies in TESE’s most recent special issue on SPED workforce policy research! Find them all here: tinyurl.com/2yhx538s
Our study (perhaps unsurprisingly) indicates that salary may be a potentially effective mechanism for boosting retention. Some states are trying new ways of leveraging salary and benefits to make the role of paras more sustainable, which is exciting to see.
We also find that 10 years after entry, over 50% of BIPOC paras and White male paras have exited the workforce, while less than 50% of White female paras exited in the same time period. It’s crucial to think about how we can more effectively support BIPOC paras to remain in schools.
We find that most paras leave the workforce within 5 years of entry. These could be crucial years for targeted training and supports to keep paras in the workforce.
Excited to share a new manuscript and policy brief, published in TESE!! This is one of my dissertation papers, co-authored with @roddy-theobald.bsky.social, in which we study turnover patterns among paraeducators in WA state. When do paras leave the workforce and what are risk factors for exiting?
So exciting to see this study published! It’s a fantastic example of why it’s important to expand the scope of how we think about and study the education workforce.
Check out Aaron’s thread below with a link to their paper!
Evidence-based insights matter for public policy.
This FREE conference is going to have a ton of great research on teacher working conditions, quality, and pipelines.
If you're going to/can be in Arlington, VA on March 2nd then register to join us!!
New @caldercenter.bsky.social working paper w/ @brbackes.bsky.social, @jecowan.bsky.social, & @cedr.bsky.social! We use MA data to explore the implications of the climate and diversity of students teachers' placement schools for outcomes of students of color. Paper & abstract ⬇️
tinyurl.com/4sxhtss8
🚨New RFP Alert!🚨
@Arnold_Ventures
Evidence & Evaluation team released just two new RFPs to support research evaluating the causal impacts of U.S. social programs and policies: bit.ly/4aXA43k
A short 🧵on what we're prioritizing and what's new this cycle (1/n)
Check out this awesome JMP by @john-fallon-econ.com!! Really interesting findings. John also does amazing work on the teacher workforce and anyone would be lucky to have him as a colleague! See his JMP thread below:
Are you a political scientist who studies/teaches education policy? Read this. Use it to improve your syllabi.
Are you an education researcher who studies/teaches politics? Read this. Use it to improve your syllabi.
Check out the TED Publication of the Year for 2025!
📉 Why did student achievement start declining before COVID? How are school enrollment patterns shifting five years after?
Join us for our Nov 13 EdWorkingPapers webinar featuring James H. Wyckoff, @abbyfrancis.bsky.social, and @joshua-goodman.com
edworkingpapers.com/webinar-series
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.
💡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.
First pub on the tenure track! 📣🎉
Stoked to see my work with Luis Rodriguez out in AERA-Open. We provide evidence regarding the distribution of different types police interventions in NYC public schools across school-level demographic characteristics.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
For grad students or postdocs out there: let me know if you'd like to present in my department's (Ed Policy, Org, & Leadership) Quantitative Working Group meeting Wednesday of next week (October 8) at 3pm Central time. Work at any stage is fine, it's very informal. I have a presenter gap this month.
Really excited to have this paper out in the world! See Dan's thread below!
Policy solutions can help stabilize and diversify the paraeducator workforce to improve #SpecialEducation outcomes. A recent paper by @lindseykaler.bsky.social and @roddy-theobald.bsky.social at @caldercenter.bsky.social examines turnover patterns in WA and offers suggestions for policymakers.
As always, this study left us with many more Qs and directions for future work - I'm excited to keep digging deeper. And a huge thanks to my dissertation committee @natejones.bsky.social, @lizbettini.bsky.social, and @jengreen.bsky.social for their feedback & support with this study along the way!
So what are some implications, esp. for policy? In short, characteristics of both individuals and schools shape patterns in retention & turnover, so as policymakers try to stabilize the para workforce, they need to think about how these intersecting factors may shape policy impact & effectiveness.
Finally, using linear regression, we find that when controlling for numerous factors (e.g., race, gender, experience, salary), gender remains the most significant demographic factor in predicting workforce exit and salary is the most consistently protective factor buffering against attrition.
Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for paraeducators by race and gender, showing that White and BIPOC males tend to exit the workforce earliest, followed by BIPOC females, and then White females.
Are there differences by race and gender? Using survival analysis, we find differences by both race and gender, but especially gender. White and BIPOC men have similar exit rates over time, but there are distinct differences b/w White men and women, BIPOC men and women, and White and BIPOC women.
Stacked line plot showing patterns in the proportion of novice paraeducators who stay, move, switch roles, or exit the workforce across a 10 year period starting in 2013.
When do we lose paras over the course of their employment? Looking across a 10 year span, we find that most of those who leave (move schools, switch roles, or exit the workforce entirely) do so w/i the first three years. By year 10, about 30% of the original cohort remain employed as paraeducators.
In sum, we find that paraeducators who exit the workforce tend to do so early (w/i 3 years), race and gender matter when it comes to paraeducators’ career trajectories. We also find (perhaps unsurprisingly) that salary may be a protective factor for paraeducator retention. Let’s dig deeper…
The paraeducator workforce is large and growing, and more studies are looking more closely at their labor market patterns. But, there’s still a lot more to know. In this study, we examine paraeducators’ career paths over time and how they vary by demographic and other characteristics (e.g., salary).
Excited to circulate another @caldercenter.bsky.social WP! Another study from my dissertation, w/ @roddy-theobald.bsky.social. Using data from WA, we track individual paraeducators to predict exit from the state education workforce. Ungated WP here: tinyurl.com/3wtfrm2m
🧵 below:
Our researchers are digging into questions about the #SpecialEducation teacher workforce. Recently, @lizbettini.bsky.social, @lindseykaler.bsky.social, @hannahmmathews.bsky.social, Malavika Ragunathan & Katheryn Meyer explored teacher beliefs about students labeled with EBD.
🏫🌎 How do schools impact the environment?
From energy use to food systems, schools have a substantial ecological footprint. Join the #SustainableED team on 7/15 at 1PM ET to explore how schools can reduce their impact & lead on sustainability.
📅 Register: buff.ly/2IrefK2
New pub alert! 🎉 Check out our new paper in EC, in which we use DisCrit to examine special educators' beliefs about students labeled with EBD. I loved working with @hannahmmathews.bsky.social, @lizbettini.bsky.social, @katiekat.bsky.social, and Mal Ragunathan on this one! doi.org/10.1177/0014...
