Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD-530: Developing Professional Capacity

Hugo Guillen

Week Four

November 16, 2022

Lessons and Student Needs

One of our main tasks as evaluators is to make sure teachers are following the district

expectations for student learning and addressing student needs. During the preconference I would

start by asking the teacher to, “Please describe the student in your class and what IEP

accommodations they have in their IEP’s.” I would expect the teacher to be able to readily describe

the unique student needs of their class. Afterwards, I would ask, “What the objectives are for the

lesson and how are you going be able to measure successful outcomes?” I would expect the teacher

to have a clearly defined outcome that is student centered. A proficient teacher should be able to

detail what a “successful” lesson will look like in an objective manner and communicate that to the

students as well.

Next, I would ask, “What district and state standards are being addressed in this lesson?”

The teacher should be clearly able to bring up the standards that are driving their instruction

according to concrete standards. Having asked these questions, I would be able to determine if the

lesson was a worthy use of instructional time. This would then lead to asking the teacher, “What

activities and strategies will you be using to achieve your stated outcomes and how the will the

activities enhance student learning?” I would expect the teacher to be able to show connection

between the lesson objectives, activities, strategies, and desired outcomes as one cohesive lesson.

Many teachers often struggle with showing how a learning would be explicitly measured and this

would need to be specifically articulated for the benefit of the students and the teacher alike.

Differentiated Instruction

Because of the unique needs of a special education support classes, I would ask the teacher,

“What are some student needs that you need to account for in your lesson?” I would expect the

teacher to be able to clearly identify student needs in accordance with their IEP accommodations

but also based on the behaviors the students exhibit that are unique to the class. Next, I would like
to ask the teacher what strategies and activities they have planned for to differentiate for the unique

student needs?” I would expect a special education teacher to identify a variety of strategies that are

simple, yet effective to address their individual needs in an equitable manner that allows all students

to have the services they need to be successful. Example of strategies might include a “flipped

classroom” model where students are able to individually, with partners and with direct-teacher

instruction be able to engage in learning. As noted by Altemueller & Lindquist (2017), “The

benefits of a flipped classroom include increased student motivation, differentiating instruction,

self-pacing lessons and mastery learning, increased collaboration and instant feedback for formative

assessment.” This would show the teacher is aware that there are unique student needs but also time

constraints that allow for student-centered instruction.

Struggling Students

Having had the teacher identify the unique student needs of the class, I would then proceed

to ask, “What are some struggles that you anticipate the students having in this lesson?” I would

expect that teacher will have a good understanding of the students who are struggling and what their

struggles are. With that in mind I would proceed to ask, “What strategies in the lesson will be used

to help those students that you have identified as struggling students?” I would expect the teacher to

have some research-based strategies that they hope to employ. Mastropieri et al. (2003) suggest,

“peer tutoring that incorporate comprehension strategy instruction” or “graphic organizers to

facilitate comprehension.” While there are many strategies that could be given, these will

demonstrate teacher understanding of the need to address struggling student needs in their

instruction.

Prior Knowledge

It would be important to me as the observer to try to gauge where the students were in their

learning prior to my observation to provide context to my observations. With this is in mind I would
ask the teacher, “What prior learning has occurred prior to this lesson that support the lesson that is

being observed? Learning is not static and so I would expect the teacher to explain what skills

development have occurred leading up to the lesson and it should show a natural progression of

skills and learning development. I would ask “What gaps in knowledge do you foresee might

become apparent and how will you address these to ensure student have a fair opportunity to

achieve the stated objective?” I would expect that the teacher would also have understood this

reality in planning this lesson and they would be able to discuss how they will conduct some sort of

review and/or reteaching activity of essential concepts to make sure the students are ready to

complete the lesson.

Classroom Management

Like all middle school age student, special education classrooms will face behavior

challenges that need to be successfully addressed. I would ask the teacher, “What are some

challenging classroom behaviors that you have seen with this class in the past and/or anticipate you

might experience during the lesson?” I would expect the teacher to identify student behaviors that

they know are challenges. This would how me that they have a good “pulse” for the students and

understand the challenges they might face. Next, I would ask, “What steps in your classroom have

you taken to reduce these incidents I before they escalate?” Ideally, I would hear the teacher

describe to key components, PBIS and progressive discipline. Especially regarding PBIS, I would

like to see what system the teacher has in place for rewarding and promoting positive behaviors

rather than only being reactionary to negative behaviors. As noted by Sugai & Horner (2020),

“studies have examined the effects of implementing Tier 1 PBIS and found these practices

functionally related to significant reductions in problem behavior and improvement in social skills.”
 References

Altemueller, L., & Lindquist, C. (2017). Flipped classroom instruction for inclusive learning. British

Journal of Special Education, 44(3), 341–358.

https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12177

Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., & Graetz, J. E. (2003). Reading Comprehension Instruction for

Secondary Students: Challenges for Struggling Students and Teachers. Learning Disability

Quarterly, 26(2), 103. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.2307/1593593

Sugai, G., & Horner, R. H. (2020). Sustaining and Scaling Positive Behavioral Interventions and

Supports: Implementation Drivers, Outcomes, and Considerations. Exceptional Children,

86(2), 120–136. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0014402919855331