Setting Up Effective Evaluation Processes for Special Education Teachers
The Network for Educator Effectiveness continues to build on our recommendations for teacher evaluation in special education settings. Earlier articles on this topic covered indicators of effective teaching to consider for special education teacher evaluations and how to evaluate co-teaching environments. Next, we want to take a big-picture look at considerations for special education evaluation as well as resources and tips available in the NEE Data Tool.
Making Evaluation Work for Special Education Teachers
The most important step comes at the very beginning of the process: making sure special education directors are knowledgeable about the evaluation process. Special education directors should be involved in developing the evaluation practices and systems for special education teachers, with the idea that they align with the school’s broader evaluation practices and systems.
Schools should consider which teaching practices they want to observe in special education settings, as well as how they will document other responsibilities for special education teachers. In some cases, these considerations may mean special education classrooms have their own classroom observation templates or student surveys depending on the indicators that the school selects. To learn more about creating classroom observation templates, find our guide NEE Data Tool – Classroom Observation Templates in the NEE Data Tool under Help and Resources.
Finally, as with general education teachers, school leaders should communicate expectations and commitments for the evaluation process with special education teachers at the beginning of each school year. Share the rubrics for each indicator that will be used in classroom observations, and share which other teacher evaluation measures will be incorporated in the teacher’s summative evaluation. Communicate reasonable and attainable expectations for special education teachers to meet throughout the year. Reinforce that the evaluation process is for growth and conversation and that the process is one of teamwork and collaboration.
Something to Consider: Creating a Special Education Building within the NEE Data Tool
Some of NEE’s partner districts have decided to provide more specificity in the evaluation process for special education teachers and special education directors by creating a special education building under their district within the NEE Data Tool. Each special education teacher is assigned to both the special education building as well as their assigned physical building within the NEE Data Tool.
What are the benefits of this approach? It can provide a space for the special education director to get an overview of all special education teachers across the district, conduct observations on special education teachers, and run reports to analyze performance across the district. The special education director can drill down and work closely with special education teachers based on the data. Setting up a special education building may also provide the opportunity for the school principal to focus on the core instructional practices of the school during evaluations, while the special education director focuses on practices specific to special education. A special education building can be created for your district by contacting the NEE Help Desk.
Resources to Assist in Special Education Evaluation
NEE has developed resources and processes that may help your school with evaluating effective teaching practices in special education settings. Here is a short description of those resources and where to find them within the NEE Data Tool.
- Special Education Guidance Document
This guide was created to bolster understanding of how to use NEE’s Indicators of Effective Teaching Practices in special education settings. In it, NEE provides recommended indicators for classroom observations and recommended indicators for documentation and legal processes in the special education environment. We also provide recommendations for how to comment on those indicators in the specific context needed for special education. The document NEE Teacher Indicators for Special Education is available in the NEE Data Tool under Help and Resources. - Classroom Observation Templates
As previously mentioned, classroom observation templates allow school leaders to customize the indicators used in specific settings. It may be beneficial to set up an additional classroom observation template if your school will focus on a set of indicators in special education settings that is different than the set used in general education settings. To learn more, find our guide NEE Data Tool – Classroom Observation Templates in the NEE Data Tool under Help and Resources. - Modular Student Survey
The NEE Student Survey is modular and can be set up to measure the specific indicators of effective teaching you have selected for special education classrooms. There needs to be at least six student responses for results to be reported on the NEE Student Survey, so special education teachers usually need only one survey for all student responses across their classes. The survey results and reports can be viewed for each individual teacher and also can be clustered for groups of special education teachers within a building or across a district. To learn more about the student survey component, view our blog on Using the NEE Student Survey or you can work through the Student Survey learning module, available under the NEE Training Materials topic in EdHub in the NEE Data Tool. - EdHub: High Leverage Practices Module
At the request of special education directors throughout our network of schools, NEE created an EdHub module specific to High Leverage Practices for Special Education. Derived from the Council for Exceptional Children’s High Leverage Practices for Special Education, this module of four activities provides background knowledge of high leverage practices, the tenets of how they work in special education, and context relevant to different types of special education environments. You can find this module under the Special Education topic in EdHub in the NEE Data Tool..
These are some considerations to think through and resources to review when implementing effective evaluation practices and systems for the special education teachers in your school. For further consultation or support, please contact NEE at 844-793-4357 or nee@missouri.edu.
Tom Hairston is the Managing Director of the Network for Educator Effectiveness and has worked with NEE since 2011. Prior to his work with NEE, he worked as a Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports Consultant for the Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center at the University of Missouri. He began his career in education as a high school special education and language arts teacher and football coach at Moberly High School in Moberly, Mo. Tom received his PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri in 2012.
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.
