Scott - School Boards

Applied Educational Research Journal (AERJ) Volume 22 (3) 2009 Human Resource Management and Special Education Administrative Leadership: National Impact Barbara Scott-Ferguson PhD Student in Educational Leadership College of Education Prairie View A & M University Special Education Teacher Dallas Independent School District Dallas, Texas William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Professor and Faculty Mentor PhD Program in Educational Leadership Prairie View A & M University Visiting Lecturer (2005) Oxford Round Table University of Oxford, Oxford, England Distinguished Alumnus (2004) Central Washington University College of Education and Professional Studies David E. Herrington, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Prairie View A&M University Member of the Texas &M University System ABSTRACT Special Education is a process that is intended to provide students with special needs a free and appropriate education. According to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, in its initial function, special education is a system of pragmatic intervention. These interventions, used successfully, will empower students to overcome or compensate for disabilities that hinder learning. Human Resource management and administrators in a school district has the responsibility to employ certified and qualified individuals to promote and provide these special services to the students that are entrusted in our care. Through teacher recruitment and retention strategies, administrators must be advocates and implement resources to achieve success, while producing the correct chemistry for their school, community, and students. Introduction The distress of teacher employment within special education departments across the United States has been an issue that the educational realm has been plagued with for years. The human resource management process within Special Education dictates the qualifications and means in which this department must be organized and ran. The provisions for Special Education are to empower teachers to be a positive resource to students who are receiving services and to provide education with the intentions of getting this population ready to face the real world. Through positive teacher recruitment and retention practices, professional development, training, and hiring standards, teacher turnovers may be minimal, and teacher satisfaction would increase. Purpose of the Article The purpose of this article essay is to discuss how human resource management and the special education department interacts and implements ideas and plans about teacher employment and retention. Teacher retention or the lack of retention in the special education department reflects the accountability issues at the district level and this sometime problematic issue is then transferred to the individual school level. For the administration and the department as a whole, to train and retrain teachers for success, is a full time job, and the students then become secondary. An administration leadership produces what it demands. If a leader monitors excellence and provides positive incentives, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, to its staff, then excellence is what he will receive in return. If a leader demands excellence by control, then the outcome would be disgruntle employees, a high turnover rate as well a dysfunctional establishment. Teacher Retention According to Billingsley, in Special Education Teacher Retention and Attrition: A Critical Analysis of the Research Literature, it was stated that attrition plays a part in the teacher shortage problem, and efforts to improve retention must be informed by an understanding of the factors that contribute to attrition. The teaching profession is designed to educate and touch lives of the students in which we serve. These students derive from a multiplicity of backgrounds which may include children with disabilities, family cultural differences, as well as socially and economically challenge. Education is a field in which we are able to enhance children’s lives and give them the skills that are necessary for them to survive. The retention of special education teachers may stem from the lack of obtaining a diverse accumulation of qualified employees to man the abundant diverse population of students. The problem with locating certified and qualified personnel with different backgrounds tends to enhance teacher shortages and or employment as a whole. In order for a district to survive the shortages of teachers, the needs of such professionals must be met. Teacher retention initiatives are most often based on this recognized need to keep in classrooms those teachers who are qualified and utilize effective teaching strategies, demonstrated by increased student achievement year after year. While some of the dynamics of retention cannot be controlled, e.g., family moves, birth of children, retirement (Billingsley, 2003), implementations of different programs that could address and solve problems that are attributed to attrition, qualified teachers that effectively enhance students success, are more inclined to continue teaching in the special education realm. The Texas State Board of Educator Certification discovered through its Cost of Teacher Turnover study (Texas Center for Educational Research, November 2000) that the cost associated with teacher turnover: …represents a cost to public education beyond the expense of operating schools and is a wasted expense that does not contribute to the education of Texas children…High teacher turnover is a burden of cost and inefficiency to the Texas public school system, and turnover may also affect student performance, particularly in schools where the turnover rate consistently high. (p.1) In particular, special education teachers are more likely to not only stay in their teaching position when building-level conditions is supportive of them professionally, but they are more likely to stay in teaching, per se (Billingsley, 2003). Special Education teachers and retention issues may be alleviated by the utilization of resources, district support, and the contentment of acceptability by school leadership as well as the staff. Why Employees Stay According to Hilebrand (1999), teachers stated that a friendly face and encouraging, supportive feedback could go a long way toward keeping special education teachers on the job. Intangibles such as a feeling of self-esteem and belonging can be powerful motivators. Special educators want to know they are a valuable part of a school's team, and that support from administration helps morale tremendously, and establishing such a base of understanding could help the administrators address more specific complaints from special education staff. In many studies, it was anticipated why the turnover rate is so overwhelming, and finding out what makes them stay would help stop this problem. Teachers often leave the educational environment when the support of the school staff are minimal, mentoring programs that are dysfunctional and working conditions, whether it was structural or personable are unsatisfactory. Getting teachers to stay in the special education field also contributes to how these teachers view the importance of their job is and its appreciation by the administration and other staff. Experienced special education professional and new teachers both agreed that the treatment and respect that they received at the beginning of their career impact the length of their stay within the teaching profession. If new teachers believed that they are overlooked and not valued for the work ethics that they may possess, they are more likely to leave than those who are praised by the school leaders. The support systems that the district could provide to teachers may enhance and influence more college graduates or other professionals to enter the special education field. What Effective Leaders Do An effective leader is one that has a degree of power and influences and uses the appropriate leadership skills to lead his troops or staff. A person that inspires and empowers its staff is a leader that continues to make efforts and improvements to enhance their school environment to fulfill its highest achievement level. Leaders are people that may view their relationships with their staff as being just as imperative as the company itself. Although many leaders have the know- it- all mentality, a number of leaders view and create opportunities to enhance and empower their follower in order to reach their goals. What Effective Leaders Seek An effective leader or servant- leaders seek commitment, knowledge, and the ability to lead their employees to accomplish success. Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to dream great dreams. The ability to look at a problem or an organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. The leader who wishes to also be a servant-leader must stretch his or her thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking are called to seek a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day operational approach( Spears, 2002). Effective leaders seek qualified certified teachers and appropriate classroom materials, in order to educate our students, special education and general education alike, with the most valuable resources available. What Effective Administrators Do An effective administrator, district- wide or school-wide, is one that effectively empowers and enhances their school community. In assuring these practices, different and positive steps towards the special education staff must be adhered to. These steps include how district administrators need to ensure that all special education personnel feel that they can and do participate in all district-wide projects and programs, principals need to present the attitude, “I want you to be here. You are important.” As well as , principals need to be supportive of teacher decisions and provide opportunities for special and general educators to collaborate through teams and cooperative teaching opportunities(Wald, 1998). Other implementations include the ensuring that there are mentoring programs in place throughout an educator’s professional development, reward teachers with appropriate mechanisms, ensure that all education professionals are being treated equitably and to be an advocate in your system to ensure that all education professionals have access to materials ( Wald ,1998). One or perhaps the most important factors would be the communication between the administrators and all personnel, the importance of the special education department and how all those involved are to be included in assuring the achievement of all students. "The biggest key is having special education teachers treated and respected by building administrators as equal to everyone else" (Hillebrand, 1999). In some school districts administrators send special education teachers to training workshops away from the school district and asked to come back and use their newly acquired knowledge to train their peers. Several teachers also stated that mentoring programs also demand administrators that believe in them enough to find funding in the school or district budget to ensure they can be carried out properly. Such active support will most likely come from administrators who have taken the time to understand the challenge of teaching special education students (Hillebrand, 1999). A supportive and positive conducive environment for special education teachers may assist the administration to keep qualified teachers and reduce the high turnover rates that may plague their schools. There are specific aspects of administrator support that are important to special education teachers. Special education teachers know they are supported when a school’s mission and goals are inclusive of all children and when they have been involved in development of these goals. Special educators know they are supported when the school principal or leader participates knowledgeably in the development of a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) or in the resolution of a discipline issue, basing decisions on IDEA (PEFS, 2001). As a special education teacher, the importance of respect for the knowledge and professionalism is vital. If there is no respect from the administrator, first, then there is no unified agenda or admiration for the school culture or venue. Recruitment: Applicant Pools Administrators reported using a variety of methods to recruit special education teachers; most were traditional methods, while others involved new technology and activities. Almost all of the administrators recruiting special education teachers and related service providers in the last 3 years used local publications, contacted educators in other schools, or contacted colleges and universities (Boehner, 2003). Applicants can submit applications and resumes to the school district online. The system has been extended to other States, and those using it have reported success in recruiting regular and special education staff. Their experience suggests that a nationwide system of online recruitment might prove helpful in hiring teachers who are interested in various geographic locations and available late in the hiring season (Boehner, 2003). With the shortage of teachers overall, the fact that qualified special education teachers are at the mist of the dilemma with no recourse available. Although measures are being used, whether it is technological or traditional recruitment practices to alleviate this shortage, there has to be some type of consistence blueprint to make sure all is ensuring teachers that are committed to the promise of educating our children. Recruitment: Hiring Standards The standards for hiring practices in a school district has to be set, consistent and adhered to in order to accomplish the goals of education for our students. Those standards must be met with the same intensity, that all policies are forced to abide by. Standard for any position are highly regarded, but as a special educator, standards in most cases seem to be more intense because if the severity of the students disabilities and their individual rights. Professional in this field have to be empowered with knowledge and valuable resources to provide this population with the best education possible and to do this, hiring standards must be highly regarded. Recruitment: Teacher Certification To ensure quality teacher performances, the school district has to set criteria’s in which teachers follow certain qualification to hold these important positions. Certifications for teaching positions are set up by a board of education in each state, which may set additional stipulations along with the traditional program to fill each vacancy. These criteria included full certification for the students, subjects, and grade levels to be taught; at least an emergency or temporary State certification or endorsement for the specific teaching assignment; graduation from a State-approved teacher education program; a college major or minor that matches the teaching assignment; and the passage of a State test of basic skills (Boe, Bobbitt, & Cook, 1996). All 50 States and the District of Columbia require special education teachers to be licensed. The State board of education or a licensure advisory committee usually grants licenses, and licensure varies by State. In some States, special education teachers receive a general education credential to teach kindergarten through grade 12. However, many States require a master’s degree in special education, involving at least 1 year of additional course work, including a specialization, beyond the bachelor’s degree. Often a prospective teacher must pass a professional assessment test as well. Some States have reciprocity agreements allowing special education teachers to transfer their licenses from one State to another, but many others still require that experienced teachers reapply and pass licensing requirements to work in the State (U.S. Dept. of Labor, 2006). Many states also offer alternative routes to licensing, since there are not enough graduates from education programs to meet the needs of most schools. Alternative licensure programs are intended to attract people into teaching who do not fulfill traditional licensing standards, including recent college graduates who did not complete education programs and those changing from another career to teaching (U.S. Dept. of Labor, 2006). This Commission strongly believes in the teaching profession, yet we find that existing state systems of teacher licensure for special educators, with their various provisions for alternative, provisional and emergency certification, must be radically overhauled. While all 50 states and the District of Columbia require special education teachers to be licensed, the form and content of that licensing procedure varies greatly. Whether that license is in addition to a general education credential varies widely from state to state (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2002). Recruitment: Assessment/Teacher Evaluation School administrators continue evaluate the staff consistently to ensure that the job demands of a particular position are consistent with the knowledge, interests, and skills, of the employee in the position (Wald, 1998). Teacher assessments, in the wake of recruitment strategies, are used in order to focus on the potential employee’s personality traits along with any and all educational credential that the prospect may hold. Other assessments or evaluation are documents that may be used in the hiring practices as well as the termination of an educator. Recruitment: Induction Pre-service Successful induction programs include mentoring or coaching that is individualized to the needs of the teacher, the classroom and the subject/level assignment. They provide continuing assistance and ongoing guidance by an expert in the field, support development of knowledge and skills, provide opportunities for reflection, acculturate the new teacher into the profession and the school, provide opportunities for new teachers to observe and analyze good teaching, and include assessment of the program’s value to new teachers and its impact on student learning (Berry, et.al., 2002). To make available such induction programs, equips new teachers with the opportunity to find guidance and support from knowledgeable sources while bestowing a stable foundation for excellence. Recruitment: On-The-Job Pre-service The current system of pre-service and in-service education is not sufficient to produce personnel who can ensure students with disabilities achieve satisfactory outcomes. The high rate of attrition for both general and special education teachers is partly attributable to this less than robust system. All too often, curricula and methodologies utilized in colleges of education are not empirically connected to improved student achievement. And, too often, professional development offered to new and veteran teachers is inadequate in impacting student achievement. The Commission finds that both pre-service and professional development training must ensure that instruction in pedagogy is research-based and linked directly to student learning and achievement (U.S. Dept. of Education. 2002). Pre-service or on- the- job training that is available for new teachers, is indicative of student and teacher success. The special education department must provide in-service activities to assure updated information and compliance issues current and implemented in the most efficient manner. Many special education programs share attributes of effective general teacher preparation programs. Moreover, unified teacher education programs (i.e., integrated special/general education programs) more closely resemble all the attributes of effective teacher education programs, and may be better positioned to help students in general and special education develop the skills noted above(U.S. Dept. of Education., 2002). While introducing preparation programs for students with special needs, the general educators, as well as special education teachers, must find a unified front to provide all students with inclusive practices and achievement strategies to promote success. Recruitment: Mentoring According to special education teachers, especially for new teachers, mentoring and training programs would make a difference. Mentoring programs are those that should be locally school based to provide any teacher with a structured system in educating their students. Teachers that participate in the mentoring programs have a tendency to come out with a sense if achievement for their students as well as themselves. Depending on each district, mentoring programs are utilized in different formats and purposes with a certain percentages of employees enrolled in some type of initiative. These mentoring induction programs can equip new teachers with the materials needed to provide quality education to special education students while providing extra assistance to the professional staff. In addition, the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality, reported that districts that are developing induction and mentoring programs with well designed assessment and support components are producing positive retention trends for all teachers (Berry, Hopkins-Thompson, & Hoke, 2002) Mentoring programs can mostly be beneficial to new teachers, as well as struggling veteran teachers that may have fallen in a complacent space, with no adherence to the new population, due to changes in the demographics that may occur. Whitaker (2000) found that beginning special education teachers who had mentors that they rated as effective were more likely to remain in special education. These mentors had the following characteristics:      They were special educators. They met with the new teacher frequently. They provided emotional support. They conveyed system information related to the teaching environments and to special education. They informed the new teacher of materials and resources. Recruitment: Professional Development and Improvement In amending IDEA in 1997, Congress reasserted its support for high-quality, intensive professional development that will give personnel the knowledge and skills they need to help students meet challenging education goals and lead productive, independent lives (Boehner, §601(c), (5)(E),2003). Professional development is a positive way to improve and give teachers other avenues to establish resources and strategies into the classroom. When recruiting teachers the district must provide teachers with opportunities for professional development, and opportunities to work on school-wide committees. Provide professional development opportunities related to teaching educators advocacy skills and general management skills, such as scheduling, and other technical aspects of their positions, and ensure that there are communication mechanisms within the district to share information. Ensure that there are system-wide professional development programs in place that are accessible to all personnel (Wald, 1998). School districts and /or individual schools that incur students that are from families with a low socioeconomic background, tend to have more of a difficult time recruiting professional staff. Most teachers that are employed in these areas are usually those that have either worked in other professions or majored and graduated with degrees in other fields. Although urban schools with high poverty rates are more inclined not to be able to retain teachers, these schools in many ways may benefit from the professional arena that some of the newly certified teachers derive from, and the resources and experiences that may accompanied them into the classroom. Teacher preparation must be seen as a career-long continuum of development. Professional development does not end with a basic credential in teacher education. , the content of professional development must always be linked to empirically validated methodologies and content that is related to improving student achievement ( U.S Dept. of Education, 2002). Teacher participation in professional development activities also helps one to retrieve outside materials and collaboration from others that may not have been available otherwise. Recruitment: Compensation Special education teachers usually come into education to become a tool and a support system for students that are challenged with special needs and obstacles. Although money could not account for the work that is being done for these students, the increase in salaries and incentives could be the saving grace on why they would stay. A special education teacher, in any subject, who is subjected to low salaries, unfavorable environments, with an overload of responsibilities without supportive leaders are more likely to find employment in another district or professional arena. In most districts, special education teachers are paid an additional stipend along with their regular salary and the dilemma is that the stipends aren’t worth the work that it takes to adhere to policy and compliance within this department. Recruitment: Hiring Packages In planning for a teacher retention initiative, administrators must also consider district-wide policies and practices designed to reduce costs for salaries, such as early retirement initiatives and the subsequent reduced costs of salaries for less experienced teachers. Another recruitment tool that has been promoted by some educators is the use of incentives such as signing bonuses, placing newly hired personnel on a higher step of the salary schedule, providing an increase in base salaries or other raise in salary through reclassification, or/and providing additional fringe benefits. Insufficient salary and benefits were more often viewed as a barrier by the poorest districts than by more wealthy districts (Boehner, 2003). Great hiring packages may be an asset to any district while motivating those prospective employees with programs and benefits that they could actually use. To offer such initiatives will have an enormous impact on the preservation of teachers continuing to provide services in the classroom. Recruitment: Training Our nation is less likely to serve children with disabilities well because of our failure to appropriately train, recruit and mentor special education teachers. This will not only undermine our efforts to increase the achievement of students with disabilities; it will frustrate our efforts to improve our schools and increase the academic achievement of all children. Federal funds supporting teacher-training programs must be competitively awarded to institutions of higher education to develop, maintain and sustain high-quality personnel preparation programs rather than the current practice of funding different shortterm programs. Supporting an ever-changing series of “innovative” programs at the expense of long-term support for quality teacher training programs has not resulted in sufficient numbers of new special education teachers entering the classroom (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2002). Training through recruitment practices and teacher retention preserves the integrity of the profession as a whole. To effectively train special education teachers, administrators must take the exertion to provide appropriate programs not only on the local level, but the state level as well. Recruitment: Management and Performance The Philadelphia Education Fund study (2001) noted that schools that had a low turnover of teachers had principals whom demonstrated the following skills and management styles:      implementing a strong induction program that reflected the principal’s personal involvement in meeting with new teachers, implementing a strong induction program that reflected the principal’s personal involvement in meeting with new teachers, having her/his office open for conversations, assigning new teachers classroom rosters that were not heavily weighted with challenging students, and providing mentors early in the school year; overseeing a safe and orderly school environment with active support for teachers on disciplinary issues; maintaining a welcoming and respectful administrative approach toward all staff, the children, their parents and school visitors; developing the leadership skills of school staff; and providing materials and supplies to all teachers in a consistent, timely and inclusive manner. A management style grounded in respect for all in the school environment, along with strong communication and interpersonal skills and effective organizational strategies, encourages all teachers to feel supported and gain a commitment to the school and to their responsibilities. Performing such management skills within the educational organization environment, maintains some type of order and consistent behavior along with an overall inventiveness for all that are providing services within the special education arena. Concluding Remarks In conclusion, the human resource management and the special education department, together has to make extra efforts in assuring that the education and the servicing of our students are being done. Teacher retention and recruitment strategies have to be the first approach to hiring qualified teachers and keeping them. Maintaining great special education teachers starts on the local campuses and the administration. With positive attitudes and implementations of different and useful professional development, teachers would more likely continue to find satisfaction in this field. Students are the most important factor of education. Special education students are what make the schools, and society, a unique and different realm. With teachers, whether general education or special education, the understanding that students lives depend on how we teach them, and how the knowledge, and inspiration from these lessons may be beneficial to their survival instinct, even through the madness of the real world. References Berry, B., Hopkins-Thompson, P. & Hoke, M. (2002). Assessing and supporting new teachers: Lessons from the Southeast. The Southeast Center for Teaching Quality. Billingsley, B. S. (2003). Special education teacher retention and attrition: A critical analysis of the literature. 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