Disclaimer: I have previously worked for Boston Public Schools
Boston and the City’s Teachers Union have recently come to a contractual agreement that will go into effect this upcoming school year (2022-2023). You can read the story from WBUR here. According to the story, there will be additional supports put in place for special education students (these supports will also be available for students classified as English Language Learners). There will also be new positions in the district which are titled “Inclusive Education Liaisons” whose roll will be to shift the district into an inclusive model (Jung 2022). However, it is unclear from this story what role these professionals will actually take within a school environment and what decisions they will be empowered to make. Will they be providing professional development to school teachers? Will they be working within a specific school or will they be working with multiple schools? Will they have direct contact with students? I am very curious to find out how this role This contract comes on the heels of an attempt by the state of Massachusetts to assume control of the district. It appears that part of the district’s goals for this contract is to continue to stave off a state takeover. The state identified many systemic issues which the city and district appear to hope to correct through the ratification of this contract.
There are a few things that the district should consider when incorporating this position into schools:
- Research has shown that students perform best when all teachers in a school share responsibility for all of the students (Bettini et al. 2016). General education teachers should feel as though they are just as responsible for the academic and social success of a school’s special education students as the special education teachers. Likewise, special education teachers should be just as involved in the education of general education students as the general educators. This is opposed to the feeling that many educators face where they feel as though they only have responsibility for their case load (Gomez-Najarro 2020). This feeling should be avoided. In order to combat this, special education teachers should be encouraged to take an active role in the education of any general education students in a classroom and vice versa.
- If a co-teaching model is adopted, all teachers should receive professional development in the implementation of this model. Special educators report that they feel as though they are not prepared to implement this role appropriately due to a lack of training, which is reasonable to expect as this model differs greatly from more traditional teaching models. Many teachers, even veterans, simply have little to no experience in this form of classroom. Additionally, care should be made to ensure that the co-teachers have adequate co-planning time.
- The schools should also decide how they are going to utilize their special educators and write school policy codifying this utilization. One of the issues that really impacts a special educator’s ability to provide instruction is their usage and how their time is valued at their school. Special educators can often be removed from their instructional responsibilities to deal with things like IEP meetings or supporting behavior. The more that a special educator is removed from their instructional responsibilities, the lower the quality of instruction that they are able to provide (Matthews et. al 2020). Will the special educators be expected to provide instruction, and if so, what steps will be taken to ensure that they will be given the appropriate teaching and preparation time to provide that service? A school should make these decisions ahead of time to ensure that special educators are being utilized appropriately and effectively.
- Common issues experienced by special educators within a school environment are that general educators can make unreasonable requests of teachers (such as supporting students during the special educators’ lunch breaks) and may not fully understand the fairness of the accommodations and modifications provided by special educators (Alexander & Byrd 2020). The Inclusive Education Liaisons should provide professional development in this area to the schools’ faculty. After the roles of special educators are established by school administration, all teachers should be made aware of the role and how it will or will not impact their current practice. General education teachers should also receive training on the usage of modifications and accommodations, the reasons for them, and how they do and do not impact students.
I am fascinated by the possibility of this role within the district and I hope that it provides students, teachers, and communities with the supports that they need in order to be successful.
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References
Alexander, M., & Byrd, D. R. (2020). Investigating special education teachers knowledge and skills: Preparing general teacher preparation for professional development. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 4(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.2020059790
Bettini, E. A., Crockett, J. B., Brownell, M. T., & Merrill, K. L. (2016). Relationships Between Working Conditions and Special Educators’ Instruction. The Journal of Special Education, 50(3), 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466916644425
Gomez-Najarro. (2020). An Empty Seat at the Table: Examining General and Special Education Teacher Collaboration in Response to Intervention. Teacher Education and Special Education, 43(2), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419850894
Jung, C. (2022, July 14). New Boston Teachers Union Agreement Makes Way for District’s Special Education Expansion Plan. WBUR News. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/07/14/boston-teachers-union-tentative-deal-boston-public-schools
Jung, C. (2022, May 24). Education commissioner asks mayor to ‘step up’ on improvement plan for boston public schools. WBUR News. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/05/24/boston-schools-report-dese-public-meeting-response
Mathews, H. M., Lillis, J. L., Bettini, E., Peyton, D. J., Pua, D., Oblath, R., Jones, N. D., Smith, S. W., & Sutton, R. (2021). Working Conditions and Special Educators’ Reading Instruction for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Exceptional Children, 87(4), 476–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402921999825
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