Special Education Teachers today have more than enough on their plates, never mind instruction. As researcher Kimberly J. Vannest (Texas A & M), discovered in her study, only 20% of the class time was used for teaching (Vannest, 2012). Special Education programs have seen many changes over the past decade. These changes have been mostly due to the amendment and reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 2001. One of the most significant changes to be made for special education programs has been a closer alignment of special education to the general education in curriculum goals, structure of the teaching environment, and accountability assessments (Brown & Rude, 2006). It’s still surprising that little is actually known about these changes, and the affect on children with disabilities from a research standpoint. If you ask teachers and parents it seems clear that there are many discrepancies in whether or not these significant changes have made special education better for kids.
Inclusion, which differs from mainstreaming or integration, recognizes the child’s right to be around students without disabilities. Inclusion does not mean that the child must be ready to sit and learn with non-disabled students. In the past ten years, there has been a large movement towards inclusion. These changes have been observed on federal and state levels. However, as history will tell us these ideas will take time to fully benefit to kids. School districts that have adopted this model for students with disabilities are still educating teachers and training teachers on how to support the students. Some school districts have adopted a slower gradual model for change while others have embrace an accelerated model (change in 1-2 years). There are consequences to both approaches. Multiple service delivery structure coexist in many or even most schools today, invalidating any simple summary of what words or what the “gold standard” is.
According to Vannest (2012), There are many factors that go beyond the classroom, such as regulations and mandates, which determine the extent to which a special educator actively teaches versus provides indirect support. As mentioned earlier, this indirect support takes up much of the school day. Special education teacher provide consultation to other teachers, staff and parents. They also spend time co-teaching courses along side general education teachers. The model below is an example of effective co-teaching instruction.
Models like these are still infrequent. According to Vannest (2012), special education teachers still spend much of their time on tasks other than direct instruction. Additionally, special education teacher spend a large part of their day with case management responsibilities. The average special education teacher is responsible for case managing 15-30 students with disabilities. If each of these students have 1-2 IEP meetings a year the teacher is doing to be removed from the classroom to attend and manage those IEPs. Thanks a lot of responsibility, but more importantly for the student, time away from instruction. The responsibilities include but are not limited to; evaluations, managing IEPS, ensuring proper accommodations are given, and the logistics of ensuring students with disabilities are learning.
Today the empirical evidence is lacking for describing what teachers actually spend their time doing. As mentioned in the study above, it is surprising how little time special education teacher actually spend teaching. There is however, a large variability from district to district. It is important for parents to always ask the questions. Finding out what your child’s teacher spends his or her time doing will help understand various aspects of the instruction model and time spent teaching. I’ve met many great teachers with compassion and knowledge for teaching students with disabilities. However, the current system that teachers work in can vary in amount of time teaching and instructing from district to district. What’s the point in have an amazing teacher he/she is spending the day writing IEPs instead of directly supporting learning.
Rienzi Haytasingh
