Handbook Of Leadership And Administration For Special Education

School teams need to explicitly clarify the role of the classroom teacher as the instructional leader in the classroom including their roles and responsibilities as the teacher for their students with disabilities.

Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.

Time is passing and opportunities are opening for more students with special needs. Many students in college are getting more interested in Special Education as career that will allow more organization to have more workers with a big potential that will have an important impact on these kids with disabilities. However, this will require more training for the students that organizations around the country can give them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,“the career outlook for special education teachers should remain steady through 2024, with an increase of 6%, the national average for job growth in the United States. The median salary for this position is just over $55,000 annually,” (“Master in Special Education”) The approach the

The United States Department of Labor states that “employment of special education teachers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2012 to 2022, slower than the average for all occupations. However, overall demand will be driven by increasing enrollment and continued need for special education services.” With the advance screening and the identification of different disabilities of children are expected to increase the demand for this career. But overall increase will depend on the government’s funding.

By implementing this idea in Area Two schools to support special education students, we will create a more data driven approach to increasing student achievement. By following this idea the team will also do a better job of implementing professional development and mentorships that greatly increase teacher effectiveness. The idea will also increase understanding of the diversity of the schools and promote community involvement by establishing more open communication with the parents and the community to support their students’ needs. The leadership teams will work together to set goals and objectives to support achievement in all grade levels. They will develop a framework for good communication between teachers and leaders so there is

The author performed two separate interviews face-to-face, selecting two individuals with different backgrounds in order to obtain unique perspectives. The first interviewee, named Jennifer Hodge, works for Allen ISD as a special education teacher for a self-contained DEAR (Developing Early Academics Readiness) class for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. In addition, her experience includes teaching for 22 years, with seven of those years teaching students with disabilities in both self-contained classrooms along with resource and inclusion environments. The meeting to discuss psychoeducational testing occurred in Jennifer’s work place during her conference period over a 45 minute period on Friday, August 28, 2015. The second

Truscott et al,(2004) were concerned with the decision making that may affect students of Special Education or Special Educators. They were concerned with what the differences between General Education Special Education, and they found out that not much was known of the Special Education and it was not properly represented in the discussions meetings. They suggested assigning a team member to represent Special Education for a specific topic. Through this study, the” Disability Law” became a focus point, Including Special Education in the decision making of the disabled.

My role as Special Education Coordinator, again, embodies the ideas and principles of a school leader, classroom supporter, and resource provider. So, to begin this research journey, I feel my role as a leader focuses on supporting the teachers, providing resources for teachers, learning along with the teachers, and actively embracing and promoting change within our learning continuum.

During my field work experience, I got the opportunity to work with my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Francisca Gachett, who has been teaching for over 11 years. She worked between 2005 and 2013 in community school with students with special needs and English Language Learners children. She then furthered her career in the Department of Education, working in District 75, where she has taught for the last three years. She got the opportunity to work within an ICT, 6:1:1, and 12:1:1: settings. As Mrs. Gachett continues to grow working with Special Education, where her love grows stronger for her students. She creates a bond with her students which makes them felt loved and wanted in the classroom. Mrs. Gachett don’t believe in the no child left behind act. She believe that the no child left behind should not related to special needs children. Special needs children testing are not able to grasp the curriculum that required. They are not advance enough to cultivate in that population as the regular students. The purpose for her believe is that each students need someone to believe in them. Believe that no matter what stage they’re in, they can still be the person they want to be. Mrs. Gachett says “when I look at my students, I see them as how I see my own children.” Mrs. Gachetty was blessed to have two children of her own. She says that “I treat my students the same way I would want my children to be treated. I want them to be comfortable and confidence in their classroom, where

Leadership in Special Education has been the objective for a long time. A few years into the education field, through collaboration with peers, shared visions, and most importantly several years of experience in the area of special education, becoming a special education director is now becoming more of a reality. Even though lifestyle changes prolonged this dream, until recently things started to fall into place, and now the opportunity is presenting itself again.

Starratt’s work resonates with any educational change initiative, but this book has added dimension and depth to my work. Every day I attempt to orchestrate organizational change in dysfunctional special education departments that serve special needs individuals. First, Starratt (2004) makes it clear that an overarching goal of an effective and ethical educational leader is not only to identify the critical areas of concern, but to initiate the change needed to uphold and enhance the “common good.” In my current career, that applies to special education systems requiring reform where unwilling administrators do not reorganize priorities for that to happen. While the definition of the phrase, “the common good” may be unclear, when it comes to initiating change in special education practices, the indisputable outcome should be the ownership of all special needs students by every staff member.

Schools often have an overall perception of what a professional learning community should look like. A specific example demonstrating the importance of teacher authority in the overall success of a learning community came in a case study reported by Englert and Tarrant (1995). In this collaborative endeavor between three special education teachers and seven university researchers to provide ‘‘meaningful and beneficial’’ (p. 325) literacy instruction for students with mild disabilities, the researchers encouraged the teachers to take control of the curriculum. ‘‘Teachers were given leadership in their choices about curriculum development, so that the power over the topics and change agenda might be shaped by the teachers’ concerns, interests, and questions’’ (Englert and Tarrant 1995, Vescio, Ross, and Adams 2007).

This article used a focus group approach to look at the perspectives of special education directors on the RTI process throughout secondary schools. Out of eighty-five school districts, twenty public secondary schools were randomly selected within four counties in a Midwestern state. There were seventeen special education directors that participating in this study. Out of the two focus groups that were conducted, eight directors attended the first focus group while the other nine directors attended the second focus group (Sansosti, Goss, Noltemeyer, 2011). The purpose of this study was to collect information about each special education director’s professional background, what their involvement in the RTI process was, and what their opinions

The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's

In discussions with Ben Robertson and Matthew Rose on what our topic for the Instructional Leadership Action Plan (ILAP), we all believed that providing teachers with more information on the Special Education Process would well serve the needs of all teachers. Ben and I both talked to our principals about having the ILAP at our respective schools and both principals agreed that the need for it was great in both buildings. However, when discussing travel for Matthew it was decided that we would have the ILAP at Nickelsville Elementary and would later hold the same ILAP, based on our feedback from teachers at Nickelsville Elementary and our cohort, at Gate City Middle School.