Special education climate of support impacts retention

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

1. Involve special education teachers in leadership and decision-making.

• Supporting and communicating with teachers regularly allows for decision-making opportunities.
• Respecting professionalism in programming decisions and resources allows for teacher empowerment.

2. Facilitate the work of special education teachers.

• Procedural requirements and paperwork required of special education teachers can seem overwhelming. Actions to monitor caseload size can help to mitigate this concern.
• Special education teachers have a specific purpose and role in the school. Ensuring that requests are within the boundaries of their role is important in reducing overload. 
• Special education teachers need time to lesson plan, but they also need planned hours in the week to complete the procedural requirements of their job. Offering adequate planning time for co-planning, collaboration and accountability activities is critical.
• Students receiving specialized instruction in special education require evidenced-based programming. Funding the purchase of specialized curriculum and instructional materials can reduce creation time and allow special education teachers more time to spend with students and make progress.
• The legal constraints of special education can cause teachers to feel overwhelmed. Providing equivalent pay or incentives can help them feel like they are valued for the level of responsibility required of them.

3. Support collaboration.

• All teachers need to feel effective. Ensuring special education teachers are hired for positions that match their skills can increase self-efficacy and allow for more effective collaboration opportunities.
• Special education teachers can not be the resource called for every struggle. Communicating teachers’ role in the multi-tiered system of support process is vital in reducing non-special education supports and services.
• All new teachers need support in building collaborative relationships. Administrators can assist in this process by helping to establish relationships with teachers, parents and related service providers.
• Special education teachers want to be involved in whole-school meetings, teams and initiatives. Planning for valuable participation in learning communities and committees can make them feel heard and supported.

4. Lead system-wide efforts to foster positive student outcomes.

• Special education teachers ethically support high expectations for all students. Supporting a climate of high expectations and achievement for all learners helps to align their purpose.
• Increasing student behaviors have been noted as a reason special education teachers leave the field. Administrators can Implement policies and actions supporting school-wide positive behavioral supports. In addition, they can ensure policies and procedures protect staff members.