Special education teachers have many more responsibilities compared to teachers of other curriculums. According to What does a special education teacher do ,they must adapt and learn each subject’s curriculum that their students need based on their requirements for their Individual Education Program (IEP).
Adaptions include behavior goals, student’s subject, and the educational support they need. Many of their duties are the same as any other teacher such as planning and teaching lessons, testing student’s understanding of each subject, monitoring each student’s grades and having a gradebook, but they have a lot more effects on their job. They also must know every subject; each student’s IEP goals and accommodation in the class that they are teaching even if the student is not on their caseload.
Prince William County Public Schools provides a separate education programed for students who meet the requirements for an educational disability and who require special education services. According to Virgnia’s Laws, the IEP team must meet and go over the students IEP needs at least once a year. They could have more meetings for each student if needed. The purpose of an IEP meeting is to see and determine if the student’s goals are being met and they will revise to the IEP if needed. The people included in the meetings are parents, teachers, specialists and other professionals. Special education teachers must write an IEP for each student on their caseload which could be between 15-25 kids.
Students with disabilities have a different grading scale to the standard grading scale. The standard grading scale has a letter grade scale such as F’s, D’s, C’s, B’s and A’s. t. Great Schools mentions that their grades are based on the student’s modified goals or curriculum. The students’ grades are based on the student’s mastery of specific learning standards. Grades are often reported as 4 (advanced), 3 (proficient), 2 (basic), and 1(below basic). This shows what level the kids are at when looking at their mastery in specific standards for subjects.
Mrs. Margie McPherson is a special educational teacher here at Patriot High School. She works with Level 1 students which means they require support but require very low support needs compared to other levels. Level 1 kids usually struggle with social communication, making friends etc. Mrs. McPherson is explaining Cell Specialization to a student in one of Mrs. Delco’s biology classes during period 1. (Rebecca Pence)
After she got done talking to that student, she walked to the other side of the class to talk to another student. The student in the photo was having questions with an open note quiz. McPherson was helping her understand more about the stages of Mitosis and Meiosis. This student had struggles understanding but with McPherson’s help she understood way more. (Rebecca Pence)
After helping each student, McPherson was engaging in a conversation with the other teacher and students in the class. She is talking to Mrs. Delco, a biology teacher at Patriot High School who she communicates with McPherson about children in her class. She also helps the other students with extra help if needed. (Rebecca Pence)
Mrs. Weate is also another special education teacher at Patriot High School. She has been working at this school since it opened. Weate started as a teacher’s assistant in the special education autism program. She teaches level 2 students which need more support than level 1 students that McPherson teaches. She is explaining to her student’s line graphs and was consistently asking questions to each student to make sure they understood what was being taught. (Rebecca Pence)
Even though teaching can be very challenging for students and teachers, it’s a lot more complicated for special education teachers. They must attend multiple IEP meetings for all their students, memorize each student’s needs etc. Teachers also demonstrate a lot of patience, compassion and creativity when teaching their students in class. (Rebecca Pence)
McPherson rereading and explaining Water footprint to her student while they were asking questions. In this class she had Juniors and Seniors. (Rebecca Pence)
Weate was teaching and communicating with her students. She was making sure they had the right answer on their paper and making sure they understood. (Rebecca Pence)
After each day, Weate’s students get a” break time” at 12:45 where they can hangout, play games or get extra help on work. (Rebecca Pence)
