Special education teacher attrition rates continue to challenge the profession. A cognitive-behavioral problem-solving approach was used to examine three alternative certification program special education teachers' professional development through a series of 41 interviews conducted over a 2-year period. Beginning when they were novice special educators, we collected information concerning what they identified as problems and whether their demonstrated self-awareness about problem solving might influence their professional persistence. As would be expected, analyses suggest, these teachers demonstrated more deliberate, active, and self-directed problem solving at the end of data collection than at the beginning. This self-awareness may facilitate teacher sense of control and problem-solving efficacy and thus may increase the likelihood that novice special educators will remain in the field.