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35 2 Special Education Teachers We selected special education teachers as a case study because there have been many reports in the popular and academic literature about shortages in this field, and these reports have persisted for more than 30 years. The labor market for this profession is interesting for several reasons. Although special education teachers are often paid according to the same wage scale as other teachers, they typically have longer and more rigorous training and certification requirements and face a greater number of administrative burdens. Although a shortage of special education teachers could result from rapidly increasing demand, other reasons to explore this occupation include federal and state regulations regarding the provision of special education, limitations on funding possibilities due to the strong role of the public sector in funding special education positions, and institutional rigidities that could be introduced through the collective bargaining process. BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION Special education teachers work with students who face specific learning disabilities, emotional or behavioral disorders, and physical challenges. The special needs and abilities of these students, who may be emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, mentally retarded, or have speech, hearing, vision, or other impairments, cannot be met well by conventional teaching practices. Special education teachers use a variety of classroom methods to tailor their material to the learning characteristics and needs of their students, usually providing instruction to individuals or small groups (BLS 2010a). In addition to providing educational instruction, special education teachers have several other responsibilities. First, they are involved in the identification of children with special needs and with the transition of these students between special education and mainstream classes. To this end, they also act as consultants to the entire faculty on issues In order to view this proof accurately, the Overprint Preview Option must be checked in Acrobat Professional or Adobe Reader. Please contact your Customer Service Representative if you have questions about ἀnding the option. Job Name: -- /344737t 36 Barnow, Trutko, and Piatak regarding the transition of children with special needs back into the conventional classroom setting, which is a process of inclusion often referred to as mainstreaming. Second, they serve as advisors to parents of children with special needs, providing counsel on the motivational, cognitive, and social consequences of their children’s conditions. Finally, they help to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each special education student, which sets personalized goals and is tailored to the student’s individual needs and ability. This task often includes working with parents, school administrators, and the student ’s general education teachers to formulate and evaluate long-term strategies to help students attain a sense of social and personal selfsufficiency . Often the special education teacher may work in a resource room, a place where students with mild disabilities may spend a portion of the school day working toward specified goals (BLS 2010a). The history of special education teaching as a distinct area of teaching is quite brief, beginning in the late 1950s. Prior to that time, special education teachers watered down or simplified regular classroom curricula, an approach that largely reflected a lack of knowledge in the field, as well as a lack of recognition that a different approach was required for the education of children with special needs. In the case of severely disabled students, who were often placed in separate centers or institutions and thus separated from their mainstream peers, teachers focused for the most part on controlling student behavior and attempting to teach students as best they could through conventional instruction methods (Palmer and Hall 1987). In view of the lack of specialized personnel to train special education teachers, federal legislation was enacted to improve programs and services. Some notable early examples include the establishment of university doctorate-level training programs in the area of mental retardation by the Education of Mentally Retarded ChildrenAct in 1958 (PL 85-926); the Training of Professional Personnel Act of 1959 (PL 86-158), which helped train leaders to educate children with mental retardation; and the Teachers of the Deaf Act of 1961 (PL 87-276), which provided training for instructional personnel for children who were deaf or hard of hearing. In addition, the Elementary and Secondary EducationAct of 1965 (PL 89-10) and the State SchoolsAct of 1965 (PL 89-313) gave states direct grant assistance to help educate children with disabilities. However, in 1970, public schools in the United States In order to view this proof accurately, the Overprint Preview Option must be checked in Acrobat Professional...

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