When Salt Ain’t Enough: A Critical Quantitative Analysis of Special Education and Education Degree Production

Background/Context: An ever-growing list of scholars in the United States have highlighted the importance of racially/ethnically diverse teachers. There is evidence suggesting that White teachers, who represent most teachers in the United States, may act to the detriment of the academic and socioemotional outcomes of minoritized students. What has been given limited attention is the degree production within special education (SPED) and education (ED) baccalaureate programs. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we examined degree production in SPED and ED degree programs by race. We began by analyzing trend data of SPED and ED degrees produced, specifically by race, to provide a foundation for further inquiry as to why the trends exist. Using a random-effects panel regression, we then conducted an exploratory analysis of relations between degrees produced in SPED and ED by race and institutional factors (e.g., cost of attendance and institutional racial demographics) and characteristics (e.g., Carnegie classification and HBCU [historically Black college and university] status), building on the analyses of trend data and providing some more direction for future research. Broadly, we ask: What is the recent history of SPED and ED degree production, and what institutional characteristics relate to degree production? An examination of this question provides a foundation for further inquiry that could lead to understanding issues in the recruitment of racially/ethnically diverse special education teachers and general education teachers into the profession. Specifically, we addressed the following research questions: (1) What are the overall trends in the distribution of baccalaureate degrees awarded in special education and education by race? (2) What are the within-race trends in the distribution of baccalaureate degrees awarded in special education and education? (3) What is the relative difference in the racial distribution of special education degrees awarded and the makeup of special students in K–12 public schools? (4) For each racialized group, what is the relation between the number of special education baccalaureate degrees produced and institutional characteristics? (5) For each racialized group, what is the relation between the number of education baccalaureate degrees produced and institutional characteristics? Research Design: For this study we used an exploratory quantitative research design guided by a quantitative criticalism (QuantCrit) as our conceptual framework. Using IPEDS data spanning 25 years (1995–2019), we examined trends in SPED and ED baccalaureate degree production by racialized categories, compared the racial distribution of SPED degrees produced to public school students receiving SPED services (2000–2018), and then, for each racialized group, used a random-effects panel regression to explore the relations between the number of degrees produced and institutional characteristics over the 25 years. Findings/Results: In general, the percentage of SPED and ED degrees awarded relative to all degrees has declined for all racialized categories since 1995. We found an increase in the percentage of SPED and ED degrees awarded to Hispanic/Latino students and a decrease in the percentage of SPED degrees awarded to Black/African American students. The racial demographics of the potential SPED teacher workforce has not matched the racial demographics of students receiving SPED services between 2000 and 2018. Finally, we found that an increase in the percentage enrollment for each racialized group is related to an increase the number of ED degrees produced for that group. HBCU status is positively related to ED degree production for Black/African American students, and cost of attendance is related to lower numbers of SPED degrees awarded to Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and White students and ED degrees awarded to American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and White students. Conclusions/Recommendations: Data analyzed in this study suggest that there is a general decline in the numbers of racial/ethnic minority teacher candidates in both SPED and ED, with the exception of Hispanic/Latino degree holders. If school districts and policy makers consider it important (as has been mentioned) to increase the number of minority teacher candidates in both of these teaching areas, there needs to be a better targeted approach to determine the best ways to entice this group to enter into baccalaureate programs, particularly ones that lead to teaching credentials. However, we also note that even with bringing in more candidates of color to obtain baccalaureate degrees and licenses in SPED and ED, there must be ways for schools and districts to address the many racialized challenges that these teachers face once in schools (e.g., being expected to be cultural brokers and disciplinarians, and taking on other tasks that are outside the normal teaching responsibilities because of their racial and gendered identities).