The Rationale for a Special Education Teacher's Primary Role in Presenting Intensive Instruction in a School's Tiered Intervention Framework

Overview & Synopsis

Identifying a special education teacher's primary role has been complicated by competing legislative demands emphasizing every student's academic achievement in the general education curriculum versus some students' needs for individualized instruction that addresses their noteworthy academic achievement deficits. One result is that school administrators have to decide whether a special education teacher's primary role will be to (a) provide accommodations that enable students with disabilities to remain in general education classrooms in accordance with the least restrictive environment requirement in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or (b) present the intensive instruction called for by a student's performance in the school's tiered intervention framework. This paper argues that a special education teacher's primary role is to present intensive instruction. The paper (a) reviews the evolution of the current dilemma, (b) explains both accommodations and intensive instruction, and (c) presents a rationale for a special education teacher's primary role as a presenter of intensive instruction. The paper concludes with a brief discussion about how school administrators can establish this primary role for special education teachers while meeting related mandates through the work of other educators. [For the full proceedings, see ED671809.]