Becoming a Special Education Teacher Almost Overnight

So, you might expect that the teachers who will be teaching those children will have had to get trained up on how to do that, right?

Wrong.

There's been no mandate at San Diego Unified School District that general education teachers or school principals get training in special education before receiving an influx of students with special needs into their classrooms.

The district says it has provided oodles of training for general education teachers who want to learn how to connect with a child with severe autism, say, or a child with emotional disturbance. That training has ranged from one-day sessions to week-long intense training.

But teachers don't have to take that training. It's optional.

So, that means thousands of kids with learning disabilities, autism, Asperger's syndrome and other disabilities have trooped off to general education classes to be taught by teachers whose last training on special education might have been 20 years earlier during their university credentials.

General education teachers have suddenly been faced with students with emotional disturbance, who scream or run around classrooms. They have been asked to teach children with severe autism, who may be extremely hard to reach without specialized intervention techniques and methods. The range of scenarios runs the gamut from the benign to the potentially hazardous.

When I met with Joe Fulcher, the district's director of special education, I pressed him pretty hard on this. Why wasn't training mandated?

"That's something that was out of my hands, unfortunately," Fulcher told me.

"I would certainly like to see more gen-ed and special-ed teachers take more advantage of the training," he added.

Read more of voiceofsandiego.org article HERE.

Teacher Makes a Personal Case for NCLB Waivers

By Greg Mullenholz, Guest Blogger for the ED.gov Blog

I would like President Obama to meet one of my former students, Rashawn*.

Rashawn was a fifth grader, an African-American boy with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). In my classroom he received a bevy of services relating to his learning and academic disabilities, and yet he struggled mightily with reading and math.

Rashawn came from a tough section of the district and lived well below the poverty line in a broken home. He father was incarcerated. He had dreams of playing in the NBA. His smile set him apart, and he was a hard worker, a talker, and a thinker.

Rashawn entered my class in 2008, shortly before the nation elected Barack Obama to be president. He was far behind his peers academically, but he worked hard. Working as a team, a special educator and I provided Rashawn with rigorous instruction, and we set high expectations. We wanted him to succeed, and he wanted to succeed. From the beginning of the year to the end, Rashawn made significant academic progress.

But none of that mattered, under the accountability measures of the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB). Although he showed academic growth, Rashawn scored as “basic” on Maryland’s tests. According to the statisticians and policymakers, that was a disappointment. As his teacher, NCLB noted that I had failed Rashawn. When my results were printed, he would appear as nothing more than a name and an ID number awash in pink printer ink.

Rashawn is a perfect example of why teachers are crying out for NCLB to be overhauled. NCLB ushered in an era where we no longer ignore children on the periphery. Now, every student counts. That’s one thing NCLB got right.

Unfortunately, the NCLB accountability system fails students like Rashawn because it measures only one piece of data at one point in time. We need an accountability system that acknowledges growth and looks upon every student as an asset, not a deficit. We need our country to measure and reward the growth of our students, not just mark where they place on an arbitrary bar.

I would like President Obama to meet Rashawn. It seems that he had the Rashawns of the world in mind when he granted Secretary Duncan the authority to issue waivers for some areas of NCLB. The President still insists on a high bar for all children, but he gets it that what Rashawn has achieved transcends what is indicated by a single-measure on a poorly-designed bubble test.

I am thankful that with waivers, states won’t be given a pass on maintaining high expectations for all students, and they surely won’t be allowed to toss aside teacher accountability. Our students need schools with high expectations, and states will have to adopt college- and career-ready standards. But they will also be given the chance to innovate and design plans that meet the needs of their unique populations of students. And they will be allowed to use multiple measures of teaching effectiveness, so that teaching competence will no longer be boiled down to a solitary line of printer ink.

I haven’t seen Rashawn in a few years. I hope that he aspires to attend and complete college and to play basketball while he’s there. I dream about him earning a teaching degree and joining me as a colleague. Fixing NCLB would be one way to support all of the Rashawns in the classrooms throughout this great country. Something even better, I think, than meeting the President.

Greg Mullenholz

Greg Mullenholz is a Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow on loan from Rockville, Md.

*My student’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity.

Article HERE.

I’m NOT Your Enemy: Secrets from Your Child’s Special Education Teacher

By Morgan Kolls, Special Educator from Special Education Articles

How often have you read articles, blogs, or tweets where the special education teacher appears as the bad guy? The special education teacher has an alternate agenda or makes a plan without the knowledge of the parents? The IEP team excludes the parents as part of the team?

Too many articles and blogs point to the special education teacher and make him/her appear as an enemy to the parents of the child with special needs.

WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY!

But there are some secrets that your special education teacher wants you to know:

Secret #1- NO ONE becomes a special education teacher to hurt kids.

Becoming a special education teacher is a calling. It’s not a “job,” but a lifetime commitment. Most special ed. teachers LOVE kids and want the best for their students. Remember, your child’s special ed. teacher likely spends at least 6 hours a day with your child. He/She knows your child. Likely, she works at least 6-7 more hours a day thinking about what’s best for your child.

Secret #2- NO ONE becomes a special education teacher to fight with parents.

Sure, there are disagreements. No one is going to agree 100% of the time. But, the special ed. teacher is not looking for an argument. He/she is working on the best plan for your child. And, it’s true that there are times that the teacher also has to work within district budget constraints and directives, but none of us are looking to fight with you.

Secret #3- NO ONE continues to be a special education teacher because it’s easy.

IF any person went into special education because they thought it was going to be an easy job, they surely did not stay in the field of special education. Being a special ed. teacher is hard. It’s hard work. It’s a 12-18 hour a day job. But, it’s also a choice.

Secret #4- Your child’s special education teacher respects you.

Believe it or not, your child’s special ed. teacher respects you as a parent of a child with special needs. He/She likely cannot imagine what your life is like, what you deal with, or what it feels like to be a parent of a child with special needs. For these reasons and more, there should be a mutual respect for both parents AND teachers.

Secret #5- Special Ed. teachers believe that the parents are an imperative part of the IEP team.

An IEP cannot be written without your help. An IEP cannot be put into place without you. A change of placement cannot occur without you. Your child’s needs drive his/her services, but we need to know what you believe his/her needs are. I might feel your child has mastered coin counting, while you know that, when trying to pay for fries at McDonald’s, your child was clueless. We need YOU.

Now that you know all of our “secrets,” what can you do the help cultivate your relationship with your child’s special education teacher?

First, communicate with your special education teacher. Send emails, respond to tweets, read blog posts and comment. If your teacher sends you an email, respond. If the teacher asks you a question, she isn’t trying to be nosy, she genuinely wants to know how she can help or what she can do better for your child. Answer your teacher’s phone calls or respond to her voice mails. Tell your teacher everything she needs to know about your child.

Second, if you are happy or unhappy about an event, lesson, paper, or situation, express it directly to the teacher. Don’t try going around the teacher before speaking to him. Your principal knows what’s happening in the classroom, but not to the extent that the teacher does. Plus, it could be a simple mistake. Give your teacher the benefit of the doubt.

Third, make suggestions with care. We can all improve, we can all get better. We can all be more knowledgeable. We can all communicate better. But, we’re still human and we are trying our best. Make your comments with care, and we will do the same.

Lastly, remember we are team members that care about your child. Often times, we love your child. We are your team member, not your enemy.

Article HERE.