Mentoring New Special Education Teachers

A Guide for Mentors and Program Developers

Mary Lou Duffy, James W. Forgan

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9780761931348, 9780761931331
• eBook ISBN: 9781544351896
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

How do you avoid the high cost of turnover and retain high-quality special education teachers in such a demanding field?

Surveys show that 98% of school districts are reporting shortages of special education teachers, and that nearly a quarter of a million new special education teachers will be needed over the next few years. Special education teachers are leaving the field at twice the rate of general education teachers. Why?

Special education teachers can quickly become overwhelmed by the myriad of responsibilities in their jobs-managing IEPs, alternative assessments, paraprofessionals, assistive technologies, complex legislation and paperwork, and the physical and emotional toll of such individualized instruction.

Mentoring New Special Education Teachers will help administrators and other educators develop and sustain effective mentoring programs specifically designed for special education teachers, providing practical, field-tested activities and resources for both the mentors and the mentees, including such critical elements as:

• Effectively identifying, recruiting, and selecting mentors
• Action planning
• Evaluating progress
• Addressing diminishing support
• Dealing with burnout and isolation
• Vignettes of real-life mentoring experiences
• Figures, tables, appendices, Web sites
• A ready-to-use two-day workshop for training mentors

Real-life vignettes and "What If" questions weave throughout the book, and trouble-shooting appendices direct you to additional Web sites and resources for further help. Mentoring New Special Education Teachers provides everything you need to effectively support and mentor your special education teachers, increase their job satisfaction, and keep your retention rates high!

1 New Special Education Teachers

Mary Lou Duffy and James Forgan

Vignette

In November, a new special education teacher came to our school to take the position of one of our teachers going on maternity leave. Although she had one year of teaching experience as a regular education teacher, she had no experience in exceptional student education. Good teaching is good teaching, but strategies for teaching students with disabilities are critical, not to mention the maze of paperwork that is inherent in our job. The teaching is the easy part. It’s the paperwork that makes special education teachers crazy!

We worked together to make sure that she was off on the right foot, and thanks to the teacher who had left, no IEP annual evaluations were looming in the immediate future. This “too-good-to-be-true” scenario lasted about six weeks, and then it happened. In mid-December, the district required that all third-grade IEPs must be reviewed in response to the Third Grade Retention law passed by the Legislature. Not only did the IEPs need to be reviewed, but also revised in the areas of “present level of performance” and “goals” to reflect the five elements of reading instruction deemed essential by research. All this had to be completed by January 31, a task most veteran special education teachers would find daunting.

Together, we spent many hours together learning these new directives, implementing them on our computerized IEP program, and meeting with parents concerning the revisions and their child’s new IEP. As far as my protégé was concerned, it was “sink or swim” and “take the bull by the horns” time all rolled into one. She never complained, and by the second week in January, she was feeling like a “pro.” With a lot of hard work and a few late afternoons, we completed our reviews on time and developed a professional rapport that will last far into the future

—Patricia Weber

Who Are New Special Education Teachers?

The mentor teacher and mentee in the vignette experienced the rewards of a close and supportive working relationship that, fortunately, will remain intact after the mentee’s first year of teaching in special education is complete. Without the support from the special education mentor, the mentee would have been “left to the sharks” to navigate the enormous paperwork maze initiated by the state and local school district. One may be thinking, Is this vignette a realistic expectation for beginning special education teachers to hold?

Where They Come From

The term “new special education” teacher holds different meaning for these individuals who took various routes to arrive in their current teaching positions. New special education teachers are as diverse as the students they teach. Mentees in this group may be graduates of traditional teacher preparation programs, experienced special education teachers new to the district or disability area, teachers with an education degree in another field, participants in alternative certification programs, or individuals without any educational training.

Traditional Teacher Preparation Programs. Traditionally trained special education teachers have completed formal teacher preparation programs that are likely approved by their state departments of education. Most university teacher preparation programs prepare teachers for positions in a cross-or noncategorical service delivery model. For example, in one southeastern state special education teacher certification is called Exceptional Student Education and covers kindergarten through twelfth grade. This certification enables a special education teacher to teach all levels and types of students with disabilities except for the severe, deaf, and blind. In Illinois, when certified in special education, you are classified as a Learning and Behavior Specialist and are able to teach the high-incidence disabilities. Traditional teacher preparation programs require individuals to complete many hours of course credit in teaching reading, mathematics, and special education strategies, as well as complete a supervised teaching experience. Upon graduation, many of these teachers may feel ready to take charge of their own classroom and teach without the continual supervision of a cooperating teacher. Although this group of beginning special education teachers may have the knowledge about how to teach students with disabilities, they do not have the depth of experience needed to independently sustain them through the bumps and pitfalls of the first year. Nor are they savvy to the district or school procedures. One beginning special education teacher, as quoted in Whitaker (2000a) says, “For the most part in school all we learned is theory … Nothing prepares you for teaching until you start teaching” (p. 2).

These beginning teachers may lack confidence in their abilities and require emotional support from their mentors. Reassurance and active listening will help build the new teacher’s confidence, and, like their students, the mentee will need frequent reinforcement at the beginning of the year with a gradual fading of support. One way to view the support of the mentor teacher is to use the analogy of a builder who is remodeling a tall building. The teacher sets up scaffolding around a building to use as his support while working on a particular area. As each area is complete and strong, the builder removes the scaffolding. The mentor teacher is similar to the scaffold support, providing strong support that is gradually removed as the mentee gains confidence and experience. An effective mentor will be a valuable resource for this group of mentees throughout the first year of teaching.

In addition to recent graduates of traditional teacher preparation programs, a unique group of special education teachers who can benefit from having a mentor are experienced special education teachers who are first-year teachers in a new school district. These teachers may have rich backgrounds of teaching students with disabilities and may feel competent with their teaching skills, designing and implementing instruction and working with paraeducators and parents. Despite their experience, these mentees will still need support. Mentors can provide emotional support to these teachers and assist with issues such as the school district’s policies and procedures, paperwork, and orientation to the school building.

Although most mentees welcome support, it is realistic to expect that some will not. Mentors must be prepared that some experienced special education teacher mentees may feel insulted that they were assigned a mentor. Some veteran special education teachers may feel that learning paperwork and procedures is simplistic and easily completed on their own, whereas others may view accepting help as a sign of deficiency. Lisa, a mentor teacher, was asked to mentor a new faculty member who was a seasoned teacher new to the school district. She explained, “I tried many times to contact my mentee by e-mail and telephone. I even left messages with her fellow associates. Just when I was about to concede, I received an e-mail from her. She politely and diplomatically informed me of her prior teaching experience, thanked me for showing interest and concern, and let me know that she had everything under control.” Lisa was disappointed about her mentee’s lack of interest, and one variable she attributed to the lack of success in the relationship was that the seasoned teacher was assigned to work with Lisa rather than given the chance to request a mentor. Had the new teacher asked for a mentor, Lisa believes the relationship would have been successful. Fortunately for Lisa, she found and mentored another teacher who valued her contributions.

Some special education teachers may have taught students with mild disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities) and, because of choice or assignment, began teaching students with severe disabilities (e.g., autism). The state department of education often requires this group of professionals to complete college coursework or participate in school district–sponsored skill development workshops to be considered certified teachers. For example, one of this book’s authors, Jim, is a certified teacher in the area of behavior disorders. One year when teaching elementary students, he was considered out-of-field or uncertified according to state guidelines because his assignment was to teach a class of students with learning disabilities. Jim was required to submit his transcripts to the state for a coursework review or complete several courses in the area of learning disabilities to be considered an in-field teacher. In Jim’s case, he had already completed ample coursework on learning disabilities and was granted certification in specific learning disabilities. If he did not have a strong background in the area of learning disabilities, his mentor could have provided curriculum support. Because many state departments of education focus on streamlining teacher certification by offering test-only routes or alternative routes to special education teacher certification, scenarios such as Jim’s are becoming less frequent, and the number of out-of-field teachers is decreasing.

Out-of-Field Teachers. Some certified teachers may not be certified in special education (e.g., a teacher certified in middle grades who begins teaching special education). This type of teacher should have a solid understanding of the school culture and classroom management techniques but does not have strategic knowledge to design lessons for students with severe disabilities. The same principle would hold true for an elementary general education teacher who decided to teach special education students with mild disabilities. He or she may benefit more from curriculum support in specific learning strategies or making accommodations rather than from support in classroom management strategies.

Alternate Certification Programs. Mentees who have completed or are currently enrolled in alternative certification programs have a range of experiences. These individuals are typically embarking on a second career so they may have professional knowledge in one or more subject areas and may have worked with individuals with disabilities in the community. The increased development and use of alternative certification programs is growing as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002) and the nationwide critical shortage of special education teachers (Council for Exceptional Children, 2001). For example, Florida school districts are allowed to design their own alternative certification programs to provide uncertified mentees with the skills needed to become teachers. Some of the school districts in Southeast Florida have partnered with Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Department of Exce...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Overview
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• 1 New Special Education Teachers
• 2 Supports for Special Education Teachers
• 3 Designing Mentoring Programs
• 4 Becoming a Mentor
• 5 Effective Communication Skills
• 6 Learning About Adult Learners
• Resource A: Action Plans
• Resource B: CEC Standards and Mentoring Resources
• References
• Resource C: Professional Resources
• Resource D: Mentor Workshop
• References
• Resource E: Timeline for Mentoring Activities
• Index