Relationships with School Administrators: Leveraging Knowledge and Data to Self-Advocate

Autor/inn/en	Cornelius, Kyena E.; Gustafson, Jinger A.
Titel	Relationships with School Administrators: Leveraging Knowledge and Data to Self-Advocate
Quelle	In: TEACHING Exceptional Children, 53 (2021) 3, S.206-214 (9 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Cornelius, Kyena E.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0040-0599
DOI	10.1177/0040059920972438
Schlagwörter	Special Education Teachers; Teacher Administrator Relationship; Knowledge Level; Data Use; Self Advocacy; Communication Strategies; Social Support Groups; Expertise; Teaching Load; Noninstructional Responsibility + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Special education; Teacher; Teachers; Sonderpädagoge; Sonderpädagogik; Sonderschulwesen; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Wissensbasis; Selbstbehauptung; Kommunikationsstrategie; Social support; Soziale Unterstützung; Expert appraisal; Lehrdeputat
Abstract	Early-career special education teachers (SETs), often report feelings of role ambiguity and being marginalized from their administrators (Billingsley & Bettini, 2019). Dissatisfaction with administration is a leading cause of SET attrition (Bettini et al., 2020; Fowler et al., 2019). Special educators who leave teaching report feeling overwhelmed and having no control or influence over matters crucial to their success (e.g., lack of resources, heavy caseloads, school culture; Billingsley & Bettini, 2019). The field of special education has been concerned with the implementation issues of evidence-based practices (Cook & Odom, 2013), or the "research-to-practice gap" (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998), for over two decades. It has been suggested that part of the reason is knowledge and understanding of the practice (Burns & Ysseldyke, 2009) as well as a lack of an organizational system to sustain new initiatives (Cook & Odom, 2013; Fixen et al., 2013a). The literature suggests the implementation science frameworks (Fixen, Blase, Horner, etal., 2013) can be used to assist SETs in self-advocating with administrators. Frameworks in implementation science are designed to conceptualize an intervention to a specific aspect of implementation with the aim of acting as a procedural guide to aid implementers to make evidence informed interventions to practice (Nilsen, 2015). Also research has found that faculty who perceived an authentic relationship with administrators were more satisfied and even reported feeling more committed to the organization. Building relationships between administrators and teachers is sometimes easier said than done, especially in larger workplaces where different or competing expectations exist (White et al., 2010). Similarly, the implementation science framework discusses competing expectations. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, the authors provide useful strategies for SETs to approach school administrators in order to build a positive relationship as well as to establish a "support group" of other special educators as a foundation to successful self-advocacy. Second, they provide strategies for SETs to leverage knowledge of special education and data of their effectiveness to advocate for themselves and their students. By establishing more positive relationships and self-advocating, SETs may enhance school administrators' knowledge of special education and specialized instruction. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01