What Are Special Educators’ Working Conditions?

Improving special education teachers’ (SETs’) working conditions will require a shared definition of working conditions. Thus, we aimed to develop a definition of SETs’ working conditions and relevant subconstructs, as a foundation for future efforts to assess and improve SETs’ working conditions. We developed a definition based on prior research, which we iteratively revised through feedback from focus groups and interviews with SETs. Based on these data, we developed the following definition: Working conditions are the job responsibilities special educators fulfill and the resources special educators experience, as a result of how their school is organized to structure and coordinate teachers’ work. We explain key dimensions of this definition, what working conditions are not, and working conditions subconstructs. This definition, and the constructs and subconstructs within it, provide a strong foundation for the field to pursue coordinated lines of inquiry on SETs’ working conditions.