Is your child,in a self-contained program, being taught by a long term sub?

Question

In my school district a large number of self-contained classrooms are being taught by long term substitute teachers who do not have any experience or training in the area of special education. Most teachers with the certification to teach in self-contained leave the district or go into general education. Some principals have forbidden their teachers from telling parents that they do not have a teaching certificate. A lot of parents don’t ask about certification, they assume that all teachers are certified to teach. I am wondering if this is occuring in other districts.

schools are required to tell parents WHO ASK, about the teacher qualifications. Too many parents trust that the school district hired the best qualified teacher for the position. I am teacher, not a parent, and have been the one to tell parents they should check the qualifications of their children's teachers. Sadly, too many parents in my district work two jobs and don't have the time or resources to ensure that their children recieve an appropriate education. I taught summer school to a group of students one year, this was the toughest group of students I have ever taught. I found out that in the past two years they had gone through 8 long term subs, 1 teacher (quit within the month), and about 12 teaching assistants.

Answer 1

Oh I feel for you and your child. I recently earned a teaching credential and Master's in Education. then I was hired as a long term sub. I had no textbooks, no classroom materials, no new teacher training, and no assistance whatsoever. then then an opening come up at another school, the principal encouraged me to apply for the other position. My question to myself was what about my students? I stayed for the students. Did the very best I could and thought it was a totally unfair situation for those children.

Answer 2

From my own personal experience, my child has been in a classroom with a sub for three months while he was in pre K. The finally found a teacher for the class. During the final months, I found out that she was not even qualified to teach special education classes. When I checked on her teaching status on the state's website for teachers, she had a restrictive license meaning she failed one or more parts of her teaching exam. The only reason I checked her out is because it seemed the assistants (Thank God for those assistants!) told me she was not quailified. It seems the principal didn't think it was a good idea for the parents to know about that. That's why the assistants seem to know more about teaching than the teacher.
It seems to be a national problem, which is really sad.

Answer 3

Your question makes me shiver in that the schools don't want the parents to know what's going on in the classroom! I have been lucky in that the school my child attends has always informed me when a teacher is not certified to teach the special education class. I have been unlucky in having a teacher or even sub who is teaching my child for an extended time. He has been in this school district for 16 years and has had almost as many different people attend to him! What a nightmare when you have no idea who will be teaching your child at any given time. One thing I do know about at least my son is he needs stability.

Answer 4

I believe it is a federal law that all schools must disclose if any of the teachers are not "highly qualified." (That means certified in the subject they are teaching.) Our school sends out notices at the beginning of the year. (They are sent home with the students, so who knows if they even make it home?) With the passing of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) ESE teachers are required to have a subject certification in addition to ESE certification. For students who are in self contained classrooms, this would mean the teacher would need 6 different certifications (in middle school anyway) ESE, math, science, social studies, reading and language arts. Ask the principal for the certification requirements of the district, and if your child's teacher meets those requirements.

Answer 5

Stubu is correct. NCLB has made it more and more difficult to help the students who need it the most.

Special education teachers have more paperwork to do than other teachers and are under more pressure for Ex. Ed. kids to score as high as their non-diabled peers on standardized tests. In some states the ESE kids can count up to three times towards their school grades - once in the lowest 25% (which self-contained kids tend to fall), once in the ESE subcategory, and once as all kids do, measuring how much they have achieved in a year.

It's not surprising that there is a shortage of ESE teachers, and it's going to continue to be a problem as long as these requirements are in place. In our state ESE teachers are also required to be certified in the subject they are teaching, as well as ESE. Self-contained teachers must be certified in each subject, or take an integrated test that covers all of the material regular classes cover, from geometry to physics, world and American history, music, drama, and everything in between. As you can imagine, this is a very difficult test, especially when you've been teaching second grade level math for a number of years.

The result is that ESE teachers are leaving the classroom in droves, and there is no one to replace them.

ESE teachers are more likely to be sued than other teachers, have more paperwork than other teachers, and typically have classes with more behavior problems than other classes, On top of all that, we have to individualize instruction for each student and make sure we are following each student's modifications and accommodations.

The trend right now is towards inclusion - placing students with disabilities in regular ed classrooms - and this is going to reduce the number of ESE teachers even further.

While I feel for your child, and all the children in the class, I totally understand what they're going through. You might want to consider moving your child to a school with certified teachers, volunteering in your child's classroom, or contacting the school board (keeping in mind that they can't hire person if no one applies for the position).

In our district the school must disclose any teachers who are out of area, and it must be publicized. I bet your district has a similar policy.

Good luck!

Answer 6

I teach in a self contained BD classroom. The bigger problem here is the huge shortage of special education teachers. Districts are forced to provide special education services often times with no qualified teachers. Teachers in general are in short supply. My personal opinion is that this is due largely to the strict requirements of No Child Left Behind. As a parent of a special education student, you should be questioning NCLB as it does not treat special education students as special education students, but rather, require them to achieve at the same level as their general education peers with no special needs.

Answer 7

I am in my first year of teaching. My degree is Teacher of the Handicap in the state of NJ. I read all of the answers that are written prior to my response and sadly non of them surprise me, nor can I disagree with 99% of the comments made.

To answer your question about other districts keeping certification status from parents and general knowledge: YES there are more, and based on my experiences during practicum and student teaching this is the common practice.

Sadly, our schools are like miniature kingdoms and within each kingdom there are powerful territories ruled by the teachers. There are some good and fair rulers in the kingdom and some kings/principals are decent rulers, but they are the exceptions not the norm. Our children are the subjects who are caste into their roles by the rulers who have judge them based on their superficial knowledge of our children.

What special education label they have? What sport they are best athlete? What their siblings achieved? The social class the student and his/her family belongs. How they dress for school? The friends they chose to play with. Even how they learn visual, kinesthetic, auditory, combination of styles.

NCLB - is a huge joke. Our very country was founded on individual rights and differences. Yet, ALL children are supposed to be able to learn the same information and regurgitate that information on demand for standardized tests that BUSH himself doubtfully could pass!

Inclusion works with supports for students who are have mild to moderate learning disabilities. NOT for students whose needs go beyond modifications to the assignments and teaching methods. When you start including students who are more than one year behind with their reading level abilities you are going to get diminished education for all students in the classroom. READING levels are crucial to succeeding at the grade level no matter the grade level.

Behaviorally, we have students who blatantly tell teachers; NO, I am not doing that work. They can be disruptive to all students and need special placement, not in the regular education setting.

I am teaching in a school small special education that has students with severe/profound autism and multiple-disabilities. Out of seven classroom teachers only two have Teacher of the Handicap degrees. Myself and a teacher who graduated out of the country 15 plus years ago. This school claims to use ABA for behavior modification, yet behavior plans are written without data collection and definitions just to name two things missing from the plans. My questioning of the behavior modification practices is not being received well by the person who is supposed to be doing them. Surprise. Her work would not have passed one of my undergrad classes. The tuition at my school starts at 40,000. But is anyone checking the credentials of the school. No, because the students are hard to work with and the pay is lousy. So they have to settle with those who are willing to use the place as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, the children are the ones who are getting walked on.

Answer 8

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