To be responsible for developing implementing and monitoring the educational program to improve all areas of functioning for students with severe/profound developmental challenges. The position includes working with all children in all age ranges including those with and those without disabilities where inclusive settings exist. Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Assess within the students environment their specific functioning levels through observations formal and/or informal testing discussions with teacher assistants and other professional staff.
- Train teacher assistants to perform all academic tasks and supervise their performance in the physical aspects of their jobs.
- Develop appropriate educational goals and/or benchmarks for students based upon R. I. frameworks or New Standards using portfolio electronic record observation formal and informal testing and discussion with colleagues necessary to complete the alternate assessment.
- Develop and implement weekly individual lesson plans based upon IEPs goals and objectives and submit on a weekly basis to the Special Education coordinator.
- Participate as a member of the IEP team for Annual Reviews and sixmonth reviews meetings and other pertinent meetings involving their students.
- Complete all the required paper work i.e. IEPs quarterly progress reports sixmonth reviews threeyear reevaluations and any other report requested for the benefit of the student.
- Carry out and integrate recommended physical therapy occupational therapy nutrition speech/language therapy behavior plans activities of daily living feeding etc. as needed to create a functional classroom setting and to meet individual benchmarks or goals.
- Provide inclusive settings such as community based vocational programming and/or community activities for students in order to provide an opportunity to use skills learned in school over various settings while developing social skills.
- Where the opportunity is provided work in a collaborative and inclusive setting with children without disabilities either on site or within the public schools or on a job site.
- Provide information to parents about progress on IEP goals on a continual basis through daily communication individual meetings telephone conversations and brief reports as appropriate.
- Provide access to a communication system for each child in the classroom at all times.
Peripheral Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide ongoing training encouragement and support to teacher assistants in the classroom to make them a part of the educational team.
- Develop meaningful family contact through notes phone calls school visits or home visits in order to maintain consistency of programming in the home.
- Possess knowledge of the functioning of suctioning trachs oxygen usage Gtubes Jtubes physical therapy equipment used in the classroom and other relevant apparatus used by students.
- Develop an understanding of childrens health issues in the classroom and work closely with nursing staff to inform them of any health concerns.
- Establish a standard of cleanliness and orderliness for the classroom and train assistants to maintain this standard on a daily basis.
- Maintain the classroom as an educational setting as opposed to rehabilitation or hospital setting taking into consideration the needs of all students.
- Demonstrate and model at all times the expected professional behavior of teachers.
- Set a professional standard within the classroom and community to which teacher assistants can model.
- Assist in the toileting changing feeding and care of children in the classroom.
- Demonstrate the ability to work as a member of the educational team.
- Monitor staff in universal precaution proper lifting and feeding techniques on an ongoing basis.
- Provide a harmonious respectful professional and stimulating classroom environment for children and staff.
- Encourage students to participate in all activities rather than relying on staff to complete the entire task or activities.
- Maintain a practice that supports all work of the student is focused on process rather than product.
- Provide choice making opportunities to children throughout the day including lunch.
- Other duties as assigned.