I have a few questions that hopefully those of you teaching internationally and/or at a DODEA school can help answer.
I’m certified K-6 elementary, and 7-12 social studies, and have a M. Ed. I’ve taught overseas. I’m back in university and in the process of getting a K-12 special education endorsement to my teaching license.
I’ll be finished with school in December; so have begun doing some research on special education jobs overseas. I downloaded at State Department document listing every school that has some sort of program. I’ve checked at least 200 school websites so far. One thing I’ve noticed is that most schools have just a “resource room,â€
Special Education Programs- International Schools and DODEA
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teacherguy
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:11 am
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Ill answer the DODEA (DoDDS) question first since its the easiest. DoDDS doesnt post teaching vacancies. When you apply through EAS for DODEA your information goes into a searchable database that a principal can match applicants to vacancies. Hiring season starts in June and goes through the end of September (sometimes October). Basically, DoDDS calls you, you dont call them. Typically, when a principal identifies you as a potential candidate for a vacancy you will receive an automated email that you have been put on a referral list. Its important during recruiting season that you have a 24/7 contact phone number, as principals will call with no other advance notice, if they miss you, they move on down the list.
As far as SPED in International schools:
First, there are a number of forum posts on these already.
There is nothing in even the best international schools that meets USA requirements for SPED. At best you get SPED "lite". Your description of SPED programs is pretty accurate, they are almost alwasy designed to serve students with only mild needs. Typically consist of a resource room (pull out) and teacher aids, substitutes, sometimes full time teachers for inclusion.
Typically SPED programs are very small, a handful of students (six or so) is not uncommon. As you have reviewed the DOS school list, thats pretty much the schools that have developed SPED programs, and almost all those schools are elite or at least top tier schools.
International schools are primarily private/independent schools, they dont have to provide SPED programs at all, and at the lower tier schools many of them just dont accept SPED students. SPED is an expensive program to have for a school, and if its only going to serve a handful of students, its not worth the cost.
The good news is that means that as SPED teacher your only going to be dealing with 1st tier schools. There are fewer positions though, far fewer positions as you discovered (though there is also less competition for those positions).
Schools tend to group their special population students together, which is why you see SPED and ESL together. First, Its just not cost effective to hire a coordinator or resource teacher who ONLY monitors the handful of SPED students. Second, The same argument holds from the issue as a resource perspective, its not cost effective to have a separate, equipped resource room for only a handful of students. Third, even though a school doesnt have a SPED program, there are simply students who have SPED needs who are undiagnosed, and assessed. These are the very high functioning and very mild conditions and as such these students difficulties are labeled as language acquisition (ESL) issues, which in a number of cultures is far more acceptable then a learning disability. Ive had american parents yell at me that their child isnt SPED but G&T and that they would "never" get into such an such university if they were SPED (Dyslexia seems to be the trendy Dx). As a result you have a number of SPED students that are simply being served through the schools ESL program.
A number of schools report SPED programs that in reality may be "in development" or are under or un utilized. In planing to staff a school for a year, you have to do that about a year to half a year in advance. If a school looks at its SPED enrollment and projected enrollment, its not uncommon reduce services or suspend a program. If you have 6 SPED students one year that are on action plans, and 2 of those students transfer, and one graduates, with no projected new students, its a lot of money to even hire one teacher for just 3 students. The larger issue is that there is no IS standard for what defines a SPED program. There is nothing preventing a school from admitting a SPED student, and not servicing the student at all, and this is perfectly acceptable as long as the school and parents understand that no special service will be provided to the student. There are schools that will describe their teachers as having SPED training (and every teacher in their certification training receives some degree of SPED education), and will describe a program of sheltered instruction, which really just means students may get a little extra help/time. These schools then charge full tuition, and often more to enroll the student, with no real added value.
As far as SPED in International schools:
First, there are a number of forum posts on these already.
There is nothing in even the best international schools that meets USA requirements for SPED. At best you get SPED "lite". Your description of SPED programs is pretty accurate, they are almost alwasy designed to serve students with only mild needs. Typically consist of a resource room (pull out) and teacher aids, substitutes, sometimes full time teachers for inclusion.
Typically SPED programs are very small, a handful of students (six or so) is not uncommon. As you have reviewed the DOS school list, thats pretty much the schools that have developed SPED programs, and almost all those schools are elite or at least top tier schools.
International schools are primarily private/independent schools, they dont have to provide SPED programs at all, and at the lower tier schools many of them just dont accept SPED students. SPED is an expensive program to have for a school, and if its only going to serve a handful of students, its not worth the cost.
The good news is that means that as SPED teacher your only going to be dealing with 1st tier schools. There are fewer positions though, far fewer positions as you discovered (though there is also less competition for those positions).
Schools tend to group their special population students together, which is why you see SPED and ESL together. First, Its just not cost effective to hire a coordinator or resource teacher who ONLY monitors the handful of SPED students. Second, The same argument holds from the issue as a resource perspective, its not cost effective to have a separate, equipped resource room for only a handful of students. Third, even though a school doesnt have a SPED program, there are simply students who have SPED needs who are undiagnosed, and assessed. These are the very high functioning and very mild conditions and as such these students difficulties are labeled as language acquisition (ESL) issues, which in a number of cultures is far more acceptable then a learning disability. Ive had american parents yell at me that their child isnt SPED but G&T and that they would "never" get into such an such university if they were SPED (Dyslexia seems to be the trendy Dx). As a result you have a number of SPED students that are simply being served through the schools ESL program.
A number of schools report SPED programs that in reality may be "in development" or are under or un utilized. In planing to staff a school for a year, you have to do that about a year to half a year in advance. If a school looks at its SPED enrollment and projected enrollment, its not uncommon reduce services or suspend a program. If you have 6 SPED students one year that are on action plans, and 2 of those students transfer, and one graduates, with no projected new students, its a lot of money to even hire one teacher for just 3 students. The larger issue is that there is no IS standard for what defines a SPED program. There is nothing preventing a school from admitting a SPED student, and not servicing the student at all, and this is perfectly acceptable as long as the school and parents understand that no special service will be provided to the student. There are schools that will describe their teachers as having SPED training (and every teacher in their certification training receives some degree of SPED education), and will describe a program of sheltered instruction, which really just means students may get a little extra help/time. These schools then charge full tuition, and often more to enroll the student, with no real added value.
We have 7 learning support teachers on staff at my school. Plus locally hired educational assistants. That's probably a little unusual but exists. We do combined Special Needs/ESL/T&G. Not everyone has a certification in Special Education, but I do. The demand for SPED teachers is just not as high in the international teaching world for the reasons already mentioned. But there are enough jobs to go around for the pool of candidates. If you want to make yourself more marketable, look at getting an ESL/EAL certification as well. I think it made a huge difference in the number of schools that expressed interest in me from one year to the next. In my state, I just had to take an exam since I already had my Elementary Cert. Good luck.
As a DoDEA AP, we will email you first to schedule a time and interview. Yes there are some admin teams that will call you without advanced notice, but this practice is now heavily frowned upon. What we generally do is email you to see if you're interested in our location, if you are we ask that you give us a day and time to contact you.
So may lies and mistruths this PsyGuy spreads. He should come with a warning.
So may lies and mistruths this PsyGuy spreads. He should come with a warning.
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teacherguy
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:11 am
Haha. I’m aware of the contributors on this forum WeDoDude. I always look forward to, and respect, your thoughts on DODEA subjects.
I assumed that all government jobs had to be announced. So maybe I’m wrong there. I know, and understand, that hiring is done primarily in June and through the summer, but was hoping to get lucky and find something for January. This was based on the (maybe) wrong assumption that many of these schools were shorthanded in the special education area. We’ll see what happens once I am active in the system.
PsyGuy- Thanks for the detailed rundown. I should have done a search of the forum. I’ve taught secondary social studies overseas on and off since 2004, so am familiar generally with “how things workâ€
I assumed that all government jobs had to be announced. So maybe I’m wrong there. I know, and understand, that hiring is done primarily in June and through the summer, but was hoping to get lucky and find something for January. This was based on the (maybe) wrong assumption that many of these schools were shorthanded in the special education area. We’ll see what happens once I am active in the system.
PsyGuy- Thanks for the detailed rundown. I should have done a search of the forum. I’ve taught secondary social studies overseas on and off since 2004, so am familiar generally with “how things workâ€