Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

Anthony Medina

Grand Canyon University: EAD 530

July 27, 2022

 As a future principal I will need to conduct classroom observations of all certified

teachers. This assignment allowed the opportunity to focus on a special education teacher

observation. The following are questions I would ask during a pre-conference with a special

education teacher. Along with questions are answers I would suspect to receive from the

teacher being observed. Included with questions and answers are ways I would coach teachers

during the pre- or post-conference to improve in the classroom.

Lesson Plans

Question- What activities are included in your lesson plan to keep students engaged?

Expected response- Multiple short activities are included to keep students engaged in lessons.

Students tend to lose focus with long lesson activities that are not broken down into different

activities. I will keep students engaged by making lesson plan activities fun and incorporate

technology that they enjoy.

Question- Has knowledge of students IEPs played a role in developing lesson plan?

Expected response- The process I follow for each lesson plan is to review students IEPs to

make sure I provide appropriate accommodations during lesson instruction and activities.

Reviewing IEPs when completing lesson plans provides a chance to set realistic lesson

expectations for students.

Question- Does the lesson plan include an assessment to test student progress?

Expected response- The lesson plan includes assessments that are specific to each individual

student needs. Students need different assessment because of the ranges of ability and IEP

accommodations.
Coaching Advice- Continue to review students IEPs to improve lesson plans. Team up with

other special education staff members to develop new strategies to implement into lesson

plans. Continue incorporating lesson activities students enjoy.

Differentiating Instruction

Questions- How does the lesson differentiate instruction?

Expected response- The lesson differentiates instruction to meet the learning needs of all

students. Students in a special education setting learn in different ways. I have differentiated

instruction to include students interest and build on strengths.

Questions- Is it difficult to differentiate instruction in your classroom?

Expected response- It can be a challenge to differentiate instruction for students because of

the wide range of learning disabilities and behavior challenges.

Coaching Advice- Research educational emerging trends that focus on differentiating

instruction in special education classrooms. Utilize classroom teacher aid to assist with

differentiating instruction. Create small groups to help make differentiating instruction less

challenging.

Student Struggles

Question- What specific areas do you believe your students struggle in?

Expected response- Students to struggle to work independently. Students need constant step

by step instruction to complete class assignments.

Question- How do you address these areas to make improvements?

Expected response- I have started with making independent work assignments that students

have already shown the ability to complete and have worked on making the assignments more

challenging as students make improvements.

Coaching Advice- Continue to assist students during independent work until they have the

ability to complete on their own. Communicate with families to work on class assignments at

home so students continue to build lesson knowledge. Allow the students who have

demonstrated an ability to work independent to continue to do so and work with students who

are struggling during independent class time.

Prior Knowledge

Question- How have students done previously with the skills being taught in this lesson?

Expected response- Students have previously learned skills being taught but tend to forget

skills. Students often need to be retaught skills they have prior knowledge in. The prior

knowledge helps students learn lesson skills quicker.

Question- How has your students prior knowledge effected your planning for this lesson ?

Expected response- Understanding students prior knowledge of lesson skills will allow me to

develop lesson that help to improve their strengths and weaknesses.

Coaching Advice- Start each lesson with a review of the previous lesson so students can

remember skills taught from the prior lesson. Work with students who are struggling with

lesson concepts one on one. Have students who have demonstrated an ability to excel in lesson

activity pair up to help other students.

Classroom Management

Question- How successful has your classroom management plan been with your students?
Expected response- My classroom management plan includes daily routines, expectations,

and procedures that allows students to learn in a positive learning environment.

Question- Does your plan include any behavior intervention for specific students who display

behavior problems in the classroom?

who present behavior challenges to help them improve in the classroom.

Coaching Advice- Continue to implement daily routines, expectations, and procedures to

improve classroom management. Attend professional development that focuses on classroom

management in the special education setting. Reinforce classroom expectations with students

who display constant behavior issues.

 Reference:

Johnson, E. S., Crawford, A., Moylan, L. A., & Zheng, Y. (2020). Validity of a special education
teacher observation system. Educational Assessment, 25(1), 31-46.

Johnson, E. S., & Semmelroth, C. L. (2015). Validating an Observation Protocol to Measure

Special Education Teacher Effectiveness. Journal of the American Academy of Special
Education Professionals, 99, 119.

Copland, F., & Donaghue, H. (2019). Post observation feedback. In The Routledge handbook of
English language teacher education (pp. 402-416). Routledge.