Expert Educator Interview
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Description of Interviewee
Kim has been a Special Education Teacher in the Seymour Public School system for 17 years.
She attended Southern Connecticut State University for both her Bachelor’s and Master's degree
in Special Education. She has worked as a middle school and elementary Special Education
teacher. She was in a self contained classroom for five years, with students who have severe
disabilities. She currently is the Special Education teacher for first grade. I believe that Kim is a
credible source because of how long she has been in the Special education field. She has also
been in a middle school and elementary setting. She also has experience working in a self
contained environment.
Transcript of Interview
1. What is one piece of advice you would give to a new Special Education Teacher?
One piece of advice I would give to a new Special Education teacher, is to ask questions
or take people up on their offer to help. There have been many times that I have reached out to
new teachers and asked if there was anything I could do to help them or if they had any questions
and they would say no or that they were fine. Then I would find out that they actually were not
fine and things were not getting done or they waited until something needed to be done to ask the
question. No one expects you to know everything when you first get to the job, so ask those
questions and do not feel like you should already know everything.
2. What is the most important aspect of Special Education that a Special Education
Teacher needs to know?
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There are many important aspects to Special Education but the most important to know
and understand are the timelines. Special Education is all about timelines. There are many
timelines that you need to stick to. If you are unaware of a timeline, you can become out of
compliance and can get into legal trouble. If you understand the timelines, then everything else
will fall into place.
3. What has been the most challenging part of using the new IEP system CT SEDS?
I have been a Special Education Teacher for 17 years and have only known one IEP
system, so learning an entirely new one has been tricky all around. For a new Special Education
teacher, who has never used the other IEP system, I would say the most challenging part is
understanding how each part of the IEP is connected. If one part is not entered correctly it can
affect the rest of the IEP. Ensuring the invitation is created correctly is very important, as well as
the first step in creating an IEP.
4. What is a piece of advice about running Planning and Placement meetings?
I would make an agenda for each PPT meeting you have. This will keep the meeting on
track. Sometimes parents want to come in and take over the meeting, but with an agenda for
them to look at, they know everything that will be discussed during the meeting and when they
can really talk about all of their concerns. You want to make sure that parents and other staff
members know that this is your meeting, so make sure you are the one doing the transitioning
between each item on the agenda.
5. How would you recommend a new Special Education teacher set up their caseload
service schedule?
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For Reading services, I always recommend grouping students according to goals and
objectives and not just reading level. There are many resources that have the same reading topic
on a variety of reading levels. This will allow students who have similar IEP goals to work in the
same group. For math services, I also recommend grouping students according to similar goals
and objectives. Depending on my caseload size, I try to make my groups a little bigger so I do
not have to do back to back groups.
6. How would you recommend a special education teacher communicate with parents/
families of their students?
There are three ways that we communicate with parents in Seymour. We call, email, or
message using an app called Remind. Most teachers use Remind to communicate but I have
noticed that most parents do not sign up to the Special Education Teachers Remind. I prefer
emailing or calling. If I am giving an educational update, I will email the parent, that way they
can read how their child is doing and not have to remember from a phone call. If I am trying to
set up a meeting with the parents, I will call them and then I will send a reminder email.
7. What evaluations should a new Special Education use when testing students for
Special Education Services?
Each district is different with the tests that they like to use but for the Seymour School
district, the main tests that we use are the Woodcock Johnson, which tests the students reading,
writing, and math skills. The WIAT-4 is another one we use a lot, which tests the students
reading, writing, and math skills. It also has a Dyslexia Index. We use the GORT-4, which tests
the student's oral reading abilities, as well as their comprehension skills. We also use the Key
Expert Educator Interview
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Math-3, which tests a student's math abilities. Depending on their students' deficits, we decide
which evaluations would be most appropriate to complete with them.
8. What feedback do you have on my final project (Roles/Responsibilities of a new
Special Education Teacher)?
I think you did a really great job ensuring all the important aspects of being a Special
Education teacher. I think you provided a lot of detail and answered almost all questions a new
teacher would have. I definitely would have liked to have something like this when I was starting
the job. I remember having so many questions and not knowing where to go or who to ask for
help. One thing I think should be included is to expect the unexpected. In this field there are
many things that are unpredictable, especially with students' behavior and or a difficult parent.
Not everything is going to go as planned or follow the same steps. There will be times that you
become frustrated because you and the parent cannot agree on a common date, trust me it
happens all the time. This is a great project for introducing all roles and responsibilities but there
also are many unknowns or conflicts that can arise as well. Overall I really liked this project.
Personal Analysis
What I gained from completing this assignment is not only feedback on my final project
but also an understanding of the job from someone who has been doing the job for many years. I
am still new to being a Special Education teacher and I appreciated hearing what advice she had
to give and how she handles the job on a daily basis. This is my third year working with Kim and
I have learned so much from her, that I already do apply and will continue to apply as a Special
Education Teacher. She is the person to go to with any questions you may have.
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