Special Education Competencies

Meghan McGurl

Vermont State University- Castleton Campus

Spring 2024
Reflection:

Creating connections to the real world in order to help students grow their knowledge of

content within and outside of the classroom is one of my goals for the future. In addition to

helping students learn about the world they live in, this will enable students to become lifelong

learners and continuously grow in their curiosity. Creating this curiosity and excitement for

learning is a focal point of my educational philosophy. Creating lifelong learners is incredibly

important and will help students to continue to learn within their post high school life. This is

very important to me as continuing to learn and remain curious in life will ultimately continue

the growth of knowledge and personal development.

Continuing to grow my knowledge of all content areas in order to support students'

education throughout all courses will also be something I continue to do in the future. When

needed, I will collaborate with other educators and staff to ensure all needs of my students are

being met. Ensuring students' needs and goals are being met and worked on will ensure the

future success of the student. In the future, I would like to continue to gain my knowledge of

working with students in crisis to ensure I remain up to date on the new practices and standards

as the profession of education continues to develop and change overtime. Staying up to date on

all new practices will ensure that students' needs are correctly being met. In the future, I will

continue to develop my own skills in order to best support all of my students properly.

Competency 1:

Creating developmentally appropriate decisions based on the students needs is imperative

within special education programs. In my experience, meeting students where they are at in order

to help them progress further is incredibly important. Although I will not be teaching elementary
students, learning about early childhood developmental theory has helped me to learn about how

late development can continue to affect students at the middle school and high school level. In

addition to understanding developmental theory, learning the importance of preparing students

for transitioning into post high school life is essential. In developing transitional plans for

students, I have been able to help students to better understand if they would like to attend

college, go to trade school, join the military, or begin working. Helping students create this plan

and help direct which courses should be taken has been very eye-opening. As my career

continues, I look forward to helping students better understand what they would like to achieve

in the future thus creating life-long learners.

Competency 2:

Understanding motivation, crisis, and behavior management is imperative while working

in a special education setting. Through my experiences, I have learned how to appropriately

respond to and monitor behaviors to ensure the best understanding of the behavior at hand.

Understanding students behaviors and continuously tracking this data will help each student's

educational team to best understand where the student is at. In addition, working to ensure

students are being appropriately placed in their least restrictive environment is incredibly

important for the success of all students within the classroom. In the future, I would like to

receive professional development revolving around crisis intervention in order to learn more

about intervening in various types of situations.

Competency 3:
 Creating meaningful learning experience for all students while applying common core

and state standards will help students to receive the most out of their educational journey.

Creating differentiated assignments and assessments for students with differing needs is

incredibly important. In doing this, students will be able to show off their strengths and show that

they do know the content at hand. Continuing to know the standards that must be taught for each

subject will help to ensure all topics are being taught, ensuring student success. Not only is it

important to remember common core and state standards, but being up to date on all special

education law will help to ensure student and parental rights are being met. In the future I will

continue to learn standards and laws as the education environment grows and changes over time.

Competency 4:

Collaborating with colleagues in order to ensure students are receiving a variety of

assessments will greatly increase student success, specifically students with differing needs. In

addition to collaborating with colleagues, collaborating with the parents and guardians of

students will ensure students are continuing their education at home, thus supporting their growth

in the educational environment. In my experience when working with colleagues, specifically

paraeducators, it can be very helpful to provide checklists to ensure all the students' needs are

being met. Moreover, providing resources such as a checklist to colleagues can help provide

support to everyone. While creating assessments for students, it is important to create formative

and summative assessments to ensure students fully understand the content at hand. In addition

to creating a wide variety of assessments, it is also important to provide feedback to students,

allowing for improvements to be made in the future. Continuing to collaborate with colleagues,
parents/guardians, and students will allow for everyone to feel a part of the educational process

thus providing mutual understanding and success.

Competency 5:

Creating inclusive learning environments, aiding not only to students with disabilities but

also students of culturally diverse backgrounds will help to create comfortable classroom

environments. In order to support all students it is important to understand various realms of

special education and general education. Supporting student learning whether in mastering skills

or working to find appropriate assistive technology for specific students aids to all students

development. Creating comprehensive assignments that can be adapted for all students will help

for each student to make progress despite their needs. In addition, creating assignments that are

cross-disciplinary will help struggling students to have information reinforced in one of more

courses. Adapting to and understanding each learner will help to provide adequate instruction to

all students.

Competency 6:

Adhering to the CEC Code of Ethics while advocating for all students helps to progress

the knowledge of special education. Advocating and raising awareness of situations happening

within special education do not have to be grand gestures like lobbying for a cause. Advocating

can be as simple as speaking with students about advocating for their own needs. In doing this,

students will be able to become more in charge of their future. Following the CEC Code of

Ethics will help to support students of varying needs and help these students to feel comfortable

while in the classroom. The Code of Ethics ensures that the knowledge surrounding special
education will continue to be researched. In the future, I will continue to advocate for students

and research new practices and developments in special education in order to better my students.

Competency 7:

Being collaborative and promoting advocacy among colleagues is incredibly imperative.

Ensuring that all educators and staff are opened to collaborating and making accommodations for

students will help to best support all students with differing needs. In addition, promoting

advocacy among everyone will help to ensure students feel safe in their learning environment

thus promoting an ideal setting for all students. While working and observing at multiple school

districts, I have been able to see numerous ways in which educators and staff collaborate on a

variety of levels. In the future, I will continue to collaborate with my colleagues and promote

advocacy.

Conclusion:

Working in special education has helped to further develop my experiences as an

educator. The experiences I have had have helped me to become a much more informed and

understanding educator. I am not able to better understand my students who are struggling and

am able to support each student to the best of my abilities. In addition, while working in special

education, my own pedagogy has changed significantly. I now believe that we as educators

should strive to create lifelong learners who continuously work to grow their curiosity. In the

future, I provide meaningful interventions for my students in order to target each student's

specific goals and needs. Providing these interventions will help to support each student's

growth. I will also continue to advocate for all students and ensure that their needs are being met
and their accommodations/modifications are being followed by all educators. Working in special

education has helped to develop me not only as an educator but as a person.