Comparing Social Media Platforms for Recruiting Special Education Teachers in a High-Need Area

New pathways are needed to recruit high-quality special education graduates to meet the urgent teacher shortage. As a result, the researchers were awarded a grant from the CEEDAR Technical Assistance Center at the University of Florida to conduct a pilot study on special education teacher recruitment. The pilot study examined the correlation of geofencing social media targeting with applications received for a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the Southeastern U.S. Three groups were targeted (a) likely to have a bachelor’s degree, (b) likely to be associated with a targeted postal code, or (c) teacher candidates with a high likelihood of staying in a target area. Measured through readily available social media data reporting (e.g., clicks, click-throughs, and other conversion metrics), data were examined for one recruitment year and correlations with increased program applications. Limited implications for recruitment, ongoing marketing, and diversifying recruitment pools are discussed.