Eight Paths Special Education Teacher Leadership

EIGHT PATHS TO
SPECIAL EDUCATION
TEACHER LEADERSHIP
Belva C. Collins, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus

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A Word About Your Presenter…
■ Rural special education classroom teacher
■ UK and UNC Charlotte department chair and professor in low incidence disabilities
■ Student teaching and practica supervisor
■ Board Member and Chair of American Council on Rural Special Education
■ Editor of Rural Special Education Quarterly
■ Board Member and Treasurer of Higher Education Consortium for Special Education
■ Lifetime Service Award from ACRES
■ NC Teacher Educator of the Year
■ Author of numerous research articles, chapters, and books in special education

Why should special education teachers become leaders?
■ Professional preparation
■ Knowledge
■ Experience
■ Empathy
■ Resource
■ Mission
■ Professional standards

What is the purpose of this webinar?

Eight Paths to Special Education Teacher Leadership
■ Make data-based decisions
■ Effect school-wide change
■ Mentor others
■ Conduct professional development and consultations
■ Work effectively with families
■ Support students during transition
■ Advocate for students
■ Connect with disability-related organizations

Which path to leadership is the right one for you?
■ Participants in this webinar will
– Reflect on eight paths to
leadership for special education
teachers
– Identify and select an individual
path to special education
leadership
– Provide a rationale for why that
path is important
– State guidelines that can be
followed in that path

MAKE DATA-BASED
DECISIONS
Leadership Path 1

Why You Should Make Data-based Decisions
■ Determine if behavioral or instructional
procedure is working
■ Change or adapt procedure when needed to
make progress
■ Change objective if inappropriate
■ Justify procedure to others (e.g., parents, staff)
■ Determine when objective is met (effectiveness)

Why You Should Make Data-based Decisions
■ Determine which procedure works best
with which student (efficiency)
■ Insure that procedures are implemented
correctly (fidelity)
■ Recommend procedures to others with
confidence
■ Obey the law that all behavioral or
instructional procedures be research- or
evidence-based

Pause to Reflect on Making Data-based Decisions
■ Reflect on the assessment data that you collect on your students.
– What types of data do you collect?
– Who collects the data?
– Are the data formative or summative or both?
– Why might formative data be more useful that summative data?
– Why are baseline data important?
– How long should a teacher use a procedure to determine if it is
effective?
– How do you display and share data?
– Have you ever altered objectives or procedures based on data?
How?
– How can we insure procedures are being used with fidelity?
– How can we individualize procedures?

Guidelines to Making Data-based Decisions
■ Always begin by collecting baseline data
■ Make sure procedures are implemented as planned (with fidelity)
■ Use behavioral or instructional data for 3-5 days before considering changes
■ Determine if objective is appropriate for student
■ Determine if procedure is appropriate for student
■ To compare procedures, implement one at a time; then look at number of
sessions, amount of time, and number of errors to criterion, as appropriate
■ Be prepared to use different procedures with different students
■ Graph data to prove to others that procedures work

How You Can Become a Leader as a Data-Based Decision-Maker
■ Stay current on research on behavioral and
instructional procedures
■ Access research from legitimate sources
■ Teach others how to use effective procedures
– Paraprofessionals
– Peers
– General education teachers
– Support personnel
– Parents
■ Share effective procedures through presentations
and publications

Example of a Special Education Data-Based Decision-Maker
■ Carey Creech Galloway
– Published special education classroom teacher
– University student teaching and practica cooperating teacher
– University research collaborator
– Current district resource personnel for teachers of students
with low incidence disabilities

Quotes from a Special Education Data-Based Decision-Maker
■ I made all my decisions based on dataJ. These
are just a few of the types of decisions that I think
I made the most often:
– Am I providing enough reinforcement for
correct responses?
– Am I teaching too many stimuli at once?
– Does this student need something different
regarding materials or presentation?
– Have I provided what the student needs to
communicate their response? Is the student
making too many errors?
– Is the student stuck at a prompt level and is
there something I could do to the task to get
them closer to independence?

EFFECT SCHOOL-WIDE
CHANGE
Leadership Path 2

Why You Should Help Effect Schoolwide Change
■ Share specialized knowledge base needed by school
■ Share specialized experiences relevant to school
■ Know how to implement and assess behavioral and
■ Know how to collaborate with team
■ Promote inclusive services
■ Know how to mentor and coach others
■ Know how to co-teach and consult with others
■ Understand both functional and core content
approaches to curriculum

Pause to Reflect on Effecting Schoolwide Change
■ Reflect on schoolwide initiative in your school or district (e.g., inclusive services,
positive behavioral support systems, response-to-intervention).
– Where you included in planning or implementation? How?
– What special knowledge, skills, and experiences did you have that was of
value to your school?
– Was the initiative successful? Why or why not?

Guidelines for Effecting Schoolwide Change
■ Do your homework when an initiative is announced.
■ Be familiar with research, procedures, and laws.
■ Ask to be part of new initiatives in the planning stages.
■ Use effective collaboration and communication skills.
■ Once an initiative is implemented, collect data on its effectiveness.
■ Share both formative and summative data with school administrators.
■ Be an advocate for special education, regardless of the initiative.

How You Can Help Effect Schoolwide Change
■ Be proactive in volunteering for schoolwide
initiatives.
■ Be willing to share your expertise, experiences,
and resources.
■ Value and respect the expertise of others.
■ Politely insist that data are collected on the
effectiveness of initiatives.
■ Suggest that all stakeholders be invited to play a
role (e.g., parents, support personnel).

Example of a Special Education Agent of Schoolwide Change
■ Sara Stout Heinrich
– Developed inclusive secondary program for students
with low incidence disabilities
– Current district resource personnel for teachers of
students with low incidence disabilities

Quotes from a Special Education Agent of Schoolwide Change
■ When I taught in a high school
classroom, I worked really hard to
make my students a more integral
part of the school.
■ I worked with my counselor, as well as
the regular education teachers, in
order to have my students
participating more in the general
education classrooms.

■ By the end of my 5 years there, I had
several students that spent more than
40% of their day in the regular
classroom environment. This was
achieved through a great deal of
collaboration between the general
education teacher and me, as well as
training for my staff and peer tutors
that accompanied the students to
class.
Quotes from a Special Education Agent of Schoolwide Change

MENTOR OTHERS
Leadership Path 3

Why You Should Mentor Others
■ Share specialized knowledge base
■ Share specialized set of experiences
■ Know how to implement and assess behavioral and
■ Have experience mentoring and coaching
■ Know how to co-teaching and consulting
■ Have desire to create and retain next generation of
strong teachers
■ Understand that teachers often model their
mentors

Pause to Reflect on Mentoring Others
■ Reflect on the mentoring that you have received as a preservice or in-
service teacher.
– What did your mentor do that was effective? Ineffective?
– What are the characteristics of an effective teacher?
– Was your mentor an example of an effective teacher? How or how
not?
– Did your mentor use ethical behavioral and instructional
procedures based on research? What are some examples?
– What characteristics of your mentor have you tried to imitate?
Why?
– What characteristics of your mentor have you chosen not to
imitate? Why?

Guidelines for Mentoring Others
■ Practice what you preach.
■ Keep file of effective practices and resources that you can share.
■ Establish rapport with mentee before mentoring process begins.
■ Learn to do side-by-side coaching.
■ Learn to give effective feedback in a positive way.
■ Consider using technology to coach and give feedback.
■ Always document mentoring session for future referral.
■ Recognize that mentoring may extend outside the classroom.
■ View mentoring as co-teaching rather than extra set of hands.

How You Can Become Involved in Mentoring Others
■ Hone mentoring skills by working with classroom personnel
(e.g., paraprofessionals, peer tutors)
■ Take initiative to establish informal mentoring relationship with
new teacher
■ Volunteer for formal school mentoring opportunities
■ Volunteer for formal student teacher and practica supervision
opportunities

Example of a Special Education Mentor
■ Dr. Ann Katherine Griffen
– University field placement supervisor

Quotes from a Special Education Mentor
■ How one works with any beginning teacher depends on
where that person currently is in their knowledge level
and experiences to date.
■ I think a lot about the model I am presenting.
■ I try to be positive and encouraging and to see the
humor in what we do.
■ I also model respect for my students and for all
students and all types of families.

■ I communicate these things indirectly through my
actions and overtly in what I specifically say and how I
say it.
■ I also try to be very clear about what I think a good
MSD teacher needs to know and do.
■ I feel very strongly that we need only the best teachers
for our students, and the best teachers continue to
learn and grow and improve over time.
Quotes from a Special Education Mentor

CONDUCT PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND
CONSULTATIONS
Leadership Path 4

Why You Should Conduct Professional Development and Consultations
■ Have specialized knowledge base
■ Have specialized set of experiences
■ Are familiar with research on behavioral and
instructional strategies
■ Have desire to create strong services for
students with disabilities
■ Have desire to improve services for students
with disabilities

Why You Should Conduct Professional Development and Consultations
■ Understand that teachers need continuing
education to remain current
■ Know how to create presentation objectives,
task analyze presentation sequence, and
evaluate effectiveness
■ Have consultation skills to gather information,
analyze data, and recommend solutions

Pause to Reflect on Conducting Professional Development and Consultations
■ Reflect on professional development that you have attended.
– Was the content helpful, research-based, and relevant?
– If so, how? If not, what information should have been presented?
– Was the presenter effective?
– If so, how? If not, what would have improved the presentation?

Pause to Reflect on Conducting Professional Development and Consultations
■ Reflect on advice you have received in formal or informal consultation
with others.
– How did the consultant gather information on the problem?
– Was the advice based on research or data?
– How was advice presented (e.g., verbal, written, resources,
modeling)?
– Was there any follow-up? If so, when and how often?

Guidelines for Conducting Professional Development and Consultations
■ Professional development
– Be organized with clear objectives, timelines, and sequence
of activities.
– Observe engaging speakers to identify effective presentation strategies.
– Research the topic and be ready to provide examples.
– Provide variety (e.g., lecture, activities, video, discussion).
– Use clear, minimal slides, if doing an electronic presentation
– Practice, and gather feedback on ways to improve.

Guidelines for Conducting Professional Development and Consultations
■ Consultations
– Gather information before giving advice.
– Base advice on sound research and data.
– Role model procedures that you recommend.
– Provide written and face-to-face follow-up.

How You Can Become Involved in Conducting Professional
Development and Consultations
■ Professional development
– Volunteer to address needs in school or district.
– Apply to present effective data-based behavioral and
instructional procedures at professional conferences
(local, state, or national).
– Contact local universities or professional organizations
about your willingness to share knowledge and strategies.

How You Can Become Involved in Conducting Professional
Development and Consultations
■ Consultations
– Recognize that consultations can be
informal or formal.
– Let school administrators know about your
willingness to be a resource for others.
– Investigate professional online chat groups
where you can share advice.

Example of a Special Education Presenter and Consultant
■ Sally Miracle
– Published special education teacher
– Peer tutoring program developer
– Regional cooperative special education low incidence disability
consultant and workshop presenter

Quote from a Special Education Presenter and Consultant
■ Professional Development
– Never read your slides
– Never talk for more than 30 minutes without an
activity
– Always use personal stories…even those when
you failed or were not successful
– Do not lecture…talk with…share with…

■ Consultations
– Do not put blame or wrong doing on others, they
will become defensive.
– Ask them to work with you to be more
successful.
– Show everyone the professional respect that you
want.
– Try to influence rather than dominate and
intimidate.
Quote from a Special Education Presenter and Consultant

WORK EFFECTIVELY
WITH FAMILIES
Leadership Path 5

Why You Should Work Effectively with Families
■ Benefit the child
■ Create more appropriate goals and objectives for child
■ Increase amount of instructional or behavioral intervention
■ Promote generalization from school to home and community
■ Provide information on what family values
■ Provide information on culture of family
■ Identify appropriate and needed services
■ Establish means of communication
■ Establish two-way partnerships

Pause to Reflect on Working Effectively with Families
■ Reflect on a meeting that you had with a family of a student with a
disability
– What was the purpose of the meeting?
– Who was involved?
– What went well in the meeting?
– Could the meeting have been improved? If so, how?
– What cultural influences were present in the meeting?
– What mode of communication was used?
– Was the purpose of the meeting accomplished? If not, why?
– Were plans made to follow-up? If so, how?

Guidelines for Working Effectively with Families
■ Use meeting time efficiently, being aware that families have lives, constraints,
and issues in addition to education of the child.
■ Find strategies to overcome cultural and communication issues.
■ In absence of data, do not place blame on family for child’s behavior or failure to
learn.
■ Set a goal to make meetings a positive experience for the family.
■ Listen before speaking, and speak with respect.
■ Find ways to involve families while being respectful of their time and obligations.
■ Be a resource for the entire family.
■ Set an example for others in the way you interact with and refer to families.

How You Can Work Effectively with Families
■ Find meeting times and places that are convenient for the family.
■ Invite all stakeholders.
■ Make the purpose of the meeting clear.
■ Create a warm and welcoming atmosphere
■ Identify the best means of communication.
■ Provide materials and resources.
■ Provide summary notes and set a follow-up time, if needed.
■ Consider offering family workshops (e.g., behavioral and instructional
strategies, ways to facilitate transition).

Example of a Special Educator Who Works Effectively with Families
■ Abby McCormick Evans
– School IEP facilitator

Quotes from a Special Educator Who Works Effectively with Families
■ Before you go to a professional meeting,
get to know the family so you can relate to
them and approach them in the best way
■ Have a short summary of the meeting for
them.
■ Make clear they can bring a family
member or friend to the meeting.
■ Try to think how they feel about issues.
■ Try to be compassionate but always help
parents still be accountable.

SUPPORT STUDENTS
DURING TRANSITION
Leadership Path 6

Why You Should Support Students During Transition
■ Benefit the student and the family
■ Create more appropriate longitudinal transition
goals and objectives
■ Reflect family values and culture
■ Provide options for more independence in less
restrictive employment environments
■ Provide options for postsecondary education
■ Identify appropriate and needed services
■ Identify and provide resources

Pause to Reflect on Supporting Students During Transition
■ Reflect on transitions in your own life and how they compare to those
for a person with a disability.
– What were some difficult periods of transition for you?
– What supports and strategies helped you through each
transition?
– Was your family involved? If so, how?
– What transitions must a person with disabilities make?
– What supports and strategies might they need to be successful?
– How might the family of the person be involved?

Guidelines for Supporting Students During Transition
■ Recognize that transition is a lifelong process.
■ Support inclusive education and peer involvement from an early age.
■ Investigate adult transition services and options in your community.
■ When options are limited, brainstorm alternate ways to facilitate desired outcomes.
■ Compile resources that can be shared with families.
■ Be aware of cultural values of families that may differ from your own.
■ Include the person with a disability, relevant extended family members, and potential
service providers in transition meetings.
■ Use person-centered and self-determination strategies in developing transition plans.

How You Can Support Students During Transition
■ Invite all stakeholders to transition meetings and form
partnerships.
■ Be open to and provide information on variety of transition
options for living, education, and employment.
■ Make families aware of all options.
■ Offer workshops with speakers on critical topics (e.g., social
services, health benefits, guardianship, supported
employment, postsecondary education).
■ At each meeting, identify short term goals, persons
responsible, and a timeline for assessing progress.
■ Provide materials and resources.

Example of a Special Educator Who Supports Students During Transition
■ Renee Hollinger Scott
– Published special education teacher
– Developed university campus-based community transition
program for secondary students with disabilities

Quotes from a Special Educator Who Supports Students During Transition
■ Research transition programs and talk to
the teachers or leaders of those
programs.
■ Learn what resources your community
has to offer (e.g., funding and waiver
sources, adult agencies and service
providers, supported employment
providers).
■ Provide parents with this information as
well as connect students to resources for
support after graduation.

ADVOCATE FOR STUDENTS
Leadership Path 7

Why You Should Advocate for Students
■ Have personal stories and experiences that
illustrate issues
■ Have knowledge and expertise to offer solutions
■ Have voice that interests decision-makers and can
influence policy
■ Can speak for students and families who do not
have a voice
■ Have voting power
■ Have power in numbers through professional
connections and organizations

Pause to Reflect on Advocating for Students
■ Reflect on an issue in special education that is important to you.
– What are some personal examples you could share to highlight the
importance of the issue?
– What are some laws or policies that support your stance on the issue?
– What research is available to support your stance?
– How might you influence change at the local level? The state level? The
national level?
– What groups (e.g., civic, professional) are in your community that might assist
you in advocacy efforts?

Guidelines for Advocating for Students
■ Before advocating, research an issue and identify examples that support your stance.
■ Research and become involved with organizations (civic, professional) that also
support your stance.
■ Identify local administrators or state and federal legislators who can effect policy.
■ Recognize that you have the right to state your opinions as a private citizen, but be
aware that you are not speaking as a representative of your employer.
■ When advocating, be concise and clear.
■ Be aware that you are a role model for your students and their families, as well as for
colleagues.

How You Can Advocate for Students
■ Write letters to news outlets.
■ Email or call legislators.
■ Visit the local (or even national) offices of legislators.
■ When you raise issues, propose solutions.
■ Build relationships by communicating frequently with current information.
■ Offer to be a resource to policy-makers.
■ Keep current through professional listservs and tweets.
■ Attend professional meetings and join advocacy groups.
■ Teach self-advocacy skills to students.

Example of a Special Education Advocate for Students
■ Sara Menlove Doutre
– Special education classroom teacher
– Employee of U.S. Department of Education
– Mother of child with disability
– Daughter of state legislator

Example of Effective Disability Advocacy
■ Daughter born with CMV which resulted in Deafness
■ Research showed precautions in pregnancy can prevent CMV
■ Shared story with state legislators
■ Successfully advocated for state legislation to share precautionary
information with women in pregnancy and screen newborns for CMV
■ Other states are enacting similar legislation

CONNECT WITH DISABILITY-
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
Leadership Path 8

Why You Should Connect with Disability-related Organizations
■ Access current research
■ Access materials
■ Access professional development activities
■ Support advocacy activities
■ Influence special education policies
■ Network with others in the profession
■ Share research and strategies with others
■ Provide information and support for students and their families

Pause to Reflect on Disability-related Organizations
■ Reflect on a professional organization in which you have been involved.
– What were the advantages (e.g., conferences, materials) of being affiliated with
the organization?
– What were the disadvantages (e.g., cost, location) of being affiliated with the
organization?
– Was the organization active at the local level? State level? National level? How?
– How large was the organization?
– What kind of activities did the organization promote?
– In what ways could a member participate (e.g., officer, committee)?
– Did you find membership to beneficial? If so, how?

Guidelines for Connecting with Disability-related Organizations
■ Conduct an Internet search for disability-related organizations.
■ Identify the benefits (e.g., free services; discounts on conferences, materials, webinars;
advocacy) of membership.
■ Identify the costs and requirements of membership.
■ Check to see if there is a local chapter in your area, region, or state.
■ Read the history of the organization’s accomplishments.
■ Check out the qualifications (e.g., educators, people with disabilities, family members) of
the board members.
■ Identify the quality (i.e., research-based) and purpose (e.g., research dissemination,
practitioner or family support) of any publications.
■ Identify ways members can be active participants (e.g., online chats, local meetings)

How to Connect with Disability-related Organizations
■ Apply for membership in organizations that align with your interests.
■ If possible, attend local meeting or conference.
■ Volunteer to serve on committees or to be an officer or board member.
■ Participate in face-to-face or online special interest groups.
■ Participate in advocacy activities (e.g., letter-writing campaigns, rallies, office
visits).
■ Following guidelines, submit proposals on to present research or share effective
procedures at organization’s conference.
■ Following guidelines, submit written pieces on research or effective procedures to
organization’s newsletter or journal.

Example of a Special Educator Active in a Disability-related Organization
■ Samantha Matthews Orihuela
– Disability-related organization volunteer and board member
– Adult service provider
– Behavioral consultant

Quotes from a Special Educator Active in a Disability-related Organization
■ Select an organization that represents the
disability you feel is your "calling."
■ Research the organization to make sure
it does what it claims.
■ Be willing to assist in any capacity.
■ Become a board member when an opening
is available.
■ Be aware of the group mission and
upcoming events and needs.

EIGHT PATHS TO SPECIAL
EDUCATION TEACHER
LEADERSHIP
Summary

■ Special education teachers have
background and expertise to be
effective leaders
■ There are numerous ways that special
education teachers can become leaders
■ Everyone has different talents, abilities,
and interests
■ Taking a leadership role can result in
better special education services
Summary of Points from This Webinar

■ Identify the path to leadership that best fits you and best serves your students
and profession
■ Intentionally undertake activities to develop leadership skills in the path you
have selected
■ Keep the ultimate outcome in mind – how your leadership will benefit students
with disabilities and their families
Your Challenge…

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Q&A Session
We’re giving away three free copies
of Eight Paths to Leadership!
• Three attendees will be selected at
random & announced after the Q&A.
Stay active in the chat to increase your
chances!

Belva C. Collins, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus
at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte and the University of Kentucky
Email: belva.collins@uncc.edu
belva.collins@uky.edu
Thank you for attending!
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Eight Paths Special Education Teacher Leadership

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