Are you thinking about become a special education teacher but don’t feel prepared. If so, here are 12 things that you need to know.

What are IEP Annual Goals?                     

These are learner’s goals that are related to their IEP. This goal highlights the expected results for the progress of the learner in the next year. These goals have to be realistic and achievable as well as measurable and objective. Both academic and functional goals are aimed at addressing the behavioral and learning difficulties that come about due to the learner’s disability. This must be constructed with consideration for how the kid’s disability might impact performance standards.

What is an IEP Annual Review?    

The IEP annual review is an IEP team meeting that is made compulsory for both parents and academic professionals. The school district is required to both inform parents of the timing of the meeting and adjust the scheduling to work with the availability of the parents. During the course of the conference, it is important for all aspects of the IEP to be factored into consideration and for the children to be treated as individuals rather than as a group with abstract qualities.

What is a Behavior Crisis Plan?   

Behavior crisis plan is an action plan that is used in situations where s specific learner is in danger of self-harm or harm to others. To construct this plan accurately and effectively, someone who knows the kid in question and a professional who can carry out a mental health crisis response. This plan must be actionable and based on personalized information and strategies that are regularly reviewed by the IEP team.

The IEP has to factor in any procedures or policies that are useful for supporting a learner who is experiencing a crisis. It could also be possible that the kid’s behaviors during a crisis could be considered breaches of the school’s discipline policy. In the event of such a situation, the IEP team should make a proper analysis of the situation to determine whether the kid’s crisis behavior should be responded to with disciplinary action.

What is Behavior Management?    

Behavior management involves the techniques, methods and strategies that are used to encourage positive behaviors and limit negative behaviors.

What is Positive Behavior Support?                           

This is a process that is used to solve behavioral problems that children may have. It helps instructors understand the causes of certain behavioral and emotional responses in children. By understanding where the problem behaviors stem from, it becomes easier to help the kid free themselves from their attachment to such problematic behaviors.

What is Bilingual Special Education?  

Bilingual special education is an educational approach that involves the use of both the English language and the learner’s native language and culture as the official instructional languages of the classroom.

What is Early Childhood Special Education?  

These are the special services given with the intention of supporting individuals with disabilities, usual learners between the ages of one to five years old. This is usually used to help children with disabilities develop the skills they will need for their academic activities. This includes counting, reading, differentiating between colors etc. They also provide support in developing motor skills such as writing, drawing, cutting etc. They also help them develop social skills and learn how to interact with other students within a classroom environment.

What are IEP Goals?

These are the goals that have been specified in a learner’s IEP that are used to determine whether the learner is achieving the expected academic progress. Special education learners all require a personalized education plan that will be tailored to suit their unique needs, this is why it is important to carefully draw up IEP goals.

What is the IEP Process?    

This is a process through which a learner is implemented into the individualized education program. It starts from when a learner is given a referral for special education service up to the implementation of the IEP throughout the time it would be active. It is compulsory that every child receiving special education services has an IEP.

What is an IEP Team?                    

This is a team of teachers from multiple disciplines that work with learners and parents to provide the most effective education possible with the help of an IEP. The team may include special education teachers or professionals who are experts on the learner’s condition.

What is People-First Language?    

This refers to the appropriate ways of referring to people with disabilities. It emphasizes the placing of the individual before their disability. E.g., a person who is deaf, instead of a deaf person—placing the disability before the person dehumanizes them and makes their disability their identity.

What is Pre-Referral?                     

This is used to depict the procedures that go into assisting learners in fitting into the traditional educational experience before going for the option of special education services. This step is necessary for the identification and implementation of strategies that will help learners overcome the difficulties they experience in the classroom before they get tested for special education.