Special Education Teachers Retention

As I grew older, I began to realize that students with disabilities have many significant obstacles to overcome. Seeing them get excited about learning things that we take for granted provided me with the desire to become part of their learning. For example, one kindergartner with Down Syndrome struggled daily to learn how to write the first letter of her name. It was such a joy for all of those involved when she finally succeeded. Working with these students furthered my resolve to not only fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a teacher, but I soon realized that special education is my niche. After 13 years of teaching in Glynn County, I still teach with the same fervor and enthusiasm as the first day I formally stepped into a classroom. My principal once said, “Teaching is not a job. It’s a profession.” I wholeheartedly believe in this philosophy. Education was never a back-up plan or alternative for me; being a teacher is who I am. As a special educator, I strive to

One important limitation of the research reviewed was location; it was also found that small sample size is also a hindrance on accuracy of research. Because many authors (Smith & Smith, 2000; Carter et al.,2009; Burke & Sutherland, 2004) only used teachers and students in one area or one school, the sample of participants was also very limited. Teachers who have worked with other teachers for several years can influence each other’s views, so it would seem logical that teachers in common areas had common views. Short and Martin (2005) performed research in one high school in a rural area of the United States. Their findings were limited to the teachers in that particular school; findings showed many of the general education teachers had shared negative views on including special education students in a general education class. Similar findings were also noted in

Since the government decided inclusions of the special needs children in a regular classroom, the general education teachers shall be mandated to study how to cope and deal with these children with disabilities. The government perhaps should provide additional training to these teachers. Schools aren’t equipped, teachers are not trained to handle children with such different

In this paper I will discuss what exactly is a Special Educator, what education is needed to become one, salary, job outlook, and work environment. I have also interviewed a Special Educator and I will discuss how she feels about being

SPE 513 WEEK 3 DQ 1 ROLE OF GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

One of the reason people chose a career in special education is job satisfaction. Special education teacher perceived their job to be rewarding. They get personal fulfillment and gratification in teaching special need students. “It truly must be passion to continue working in special education because we all know it is a tough job.”(Participate 2010,”Motivational factor towards pursuing a career in special education”)They have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the students’ lives. When the student who is struggling in school graduate it brings great satisfaction to the educator. The most important part of this field is to help a child develop to their highest potential.

The special education teacher interviewed, talked about this goal to meet each child’s need is challenging to her especially in eleventh and twelfth grade. The teacher tries to strive towards their educational goals, their need areas, and work on their strengths.

A special education teacher needs to acquire a variety of different skills in order to succeed. “The majority of young men and women who major in special education bring a heaping helping of heart, personal commitment, and passion to the profession” (Hollingsworth). A special education teacher must enjoy working with children and developing activities and lessons to help them learn. Qualities necessary for

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.

After reading the article by Owen Phillips, I find that there are several things I can do as a special education director to support teacher retention. First, special education teachers under my leadership would have a voice. For instance, when the school board or higher officials decide that a new program or method of instruction is needed, our team will collaborate to create a course of action and timeline for these changes to be made. They would also have a voice in decision-making and discipline. Secondly, I would be available to my special education teachers as much as possible. I want them to feel supported and heard during their time under my leadership. I would send out anonymous surveys quarterly to my staff to find out how they

I interviewed Mrs. Berry, a special education teacher at Fordson High School on ford road, Dearborn. She was sitting eating her lunch while I was asking her my questions. The first question I asked her was, why she want to become a special education teacher? Her answer was that she likes to work very closely with her students. Working with special education students can be very challenging and interesting at the same time. This special group of students is very unique and everything a special education teacher can make out of those students can change their lives and is very rewarding, too. These students can come up with things that no one has come up with before. The rewards come from making progress where no one else has been able to make

At this time, universities train approximately 22,000 teachers to work in special education teaching jobs every year. This is only 50 percent of the number needed to fill these positions. Further exacerbating the problem is the departure rate of educators currently working in the field. Studies show that a special education teacher is significantly more likely to leave his or her profession than mainstream educators. This is due in part to a lack of support on the part of school administrators, mounting paperwork, minimal resources and more.

In the career of special education, teachers are trained to work with students who have either a disability, or requires of a unique instructor. However, in order to become a special teacher it has a variety of requirements. For example, some of the requirements that this career requires is of a long term education that includes: schooling , a bachelor and master degree, at least two years of

Teachers' stress and especially the SEN teachers' stress is likely to include medium or low levels of job satisfaction and high levels of turnover. Three measures have been widely employed as response correlates or indices of occupational stress generally: job satisfaction, absenteism and intention to leave (Kyriacou and Sutcliffe, 1979). In a study carried out in 1996, it has been found that 80% of the headteachers of special schools of the sample, believed that the teaching profession was a very stressful occupation and more than 50% of the sample did not plan to continue this occupation in the future (Male & May, 1997). American studies have demonstrated the critical staff shortages in special education, due to declining enrollments in special education teacher preparation programmes in effect reducing the available supply of new teachers (Cooley & Yovanoff, 1996). On the other hand, the growing demand for special educators owing to the increasing population of children who require special educational needs services, contributes to the problem of the short supply.

The site for this study will be a local high school with both female and male learners with Special Education Needs (SEN) and learning disability. The research will target or focus on one of the schools with a high number of disabled students to ensure the statistics taken are more conclusive for the study. Together with the school administration, 9-12th-grade teachers, students, and counselors we will attempt to come up with the best and efficient mode of conducting the research. Addressing the issue of young people with disabilities requires the inclusion of a larger audience such as the students, teachers, and administrators (Supports & Center, 2004). According to Milsom, counselor’s assigned the role of preparing students for the job and life outside school has failed to adequately present the disabled students with skills to cope with life after school (2002). The research records the type of instruction and skills taught to the students, looking for the relation of the information and survival in the outside world. The study will collect data by asking the students questions related to survival outside the school and rate students according to the level of preparedness. Through such information, the research can offer a clear understanding of the issue to be discussed as well as the culture in the schools today concerning their ability to prepare learners for employment environment and real life after school.