Be a Special Education Teacher in California

Special education specialists are the amazing people who work with truly needy students on a daily basis. As a special educator you'll get to know and understand truly unique disorders and disabilities and learn an appreciation for all people. It's a role that provides an uncommon opportunity to focus on the student and the learning process. By contrast, most educators focus on the content and delivery, which is part of what leads to such disparity in learning achievement.

Special education services are delivered to students with disabilities from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many students will come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and many are English Language Learners. If you are interested in joining the many new teachers who are interested in teaching these diverse students, then special education is the path you may truly want to follow.

Becoming a special education teacher - or rather, a special education specialist - in the state of California can be an extremely rewarding career. It will allow you the opportunity to pursue your passion for lifelong learning and civil rights advocacy, while fulfilling your desire to contribute to a greater cause. Following are basic steps on becoming a special education teacher in the State of California.

Steps

  1. Start as soon as you can with getting experience. Look for opportunities in a special day class, a resource room, or any other setting where you get a lot of interaction and deal with responsibilities that require working with people with disabilities. Apply to be a para-educator (aka, a Become a Teacher's Aid, paraprofessional, dedicated student aide, 1 on 1 aide, etc.), or volunteer. Unlike a teaching position, para-educators have a competitive and highly sought-after job, so be prepared to apply to many places and to work as a sub, or part-time.
  2. Pick a disability population to focus on. Focus on the disability population you're most interested in working with. In California, there are five major areas you can become credentialed in: Early Childhood Special Education, Mild - Moderate disabilities, Moderate - Severe disabilities, visual impairment, and deaf or hard of hearing.
  3. Get a bachelor's degree. The degree can be in any field of your choice, though the following list of majors will greatly inform your future teaching practice and prepare you for the type of graduate work you will be doing: psychology, sociology, child development, ethnic studies, and math/English education. If you have a degree in anything else, though, it will probably not affect your chances at having a successful career, just make sure you do at least some work study in the areas of education, psychology, sociology, or any related field.
    • In many California State Universities (San Jose State, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU Los Angeles, etc.) you'll be able to get a minor in Special Education while you obtain your bachelor's degree, and that can put a significant dent in the intimidating amount of work you'll have to do for your Level I credential. It's recommended that you do as much as you can to lessen the amount of courses you have to take in your graduate level of education.
  4. Research your credential program. Only a handful of private schools and UCs, offer credentials in any area of special education. Every CSU offers a preliminary credential program in special education in at least one field (of the mild/moderate, moderate/severe, etc.). Some universities, like San Jose State, or San Francisco State, offer nearly every possible credential and have huge departments of Special Education. Some, like Humboldt State, have only one or two programs. Do your research and determine what you want to do before you decide which you would like to attend.
  5. Take the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test) and the CSET (California Subject Examination for Teachers) Multiple Subjects test (if you want to teach in high school you might take a CSET Single Subjects test). Passing scores on both tests are required to apply to credential programs.
  6. Apply. Get everything in order in advance. Be prepared to apply as early as a full year prior to the start of the program you want, especially since the changes CSUs have had to make do to state budget cuts which means often admissions is limited to the fall term and some programs may have more limited ability to admit students.
  7. Meet with a counselor, and figure out your program plan. If you already have a credential for general education, either multiple or single subject, you'll be able to waive several of the classes and tests required for the Special Education credential. If you don't have a credential already, you can go straight into a special education program.
    • Keep in mind that a special education credential allows you teach special education in all grade levels K-12, with the exception of Early Childhood which restricts you to Birth - 5 and Moderate - Severe, which allows you to teach adult students up to age 22 in addition to the K-12 grade range.
  8. Decide whether you want to do an internship or not. Don't be fooled into thinking this is "just" an internship. An internship in Special Education as a teacher is basically doing a full-time regular teaching job but also taking classes full time at your university at the same time. An internship is an excellent way to get into a district, get your first two years out of the way (known to be the most difficult time in a teaching career), and make an excellent salary while you're at it.
    • Be fully aware that an internship is a lot of hard work (and that's an understatement) but it can be extremely rewarding when you finally get your preliminary credential and realize you've already got two years of experience under your belt.
    • An intern credential is good for two years, and no longer. You must plan to have all of your classes finished before your internship credential expires.
  9. Apply for your credential. There are two credentials you'll get, Level I and Level II. After you finish your Level I credential, which will include the majority of your classes, you'll have 5 years in which to finish your Level II (a program which takes 2 years at a comfortable pace) and which includes more courses at a Research a University and a minimum of two full years of teaching experience.
    • This is done through the university and the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment - BTSA process that general education teachers complete, but is a little more intense. It can be coupled with a Masters degree in Special Education, which is only one to three classes of extra work along with a masters project, thesis, or seminar. After three and a half years, it's really worth adding one extra semester of work, and most districts will give you a small stipend for having an MA.
    • You may apply to any university to get your Level II if you choose to move or just try a different college, you do not have to continue at the same university you started at. Your school district will arrange the BTSA portion of your Level II credential with you.
  10. Apply for jobs! Special education is a field with many more job openings than applicants, as there is a large growth in students receiving special education and quite a bit of teacher turnover. The field of special education offers many employment opportunities for those people who are interested! You'll almost definitely have a job in any place in California, and the Get More Job Security is unbeatable. If you've ever thought you just might be interested in working with people with special needs, then you'll probably find yourself very happy in this field.



Tips

  • The state will pay up to $19,000 of student loans back for any post-secondary learning you do that leads up to a teaching position in Special Education through APLE - Assumption Program of Loans for Education. This is a financial assistance program to promote teacher recruitment into special education, math and science education, and under-performing schools.
  • Although most University of California schools do not offer Special Education credentials there are two which offer PhDs in joint programs - UC Berkeley in conjunction with San Francisco State and UCLA in conjunction with CSU Los Angeles. UCLA offers a Special Education credential through its extension. UCSB also offers a Special Education credential program. This is an excellent extension of one's education and activity in the field of research in Special Education. The most common place for students to earn their credentials is the California State University System which is specifically geared towards teacher education, and offers a lower cost program.
  • Keep a calendar. Keep it up. Check it multiple times a day.
  • Don't deny yourself any opportunity you have to enjoy yourself or de-stress! You'll need it.
  • Work on your communication skills. You'll be required to network and communicate effectively with many different types of people, from students, to parents, to principals and administrators.
  • Get a smart phone so you can check and answer e-mails throughout the day, as you'll need to.

Warnings

  • Aides can make or break a classroom. Excellent aides do what they're asked, offer advice that is helpful, and keep the students' needs in mind as they seek greater education for themselves. On the other hand, some aides can be very difficult to work with and you will have to learn to be a strong leader.
  • Be prepared to devote a lot of time in the evenings and weekends to your classwork if you are going the intern teaching route. You will not have that much free time to yourself.
  • Parents of students with special needs are going through the grieving process - at ALL stages of development and especially at every milestone (transition to kindergarten, transition to middle school, transition to high school). You will have to deal with many well-meaning but aggressive and, at times, downright angry parents and guardians who are looking for somebody to blame as they move toward accepting their child's disability. You are going to have to learn to be an immovable rock who they confide in, while still maintaining an appropriate professional distance.

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