Assessing The Role Of Professional Development In Special Education

A professional development needs to be aligned with campus and district goals because it is what arms the teachers and administrators with the needed knowledge and skills in order to meet these goals. If one of the specific goals of a school, for example, is to improve its ESL students’ performance in STAAR tests, then a professional development for teachers may be about ESL instructional strategies across the curriculum and for administrators may be about ESL instructional strategy monitoring practices to fully support ESL instruction. If this school spends funding for a professional development that supports and encourages more ESL students’ participation in athletics, then this professional development is not aligned with the campus goal

I do believe, however, that a professional development in special education will help both special education teachers and general education teachers meet their exceptional students’ needs in both regular and resource classrooms. Through a special education – related professional development, special education teachers will be updated with best practices in individualized education planning, teaching, and services of exceptional students. This includes updates on adaptations, modifications, and accommodations in instruction and testing based on the demands of certain disability categories as shown by current research studies and on federal or state policies concerning the implementation of special education services. On the other hand. through a special education – related professional development, general education teachers will gain more expertise in teaching the exceptional students in the general classroom the way the students actually learn, implementing students’ Individualized Education Program, and team-planning with the special education