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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

Wendy Gilbert

Educational Leadership, Grand Canyon University

EAD 530

Dr. Joanie Hudson

March 9, 2023
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Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers

This week I went through the coaching cycle with a special education teacher. Prior to

observing the teacher, I collaborated with my principal mentor to draft pre-conference questions.

I also met with the teacher in order to establish a purpose for my participation in the coaching

process. “Teachers must feel that it is safe to take risks and that they are free to explore issues

honestly, without fear that their reputation might be damaged,” (Danielson, 2015, p. 127). I

needed to make sure that she knew that I would maintain confidentiality and that my role was not

evaluative. In considering the pre-conference questions, I also anticipated the responses and

thought through how I will coach the teacher. The following are a sampling of that work.

Lessons and Student Needs

I will begin the pre-conference by leading the teacher in a conversation about learning

intentions, evidence of success, and information about students’ specific learning goals. I will

focus on alignment to state standards and students’ Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) as well

as assessment.

Questions

 What do you want students to know and be able to do by the end of this lesson?

 How will you know that students met these learning goals?

 What IEP goals are you going to be working on for each student?

Expected Responses and Coaching

I expect that the teacher will tell me the lesson’s objectives, or learning intentions, and

success criteria. It is possible that there will be different anticipated outcomes for each of the five
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students in her group. The IEP goals will be similar, but likely not identical as she has

intentionally grouped students who are working on the same skills.

My coaching will depend on the teacher’s responses to the questions. I am expecting a

clearly defined answer to each of my questions, and I will help guide her towards those

responses by looking at the lesson plan and the students’ IEP documents if she is not able to

articulate the responses independently.

Differentiated Instruction

The next questions will address how the teacher will differentiate instruction to meet the

needs of each student in her small group. The questions about the learning intentions and

expected outcomes for each of her students will easily segue into the following questions.

Questions

 What challenges or misconceptions do you anticipate for your students during this

lesson?

 How will you address these challenges and misconceptions?

 How will you differentiate instruction to meet each student’s IEP goals?

 How will you extend the lesson for students who quickly master the skills during this

lesson?

Expected Responses and Coaching

I expect that the teacher will answer the questions thoughtfully based on her knowledge

of each student in this small group. She will describe how she provides varied supports for each

of her students based on their individual needs. While the students have similar goals in their
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IEPs, their ability levels are varied and will require different support. The teacher will likely also

describe behavioral supports that she will need to implement throughout the lesson.

I will make sure that I am familiar with each student’s IEP goals so that I can effectively

coach the teacher if she needs support in thinking through these questions. I will ask additional

questions about the students’ behavioral, memory, or processing concerns if those are not

addressed by her responses.

Struggling Students

The discussion surrounding differentiation will reveal anticipated challenges the teacher

expects to see with students who may struggle to meet the learning intentions of this lesson. I

will ask additional questions to see how these challenges will be addressed so that all students

can be successful.

Questions

 What scaffolding will you provide for students who are struggling?

 What will students need to know and be able to do in the next lesson?

 How will you reinforce the skills you will teach in this lesson to help students to be

successful in future lessons?

Expected Responses and Coaching

I expect that the teacher will show that she has reflected on anticipated struggles prior to

meeting with me to discuss this lesson. She will tell me about specific students and what

strategies she has found to be successful in helping them to meet the desired outcomes in the

past.
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I will coach the teacher by helping her to think through the lesson and use her knowledge

of each student to consider challenges that they might face in mastering the skills or content. I

will help her to think of specific strategies that may help them by focusing on what she is already

doing each day. I do not want to coach her to try something new during this lesson, so I will

focus on asking questions rather than providing solutions.

Prior Knowledge

In planning a quality lesson, a teacher should reflect on what students already know and

are able to do as well as what skills are required for a student to be ready for the current lesson. If

there is a gap between the group’s current skill level and what is needed prior to this lesson,

some remedial lessons may be required. If students already have shown mastery of the skills and

content in the current lesson, the teacher should consider how she will challenge the learners to

show deeper knowledge.

Questions

 Where does this lesson fit in the scope of the grade level unit plan?

 What prior skills or knowledge will students need to be successful in this lesson?

 Have students demonstrated proficiency in the prerequisite skills?

 How will you provide scaffolding to help students get from where they are to where they

need to be?

Expected Responses and Coaching

Because the teacher works with these students each day, I expect that she will have an in-

depth knowledge of each student’s current level of proficiency in the skills she will be teaching
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in this lesson. She will be able to describe what she has taught in the past and how she knows

students are ready for the learning that she expects to take place in this lesson.

I will coach the teacher by asking additional questions about her previous lessons and the

success students have demonstrated so far. I will also ask about the students’ ability to attain

learning targets in their general education classroom and how her instruction will help provide

necessary support to close their learning gaps.

Classroom Management

Finally, I will ask the teacher about her planned classroom management strategies. While

it is likely that this topic will have been addressed by previous questions, I want to make sure to

specifically ask about behavioral challenges she anticipates.

Questions

 Can you describe the group’s dynamics? What can I expect to see in terms of how the

students interact with one another?

 Please describe any anticipated behavioral challenges that might occur during this lesson.

 How do you plan to address these challenges?

Expected Responses and Coaching

The teacher will tell me about the individual students in the group that I will observe. She

will likely describe any inattention, distractions, or major behavioral issues she anticipates. I am

hopeful that she will tell me how she plans to proactively prevent these issues from occurring,

and that she will have a plan for if these anticipated difficulties take place.
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I will coach the teacher by asking additional questions about her rules and procedures if

she does not mention these as she answers my planned questions. I will probe about proactive

approaches if they are not provided.

Conclusion

Throughout my pre-conference, I plan to ask a series of questions of the teacher to help

her to reflect on the lesson that I will observe. While I have planned a series of questions, I will

make sure to listen to the teacher’s responses so that I can eliminate any questions which may be

redundant based on previous responses. I want this conference to be conversational and not seem

scripted or appear to be a checklist of questions. I also want the teacher to do the majority of the

talking, so I will ask open-ended questions which will prompt her to share her thinking. This is in

alignment with PSEL Standard 5a, “Build and maintain a safe, caring, and healthy school

environment that meets that the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of each

student,” (NPBEA, 2015).

References

Danielson, C. (2015). Danielson. Talk about teaching! (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

National Policy Board for Educational Administration. (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.