Transcript Slide 1

Bambi Thompson
Principal
T.C. Walker Elementary, VA
Susan T. Karr
School Services in SpeechLanguage Pathology
American Speech-LanguageHearing Association
Welcome
We will begin at 4:00 EST
Phoebe
Gillespie
National Center to
Improve Recruitment
and Retention of
Qualified Personnel for
Children with Disabilities
(NASDSE)
Principal Practices
Supporting and Retaining
Special Education Staff
and
Related Services Providers
Carol Riley
National Association of
Elementary School Principals
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Principal Practices
Supporting and Retaining
Special Education Staff
and
Related Services Providers
Questions ? 800.386.2377
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Susan T. Karr, M.S., CCC-SLP, Associate Director
School Services in Speech-Language Pathology
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Rockville, MD
Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D., Director
National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified
Personnel for Children with Disabilities
National Association of State Directors of Special Education
Alexandria, VA
Bambi Thompson, Ed.D., Principal
T.C. Walker Elementary, Gloucester, VA
Carol Riley, M.S., Director
Professional Development and National Principal Mentor Certification
Program/National Association of Elementary School Principals
Alexandria, VA
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GOALS
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Identify the critical issues
Explore the current data about personnel
shortages
Identify strategies to improve the
retention rates of special education and
related services staff
Share best practices from a principal in
the field
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Susan T. Karr, M.S., CCC-SLP
Associate Director
School Services in Speech-Language Pathology
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
(ASHA)
Rockville, MD
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National Coalition on Personnel Shortages
in Special Education and Related Services
Over 30 national, state & local
organizations advocating for remedies
to current & anticipated personnel
shortages.
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Who are the Coalition Members?
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American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES)
American Counseling Association (ACA)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)
American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE)
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
The George Washington University Graduate School of Education (GWU)
Higher Education Consortium for Special Education (HECSE)
Montgomery College School of Education (MCSE)
Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA)
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education (MCPS BD of ED)
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Coalition Members, cont’d
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National Association of School Nurses (NASN)
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for
Children with Disabilities (Personnel Improvement Center @ NASDSE))
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (NCCTQ)
National Education Association (NEA)
National School Boards Association (NSBA)
National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health/ Georgetown
University Center for Child and Human Development (Georgetown University)
Prince Georges County Public Schools (PGCPS)
Progressus Therapy, LLC
School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA)
Teach for America
The IRIS Center
University of Maryland (UMD)
Virginia Parent Center on Disability – Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center
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(PEATC)
Who Do We Work With?
 Other organizations such as:
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National Association of
Elementary School Principals
(NAESP)
National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
National School Boards Association (NSBA)
 Infants, children, youth and their families who are
in need of specialized instruction and pupil services
in order to meet their educational potential.
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Who do we represent?
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professionals who work with infants,
children and youth with disabilities
parents
pre-service preparation programs
administrators
school board members
members of state & local departments of
education
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What Do We Do?
 Sharing information across professions
• Monitoring, tracking & collecting data
 Disseminating strategies to improve
policies and practices
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www.special
edshortages.
org
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We advocate
 for support at the local,
state, and federal level to
remedy the shortage of
special education and
related services personnel
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We provide
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information, strategies,
advocacy & support
through…
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Dialogue guide
Webinars
Technical assistance
Personnel data across the
professions
5. Website
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What are the Issues?
SHORTAGES…
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The ratio of elementary students to school counselors
(831:1) is more than three times the recommended
number (250:1).
Shortages of special education teachers are reported
in 98% of our nation’s schools, with the greatest
demand in the poorest schools.
The ratio of students to audiologists (71,555:1) is
more than 7 times the recommended number
(10,000:1).
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STUDENT NEEDS…
Fewer than 1 in 5 of the 17.5 million children in
need of mental health services actually receive
the needed services.
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STAFFING NEEDS…
 There will be a shortage of almost 9,000 school
psychologists in the US by 2010, with a
cumulative shortage of almost 15,000 by 2020.
 From 2005-2006 there was a significant
increase in the need for occupational therapists
and audiologists in schools.
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What is the Impact on
Services?
According to the ASHA Schools Survey,
percentage of SLPs that reported shortages
in their schools has increased as follows:
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2008:
2006:
2004:
2000:
72%
68%
62%
51%
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What is the Impact?, cont’d
 17% of schools with more than
750 students have no registered
nurse on duty.
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Teacher Attrition Issues
 Special education teachers are leaving at a
higher rate than other teachers.
 The highest attrition rates are during the first
5 years of teaching or at retirement.
 The average cost to recruit, hire,
prepare, and then lose a teacher is
$50,000.
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Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D., Director
National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of
Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities
National Association of State Directors of Special Education
(NASDSE)
Alexandria, VA
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What are significant
principals’ actions that
support and retain
special educators and
related services
providers?
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Reference
DiPaola and Walther-Thomas, 2003
Principals and Special Education:
The Critical Role of School Leaders
COPSSE Document No. IB-7
www.copsse.org
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Principals
Produce enhanced outcomes for students
with disabilities and others at risk for school
failure when they:
 focus on instructional issues
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demonstrate administrative support for
specialized instructional support services
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provide high-quality professional
development.
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Principals
Have identified “help and information
about implementing successful special
education and related services”
(or specialized instructional support
services - SISS) as their greatest need.
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Administrators
Are better prepared to provide appropriate
support when they clearly understand:
 the needs of students with disabilities,
 IDEA, and
 the instructional challenges that educators
who work with students with disabilities face.
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Effective Principals
Invest…
in the time necessary to devise policies
and procedures for classroom support
that enables teams to perform their
jobs successfully.
For Example
They…
 ensure manageable workload responsibilities,
 provide high quality professional development
opportunities,
 develop mentoring and induction programs,
 hone progress monitoring skills, and
 are committed to sustained implementation of
effective innovations.
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Supportive Principals
Nurture…
the development of others and build
support networks.
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For Example
They…
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facilitate appropriate student placements and
personnel assignments
ensure teachers and specialists have regularly
scheduled common planning time
promote staff members’ talents and skills
encourage shared leadership
Thoughtful Principals
Foster…
collaboration
and classroom
communication.
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For example
They…
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ensure sufficient resources for all students
with disabilities
provide relevant information to staff and
parents
create role flexibility and shared decisionmaking power.
Skillful Principals
Promote…
research-based instructional models that
incorporate effective teaching and
management skills
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For Example
They…
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develop a working knowledge of
disabilities
understand and facilitate the use
of effective research-based practices
recognize the instructional demands that classroom
teachers and building specialists face
provide more appropriate support to these
professionals.
Building-level support
…from
principals and general
educators has a strong effect on
virtually all critical aspects of
(special education) teachers’
working conditions.
Gersten et.al., 2001
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Bambi Thompson, Ed.D., Principal
T.C. Walker Elementary
Gloucester County School District
Gloucester, VA
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WHAT ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
ISSUES FOR PERSONNEL SHORTAGES IN
YOUR DISTRICT?
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Recruitment programs
Retention practices
Quality of applicants
Principal/administrative support
Support services, including working
conditions/materials/resources, etc.
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Non-negotiable
principles
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High expectations for all students
On-going and high-quality professional
development led by Walker’s faculty
Continuous learning by staff members
Professional Learning Communities built on
collaboration and trust
Principal is an instructional leader
Continuous progress monitoring of programs
and student progress
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Non-negotiable principles
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High expectations for all students
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Non-negotiable principles
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On-going and high-quality professional
development led by members of the
Walker Faculty
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Non-negotiable principles
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Continuous learning by all staff members
Non-negotiable principles
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Professional
Learning
Communities built
on collaboration
and trust
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Non-negotiable principles
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Principal is an instructional leader
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Non-negotiable principles
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Continuous progress monitoring of
programs and student progress
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SEVEN EFFECTIVE
STRATEGIES
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2.
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5.
6.
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Scheduling for students
Planning time
Team meetings
Shared responsibilities
Continuous growth for adults
Staff strengths and student needs
Parents
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Strategy One
1. Teachers of students with disabilities,
related services personnel, general
education teachers and the principal
work together to develop the master
schedule. Students with disabilities and
our most difficult to teach students are
considered in the schedule FIRST!!!!
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Best Practices
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If possible all services provided to students
with disabilities are provided in the
classroom.
Teachers’ and related services personnel’s
experiences and skills are used in creative
ways.
INTERVIEW Mrs. Jackie James-Gray
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Strategy Two and Three
2. Teachers have common-planning time so
that they can adequately plan lessons and
monitor programs and student progress.
3. The principal meets with all grade level
teams and ancillary staff every other week
during their planning times. These team
meetings are designed to discuss student
progress ONLY!
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Strategy Four
4. General educators view special educators
and related services personnel as peers
and rely on their expertise to make critical
decisions about their common students.
They include them in all decision making,
data analysis, progress monitoring and
development of goals and objectives for
shared responsibilities.
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Strategy Five and Six
5. All staff members are encouraged to
continue learning and to obtain
additional degrees and certificates.
6. As the instructional leader, the
principal is aware of the qualifications of
her staff and the upcoming needs of
her students for successful placements.
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Strategy Seven
7. Time is provided for staff members to
collaborate with parents to teach them
how to work with their children at
home. Personnel have video- taped
many of their lessons so that parents
can view a specific skill being taught.
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Staff
Students
School
Community
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Webinar Goals
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Identified the critical issues
Explored the current data about
personnel shortages
Identified strategies to improve the
retention rates of special education and
related services staff
Shared best practices from a principal
in the field
53
Contact Us
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For further information, contact:
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Susan Karr [email protected]
Phoebe Gillespie [email protected]
Carol Riley
[email protected]
Bambi Thompson [email protected]
THANK YOU
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Professional Online
Discussion
March 1-5, 2010
Go to www.personelcenter.org
Click on Workforce Development
Click on Critical Issues and Emerging Trends
Select Challenges and Solutions to Recruiting and
Retaining Personnel
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National Principals Resource Center
http://web.naesp.org/nprc/
Bateman, D., & Bateman, C. F. (2006). A Principal’s guide to special education (2nd edition)
Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
Cooley, M. (2007). Teaching kids with mental health & learning disorders in the regular
classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.
National Association of Elementary School Principals (2008).Leading learning communities:
Standards for what principals should know and be able to do (2nd edition). Alexandria, VA:
NAESP.
Winebrenner, S. (2006). Teaching kids with learning difficulties in the regular classroom.
(2006). Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.
NAESP Convention
April 8-11, 2010 Houston, TX
http://www.naesp.org/2010
NAESP Summer Institute: BrainSMART Leading
for Learning in Culturally Diverse Environments:
Putting Cognitive Research into Practice
July 6-9, 2010, San Diego, CA
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