Running Head: BEST PRACTICES-SALAZAR

Best Practices

EDAD 618B: Spring 2019

Diana Salazar
Running Head: BEST PRACTICES-SALAZAR

Best Practices

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to examine achievement gaps at Central Elementary and find

possible solutions to closing those gaps. Central Elementary is a title one school located in a

rural area in Escondido. There are achievement gaps among student with disabilities in English

Language Arts and Mathematics. There can be many reasons for the equity gap among students

without disabilities, but research shows that issues with special education teachers in rural areas

can impact student achievement and academics.

Literature Review

Mason-William, L. (2015). Unequal profile of the distribution of special education teachers.

Exceptional Children, 81(2), 247-262. doi:10.1177/0014402914551737

The quality of special education services can be affected by the area that students live in.

There are discrepancies between poor areas and the quality of special education teachers

teaching in those areas. Mason-William (2015) researched the inequalities that exist between the

type of education provided to students with disabilities in poor areas compared to students living

in higher income areas. The study looked at teacher qualifications, incentives to retain special

teachers, and types of ongoing trainings available for special education teachers. Mason-William

found that special education teacher qualifications decrease in low-income areas. She also found

that special education teachers in poor areas are not fully prepared due to their lack of experience

and lack of appropriate credentials to teach special education. These components negatively

affect the academic achievement of special education students and prevents them from receiving

an appropriate education.

Garwood, J.D., Werts, M.G., Varghese, C. & Gosey, L. (2018). Mixed-methods analysis of rural
special educators’ role stressors, behavior management, and burnout. Rural Special
Education Quarterly, 37(1), 30-43. doi:10.1177/8756870517745270
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Another casual factor is that educators working with students with disabilities are not

fully prepared to meet student needs. Special education teachers in rural areas have more

demands placed on them as they attempt to meet student academic needs (Garwood, Werts,

Varghese, & Gosey, 2018). Teachers are not prepared or supported when working with students

with disabilities causing students to fall behind academically. Due to the lack of funding and

segregation between special education and regular education, special education educators lack

resources and trainings that benefit students (Garwood, Werts, Varghese, & Gosey, 2018).

These factors can cause major problems for student learning. Hiring teachers who are not

qualified will create a bigger equity gap between students and students with disabilities. Teachers

who do not possess the proper credentials and lack experience can prevent students from

achieving their maximum potentials. Teachers who are not prepared to face academic challenges,

language barriers, and behavioral problems, can impact student engagement and academic

performance. Unprepared teachers will struggle in understanding student needs causing them to

disengage from teaching. They would also leave at a higher rate than prepared teachers.

Mason-William, L. (2015). Unequal opportunities: a profile of the distribution of special

education teachers. Exceptional Children, 81(2), 247-262.
doi:10.1177/0014402914551737

There are problems with special education and districts trying to retain qualified special

education teachers. The school uses a majority of its funding to hire paraprofessionals like onsite

nurses and social workers. It also uses funding to train staff on positive behavior interventions

that are needed to help students’ emotional needs. The school’s priority is to ensure that students

are getting their basic needs met. Schools in high poverty areas tend to decrease the

qualifications of educators especially with educators working with students with disabilities.

Special education teacher qualifications seem to decrease in low income areas, resulting in
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districts hiring teachers who lack experience, fail to possess the appropriate credentials, and

teachers who are not prepared in meeting student needs causing students to perform below state

standards (Mason-William, 2015).

Demographics of Central Elementary

Central Elementary was built in 1935 and is one of the oldest schools in the Escondido

Union School District (Breannan, 2018). Central Elementary is a public school that teaches

grades Kindergarten to 5th grade. Central is made up of 600 students, consisting of 94%

Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% White, and 2% other (Breannan, 2018). 77% of students are eligible for

free lunch and 8% are eligible for reduced lunch (Public School Review, n.d.). Central

Elementary is a Title I school and is ranked 5298th out of 5692 from the state of California.

Data Analysis

There are several casual factors that may impact the equity gaps at Central Elementary.

One factor is the location of the Central Elementary. Central is a title one school located in low

socioeconomic area in Escondido, California (NICHE, n.d.). 94% of students at Central

Elementary are socioeconomically disadvantaged (Dashboard, 2017).

According to the California Dashboard, in 2018 students with disabilities performed:

English Language Arts Mathematics
110 points below standard 127.7 points below standard
Increased 18.6 Points Maintained -0.5 Points
Number of Students: 31 Number of Students: 31

According to the California Dashboard, in 2017 students with disabilities performed:

English Language Arts Mathematics
128.5 points below standard 127.2 points below standard
Declined 21.4 Points Declined 13.9 Points
Number of Students: 33 Number of Students: 33

The data demonstrates an improvement in scores from last year to two years ago. Central

Elementary has made some improvement in their scores in Mathematics and English Language
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Arts from last year but the data still indicates that students with disabilities require assistance.

According to California Dashboard data, students with disabilities are performing 50% lower in

English Language Arts and 32% lower in Mathematics than all students at Central Elementary.

Central Elementary has goals to provide supports to students with disabilities and provide more

training opportunities for special education educators that can benefit students with disabilities.

Best Practice to Increase Student Achievement

There is an equity gap at Central Elementary exists between students with disabilities and

all other student populations. Based on The California School Dashboard students with

disabilities at Central Elementary are performing the lowest in English Language Arts and

Mathematics. Strategies that can be used to improve the school’s equity gap are: increasing

parent involvement, increasing teacher collaboration among other teachers who work with

students with disabilities, and have more professional development opportunities that center

around increasing student achievement among students with disabilities.

Having qualified teachers who possess the right credential can help decrease the equity

gap. Teachers who do not possess the proper credentials and lack experience can prevent

students from achieving their maximum potentials. Teachers who are not prepared to face

academic challenges, language barriers, and behavioral problems, can impact student

engagement and academic performance. Unprepared teachers will struggle in understanding

student needs causing them to disengage from teaching. They would also leave at a higher rate

than prepared teachers.

Increasing parent support and involvement can also have positive effects on student

achievement. Parents who are not involved or informed of their child’s academics can cause

students to fall further behind by not providing supports or encouragement. Teachers are limited
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in what they can do outside of the classroom and depend on parents and families to assist in

furthering their child’s academic success outside of school. The home-to-school collaboration is

extremely important can have an everlasting positive effect on student progress and achievement.

Increasing parent involvement, increasing collaboration between educators working with

students with disabilities, and having more professional development focusing on helping

students with disabilities can address the issues in the equity gap.

Increasing collaborations and providing more training opportunities for special education

teachers will also help decrease the equity gap. It would be beneficial if professional

developments allowed for all staff to collaborate with each other and review the progress of

students with disabilities. It is also extremely important for educators working with students with

disabilities to receive continuous training on how to help students with disabilities achieve

academic success. There is a history of professional development trainings given to special

education staff that is not relevant to helping students with disabilities. There is also a lack of

support for special education teachers making teacher feel unprepared when teaching students

with disabilities. Professional developments should always have a focus and an agenda to follow

so meetings can be more effective.

Conclusion

Special education teachers are an asset and are overlooked. There are districts that

understand the need to retain qualified special education teachers and will provide incentives and

supports to ensure their teachers are given the resources needed to fulfill their job

responsibilities. It is also important to understand the causes and effects of burnout. Higher levels

of stress can put a strain on special education teachers causing them to leave the education field

at higher levels than general education teachers. Decreasing stress and burnout in special
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education can be prevented with the appropriate supports. Understanding the problem can help in

finding a solution in retaining special education teachers and decreasing the equity gap among

students with disabilities.

Central Elementary requires more qualified teachers to work with students with

disabilities. Teachers should have more professional development on cultural sensitivity or

relevant strategies that pertain to students performing below the standard. They also need to

increase parent involvement to increase student academics. Teachers need to be encouraged and

given the opportunity to work in teams to create a vision and have somewhat common pacing

guides of the curriculum with goals and raising the bar for students.