Teaching students with special needs: International trends in school capacity and the need for teacher professional development

Although educational opportunities have improved worldwide for children with disabilities, there are concerns about the preparation of teachers working with this student population. Using secondary data on 121,173 teachers from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, this independent study examined the professional development needs of teachers in special education. Results show teachers in classrooms with a high percentage of students with special needs are likely to have the least qualifications and greatest professional development need. The shortage of teachers with special education competency and current professional development needs of teachers have policy implications for educating children with disabilities. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.