Highly Qualified Teachers for Students with Disabilities

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Highly Qualified Teachers for Students with
Disabilities

• GAEL GAPSC
• Advancing Teacher Quality in Georgia Workshop
• March 22, 2005
• Susan B. Brown, Ph.D.
• Department of Special Education
• http//www.kennesaw.edu/education/specialed
• Kennesaw State University
• sbrown1_at_kennesaw.edu

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Leading P-12 Students to High Standards of
Learning (T OR F)

• A students educational experience is only as
  good as the teacher leading the class each year.
• Three years of poor teaching and a student may
  never catch up.
• Is the goal of education covering curriculum or
  coaching self-motivated learners?
• Should educators weed out poor students or
  promote their self-concept?
• A highly qualified teacher is content driven.

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Effective Schools ResearchMarzano, R. J. (2003)
What works in schools Translating research into
action. Alexandria, VA ASCD

• School-Level Factors
• A Guaranteed Viable Curriculum
• Challenging Goals Effective Feedback
• Parent Community Involvement
• Safe Orderly Environment
• Collegiality

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Effective Schools ResearchMarzano, R. J. (2003)
What works in schools Translating research into
action. Alexandria, VA ASCD

• Student Level Factors
• Home Environment
• Learned Intelligence Background Knowledge
• Student Motivation

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Effective Schools ResearchMarzano, R. J. (2003)
What works in schools Translating research into
action. Alexandria, VA ASCD

• Teacher-Level Factors
• Instructional Strategies
• Classroom Management
• Classroom Curriculum Design

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Relative Impact of School TeacherMarzano,
(2001)

• Teacher/School Enters 2
  Yrs.
• Average School Teacher 50 ile 50 ile
• Highly Effect School Teacher 50 ile 96 ile
• Highly Ineffective School Teacher 50 ile 3
  ile
• Highly Effective School
• Highly Ineffective Teacher 50 ile 37 ile
• Highly Ineffective School
• Highly Effective Teacher 50 ile 63 ile
• Highly Effective School
• Average Teacher 50 ile 78 ile

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If we always do what weve always doneWell
always get what weve always had
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NCLB, IDEA, and Teacher Quality

• The promise of the standards era is
  straightforward All students can and will learn
  more than they are currently learning, and all
  students will succeed if schools expect the
  highest academic standards. If students do not
  succeed, then public schools must be held
  accountable for their failure (np).

Rosenberg, M.S., Sindelar, P.T, Hardman, M.L.
(2004)Preparing highly qualified teachers for
students with emotional or behavioral disorders
The impact of NCLB IDEA. Behavioral Disorders,
29, 266. Accessed at http//proquest.umi.com/
through Galileo on 2/17/2005
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NCLB IDEAPreparing Teachers to Meet the Needs
of All Learners
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NCLB IDEA Requirements for Special Education
Teachers

• Full state certification in Special Education
• Qualified to provide support to a highly
  qualified content teacher providing instruction
  to students in a core academic subject
• Qualified to provide instruction to students with
  disabilities in non-core academic subjects

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Special Education Core Subjects

• The highly qualified teacher requirements apply
  only to teachers providing direct instruction in
  core academic subjects. Special educators who do
  not directly instruct students in core academic
  subjects or who provide only consultation to
  highly qualified teachers in adapting curricula,
  using behavioral supports and interventions or
  selecting appropriate accommodations, do not need
  to demonstrate subject-matter competency in those
  subjects.

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Special Education Teachers Teaching Multiple
Subjects

• Full state certification in Special Education
• Meet ESEA Elementary, Middle or Secondary
  Qualifications
• Demonstrate same competence in core subjects
  taught as other Elementary, Middle or Secondary
  Teachers
• Qualified to teach these core subjects to
  students with or without disabilities at the
  level of their certificate

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Special Education Teachers Teaching to Alternate
Achievement Standards

• Full state certification in Special Education
• Meet ESEA Elementary, Middle or Secondary
  Qualifications
• Meet elementary level qualifications
• OR
• Meet subject matter knowledge appropriate to
  level of instruction being provided (assessment
  level vs. grade level)
• Needed to effectively teach to these standards

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Balancing Teacher Qualifications with Student
Needs
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What Lens Do We Use?

• Administrators
• Teachers
• Students
• Parents

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Administrators
FTE Class Size Course codes Balance Student
Needs Teacher Qualifications Parent requests
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Teachers
Planning time Curricular goals Accountability
tests Student needs Content mastery Pedagogical
skills
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Students
Readiness to learn Learning style Motivation Goals
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Parents

• Goals

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No Child Left Behind4 Pillars

• Stronger accountability for results
• Accountability for Schools
• Adequate Yearly Progress
• Achievement Gap
• More freedom for states and communities
• Proven education methods
• More choices for parents

http//www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
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No Child Left Behind Flexibility Highly
Qualified Teachers

• Special Education TeachersThe highly qualified
  teacher requirements apply only to teachers
  providing direct instruction in core academic
  subjects. Special educators who do not directly
  instruct students in core academic subjects or
  who provide only consultation to highly qualified
  teachers in adapting curricula, using behavioral
  supports and interventions or selecting
  appropriate accommodations, do not need to
  demonstrate subject-matter competency in those
  subjects.

(34 C.RR. Part 200. December 2, 2002)
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Qualifications of General Education Content
Teachers to Serve Students with Disabilities
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Meeting the challenge

• The discord over how to define and develop
  highly qualified teachers has less to do with
  research evidence than with funding and politics
  (np).

Berry, B, Hoke, M. Hirsch, E. (2004) The
search for highly qualified teachers. Phi Delta
Kappan, 85, 684. Accessed fom http//proqest.umi.c
om through Galileo on 2/17/2005).
Do we need to just prepare more teachers or
support retain the teachers we do prepare?
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Meeting the Mandate Through Professional
Development

• Content related to GPS
• Curriculum mapping
• Pedagogy related to GPS
• Research-based best practice
• Differentiated instruction
• Collaborative and co-teaching models
• Cross-training (general special education)

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Meeting the Mandate Through Professional
Development

• Accommodations for students with different
  learning styles and abilities including ELL,
  diverse, Gifted, at-risk, and students with
  disabilities
• Assessment and action research models to track
  impact on student learning and adjust instruction
  as needed
• Data analysis and reflective practice to improve
  classroom instruction and student learning

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Meeting the Mandate Through Scheduling Delivery
Models

• Provide for planning time
• Assign special education teachers to content or
  grade team
• Consider dispositions in teaming
• Provide professional development peer support
• Address access to general education curriculum in
  IEP development

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Bringing all students to higher levels of learning
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Resources

• United States Department of Education (2003).
  Meeting the highly qualified teachers challenge.
  Washington, DC Author.
• US Government Accountability Office (2004).
  Special Education Additional assistance and
  better coordination needed among education
  offices to help states meet the NCLBA teacher
  requirements. Washington, DC Author.
• http//www.ed.gov/nclb/
• http//www.cec.sped.org/pp/cec_pol.html