Reimagining how schools employ special education teachers
In late summer 2023, one of our partner schools faced an unexpected vacancy for a special education teacher and asked if we could fill it. At Thrive, we staff schools with related service providers who use data insights to put neurodiverse students on a path to achieve goals and exit treatment. While special education instruction was not a service we offered at the time, we wanted to help.
When we posted our first position for a contract special education teacher, we were floored by the response: We received 112 applications from local, licensed, and experienced special education teachers vying for the single available position. As fall arrived, more than a dozen other partners sought our assistance in addressing their talent shortages. We decided to hire a select number of applicants, guaranteeing fully vetted, licensed teachers, but placing coaching responsibilities under the school's purview.
This unanticipated foray into addressing the teacher shortage revealed a more nuanced challenge than most high-level discourse on the issue acknowledges. We learned that special education teachers want to stay, but environmental conditions make staying hard. Special education teachers are experts and they want to be utilized as such. Compliance does not necessarily equate to excellence and equity, and the best talent want to be part of organizations that believe this.
In response to the needs of both our school partners and the teaching workforce, we have designed a comprehensive model to recruit and develop special education talent for the 2024-2025 school year. Thrive's approach includes the formation of a special education teacher cohort. The cohort will participate in a research-driven professional training program facilitated by experts from top-ranked institutions and national research organizations, and then select their teaching placement among our partner schools and organizations.
The application is now open for those with a current, active teacher license in Tennessee or Texas and a special education endorsement or certification, plus at least two years of experience serving as the case manager for students with disabilities. The deadline for teachers to apply is April 1, 2024, and we will announce the cohort on April 16.
Teachers who are accepted into the cohort will receive access to a rich community of like-minded professionals, as well as compensation above market in alignment with their specialized expertise and skill in driving results for students. For partner schools and districts, this talent model provides a solution to budget constraints without compromising on outcomes for students or specialized professional development.
In the face of a growing national teacher shortage, we believe innovative solutions are imperative. We have reimagined how schools can employ special education teachers. For talented educators seeking flexibility and esteem, this is the new way to teach.