Hello, Has anyone moved from gen Ed to special Ed. I just got the license and am thinking about the move. I currently teach 4th grade ELA but think I'd like working with smaller groups and supporting students in their gen Ed classes instead of what I'm currently doing. I know the paperwork is difficult but it seems in my district they have time to do it because they don't have a homeroom etc.
I have not, but I did move from being a teacher with larger classes to a support position ELL. It can vary a great deal from one district to another. However, the caseload is mandated by our state, so it shouldn't be too different. We have one per grade level in my elementary school, and it seems like a pretty good gig here. I have a friend that is a middle school intervention specialist and is always stressed out by the amount of work.
I think I'd like an ELL position like this. I live in a rural district that has very few ELL students. We do currently have one special ed teacher who is on special assignment for ELL students. It's one person for the whole district - elementary, middle, and high school.
I agree with Caballo that there will be differences between districts, but that applies to almost anything. I went from Gen Ed to Special Ed and once I found my groove I loved it. Now mind you, I had a small group resource class and still covered the same standards, so I cannot attest for dealings with MOID and beyond. The students really thrived in the small group in an environment where it was okay to make mistakes as long as they were applying effort. Also, I challenged them appropriately and their confidence grew quickly with their successes. For two years 70% of my students passed the applicable standardized test which was double that of district and state averages. Move ahead I take another job in another district the claims I will be helping small groups of students who are behind academically and want to catch up. What ended up was being a babysitting gig where I watch students cheat through an online curriculum. Later I moved to another school in the district and back in the SPED role and it was upsetting. The school had no small group classes because they wanted to keep as many SPED students as possible in the regular classes as to help out with the state rating system. I noticed this was bad for both groups of students in a co-taught setting. Those with IEPs acted out and were disruptive and these actions impacted the whole climate of the classroom. I suggested a few times that we should consider offering small groups but eventually gave up. TL/DR: It will be rewarding if you are in the right setting OR it will be depressing in the wrong setting.
I agree with Mrtempest. Do your due diligence before accepting a SPED position. I worked for one marvelous district where I had my own SPED class, a wonderful assistant, and the ability to teach as I saw fit. Moved to another district where I received a class of dangerous behavior problems, no administrative support (they said I was free to quit it I didn't like it), and no district cap on the number of students they placed in the class. I was injured, my assistant was injured, and the P allowed the students to tear up the classroom with no consequences. There was no suitable class to place these children where they would receive proper behavior support. We ended up filing numerous police reports (encouraged by the police dept) Because those reports would be kept on file as the students aged in order to get support for them later.
My first year as a teacher I was a sub. I did a long term assignment in an inner city high school SPED BD dept. The staff liked how I connected with the kids and encouraged me to take an opening in SPED and get a provisional licensure. Then I mentioned this to other teachers. They all said, "Once you go SPED, you'll never get to work as an art teacher again."
Good points. I think I'd only do it if it was at my current school actually. When I compare to my job now I think it would be a good fit.
That's tough! I think I'd only do it if it was my current school. I love my admin and when I look at what the current intervention specialists do I think it would be a great fit.
I'm sure that's true in some states/districts. My current district is a great at letting people choose instead of forcing them into a subject or grade they don't want.
It isn't about forcing them into a subject or grade, specifically, but more about, if you can teach art and SPED, but you only need one art teacher per school/district, but you need 8 SPED teachers, it might get very difficult to become that ONE art teacher ever again, because the art teacher who stayed an art teacher is probably improving the skills and curriculum that they teach. The art teacher who left for SPED has picked up SPED skills, but probably at the expense of acquiring more skills teaching art. So the more skilled art teacher keeps their job, and the school still needs 8 SPED teachers, who can actually be hard positions to fill. While not good enough to take away the art teacher's job, the applicant with SPED is a god send for those positions that are very hard to fill, even if the teacher is less skilled or experienced.
