25-26 High School Special Education Teacher/Case Manager

Title: High School Special Education Teacher / Case Manager (9-12)Minimum Qualifications:1. Minimum of bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university2. Satisfactory student teaching experience or a history of successful classroom teaching.3. New Hampshire certification or eligibility to hold NH Special Education Certification.Desired Attributes:1. An educator who has strong communication skills to effectively communicate with students, parents, other teachers, and specialists is essential for creating a supportive and collaborative environment.2. Strong organizational skills to keep up with multiple responsibilities, including developing individualized education plans (IEPs), coordinating with other professionals, and keeping detailed records.3. An understanding of special education laws and best practices to be able to advocate for your students and ensure they receive the services and accommodations they need.4. Ability to work closely with other educators, therapists, and support staff to provide a comprehensive support system for students is key.5. Flexible in teaching methods and approaches to meet each student where they are.6. Able to identify barriers to learning and develop strategies to overcome them to help students make progress.Reports To: Building Administration or DesigneeJob Goal:To provide individualized instruction across all required areas. Be primary point person for students on caseload for coordination, implementation, and monitoring of the requirements within the special education process, ensuring compliance with federal and state mandates and district policy and procedures. To work collaboratively with general education, service providers and administration to assure all students learn the basic and essential skills at each grade level. The roles and responsibilities of this position provide necessary support for the Priority Areas outlined in the SAU #34 Strategic Plan.Strategic Plan Priority Areas:Priority Area: Student Success: Every student deserves an exceptional education, one groundedin purposes larger than themselves, regular and meaningful opportunities for self-determination,feedback about the increasing difference they are making in matters important to them, andgrowing relationships.Goal: SAU 34 will provide high quality educational opportunities for all students that foster theacquisition of critical academic skills, embedding the tenets identified in the Portrait of aGraduate (adaptive perseverance, responsibility, learners mindset, global citizenship,communication, critical thinking, and collaboration), meeting the expectations for success inpost-secondary education and the workplace.Priority Area: Culture: Staff and students thrive in positive learning and work environments where they feel physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe and connected; supported; reasonably autonomous; and driven by a strong sense of purpose and meaning.Goal: SAU 34 will develop and maintain a welcoming environment that supports the tenets of the Portrait of a Graduate, ensuring students, staff, and families feel valued, safe, and supported to foster a responsive and high achieving culture.Priority Area: Learning Environments: Few investments serve as such high profile demonstrations of how we value the education of our students as the facilities we use. The facilities in which we spend our time together provide daily cues and clues that affect the learning and work cultures for students and staff, respectively.Goal: SAU 34 will provide and maintain facilities that support a high quality, future focused, teaching and learning environment that allows multiple educational opportunities.Performance Responsibilities:Planning and Preparation: Completes academic testing for initial and reevaluations and assists other professional staff in identifying educational disabilities, development of specialized instruction, and evaluation of student progress. Develops the IEP in collaboration with team members, understands each students disability, and tailors a plan of instruction to assist the student in learning. Assists staff with, or directly administer, district, state, and federal assessments, and participates in building level analysis of results for developing program and student improvement plans.Classroom Learning Environment and Culture: Responds as soon as possible, but no later than 48 business hours, to parent, student, teacher, and administration inquiries via phone and/or e-mail. Be familiar with and utilize appropriate school and community resources for the benefit of students and families. Facilitate positive relationships between school, students, and families. Provide direction to support staff assisting in the classroom. Creates and contributes to a collaborative learning environment within the classroom where students feel safe and nurtured in an empathetic culture. Organizes a classroom that is safe and allows for multiple educational opportunities. Models and promotes positive student behavior within the classroom.Instruction for Student Success: Guides the learning process toward the achievement of state standards and IEP goals, establishes clear objectives for all lessons, units, projects and the like, and develops classroom routines that actively engage students in their learning. Strives to implement by instruction and action, the districts philosophy of education and instruction goals and objectives. Class time is organized so that it is spent on instruction, which engages the students in active learning. Demonstrates the ability to use a variety of assessment tools and progress monitoring techniques; progress reports are completed as required as outlined in the I.E.P. Provides direct services as needed, plans lessons that employ a variety of instructional techniques, and creates an environment that is conducive to learning and appropriate to the maturity, needs and interests of the students. Utilizes technology with proficiency for professional use and assistive technology to support student achievement. Demonstrates knowledge of subject material for areas for specialized instruction. Implements the practices of formative and summative assessments. Constantly reviews data to determine student needs and instructional priorities.Professional Development and Professional Responsibility: Communicates, consults, and collaborates in regard to student progress and needs, accommodations and modifications, regularly and effectively with students, teachers, parents/guardians. Demonstrates an understanding of best practices regarding instruction, assessment, and curriculum development; knows or has the willingness to learn a variety of specialized instruction programs. Follows confidentiality policies and procedures regarding students, parents/guardians, and fellow staff members. Possesses knowledge of State and Federal special education regulations/timelines and maintains compliance for student files in the special education office as well as in the NHSEIS system as required by law, district policy and administration regulations. Assist the administration in implementing all policies and rules governing student life and conduct and maintain order in the classroom in a fair and just manner. Attends staff meetings, department meetings, task force committees and serves on one district committee every 3 years. Fulfills districts professional development requirements. Attends district professional development opportunities and seeks out professional development to meet individual needs.This job description is not intended to be all inclusive, and employees will also perform other reasonably related duties as assigned by immediate supervisor and other management as required.Working Environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee will constantly bend neck and back, use hands for repetitive grasping and pushing/pulling. The employee is frequently required to stand/walk, squat, kneel, and use hands for fine manipulation. The work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching or similar activities; recurring lifting of moderately heavy items such as books. Potentially exposed to ordinary infectious diseases as carried by students; exposed to student noise levels. Required to work outdoors in inclement weather; required to stand for prolonged periods. Duties may be occasionally performed on field trips away from school.Evaluation: Per the Hillsboro-Deering Professional Evaluation PlanContract: Master Contract between the Hillsboro-Deering Federation of Teachers AFT Local 2348, AFT-NH, AFL-CIO and the Hillsboro-Deering School Board