Arab Educational Information Network

Since its inception, there has been problems in the field of special education related to teacher shortage and turnover. The causes of the special education teachers (SETs) turnover are complex but it is known that attrition of SETs is the main cause which contributes to the issue. Many states have reported that SETs have suffered from the high rate of attrition. The high rates of attrition are prevalent among new SETs within their first five years of teaching (Prater, Harris, & Fisher, 2007). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the mentoring programs that being used with new SETs and to determine the reasons that lead SETs to leave the profession at a high rate of attrition. The participants consist of 56 SETs who graduated from different universities in Saudi Arabia, and have been teaching for five years or less. Results indicate that the mentoring programs will help SETs to stay longer in the field. In addition, these findings indicate that SETs who are participating in the mentoring program will not leave the profession at a high rate of attrition. (Published abstract)