• IRIS Center
COVID-19 RESOURCES
Careers at IRIS
  • Resources
    • IRIS Resource Locator
      Modules, case studies, activities, & more
    • Evidence-Based Practice Summaries
      Research annotations
    • High-Leverage Practices
      IRIS resources on HLPs
    • IRIS Alignment Tools
      HLPs, SiMRs, & CEEDAR ICs
    • Films
      Portrayals of people with disabilities
    • Children's Books
      Portrayals of people with disabilities
    • For Faculty
      Sample syllabi, curriculum matrices, & more
    • For PD Providers
      Sample PD activities, planning forms, & more
    • For Independent Learners
      Resources & tools for independent learners
    • Website Navigation Videos
      Getting around our Website & modules
    • New & Coming Soon
      Latest modules & resources
    • Glossary
      Disability related terms
  • PD Options
    • PD Certificates for Educators
      Our certificate, your PD hours
    • School & District Platform
      A powerful tool for school leaders
    • Log in to Your IRIS PD
  • Articles & Reports
    • Articles
      Articles about IRIS use & efficacy
    • Internal IRIS Reports
      Reports on IRIS use & accomplishments
    • External Evaluation Reports
      Evaluations of the IRIS Center
    • Learner Outcomes
      Summaries of module effectiveness
    • Consumer Satisfaction
      Feedback and testimonials from IRIS users
    • IRIS Stories
      Our resources, your stories
    • News & Events
      What, when, & where it's happening
  • About
    • Who We Are
      Our team, experts, & advisors
    • What We Do
      Our resources & process
    • Contact Us
      Get in touch with IRIS
  • Help
    • Help & Support
      Get the full benefit from our resources
    • Website Navigation Videos
      Getting around our Website & modules
  • Module
  • Challenge
  • Initial Thoughts
  • Perspectives & Resources
  • Wrap Up
  • Assessment
Challenge
Initial Thoughts
Perspectives & Resources

What factors do you think influence special education teacher turnover?

  • Page 1: Teacher Retention and Turnover

What can school leaders do to reduce the number of special education teachers who leave each year?

  • Page 2: A Model for Retaining Effective Special Educators
  • Page 3: Recruiting and Hiring
  • Page 4: Teacher Induction
  • Page 5: Professional Learning
  • Page 6: Principal Support
  • Page 7: School Climate
  • Page 8: Job Design

Resources

  • Page 9: References & Additional Resources
  • Page 10: Credits
Wrap Up
Assessment
We want to hear from you. Please complete our brief Module Feedback Form.

What can school leaders do to reduce the number of special education teachers who leave each year?

Page 5: Professional Learning

Cultivate Effective Special Educators:  Recruiting & Hiring, Teacher Induction, Professional Learning leads to Teacher Effectiveness.

Special educators need to take part in meaningful learning experiences throughout their careers if they are to continue to improve their skills and to incorporate evidence-based practices in their teaching. Although they will participate in some joint professional development activities with general education teachers, special education teachers tend to benefit most from learning opportunities that are designed to address their unique needs. This is especially true for new special education teachers. Some key considerations in addressing the professional learning needs of special education teachers are listed below.

Provide Learning Opportunities Centered on the Needs of Special Educators

Leaders should consider the professional learning needs and goals of special educators. District leaders must assess teachers’ needs across schools and assist principals in coordinating professional learning experiences for special educators (e.g., understanding special education law, maintaining confidentiality, scheduling IEP meetings) and also related to the more specialized needs of some special educators (e.g., those teaching students with autism or students who make use of assistive technology).

Help All Teachers Collaborate To Teach Diverse Learners

Most students with disabilities are usually in general education classrooms for at least part of the school day. Helping all teachers learn to collaborate effectively and to develop effective practices (e.g., Universal Design for Learning [UDL]) will increase their opportunities to be successful.

Include Special Educators in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

New models of professional learning focus on the importance of professional learning communities based on teacher inquiry and experimentation. Effective PLCs typically include teachers at a specific grade level or content area. They focus on student learning and analyze student progress, design lessons, review evidence-based practices, and support each other. Special educators need to be part of these learning communities, interacting with their colleagues to assure that the needs of diverse student groups are met.

Create Opportunities for Special Educators To Observe Their Peers

Special educators usually have few opportunities to observe other special educators in action. New teachers welcome opportunities to see the work of other teachers. School leaders can creatively schedule these peer-learning opportunities throughout the school year.

Felicia Palmer discusses the importance of training so that teachers can work together effectively (time: 0:41).

Felicia Palmer
Special Education Teacher, Franklin Special School District
Franklin, Tennessee

/wp-content/uploads/module_media/tchr_ret_media/audio/tchr_ret_page_05_palmer.mp3

View Transcript

Felicia Palmer

Transcript: Felicia Palmer

Co-teaching is a process. There are stages, and the first one is establishing trust. You learn about each other. It’s like a marriage. My first piece of advice would be don’t throw or put two professionals together that did not have training, hoping that they are nice people it’s gonna work. It’s not going to work. They need to have an understanding of the program. a training that would cover what inclusion is, what is expected of the teachers in an inclusion program. How to actually work together, how to co-teach, and to understand that co-teaching is a process, if they understand that, I think it will make the transition easier.

Research Shows

Special education teachers who have greater opportunities for professional development are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and report fewer role problems.
(Gersten, Keating, Yovanoff & Harniss, 2001)

Activity

Principal Kamei would like to enhance the opportunities her special ed teachers have for professional learning. She believes she has the resources to implement one of the following actions:

  • Help All Teachers Collaborate To Teach Diverse Learners
  • Include Special Educators in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
  • Create Opportunities for Special Educators To Observe Their Peers

Imagine you are Principal Kamei. Choose one of the actions above and describe how you would implement it.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Back Next
12345678910
Join Our E-Newsletter Sign Up
  • Home
  • About IRIS
  • Our Values
  • Sitemap
  • Web Accessibility
  • Glossary
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
Join Our E-Newsletter Sign Up

The IRIS Center Peabody College Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37203 [email protected] The IRIS Center is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Grant #H325E220001. The contents of this Website do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Sarah Allen.

Copyright 2023 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

* For refund and privacy policy information visit our Help & Support page.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

  • Vanderbilt Peabody College