Onboarding New Special Education Teachers

By Andrea Kunkel, CCOSA General Counsel & ODSS Executive Director

To attract, retain and grow new special education teachers, schools must surround them with meaningful ongoing support. Of course, they need the opportunity to participate in all appropriate professional development provided to new general education teachers, including instruction geared to improving student literacy. But because required PD days are typically packed with information for new teachers, special education directors may need to schedule additional summer days before teachers are required to report to cover critical special education issues. Schools cannot require teachers to attend these extra days, but a stipend or just the opportunity to meet and collaborate with colleagues may be sufficient incentive.

CCOSA members are well aware that Oklahoma has a huge shortage of traditionally-prepared special education teachers. Few of the dwindling number of special education teacher candidates graduating from Oklahoma colleges and universities are staying in the state to teach. Many of those taking special education teaching positions are general education teachers who have passed the mild-moderate certification test, provisionally certified teachers who have completed the initial boot camp and are pursuing additional graduate hours, or former paraprofessionals pursuing the para-to-teacher route to standard certification and serving as special education teachers while they, too, complete additional graduate hours. No matter what path brings them to special education, all of these teachers need high-quality instruction to help them learn to complete special education paperwork, especially the all-important student IEP.

Some readers may wonder why special instruction is needed to complete forms, especially when nearly all schools use the state’s online EdPlan system of developing and maintaining student special education paperwork. Don’t teacher candidates learn to use EdPlan and develop IEPs and other forms in their college coursework or in boot camp training? In fact, little time is spent in those programs developing IEPs and forms, and even less is spent learning to use EdPlan. Developing an IEP isn’t a process of selecting the most appropriate generic computer-banked sentences to describe a student’s needs and what they should learn. Schools should provide teachers with training that enables them to create IEPs that include individually appropriate descriptions of student needs, unique SMART goals and relevant progress measures, using the EdPlan (or other) system. Schools that fail to support new teachers in learning how to complete essential special education paperwork and effectively navigate EdPlan will likely be looking for new teachers before long.

Summer meetings with special education teachers also provide directors the chance to cover the specific ways that school carries out its responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As just one example, most school administrators and teachers are aware that the IDEA identifies certain school personnel – typically, an administrative representative, general education teacher and special education teacher — as required IEP team members. However, no law or regulation identifies how the teacher scheduling an IEP team meeting decides which teacher(s) and administrators to invite, how much input the school participants have in the date and time the meeting is set, or how and how far in advance they should be notified of meetings. Some schools have developed written procedures explaining how meetings are scheduled, while others have established practices over time. Either way, new teachers, who will likely be scheduling many IEP team meetings, some within a few days of school beginning, need a forum to discuss not just the big issues, but the many, many small ones they will face daily.

In late July 2022 the Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a new Policies and Procedures Manual (P&P) for special education, which took effect immediately, just a few days before school was beginning in many parts of the state. Many special education directors have since participated in OSDE training that identifies new state policies and other big changes reflected in the P&P, and they have shared that information with their teachers. However, there are numerous small yet significant changes in the P&P about which directors and teachers still need more time to determine practical implications. Ongoing opportunities for discussion with both new and more experienced special education teachers will help the teachers understand what the P&P means in practice and help directors determine what district policies and procedures need to be changed or added.

The most important support to attract, retain and grow new special education teachers is likely an approachable and experienced mentor special education teacher. Schools can find plentiful resources encouraging the use of mentors to support new teachers and explaining best practices to develop such a program. In this time of open positions and heavy caseloads, special education directors may frequently be fulfilling the mentor role. Oklahoma also has many small schools with just one or two special education teachers under ordinary conditions, and the teacher or teachers may be new or have limited experience. Some schools may choose to reach out to neighboring schools for mentor support. In addition, the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) JumpStart Program for New and Early-Career Special Educators may be helpful. According to recent OSDE news releases, “This completely online program is designed to equip new special educators with the critical information, resources, peer network, and expert guidance needed for success in the 2022-2023 school year. Some of the most renowned subject matter experts in the field will deliver live, dynamic workshops and Q&A sessions on what you need to know to start your special education career successfully.”

Registration for the spring cohort is available at a reasonable charge at https://exceptionalchildren.org/ jumpstart/registration, and the courses began in January.

References to the responsibilities of the school’s special education director are found throughout this article. Especially for those schools with a director who is also a full-time special education teacher, providing additional compensated extra duty time and/or adequate release time during the school day to work with new special education teachers may also support your efforts to attract, retain and grow these critical members of your team. ■