NES Special Education Teacher (2025-2026)

Reports to:  Principal

Summary: The Special Education Teacher is responsible for creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment where every student can achieve academic, social, and emotional success. They demonstrate expertise in adapting instructional delivery, implementing specialized assessments for learning, and fostering collaboration among educational stakeholders, all while ensuring alignment with state standards and promoting individual student growth.

Performance Responsibilities/Essential Functions

Design, plan and effectively deliver student-centered instruction to all students as measured by the educator evaluation system (LEADS) that is in accordance with federal/state regulations and the district’s Personnel Evaluation Plan.

Instruction:  Standards and Objectives and Motivating Students

• Ensure clear communication of learning objectives and state content standards to students.
• Align objectives and expectations with the depth and rigor of state standards, ensuring that lesson content corresponds to high-quality instructional materials.
• Ensures alignment of sub-objectives and prerequisite skills with the lesson's major objective and connects learning objectives to students' prior knowledge.
• Maintain clear expectations for student performance, display learning objectives prominently, and provide evidence of student progress or mastery of objectives.
• Organize content, including high-quality curriculum resources, in a meaningful way relevant to students.
• Develop learning experiences that value inquiry, curiosity, and exploration, fostering a classroom environment where students are encouraged to explore and engage actively with the material.
• Reinforce and reward student effort regularly to promote a positive learning culture.

Instruction:  Presenting Instructional Content, Lesson Structure and Pacing

• Deliver content in a manner that engages students and facilitates effective learning.
• Incorporate various presentation elements, such as visuals, examples, modeling, and criteria for success, to enhance student understanding.
• Ensure that content is presented concisely, logically, and without irrelevant information, promoting clarity and comprehension.
• Ensure the smooth and efficient operation of classroom lessons.
• Start lessons promptly, maintaining a coherent lesson structure based on content, and pacing instruction appropriately to accommodate students' varying learning rates.
• Ensure that routines for distributing materials are efficient, minimizing instructional time lost during transitions.

Instruction: Activities, Materials, and Questioning

• Select and implement activities and materials that effectively support lesson objectives and engage students in meaningful learning experiences.
• Ensure that activities and materials are challenging, promote various thinking skills, provide opportunities for reflection, and are relevant to students' lives.
• Prioritize student-centered approaches, sustaining attention, promoting interaction, evoking curiosity, and providing choices aligned with learning objectives.
• Design and implement high-quality questions that promote student engagement and critical thinking.
• Select a variety of question types based on content, including those focused on knowledge and comprehension, application and analysis, and creation and evaluation.
• Ensure that questions are purposeful, coherent, and sequenced to align with instructional goals.
• Provide adequate wait time for student responses and facilitate active participation by calling on a variety of students to engage different perspectives.

Instruction:  Academic Feedback and Grouping Students

• Provide academically focused, frequent, and high-quality feedback to students to support their learning and growth.
• Give oral and written feedback during guided practice, throughout lessons, and during independent work assignments.
• Circulate during instructional activities to support student engagement and monitor their work.
• Use feedback from students to monitor and adjust instruction effectively.
• Organize instructional group arrangements to enhance student understanding and learning efficiency.
• Set clear expectations for students, foster meaningful collaboration within instructional groups, and ensure that students take responsibility for their roles and tasks.
• Ensure that students participating in groups are held accountable for both group and individual work.
• Varies instructional group compositions to accomplish lesson goals and facilitates opportunities for students to set goals, reflect on, and evaluate their learning within instructional groups.

Instruction:  Teacher Content Knowledge and Knowledge of Students

• Demonstrate accurate content knowledge and understanding of state standards and high-quality instructional materials across all subjects they teach.
• Implement subject-specific instructional strategies to enhance student content knowledge and highlight key concepts and ideas to connect other powerful ideas, fostering deep understanding and meaningful learning experiences.
• Understand and address students' anticipated learning abilities and needs.
• Incorporate student interests and backgrounds into instructional practices and provide differentiated support and strategies to ensure all students can master grade-level standards.

Instruction:  Thinking and Problem Solving

• Engage students in multiple types of thinking, including analytical, practical, creative, and research-based thinking.
• Encourage students to analyze, compare, contrast, evaluate, explain, apply, and implement information in various contexts.
• Foster creative thinking by encouraging students to create, design, imagine, and suppose, and support research-based thinking by facilitating exploration and review of ideas, models, and solutions to problems.
• Collaborate with students to generate various ideas and alternatives and analyze problems from multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
• Facilitate various problem-solving types in the classroom, including abstraction, categorization, drawing conclusions/justifying solutions, predicting outcomes, observing and experimenting, improving solutions, identifying relevant/irrelevant information, generating ideas, and creating and designing.
• Design and implement activities that empower students to develop critical thinking skills, creativity, and the ability to analyze and solve complex problems using diverse problem-solving strategies.
• Provide accommodations and interventions for at-risk/remedial students or subgroups as needed.
• Collaborate with regular and special education staff to modify and adapt curriculum as necessary, ensuring all students can access and engage with the material effectively.
• Utilize assistive technology and specialized instructional strategies to support students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans.

Planning: Instructional Plans, Student Work and Assessment

• Design instructional plans that effectively meet the diverse needs of learners while aligning with state standards and high-quality curriculum.
• Internalize curriculum plans, aligning objectives to state standards and curriculum rigor, designing activities, materials, and assessments that meet success criteria, and providing appropriate scaffolding based on student needs.
• Create assignments that are aligned with state standards, curriculum content, and lesson objectives.
• Design assignments that challenge students to interpret information, draw conclusions, and connect learning to prior knowledge and real-life experiences, while also informing future instruction through assessment results.
• Design and implement assessments that align with state standards and curriculum content.
• Create various assessment formats to gauge student learning and problem-solving skills, provide feedback on student progress, and incorporate performance checks and reflections throughout the school year.

• Collaborate with regular and special education team members to monitor student progress, adjust instructional strategies, and provide appropriate support and interventions.

Environment: Expectations, Engaging Students, and Managing Behavior and Respectful Conditions

• Foster an engaging and rigorous learning environment.
• Set clear academic expectations, using high-quality materials and resources, encouraging students to learn from their mistakes, and creating opportunities for all students to succeed.
• Optimize student learning and ensure a positive classroom environment through effective engagement strategies and behavior management techniques.
• Create a welcoming, organized, and resourceful learning environment that promotes individual and group learning, ensuring all students have access to necessary supplies and opportunities.
• Foster a respectful, kind, and inclusive classroom environment that values and considers all students' backgrounds and opinions.
• Implement behavior management strategies and accommodations outlined in IEPs or behavior intervention plans, maintaining a positive and structured learning environment.
• Coordinate with related service providers (e.g., speech therapists, occupational therapists) to integrate therapy goals into classroom activities and routines.

Professionalism:

• Develop, schedule, write, conduct, review, submit, and implement assigned Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students with disabilities.
• Ensure that IEPs include all necessary and relevant components to meet federal, state, and district guidelines.
• Participate actively in professional learning and teacher collaboration meetings, arriving promptly, prepared, and bringing student artifacts when requested.
• Implement new concepts effectively in the classroom, develop and execute plans aligned with school improvement goals, self-assessment, and observation feedback.
• Develops and works on a plan for new learning based on an analysis of school improvement plans and new goals, self-assessment, and input from the teacher and school leader observations.
• Participates in self-reflection and growth by selecting specific activities, content knowledge, or pedagogical skills to enhance and improve his/her proficiency. Assess lesson effectiveness through self-reflection, contribute to school improvement efforts, and use student achievement data to inform instructional decisions.
• Engage in self-reflection and growth to enhance proficiency in pedagogy and content knowledge.
• Accepts responsibilities contributing to school improvement.
• Support school activities and events.

• Support, implement, assist with, and/or ensure the application of district initiatives and other programs and/or directives of the Superintendent/Superintendent Designee.
• Utilizes student achievement data to address the strengths and weaknesses of students and guide instructional decisions.
• Fulfill all duties traditionally expected of those in the teaching profession including but not limited to:
  • Serve as a positive role model for children and always maintain professionalism in communication and behavior.
  • Grade assignments, tests, and projects promptly and maintain accurate records of student performance.
  • Prepare and submit grades, progress reports, and report cards as required by the school administration.
  • Maintain a professional personal appearance and demonstrate respect for colleagues.
  • Maintain confidentiality, demonstrate trustworthiness, and exercise good judgment.
  • Attending work regularly, reporting to work on time, providing advance notice of absences and secure substitutes as needed.
  • Provide adequate lesson plans, seating charts, class rosters, and essential information for substitutes in case of absence(s).
  • Attend various meetings (e.g. teaming, professional growth/development, parent/teacher conferences, IEP meetings, etc.) to share and gather information necessary for job functions.
  • Serve on special committees (e.g. 504, Social and Emotional, SBLC, IAIP, Crisis, etc.) as required by the School Principal and/or district administration.
  • Maintain a safe and orderly school environment by adhering to policies, assisting peers, and keeping timely, professional records.
  • Ensure compliance with regulations by maintaining essential documentation and reports.
  • Participate in open house events and orientation sessions to welcome new students and families, showcase classroom activities, and provide curriculum information.
  • Coordinate and supervise student field trips.
• Ensure continuous student growth appropriate for assigned students.
  • Develop and meet two yearly student learning targets that positively affect student achievement through job responsibilities.
• Oversee assistant teachers, resident teachers, and volunteers to support classroom effectiveness and student goals.
• Utilize approved one/two-way communication apps or methods to communicate with students and families that are school, and district approved and comply with state and district federal monitoring requirements.
• If assigned to multiple locations, provide, and follow consistently the daily schedule provided/approved.
• Follow specific requirements established by the School Board (LEA), State Department of Education (SDE), the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (SBESE), and/or Federal regulations and guidelines established by each.
• Performs other duties as assigned related to the position's functions.

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

9-month employee 

Communication Skills

Effective communication in English, both verbally and in writing, is essential. The role requires the ability to compile and interpret data accurately, summarize information effectively, and prepare comprehensive reports for supervisors. Proficiency in using telecommunication systems to exchange information accurately is also required. The position involves successful communication with students, teachers, parents, school personnel, and the community.

Professional Conduct

Employees are expected to uphold a high standard of professional conduct. Breaches of professional conduct include but are not limited to, neglect of duty, dishonesty, engaging in activities contrary to Zachary Community School District policy, involvement in unlawful activities, or any conduct that seriously prejudices the school system. Employees are expected to follow the Zachary Community School District Employee Conduct Policy (File: GBRA).

Technological Abilities

Proficiency in computer usage, including email for communication, is essential for successful job performance. Additionally, familiarity with job-specific equipment, software, and applications is required.

Physical Involvement

The role involves frequent standing, sitting, walking, reaching, bending, and occasionally lifting up to 20 pounds. Candidates must be able to travel to various locations and move freely within work sites. Additionally, sufficient visual acuity is necessary to work with computer monitors and to read and interpret handwritten documents.

Education and Experience

Should meet State minimum certification requirements for a teacher as outlined in the State Department of Education Bulletin 746. 

Evaluation

Shall be evaluated in accordance with the Zachary Community Board Personnel Accountability Plan. 

LEADS: Louisiana Department of Education Educator Rubric

Note

This job description summarizes the primary duties and responsibilities of the position. It is not intended to list all duties and responsibilities comprehensively. The Zachary Community School Board reserves the right to change this description at its discretion.