Special Education Interview Report

The Interview Experience I conducted an interview with John Doe, the Director of Special Services for XYZ school district. Mr. Doe holds a Master’s degree in education, taught at the Junior High for almost a decade. Also, he is planning on retiring soon. Special Services for XYZ Public Schools covers both special education and Section 504. The district is currently serving around 2,700 students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The student’s ages range from three to twenty-one years. XYZ is currently providing services under twelve of the thirteen categories listed under IDEA. There is a military post, which brings many different challenges and students from all over the world. The district is

I spent seven years as assistant director and six as director. My plan is to retire after the 2018-2019 school year.

2. As coordinator of special education, how would you use to communicate your expectations to others?

For me, I am invested in the responsibilities that I have as director, I work hard to get my co-workers to be invested as well. I communicate “our goals” as just that, ours. I really enjoy what I do. Providing quality, continued services to the students in my district is of the highest importance to me.

3. As coordinator of special education, how to you track or measure progress and failures of the current special education programs and implement a plan of action, if needed?

To do my job well takes help, organization, and planning. We use annual benchmarks, testing and compliance goals to measure progress and failure. Data like opening and closing classes, program improvement, enrollment predictions and compliance concerns to plan and reach our goals is also incorporate. If a problem occurs or might occur, we would develop and implement an appropriate plan of

“Approximately 50% of school districts across the nation have reported barriers in obtaining highly qualified teachers” (Madigan and Scroth-Cavataio, 2012, p. 107). As coordinator of special education, what qualities do you find most important for a special educator to possess?

It would be great to have a teacher that possess all the qualities of the perfect special education teacher. Unfortunately, none of us has all those qualities, but the ones that I do feel are very important to the job are intuitive skills, a calm nature, be adaptable, and the most important of all is a genuine love for the career and the children.

10. “The most effective teaching is based on identifying performance objectives, instructing according to these objectives, and then assessing these performance objectives”. (Weaver, n.d. para. 4). As coordinator of special education, what steps have you taken to ensure special education teachers are able to conduct effective formal and informal assessments?

New teachers are assigned mentor teachers when they first arrive at their school to help them settle in. The assistance of the school administration, department head and special services is a vital part of insuring new teachers have a good working understanding of how to conduct formal and informal