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Special education personnel need to be well-equipped to meet the varied learning needs of students with disabilities. Comprehensive solutions are needed to address the shortages schools and districts are facing. In the interim, impactful strategies to support and ultimately retain staff include: supportive work environments, financial and non-financial work incentives, mentoring, and networking.
Opportunities to Connect and Learn With Other Special Education Personnel
APR 2025-26 Networking-Learning_10-21-25.pdfClick on the right corner of the flyer to open the document to see the dates, titles, and times for each series.
Registration will be available through the PaTTAN training calendar.
Networking and Learning Opportunities
Opportunities for the 2025-2026 school year are currently being scheduled. Session information and registration details can be found on the Networking and Learning Communities page.
Networking sessions are being designed specifically for:
Autistic Support Teachers
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Community
Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialists
Corrections Education Staff
ECRI (Enhanced Core Reading Instruction) Implementers
Emotional Support Teachers
Healthy Relationships
Occupational and Physical Therapy Practitioners
Paraprofessionals
Pennsylvania Material Specialists (PAMS)
Related Services - OT/PT/SLP Practitioners Behavior Basics
Related Services - OT/PT/SLP Supervisors
School Psychologists
Special Education Administrators
Special Education Teachers
Speech-Language Pathologists
Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH)
Teachers of the Visually Impaired
Visual Phonics Practitioners
APR Mentoring Project
The purpose of the APR Mentoring Project is to retain special education personnel and provide additional support to facilitate their growth as professionals.
Learn more about the APR Mentoring Project and APPLY!
Mentee Applications continue to be accepted, consider applying today.
According to The Special Education Teacher Pipeline in Pennsylvania: Year 1 Report, 100% of mentees and 98% of mentors agreed or strongly agreed that the project positively impacted the professional development of the mentee.
Roddy Theobald, Equia Aniagyei-Cobbold, Marcy Stein (2023). The Special Education Teacher Pipeline in Pennsylvania: Year 1 Report. CALDER Working Paper No. 289-0723
Featured Resources: Retaining Special Education Personnel
The OSEP-funded IRIS Center offers a free, one hour self-paced module for school administrators seeking strategies and resources to support special education personnel and increase their retention.
APR-InductionandMentorship.pdfOSEP has developed a series of "Leverage Briefs" for LEAs as they consider implementation strategies to address the attraction, preparation, and retention of special education personnel.
This brief emphasizes potential supports for newly hired personnel including induction and mentoring.
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