Special Education Lead TOSA - Elementary

Special Education Lead

The special education lead has a crucial role in promoting effective instructional practices within the district. The primary focus will be on enhancing instruction through the alignment and implementation of the district's curriculum. Each special education lead will support a cluster of three elementary schools; and will collaborate with other district coaches, including math coaches, digital resource teachers and staff supporting social/emotional support to ensure a comprehensive and aligned approach to supporting classroom teachers, building administrators, and leadership teams that will provide high engagement of learning for our students.

Qualifications:

• Current Minnesota special education teaching license
• Minimum of 5 years of successful teaching experience
• Master's degree in education (preferred)
• Training or certification in structured literacy, social emotional or other relevant areas (preferred)
• Demonstrated success in coaching and mentoring teachers
• Cognitive coaching training or equivalent (preferred)
• Strong understanding of data collection systems and data analysis
• Knowledge of current trends and research in high quality instructional practices
• Knowledge, experience, and understanding of the district's learning and technology framework and use of Seesaw/Schoology within a 1:1 environment
• Commitment to equity and culturally responsive teaching
• Strong interpersonal, organization, and communication skills
• Ability to work well with adult learners
• Ability to work well as part of a collaborative team
• Ability to resolve conflicts with groups and individuals

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, facilitate, and deliver professional development sessions for special education teachers in collaboration with other coaches in order to ensure alignment across all areas.
• Support and guide teams and individual teachers in the implementation of special education goals and priorities.
• Support and lead district training sessions for special education teachers.
• Provide ongoing, on-site coaching and mentoring to teachers, supporting the implementation of explicit instruction and aligned instructional practices in the classroom.
• Provide support in the classroom to assist teachers in refining instructional techniques to meet the diverse needs of students.
• Provide opportunities for teachers to observe the modeling of various aspects of instruction.
• Problem-solve with teachers in making responsive instructional decisions (intervention and extensions) to meet student needs in the areas of academics, functional, and social/emotional skills.
• Ability to facilitate, write and implement Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Behavior Support Plans.
• Analyze assessment data to identify trends, areas of improvement, and opportunities for intervention.
• Work closely with teachers to interpret assessment results and develop targeted instructional plans for individuals and small groups.
• Provide coaching and mentoring around utilizing data (i.e. screening data, progress monitoring data, formative assessment data) to inform IEP goals and explicit instruction.
• Collaborate with other district coaches (i.e. math, literacy, digital resource teachers, GTD, ELD) to integrate instructional strategies across disciplines and promote a unified approach to instruction.
• Participate in regular team meetings to share best practices, align coaching strategies, and address cross-curricular challenges.
• Ability to work beyond the school year and student day as needed (compensation provided).
• Performs other related duties as assigned.