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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

Grand Canyon University: EAD-530

Shanaye Packineau-Williams

Barbara Erwin

September 29, 2021

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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

For this assignment I had to meet with a special education teacher (SPED) for a pre-

conference and prepare before the conference by developing questions and for each of those

questions, what I would expect to receive from that teacher and how to coach them.

Before conducting the observations, it is important during this pre-conference to make

sure and ask about the make up of the students in the classroom. This will make a big difference

on how to drive the observation and post observation.

Some questions that I might ask about the lesson with the response I am hoping for are:

1. What is your lesson objective and the state standard being covered? I would hope that the

lesson objective is tied to the lesson and there is at least one state standard that is being

hit.

2. How will you be assessing your students learning? I would want this to be through

checks-for-understandings throughout the lesson (verbal cues, hand signals, quick

questioning, academic conversations), an assignment or assessment at the end of the

lesson etc. “For students to be actively involved in their learning, they must understand a

learning goal, aim for it, and use assessment evidence along the way to stay on course.”

(Lazarus, S., 2017)

3. What is the make-up of the classroom that I will be observing? I would want the teacher

to explain the accommodations that need to be provided throughout the lesson since

students are on either 504s or IEPs.

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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

4. How do you plan on meeting the needs of all your students throughout the lesson? I

would want the teacher to explain what she will be doing to support the students in her

classroom with specific accommodations. This could be different colored paper, guided

notes, etc. “A well designed differentiated lesson will include some of the following: A

strong visual component, collaborative activities, peer coaching, a multi-sensory

approach to presenting information and differentiated assessment based on strengths.”

(Webster, 2018)

5. What are areas that you would like to me focus on during your observations? I would

hope that the teacher really pinpoints areas that students struggle in. This can be being on

task, or following directions etc.

6. What is an area that you feel you need improvement in? I would want an answer like

classroom management, keeping students engaged and on task, or providing enrichment

or small group activities.

7. What previous lesson did you teach this year that tie into the standards to help with this

lesson? By asking this, I would be able to assess the prior knowledge of the student’s

strength by her elaborating on the previous lessons that the students have done prior to

this lesson. I would then be able to identify how this lesson is being build upon for this

upcoming lesson.
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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

8. What type of reinforcement program are you using for your classroom? This can range

depending on the school. For our school, I would want my teachers to say they are using

the PBIS matrix to ensure that the proper steps are taken to deal with behaviors.

9. Are there any students who you would like to me be aware of during your lesson? The

answer I would want to get is that all students are on task 100% of the time and there are

no behaviors. I know that this is far from the truth. The teacher should be telling me

about students who need more support with to ensure that the classroom management is

under control. “Special education teachers must master classroom behavior management

to become effective. Students with disabilities present with so many unique needs, it

becomes necessary to have a whole list of strategies to engage and manage their needs”

(Banks, 2021).
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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

References

Banks, | by A. (2021, August 25). Special education classroom behavior management strategies

for K-12. Insights to Behavior. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from
https://insightstobehavior.com/blog/special-education-classroom-behavior-management-
strategies-k12/. 

Lazarus, S., B. S. (2017). Formative Assessment for Students with Disabilities. Retrieved
September 30, 2021, from https://www.ccsso.org/sites/default/files/2017-
12/2013_INTASC_Learning_Progressions_for_. 

Webster, J. (2018, August 27). Differentiating for success in an inclusive classroom. ThoughtCo.

Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.thoughtco.com/differentiation-
instruction-in-special-education-3111026.