As schools face ongoing shortages of special education teachers, and as nearly all teachers interact with students receiving some form of SPED services, how can Opportunity Culture® teams help deliver excellent instruction? We’re pleased to share a fully updated vision for SPED MCL™ teams that we first developed a decade ago.
Opportunity Culture® design has always been based on its five principles, and now also uses more detailed certification standards, which can be applied to SPED roles as well. The new design options allow for:
- Excellent instructional leadership: Excellent SPED teachers in the MCL™ role can increase the instructional skill of licensed SPED/EC teachers and general education teachers, through strong, differentiated lessons, practice, observation and coaching, and data-driven lesson improvement.
- Increased direct reach: SPED teachers can reach more students with more paraprofessional help, for higher pay, and/or they can guide other teachers who reach more students or play assisting leadership roles.
- More tutoring: Increased 1:1 and small-group time, built into daily schedules, boosts learning. Having all teaching teams take this approach reduces stigma and supports all students, including those with identified SPED needs.
- Multiple pipelines: New designs enable training more SPED teachers on the job—those already attending SPED licensure courses as teachers, teachers not previously considering a SPED path, and residents and apprentices.
With roles for team leaders in one school or across several, and multiple team roles for inclusion and self-contained classrooms, the guide shows how systems can adapt design to meet their needs.
We will be designing these roles with schools this year and will continue updating materials based on what we learn. Contact us if you want help reaching more students with excellent SPED teaching, or portal subscribers can use the design guidance on their own. Find the full guide with design details in the Opportunity Culture® portal.
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