Attract - Prepare - Retain (APR) Repository
Attract, Prepare, and Retain (APR) is a priority of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Special Education (BSE) with a primary focus that is three-fold:
To attract skilled, compassionate, and diverse individuals to the varied career options within the field of special education,
To prepare special education personnel by building capacity through targeted professional development, technical assistance, and supports, and
To retain special education personnel long-term through the collective efforts of federal, state, and local entities.
APR Infographic-11.02.24.pdfCurrent Opportunities
Give Us Your Two Cents
Planning for the 2025-2026 Attract-Prepare-Retain (APR) professional development is underway. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions so we can support your needs and interests. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete.
Click on the Professional Learning Survey Link before the end of day on Wednesday, March 26th and let us know your thoughts: https://forms.office.com/r/5PiGhnzNZt
PA Student Teacher Support Program
The PA Student Teacher Support Program is designed to address the financial strain caused by student teaching requirements, incentivize completion at Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and non-public schools that struggle to attract educators, and to reduce teacher shortages in Pennsylvania. The 2025-26 Student Teacher Application will be available beginning on the afternoon of Thursday, March 6, 2025. To learn more and apply, visit: https://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/pa-student-teacher-support-program/.
Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program
The Pennsylvania General Assembly established the Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program in 2024 to help students pay for school and help build the workforce in PA. The application for the Grow PA Grant Program will be open in late February to early March 2025, with awards beginning in fall 2025. This program provides grants up to $5000 per year to students who meet the qualifying criteria. Students may receive a Grow PA Grant for a maximum of 4 academic years. To learn more and apply, visit: https://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/grow-pa-scholarship-grant-program/.
The Special Education Teacher Pipeline in Pennsylvania
The Bureau of Special Education is working with The National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (Calder) to measure the impact of Pennsylvania's efforts to attract, prepare, and retain special education personnel through focused projects and grants.
These reports summarize findings from the long-term research project on the special education teacher pipeline in Pennsylvania and Attract-Prepare- Retain (APR) projects.
CALDER Year 2 Report - 2023-2024.pdfAuthor(s): Roddy Theobald, Equia Aniagyei-Cobbold, Marcy Stein - Jul 2023
CALDER PA Year 1 Report.pdfVisit the playbook to learn of innovative strategies Pennsylvania schools, organizations, and agencies are using to attract, prepare, and retain teachers.
Want to learn more about the local impact of the teacher shortage? View the report by Ms. Laura Boyce, Teach Plus Pennsylvania and Dr. Ed Fuller, Penn State University.
Interested in Obtaining a Special Education Teaching Certification?
If you want to earn a bachelor's degree and obtain a special education teaching certification, review the specific steps for special educators on this guide.
PDE Pathway to Instructional I for Special Education Certifications - 3.20.24.pdfAPR_PDE Pathway to Spec Ed Cert_4-23-24wba.pdf
Looking for Teachers?
Schools should consult with their solicitor concerning the specific legal requirements regarding hiring or employment issues related to the staffing solutions offered below. Contact Eli Downie at edownietel@pa.com for more information.
Retired Teachers
A school may hire a PSERS retiree as a day-to-day substitute if no other appropriate certified teachers or other personnel are available within the required subject or work area.
The school employer is expected to make a “good faith” effort to secure non-retired personnel first before hiring a PSERS retiree.
Employment may continue throughout the school year so long as the emergency or shortage of personnel exists.
LEAs must receive pre-approval using the PSERS School Year Approval Process. (June 30, 2023)
Visit Working after Retirement on the PSERS website for more information.
Educators From Other States
The PA Department of Education (PDE) CAN issue a comparable certificate to a teacher from another state or U.S. territory if the educator:
Has a valid and current instructional certificate issued by another state.
Has completed a college or university educator preparation program approved by the state that issued the certificate.
Satisfied the testing requirements of the certifying state, demonstrating subject matter competency in the applicable area of Pennsylvania certification.
Passed the related content tests required by the certifying state.
Has taught with the out-of-state certificate.
Presents to PDE evidence of satisfactory professional educator experience for the candidate’s two most recent years of classroom teaching .
Visit Out-of-State Educators on the PDE website for more information.
Temporary Certificates for Substitute Teachers
A school can issue a temporary substitute teacher certificate for day-to-day substitute teaching to an individual who presents a letter from a college verifying that they have completed an approved teacher preparation program and has successfully completed the certification testing requirements or scheduled to take the tests and met all requirements for the earning of a bachelor's degree.
For the 2022-2023 school year, this locally issued temporary certificate may be used for assignments of more than 20 consecutive days to fill a position due to the absence of professional certified personnel.
Paraprofessionals as Classroom Monitors
Until June 20, 2023, a school can request a classroom monitor permit from PDE for qualified individuals to deliver student assignments preplanned by a professional employee or temporary professional.
Monitors may not plan or create lessons or grade work.
Visit Classroom Monitor on the PDE website for more information.
Emergency Permits
The Exceptional Case Permit allows PDE to issue a permit at the request of a public school entity upon receiving evidence of exceptional conditions requiring resolution of the staffing problem.
Visit Emergency Permits on the PDE website for more information
Prospective Teachers as Substitutes
A school can hire individuals currently enrolled in an educator preparation program to serve as a substitute on locally issued permits if they have completed 60 college credits and satisfied all clearances.
Visit Substitute Teaching on the PDE website for more information.
An Introduction to Pennsylvania's Focus on Attract-Prepare-Retain
Special Education Personnel Shortages in Pennsylvania
Shortages for most certification areas are trending downwards. The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of of Special Education is committed to offering short and long term strategies to support Local Education Agencies and effect these shortages.
Bar graphs represent Instructional I Special Education certificates issued from school year 2013-2014 through 2021-2022. The trendline (dotted line) indicates the projected (future) certificates to be issued.
Data used with permission - Report on Educator Certificates Issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as required under Act 82 of 2018.
Make a Suggestion! Your Ideas Count
Do you have a suggestion, recommendation, or idea, to attract, prepare, or retain special education personnel? The Bureau of Special Education is interested in hearing from you.
Complete a comment form by clicking on the suggestion box to the left.