A Model for Recruiting and Preparing New Rural Special Educators: Mining an Untapped Potential

Special education teachers continue to be in short supply. The shortage is especially significant in rural areas. Identifying pools of potential new rural special educators is a challenging prospect for university personnel responsible for recruiting new students and populating graduate level special education teacher training programs. This article describes the current need for recruiting new rural special education teachers, traditional recruitment avenues, special recruitment challenges, and a unique and successful approach for recruiting new special educators. Aspects of the strategy described include the identification of specific populations of university students and recruiting new special educators from those populations of students who hold undergraduate degrees in fields other than teaching. Specific components of a unique recruitment effort designed to enhance enrollment in special education graduate programs are included.