According to this PBS news story, 70% of the schools surveyed have a Sped Teacher shortage. What do you think could help incentivize more people to go work in our field and how do we get them to stay?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-driving-a-special-education-teacher-shortage-and-how-schools-are-responding
Everyone in any position of power thinks they are more of a special ed martyr than the next. They comb thru paperwork like IRS agents looking for things they want changed. ESE teachers are beat down to the point they feel they can’t even write quality goals and objectives. The compliance specialists nit pick to justify their own existence. The administrators are fearful of litigation or reprimands from the Department of Justice for disciplinary actions. If the students don’t test well the ESE teachers are dinged on their performance reviews - never mind they are only visitors in someone else’s classroom. The parents are angry and students disrespectful or basically unmotivated to do their work. You ask what needs to change. It’s such a tangled mess I can’t think of a starting point.
Coach
"Comb thru paperwork like IRS agents" 😂😂 it is so true though!! We've really built up this super regulatory framework that stresses educators out too much. Part of the reason is we live in a world where everyone is afraid of being sued.
Make the job sustainable! Right now there is too much paperwork, the caseloads are too big, and there needs to be clear, legally accurate information given to parents about what are the school’s responsibilities and what are the families’ responsibilities. The demands are too high and the expectations are not achievable for special educators. Make the job actually doable and more people might be willing to try it and/or stay in it.
Lower the class size. Can’t get away from the legalities in sped, but if the class size was drastically reduced, it would be a win-win