Novice Special Education Teachers Benefit From Mentoring

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Novice special education teachers benefit from mentoring

By Dana Curton and Laura Hess

Categories: Career pathways, Learning communities, System leadership

St. Vrain Valley Schools, in Colorado, serves over 33,000 students and has a diverse population, including 4,100 students with disabilities. As the district has grown in recent years, the number of students with disabilities has been steadily increasing, resulting in a growing demand for special education teachers. Simultaneously, and as in many districts, the pool of candidates for special education jobs in St. Vrain has been decreasing. In fact, the Colorado Department of Education identified special education teachers as one of the top areas with unfilled positions in nonrural districts across the state. In response to these challenges, the district established the Special Education Alternative Licensure Cohort in 2019. It started with five teachers teaching elementary and high school special education and has grown to

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Alternative certification in St. Vrain Valley Schools

In Colorado, there are two types of temporary licenses that allow individuals to work as special education teachers while working toward their endorsement. Both of these licenses require prospective teachers to have already completed a bachelor’s degree.

The first license is a Temporary Educator Endorsement for individuals who are currently enrolled in a traditional teacher preparation program for special education. The second type is an Alternative Teacher License, where individuals are hired for a teaching position and start an alternative teacher licensure program at the same time.

Our district began employing temporary licensed teachers from both of these categories who demonstrated a passion for teaching and learning, passed their prerequisite exams, and were already in or ready to start a licensure program. Fifty-eight percent of these teachers were in an alternative licensure program while teaching, and the remainder completed a traditional program with a Temporary Educator Endorsement.

Many of our teachers who are completing their alternative teacher license attend programs at University of Colorado Denver and Metropolitan State College of Denver. These programs include graduate-level coursework as well as a relationship with a university mentor.

While these programs provide theoretical frameworks and foundational principles of teaching and learning, our new special education teachers still had immediate needs regarding the support and instruction of students within their classrooms. Those needs gave rise to the Special Education Alternative Licensure Cohort, which now serves teachers in both the Temporary Educator Endorsement and alternative licensure pathways.

References

Colorado Department of Education. (2023). Educator preparation programs report. www.cde.state.co.us/educatortalent/edprepprogram-report

Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). Solving the teacher shortage: How to attract and retain excellent educators. Learning Policy Institute.

Dana Curton

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Dana Curton (curton_dana@svvsd.org) is special education instructional coach and P-TEACH instructor at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Longmont, Colorado.