Scholars have documented long-standing disparities in access to well-qualified, well-supported teachers, including disparities in access to special education teachers (SETs), based on student socioeconomic status. In response, policy initiatives have aimed to incentivize teaching in higher-poverty schools. Thus, we examined changes over time in disparities between SETs’ demands and resources (including internal resources, such as qualifications, and school-based resources, such as adequate materials), using multiple waves of the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey. We found that, by one metric, disparities in certification have closed since 2000. However, SETs in higher poverty schools are significantly more likely to work in self-contained settings than those in lower-poverty schools, and disparities in school-based resources continue to be significant, such that SETs in higher-poverty schools were significantly more likely to teach in self-contained classes, rated teacher cooperation significantly lower, and reported having significantly weaker access to material resources.

根据学生的社会经济地位，学者们记录了在获得合格、得到良好支持的教师方面长期存在的差异，包括在获得特殊教育教师 (SET) 方面的差异。作为回应，政策举措旨在激励高贫困学校的教学。因此，我们使用多轮具有全国代表性的学校和人员配备调查，研究了 SET 的需求和资源（包括内部资源，如资格和学校资源，如充足的材料）之间的差异随时间的变化。我们发现，根据一项指标，认证方面的差距自 2000 年以来已经缩小。 然而，与贫困程度较低的学校相比，贫困程度较高的学校的 SET 更有可能在自给自足的环境中工作，