Special Education Teacher - Severe Special Needs, 18-22 Post-High, Salem High School SY2024-2025
About Salem Public Schools, where belonging leads to opportunity.
Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students across our 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do. Over the next three years (2023-2026), we are committed to the work outlined by the four core priorities in our strategic plan: 1) Elevate Learning; 2) Empower Educators; 3) Center Belonging; and 4) Strengthen Our Foundation. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and settings and are bilingual are strongly encouraged to apply.
What You’ll Do:
As a collaborative member of the Special Education team, this Special Education Teacher is responsible for teaching students with disabilities in a substantially separate Post High program for students 18-22 years old and supporting these students in the inclusive setting of general education classes, as dictated by their IEPs. The Special Education Teacher works in consultation with special and general education teams to provide a rigorous and accessible learning experience for all students. The Special Education Teacher will effectively manage a continuous caseload, including providing specialized instruction that allows students to progress academically and socially; assuring that documented accommodations are delivered with consistency; transitioning students in/out of classes and programs; participating in professional learning communities with grade-level and job-alike cohorts; providing parent communication, developing and implementing IEPs; developing and implementing behavioral interventions; and working with paraprofessional staff to ensure the consistent provision of a high-quality program for students.
Role Responsibilities:
- Oversee programming for students in substantially separate and/or general education settings.
- Provide specialized instruction that will allow all students to successfully engage in instruction based upon the Common Core standards and District curriculum maps.
- Work with the classroom support team and assigned clinical staff to develop data-taking mechanisms and analyze data to drive instruction and monitor student progress.
- Maintain consistent positive relationships with students and manage student behavior by implementing positive student management strategies.
- Work collaboratively across school settings and with parents and various community agencies to improve the quality of student outcomes, develop solutions, plan curriculum, collect data, and create and implement Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for students.
- Demonstrate ability to write an effective IEP with SMART goals and sensible accommodations and generate progress reports using IEP software.
- Demonstrate ability to administer, interpret and report findings from standardized evaluations.
- Present evidence of student progress toward goals and objectives in a professional manner during special education meetings.
- Evaluate students' abilities in basic academics and social development using formal and informal measures.
- Support and direct paraprofessionals and other school personnel in their implementation of classroom goals and IEP accommodations, modification, and goals.
- Use innovative approaches and instructional strategies, including the effective use of technologies, to increase student access, learning and confidence to learn.
- Modify/adapt materials, instructional lessons, etc. to meet the specific needs of students across the school day, as identified in their IEPs.
- Embed social-emotional learning (SEL) and strategies into lesson-planning.
- Able to use technology to teach in a remote learning environment, if needed
- Assist in toileting and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) skills as determined by student need
- Additional duties as appropriate, assigned by the building Principal, Special Education Supervisor or Executive Director of Special Education.
What You’ll Bring:
We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change children’s lives through education. You’ll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself, your work and the people around you to the next level. We expect our SPS employees to:
- Hold a deep commitment to students and families and value diversity - The SPS community is vibrant, diverse in background, ethnicity, language, and perspective. You embrace and affirm the backgrounds of all members of the SPS community and view our diversity as a powerful resource that supports us each in learning and doing our best work.
- Hold high expectations for yourself, students, and colleagues – You see potential in all, especially our SPS students, and maintain high expectations for achievement, while providing the support necessary to meet that bar. You hold yourself to high expectations, modeling SPS values and seeking opportunities to continuously improve.
- Build authentic, caring relationships with colleagues, students, and families – You build strong relationships across students, families, and colleagues that are collaborative in nature and contribute to the individual and collective success of SPS. You partner with families and colleagues to make decisions in the best interest of students and learning.
- Embrace feedback – You are a reflective practitioner who learns from failure, using mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.
Skills and Qualifications:
Work Year: Teachers in Salem Public Schools work a 185 day school year (180 student contact days plus 5 professional development days. Please visit www.salemk12.org to view the 2024-25 district and/or school calendar.
Salary: Teacher salaries in the Salem Public Schools are determined by the Salem Teachers Union collective bargaining agreement. Salary information can be found in Appendix A.
Benefits: The City of Salem offers Group Insurance Commission (GIC) benefits to all full-time employees. Click here for more information about our health benefits.
This position reports to the assigned Special Education Supervisor, the building Principal and the Executive Director of Pupil Personnel Services.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.