Connections: Substitute Teaching

To Substitute, or Not to Substitute?

Katie Nash was just months shy from graduating from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, when she reported to one of the city’s middle schools for a substitute teaching assignment.

Despite her college training, as well as former careers in both the military and the business world, Nash was nervous and unaware of what to expect. The teacher she was filling in for had left vague lesson plans, but no clear instructions on what to do. The students were watching Nash’s every move for any sign of weakness.

“I was disoriented at first,” she recalls. “I wanted to run out the door. But then I realized I had the skills to do what I needed to do.”

Nash quickly employed the classroom management techniques she learned in college to take control of the classroom and develop a rapport with students. But the experience left a burning question in her mind: How can people substitute without some kind of education background or training?

“I got the call to substitute just one day after completing a district orientation session, which included filling out the necessary administrative paperwork,” she says. “There was no one-on-one interview, and no training. The district considered the time spent filling out forms as their ‘orientation.’ It made me so thankful for what I learned in college.”

This quick-hire approach is common, as school districts across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to find and retain sufficient numbers of qualified substitute teachers. A wave of retiring teachers, a booming economy that siphons off candidates, and the push for smaller class sizes have reduced the number of certified teachers in the substitute pool.

In a recent national survey by the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University, 56 percent of district officials said substitute availability was a “serious problem.” What does this mean to you? That you’ll be welcomed with open arms into the substitute pool.

Adriana Novekosky says substitute teaching has been a blessing. After graduating from Geneva College in Pennsylvania, she spent a full year substitute teaching. Unable to find a full-time teaching job and unwilling to relocate out of state, she averaged three job offers a day, subbing nearly every day throughout five different districts.

“It’s a great learning experience,” she says. “I get to see what the different schools are like, and where I might get a job.”

But Karen Rodland, a senior at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, says those wanting to capitalize on the substitute shortage should be cautious.

Recent graduates often get caught in the substitute mill, says Rodland, where they do the teaching and planning but don’t get paid accordingly.

�That’s why from California to Connecticut, substitutes are uniting to advocate for better pay, benefits, grievance procedures, and training. In some states, substitutes are part of their NEA local. And in July 2000, more than 60 substitute teachers convened the newly formed National Substitute Teachers Alliance. One of the hottest topics discussed: the need for more training.

“At the very least, substitutes should be trained in how to read lesson plans and what to do on those awful days when they arrive and find no lesson plan at all,” says Rodland.

Ultimately, each individual has to decide whether or not he’s ready. “It’s a wonderful experience,” says Nash. “But it isn’t something to rush into. You just have to know in your heart that it’s something you want to do.”

Tomorrow's Teachers

Substitute Teaching Resource List

National Substitute Teachers Alliance
The homepage of this new organization of substitute teachers, with great links to articles, sub discussion groups, and more.

Substitute teaching Institute
This Institute, housed at Utah State University, researches substitute teaching issues, including training and managing substitutes.

Substitute Stories
A free net-book written by a substitute teacher and aimed at people who are considering a substitute teaching career.

Subbing Tips
This site is filled with tips for substitutes.

School Locator
Need to find a school? The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics provides an online national public school and school  district locator.

Teacher Chats
Teachers.Net offers live professional development and chat meetings on most Monday through Thursday evenings.If you want to inquire about working conditions or talk about curriculum, log on to this site.

Tech Help
AskLN is dedicated to helping educators use technology in the classroom. Ask a question and you’ll get an answer from an educator-mentor.

Free Lessons
A free service provided by Turner Learner-CNN, PBS Online, and USA Today Education online, offering lesson plans and classroom activities based on current events.

Scholastic
One of the world’s largest educational publishers includes lesson plans, interactive Web activities, and live author interviews on this site.

Grantwriting
Looking for grant money? This site offers grantwriting tips and resources.

About Beginning Teachers
This site for new teachers is divided into elementary and secondary sections and offers everything from message boards to lesson plans. The site also features online diaries from beginning teachers.

Info You Can Use
Teacher Magazine’s March 2000 databank includes everything from school conditions to teaching opportunities.

Job Leads
The Academic Employment Site offers a listing of teaching jobs throughout the United States. The site also lists certification requirements by state.

New Teacher
New Teacher is a full-service resource site for education students, student teachers, and first-year teachers, offering lesson plans, teaching tips, and hot links to education Web sites.

Campus Connections: Substitute Teaching

Should all substitute teachers be certified?

NO
As our country proceeds into the new millennium, we continue to stress the importance of a quality education. For many, that means focusing solely on improving teaching quality, which overlooks the importance of improving substitute teacher quality as well. Some states, in an attempt to address the issue of quality subs, require their substitutes to be certified. But I believe that this isn’t necessarily the best solution.

Michigan doesn’t require substitute teachers to be certified, yet it has what I consider the ideal standards for substitute teachers: A person must have 90 credit hours before he or she may begin substituting.

Some may argue that circumventing certification is conducive to producing less qualified substitutes. But Michigan’s standard is high enough to produce quality subs, yet not so high that it discourages students from seeking out positions as substitutes.

If a state were to require certification in order to sub, that would add to the substitute shortage. Many students would begin searching for full-time teaching positions and only pick up a subbing job if nothing else were available. This would subject states to an even greater sub shortage––and not enough subs reduces teacher quality.

I enjoyed subbing because I was able to get into a classroom and really teach! My subbing experience has helped me see that teaching is definitely the career that I want to pursue. I have also spoken with college students who have had the opposite experience. They were education majors who changed their minds after subbing.

The subbing experience has been good for us, and it’s been good for the educational system in our state. Michigan’s standards for substitute teachers have helped to weed out people who do not have a passion for teaching. If someone had to wait to be certified to sub, it might be too late.

YES
Throughout the last three years, I’ve gained valuable teaching experience by observing local public school educators and volunteering in their classrooms. I’ve� also met numerous college students who had the opportunity to substitute teach while pursuing their education degrees. These experiences allowed me to have a better understanding of public education.

�In some states, to be a substitute teacher, an individual needs only a minimum of a high school diploma and/or a certain number of college credits. I find this absurd, because these people do not have the appropriate credentials and lack the experience and education to teach children.

A high-quality teacher understands children and knows how to assist with learning. A substitute teacher with minimal education, especially lacking college credits in education, is simply unqualified to teach. How can we put unqualified substitutes in charge of children? We cannot! Children are our future and we should provide them with the best education.

Public school students need substitute teachers who are current in the following teaching areas: they must know and follow the district’s goals and objectives; employ teaching strategies that are responsive to different learners, such as special education and gifted students; Implement proper classroom management techniques; and establish appropriate assessment tools to measure student development.

When substitute teachers have these attributes, then we will have substitute teachers who are qualified to teach in our public schools. I cannot emphasize enough that our public schools must not employ student teachers who are not education majors. Through my experiences observing in the public schools, I noticed unqualified substitute teachers who could not control their classrooms. Putting such unqualified adults in the classroom results in a poor education for our children and leaves a black mark on our profession.

Tomorrows Teachers: Substitute Teaching

Ask the Expert

Are you thinking about substituting? If you are, you may want to check out a new NEA report, Substitute Teachers: A Nationwide Study. Tomorrow’s Teachers asked NEA Teaching and Learning’s Sylvia Seidel to tell us more about the study, and explain why both student members and new teachers should care about its findings.

Why did NEA conduct this study, and what is in it? The study reports information collected from local and state affiliates and state departments of education on the status of substitute teaching in public schools. It also highlights innovations that have alleviated substitute shortages, presents data on substitute teacher pay and utilization, and summarizes state credentialing, licensing, and training requirements.

We conducted the study as a direct result of two new business items that were passed by members at the 1998 and 1999 NEA Representative Assemblies.

What are some highlights?

The study revealed many issues, including the tremendous variation in both pay and training requirements for substitute teachers across the country. Because each school district hires its own substitutes, pay ranges between $40 and $142 a day. Most substitutes are paid on the lower end of the scale––some would qualify for federal food stamps if they had to depend exclusively on their per diem teaching income.

The research also confirmed that there’s a severe shortage of substitute teachers across the country. Because of this, more than half the states have waived requirements and lowered standards. In some places it takes only a high school diploma and a background check to become a substitute. I know of a high school physics class where the substitute had only his GED. He knew nothing about physics, and yet he was expected to teach those students. Situations like that are more common than we think, and it’s an injustice to children.

How do these findings affect student teachers?

I know many teachers who got their start substituting because it provides an opportunity to hone skills, to be part of a learning community, and to see what actually happens in classrooms and schools.

But something that surfaced from the research raises great concerns. We found many districts are circumventing teacher contracts by hiring long-term substitutes instead—including recent graduates. In essence, this means some new teachers are being taken advantage of. They are doing all of the work as a regular teacher yet they aren’t getting paid at the certified teacher rate. They also don’t receive benefits or pro-fessional development opportunities. We have enough new teachers who leave the profession. Without adequate pay, equal rights, or respect, that number will grow.

Students who are planning to substitute should read the report to get a realistic, validated understanding of what they could face.

Why is this an issue all educators should be concerned with?

For a long time, we thought of subbing as simply a holding station until the teacher returned. But it’s not that way anymore. Today, substitutes are in our classrooms for long stretches of time because of the tremendous teacher shortage. And fewer than 10 percent of school districts offer any kind of basic substitute training, which means there are lots of substitutes out there who have absolutely no experience. We need to reassess how this impacts our children.

Teacher Quality Resource List

NEA Today
Want to stay current on classroom issues? Don’t forget to check out NEA Today’s Web site for a wide range of articles—interviews with innovators, feature stories, and news you can use.

Twenty-first Century Teaching
The 21st Century Teachers Network (21CT) is a nationwide, nonprofit initiative of the McGuffey Project, dedicated to helping K-12 teachers learn, use, and effectively integrate technology in the curriculum for improved student learning.

InspiringTeachers.com
Looking for help and support from people who’ve been in your shoes? This site is dedicated to helping beginning teachers find the resources and support they need. The site also has a student and substitute teacher page that includes a Beginning Teachers’ Tool Box.

TeachNet
Looking for support? Teachnet continues to support classroom teachers across the United States. You can talk with other teachers, access resources and grant information, and much, much more. TeachNet is the official site of IMPACT II, the teachers’ network nonprofit organization.

New Teacher’s Guide to the Department of Education
Daunted by the maze of the U.S. Department of Education? Here’s a helpful road map for you to navigate, plus a treasure trove of resources, reports, and links.

TeachersNet
An expansive online resource guide offering interviews and chats with some of teaching’s leading experts, plus resources, Web tools, chat rooms, and more.

Teacher Magazine
Looking for the latest news on teaching? Check out Teacher Magazine for in-depth stories on a wide variety of issues. You’ll find legislative news, profiles of classroom teachers making a difference in their classrooms and communities, and grants you’d like to apply for.

TeacherWeb.com
This site will help you create your own Web site and classroom bulletin board. You’ll receive helpful pointers and guidance on how to reach parents. You’ll also be able to exchange lesson plans and Web site ideas with teachers around the country.

EdWeb Homeroom
This site was voted one of the best online education sites for educators interested in the latest on education reform. You can get regional news and updates on curriculum’s hot topics.

Education Resource Network
This site features help for K-6 educators on everything from brain-based education to multiple intelligences.

Campus Connections: Teacher Quality

Will You Be Prepared to Teach?

Tina Nicpan, a senior at Illinois State University, confesses: "I don’t learn well by listening to professors lecture. My education classes have taught me the basics, but it’s the real-world learning that has truly prepared me to teach."

Nicpan’s revelation reflects a concern on the minds of many education students today: How is what I’m learning in school directly relevant to the reality of teaching?

In the report A Sense of Calling: Who Teaches and Why, 56 percent of more than 900 recent education graduates polled by the nonprofit organization Public Agenda said colleges spend too much time on education theory and do not focus enough on practical experience. More than 60 percent said their education schools did only a "fair" or "poor" job readying them for the stresses of teaching.

Jennifer Petrini, who’s working toward her credential at California State University, Dominguez Hills, isn’t surprised by the research results.

"A lot of my coursework focuses on the philosophies of teaching," she says. "I keep asking myself if this will be enough to prepare me for the real-life issues I’ll face once I get into my own classroom."

Petrini’s concern is echoed by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), a coalition of 33 professional associations -- including NEA -- working to establish high-quality teacher preparation programs through professional accreditation. In recent years, NCATE has required university and P-12 school faculty to develop "professional development schools." These schools are similar in concept to teaching hospitals, where students take graduate-level courses in the art and science of teaching while working daily with a mentor teacher, much as an intern works with a veteran doctor. The mentor teachers also lead some of the graduate-level courses.

Programs at San Jose State University in California, Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City, and Baylor University in Texas are examples of the growing movement. But until professional development schools become more widespread, many future teachers still wonder what they can do now to bridge the gap between academia and reality. Tina Nicpan was one of them.

"I wanted -- needed, really -- to supplement what my professors were teaching in the lecture hall," says the past chair of the Illinois Student Education Association. "Then it came to me: Who better to both bridge that gap and offer students lessons in reality than recently retired teachers?"

Nicpan took her vision of a student/retired mentor program to the state retired Association and received immediate support. After both groups secured grants, the students and retirees paired up in teams. Today, more than 1,300 student members work with retired mentors on a weekly basis through phone calls, E-mail, and in person. The mentor/mentee pairs remain together until the student graduates.

"It’s the perfect situation," says Nicpan. "Retirees have the time to work with us, to listen to us vent, to answer our questions, to give us advice."

At Virginia’s Christopher Newport University, senior Shannon Bertrand brings local K-12 teachers onto campus twice a semester to lead professional development workshops for current and future teachers.

"It’s definitely paid off," says Bertrand. "After each workshop we spend time asking the classroom teachers how what we are learning in school really applies to the classroom. Their advice has been invaluable."

"Learning textbook theories in college is important," says Nicpan. "But the key to real success is finding ways to put those theories into practice before graduation."

Campus Connections : Teacher Quality

Should Schools Require A Fifth Year of Training?

NO
As someone who’s reaping the benefits of a very strong four-year program, I don’t think a five-year program would offer students any added benefits. A four-year program can provide students with the information they need in order to be a great and qualified teacher.

I currently attend Texas Tech University, where I spend three semesters learning how to best meet the needs of all students while in the classroom. The fourth semester is devoted totally to student teaching. These "blocks" of education courses are very well organized to equip pre-service teachers with the information we need to know. By the time I student teach in the fall, I am confident that I’ll have all the knowledge I need to take on a classroom by myself.

College and universities all over this nation also need to realize the major teacher shortage schools are facing. Requiring students to have an extra year of school only adds to that shortage.

Besides causing our public school systems to wait an extra year for teachers, tacking on a fifth year adds an enormous financial cost to students. A full year of college can cost anywhere from $3,000 to tens of thousands, depending on your college. Is it fair to make students incur this extra cost?

Let’s face it: Four-year programs have been used successfully for years. Why, when we are facing the largest teacher shortage ever, should we change the program? A five-year program won’t solve any problems. It will just add to them.

YES
Here in California, a fifth year of education and training is mandatory for all students going into the teaching profession, and I think it makes a major difference to prospective teachers. During this important fifth year, you have the opportunity to student teach for an extended period of time and work more closely with mentor teachers.

When you weigh an entire year of student teaching as opposed to the typical 10-week period, you can see the benefits of the extra year.

In California, we also have a teacher-training cadre that works closely with student teachers and beginning teachers. These veteran teachers are able to observe us in the classroom and offer their suggestions for improvement. This period is also an important time to become accustomed to the challenges faced by teachers every day. You can see what happens throughout the school year and understand student behavior much better.

Having that extra year to train, I believe, will cut down on the burnout that is reported so often in young teachers. Having a year to work alongside a mentor teacher will allow me to refine my skills and discover new ways of teaching.

I understand it could be a hardship for some, but I believe the sacrifice is worth it. You can’t become a great teacher without facing down some of the challenges of the profession.

That said, I would love to see student teachers actually paid for student teaching, or at least receive a stipend. We could have the best of both worlds, and those students would truly benefit.

Campus Connections: Teacher Quality

Ask the Expert

The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) works to improve how America prepares its teachers by accrediting colleges and universities that meet national standards. Nearly 600 education programs -- which prepare two-thirds of the nation’s teachers -- are accredited, including most state universities. As vice president for institutional relations, Boyce Williams works with universities and colleges pursuing NCATE accreditation. For more, visit www.ncate.org

Why is ncate now focusing on "performance-based" standards? What are they? Performance-based standards answer the questions asked by every parent with a child in a new teacher’s classroom: How does the new teacher know what she is teaching? And how will my child learn what she is teaching?

It’s not enough these days for new teachers to simply know academic subject material. They have to know how to teach it to children with different learning styles. They have to both know their material and show that they know what to do with it. We want to know whether new educators can actually cause children to learn. Multiple assessment measures -- such as videotaping lessons, evaluating portfolios and journals, and testing student knowledge -- all help candidates learn how to teach to a variety of learning styles.

Why is accreditation so important?

The answer comes down to one thing: accountability. Accreditation is the ultimate measure of quality in new teachers, like a professional seal of approval, because it assures the public across the board -- parents, business leaders, policy-makers -- that candidates coming out of a particular institution have been prepared to teach using rigorous national standards that have been designed by the profession.

There are some programs that aren’t accredited that adequately prepare new teachers, but research has found that accredited programs produce the best teachers. Hospitals don’t hire doctors unless they’ve graduated from accredited schools; someday the same might be said for teachers. By holding teacher preparation programs to high standards, we are assuring the public that they can be confident in new teachers.

How does accreditation help connect tomorrow’s teachers with today’s classrooms?

One of the largest components of our standards is the importance of field experience -- both for education professors and education students. We now expect faculty to be in local public schools working with teachers, and to be inviting them into their classrooms to help facilitate case studies. We expect education students to have multiple experiences in a variety of local schools.

Through accreditation, we are slowly changing the view that students learn best while sitting in a classroom. You can’t become a good teacher if this is how you are taught. For so long, the culture has valued this type of exchange, but since accreditation places such an emphasis on hands-on work, we’re helping change the culture. Field experiences are rewarded and valued, as they should be.

What is the accreditation process?

To gain NCATE accreditation, an institution must meet standards that are set by teachers and other educators through a process that involves all education stakeholders. We make sure several things are in place -- for example, that there are criteria to monitor and evaluate teacher candidates, that the institution is state accredited, that the program they are delivering is grounded in research, and that the school has a belief about the teachers they are preparing.

Inclusion Resources

IDEA Practices
This site should be your first stop if you want to know more about inclusion and special education. The site offers a wide range of articles, interviews, site links, and more.

IDEA at 25
IDEA25th/ The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation celebrated the 25th anniversary of this landmark legislation by launching Lessons for All: IDEA 25th Anniversary Web site. The site details the history of the act and offers stories, resources, and news.

Special Ed Resource Center
The Federal Resource Center for Special Education offers contact information for regional centers, as well as links to state departments of special education. You’ll be able to find out what’s happening in your state or region just by accessing this site. You’ll also be able to identify projects and grant resources related to special education.

National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education
NCPS gathers, organizes, and disseminates information for recruiting, preparing, and retaining those interested in serving children with disabilities.

The Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children is a non-profit advocacy organization that has dedicated itself to guaranteeing quality education for children with special needs. The site offers materials, Web links, networks, and more.

Center for Minority Research in Special Education
This center supports researchers in special education from historically Black colleges and universities and other minority institutions of higher education.

National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators
NCITE advances the quality and effectiveness of technology, media, and materials for individuals with disabilities.

Make it Happen!
This site seeks to improve middle school education for children with diverse learning abilities.

Dispute Resolution
This consortium for dispute resolution in special education offers information and networking opportunities for those working in special ed classrooms.

Quality Education For Minorities
For years, minorities were placed in special ed classrooms in disproportionate numbers. QEM is dedicated to improving the education of African Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans.

Help Is at Hand
The American Psychological Association offers a "Help Center" on the Web, with information on stress in adults and children.

Virtual Resource Center
This center examines behavioral disorders and offers educators a wide range of information and materials, plus Web links to other organizations working in this field.

Classroom Resources
This Web site offers thematic resources for K-12 educators in every field.

Council for Exceptional Children
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities and gifted students.

Office of Special Education Programs
This federal office oversees all programs and funding related to special education and the IDEA.

Parent Advocacy Coalition for Education Rights
PACER is another organization dedicated to improving and expanding opportunities for children and young adults with disabilities.

Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative
The Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative is a leadership development and technical assistance effort designed to support urban school district administrators who are responsible for managing education programs for students with disabilities.

Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders
CCBD is an international professional organization committed to promoting and facilitating the education and general welfare of children and youth with behavioral and emotional disorders.

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice
This organization identifies promising programs and practices for children with serious emotional disturbance.

National Center for Learning Disabilities
NCLD is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and adults with learning disabilities and promoting greater understanding of learning disabilities. NCLD provides resources, training materials, and links to other organizations.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 96,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.

National Association of School Psychologists
This organization is dedicated to creating and maintaining educationally and psychologically healthy environments for all children.

National Association of State Directors of Special Education
Look here for the latest trends in special education and inclusion. The organization consists primarily of administrators, but its news and resource materials are helpful to teachers as well.

Federal Resource Center for Special Education
The Federal Resource Center offers contact information for all federal projects on special education.

National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education
Everything you always wanted to know about the field of special education is here.

Federation for Children with Special Needs
The Federation is a center for parents and parent organizations that work together on behalf of children with special needs and their families.

Council of Administrators of Special Education
CASE is a division of the Council of Exceptional Children. The organization assists local administrators who oversee special education programs and includes students studying to be special education administrators.

Center for Special Education Finance
This organization addresses policy questions and information requests regarding the delivery and support of special education services.

National Head Start Association
NHSA is dedicated to enhancing Head Start, a federally-funded program of services for poor children from birth to age five and their families.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
This clearinghouse offers a comprehensive listing of literature and resources regarding children and adults who have disabilities, are gifted, or both.

Campus Connections: Inclusion

Has The Push For Inclusion Gone Too Far?

NO
I think inclusion provides a wonderful learning opportunity for all students, so I don’t think the push for inclusion has gone too far. With the proper support, an inclusive classroom can provide students with experiences they wouldn’t get in a traditional classroom.

All children are blessed with amazing abilities. Some children also have disabilities. Regardless, children learn from one another. Children with disabilities provide all children with rich learning opportunities on a daily basis.

For inclusion to work, there needs to be more than one teacher in the classroom. In an ideal inclusive classroom, there would be at least one regular education teacher, one special education teacher, and one paraprofessional. This minimum support is necessary to provide every student the opportunity to be successful.

I’m currently student teaching in an inclusive kindergarten classroom in Baltimore’s inner city, and the class is amazing. Besides myself, there’s a regular education teacher, a special education teacher, and two paraprofessionals. Of the 21 students in the class, six have special needs. Everyone in this classroom learns daily from each other, including the adults.

The students discuss abilities and disabilities. They have learned to respect one another’s abilities and, where present, disabilities. They have all learned to sign simple words, such as "please" and "thank you." The daily lesson routines include learning centers and small groups. The children with disabilities are included at the learning centers and in the groups with the children without disabilities. I’ve seen wonderful exchanges between these children.

Inclusion is a hot topic in education, and there’s an ongoing debate as to whether inclusion is beneficial or not. Can inclusion work? My experiences in this wonderful inclusive kindergarten classroom have proved to me that inclusion can and does work!

YES
As someone who believes in quality education for all, I’m supportive of inclusion -- but it must be under the best conditions, and that means having trained teachers, integrated classrooms, and supportive school environments. Right now, I don’t see that happening, and that’s why I think the drive for inclusion has gone too far.

Take me, for example. I just graduated with a master’s degree in secondary education from an NCATE-approved university here in New Mexico. But, if you can believe it, I was not required to take a special education course as part of the teacher training curriculum. And all around the country, student colleagues go into inclusive classrooms with only one special ed class under their belt.

Not only that, I graduated unfamiliar with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law mandating the inclusion of special needs kids——a law that would affect me as a classroom teacher. It wasn’t until I came to an NEA Student Program conference that I learned about IDEA and the impact it’s having on classrooms around the country. In one day, I learned a great deal about special needs students and the paperwork you must fill out to help them.

If that’s my experience, what do you think is happening with other teachers and students around the country?

We can’t turn back the clock and stop inclusion, nor would I want that to happen. What I do want is better preparation and support, particularly for new teachers who are not adequately equipped for an inclusive classroom. If a legislative act like IDEA is such a groundbreaking move, why isn’t it integrated into teacher training programs and new teacher support programs? Too often, education reforms are pushed so far so fast, they’re always fighting failure. No one wants inclusion to fail. No one wants children to suffer or teachers to get frustrated. But if beginning teachers like me are unfamiliar with a law that has such an impact on my teaching, we’re all starting out with a strike against us.

Classroom Connections: Inclusion

Inclusion in Your Classroom?

New Jersey student member Sharon O’Donnell has chosen a K-12 education major at Brown University because she wants to be a counselor. She’s also chosen a special education major. Why?

"I was in a classroom, observing and teaching with a first-year teacher," recalls O’Donnell. "In that class was a boy who seemed to require more attention than the others. Though it was challenging, I was able to engage this little boy one day while the teacher was out of the room.

"When the teacher returned," says O’Donnell, "she pulled me aside and said, ‘Oh, don’t try to do too much with him. It won’t work. He’s a crack baby and can’t learn that much.’

"The thing is, he was learning, and doing quite well," O’Donnell says. "And I saw in a flash that I was working with someone who never received any real training on how to teach this child——and who bought into labeling this child with special needs as one who’s difficult to teach.

"Just then, I knew I had to change my own training. I added special education to my major," says O’Donnell.

Like O’Donnell, students around the country are expanding their field of study to include a special education major. Others are going beyond the "one-class" introduction to special needs children.

One reason for the shift is that more students are identified as special needs students, resulting in a call for special education-certified teaching candidates.

The other reason: inclusion. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students with disabilities be educated "to the maximum extent appropriate" with nondisabled children in a regular classroom setting. But too often, disabled students are merely moved into classrooms without support services or training for their general education teachers.

"I want to make sure I can teach every child in the classroom at the highest level," says North Dakota’s Stefanie Schumaker, an elementary education major who also majors in special education. "I don’t think I can do that unless I understand the special needs child, too."

"Even if you’re a general education major and don’t want to major in special ed, you still need more extensive training than one class," says Meredith Brodsky, dean of the College of Education at Western Oregon State University. Brodsky and her colleagues have worked hard to integrate understanding of special needs children throughout their program.

"We have a special Ed educator on every team," Brodsky notes. "That way, we can show how the instruction would work with a special needs child."

Child advocates laud approaches like Brodsky’s because kids won’t get short-changed. "At most colleges, general education students don’t gain even basic knowledge of learning disabilities, other disabilities they’re likely to confront, and interventions for behavioral problems," says Judith Heumann, assistant secretary of special education and rehabilitative services at the Department of Education.

What’s a student to do? "Find out if there are ways to improve your program," says Brodsky. "Some of the work involves updating the research and learning various teaching techniques. You can also invite classroom teachers in to provide you with anecdotal experience or serve as mentors."

"The more we know about special needs students, the more skills we have to teach them," adds Sharon O’Donnell. "If inclusion is here to stay, let’s look at it as a chance to enhance our teaching."

Campus Connections: Inclusion

Ask The Expert

How does Western Oregon State prepare its students for inclusive classrooms?
We believe that every student teacher, not just the special education student teacher, benefits from understanding how to teach the special needs child. That’s why we work in teams and a special ed educator is always part of that team. Skills on teaching the special needs child are taught in every education class at the university because every school classroom nowadays has a special needs child. We link reality with training.

How do you accomplish this?
Teaching the special needs child is integrated throughout our curriculum. Because we have a special ed educator on the team, there’s always the opportunity to step back to examine how this instruction can be delivered to a child with a learning disability or a child with a behavioral disorder. If a student never sees examples in practice, how can we expect him, as a teacher, to teach in an inclusive setting?

Do you see this trend increasing in teacher education?
I hope so. At Western Oregon State, we realized long ago that if we didn’t restructure our program, our students would leave the university without the full complement of skills possible. But that goes for understanding children of different cultures, learning styles, and ethnicities, too. That’s why we’ve also worked hard to recruit minority teachers and strengthen our students’ understanding of the diverse communities they may enter. A comprehensive teacher training program should ensure that graduates leave here able to teach children of all abilities.

What are your biggest concerns about inclusion and teacher education?
As a former special education teacher and counselor, I know how significant the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to education because it has opened the door to so many special needs children and given them access to education with their peers. It’s nice to see more and more inclusive classrooms.The problem is that many of the teachers in those classrooms need training, support, and resources, and that has to begin right at the beginning in teacher education. Too many schools of education offer an introductory course on special needs children and nothing more.

What about the students who have access to only one class?
Unfortunately, this is all too common. It’s almost a one-time-only opportunity to understand the multiple levels of special needs and the teaching challenges they create. First, I would see if there were any way to advocate for more classes on special education for regular ed students. If that doesn’t work, I would try to make sure that class is more comprehensive. But I wouldn’t want to stop there.

What would you recommend?
Try to supplement your education with additional training. Lots of conferences and workshops run by organizations address special education. Make sure you link up with a mentor and try to make a connection with a nearby school so that you can observe how they deal with inclusion and talk to teachers about their experiences and your concerns.