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No matter the setting that school leaders evaluate teaching – no matter the grade level, the content area, the instructional model – typically, you’ll hear us say “good teaching is good teaching.” The Network for Educator Effectiveness indicators of effective teaching practice generally can be applied to any classroom.

However, some school districts have desired a more careful and complete way to evaluate special education classrooms. And recent research has emphasized the need for such nuance in the evaluation of special education teachers. In a 2022 Boston University study, researchers found that special education teachers consistently scored lower when evaluated through the Danielson Group’s Framework for Teaching classroom observation instrument. The researchers determined the reason for the lower scores was based on the evaluation tool, which emphasized indirect instruction, and not on the teaching, which requires more explicit, teacher-directed instruction in special education.

While NEE recommends that the NEE Teacher Standards and Indicators are used for all teachers, there are opportunities to incorporate additional indicators for special education teachers to recognize their varied, unique responsibilities and more clearly define expectations for their work. The following NEE indicators may be considered as part of a special education teacher’s evaluation.

Section 1: Observable Indicators (Classroom Observations)

Indicators 2.1 and 6.2 are observable in classroom observations.

NEE Indicator 2.1: The teacher supports cognitive development of all students.

Indicator 2.1 focuses on teachers supporting the cognitive development of all students. The instructional support that teachers provide in this indicator is most likely viewed through the instructional activities that are planned and used and the scaffolding the teacher provides as the activity takes place.

Instructional strategies in cross-categorical classrooms may include grouping students with similar needs and using a few instructional strategies for different groups, such as teacher-led instruction, pair-share, self-reflection, flash cards, or provision of additional challenges. Instructional activities should focus on the supports that students need either from the goals developed and monitored in their IEP or through course content.

Instructional activities that support cognitive development in a special education classroom must provide the student with multiple opportunities to:

• Engage with new material.
• Connect new material to prior knowledge and/or experience.
• Use organizational structures or tools to process ideas.
• Find relevant patterns or principles.
• Apply the new material in a real-world context.

The instructional activities should be provided multiple times during a ten-minute observation with guided practice that leads to mastery of a skill. Activities should use repetition with teacher guidance and feedback to ensure students are completing the proper steps and applying the skills in an accurate manner.

In a co-teaching environment, the special education teacher may support the cognitive development of all students by scaffolding the learning of the processes and content covered with appropriate modifications and accommodations. These modifications and accommodations can come directly from the IEP of each student, or be based on the cognitive development needs of students within the lesson or unit.

In some cases, supporting the cognitive development of students may also be evident by the teacher’s implementation of a plan that s/he creates to help individual students connect learning across the content or in life skill situations. The training plan may focus on one key measureable skill, isolated to one setting, that a student can master with repetitive practice. It may then measure that skill being mastered in other prominent settings, before being measured across all settings or content areas.

NEE Indicator 6.2: The teacher’s communications with students are sensitive to cultural, gender, intellectual, and physical differences.

Indicator 6.2 focuses on how a teacher communicates with diverse students. In special education, communication strategies may include accommodating visual, hearing, or mobility disabilities, or communicating in different ways so students with different intellectual abilities may understand. While verbal communication may be the first thought with this indicator, all communication should meet the level of cognitive development of the students and be behaviorally and professionally appropriate.

This indicator does include non-verbal communication, such as cues used in the classroom to make the environment structured and predictable. These cues may include posting clear and accessible daily schedules, using visual or auditory cues that provide students with needed and repetitive information, modeling and developing hands-on demonstrations on how to complete a task, and replacing words with objects or pictures to further understanding.

Also, Indicator 6.2 can include patience that a teacher exhibits when communicating with students with special needs. Because these students may need repeated communication techniques and cues, a teacher’s patience in communicating with students is indicative of sensitivity to students.

Section 2: Documented Indicators (Written Comments)

Indicators 7.2, 7.5, and 8.3 are not observable but can be used to document when a special education teacher serves in the role of student case manager. Evaluators can add formative comments on a classroom observation report or summative comments on a summative evaluation report.

NEE Indicator 7.2: The teacher uses assessment data to improve learning.

A sample comment for teachers meeting or exceeding their responsibilities may be:

[Teacher] has a caseload of [number] students. [Teacher] uses assessment data to improve learning by collecting assessment data and then using that data to help inform recommendations for students’ programming needs. [Teacher] shares assessment data with the IEP team to assist in making decisions intended to improve student learning

NEE Indicator 7.5: The teacher communicates student progress and maintains records.

A sample comment for teachers meeting or exceeding their responsibilities may be:

[Teacher] has a caseload of [number] students. [Teacher] communicates progress and maintains records for each student. [Teacher] effectively conducts IEP meetings, writes IEPs, and communicates student progress toward reaching IEP goals. [Teacher] engages in timely communication with parents, and others who need to know, regarding meeting times and dates, and documents that communication in student files. [Teacher] maintains each student’s IEP file in accordance with legal and procedural requirements. [Teacher] meets all expectations in this area.

NEE Indicator 8.3: The teacher observes, promotes, and supports professional rights, responsibilities, and ethical practices.

A sample comment for teachers meeting or exceeding their responsibilities may be:

[Teacher] has a caseload of [number] students. [Teacher] observes, promotes, and supports professional rights, responsibilities, and ethical practices. [Teacher] complies with all legal and procedural requirements. [Teacher] maintains appropriate confidentiality regarding student information. [Teacher] is ethical in interactions with students, parents, administrators, and staff. [Teacher] complies with requests in a timely manner and works diligently to support students.

For an all-in-one resource on evaluating teachers in special education classrooms, download NEE Teacher Indicators for Special Education, available to member schools in the NEE Data Tool (login required). The document provides additional sample formative and summative comments for teachers not meeting their responsibilibies.

The Network for Educator Effectiveness (NEE) is a simple yet powerful comprehensive system for educator evaluation that helps educators grow, students learn, and schools improve. Developed by preK-12 practitioners and experts at the University of Missouri, NEE brings together classroom observation, student feedback, teacher curriculum planning, and professional development as measures of effectiveness in a secure online portal designed to promote educator growth and development.