Slow Burn

Special educators report feeling overwhelmed by the many responsibilities associated with their roles. Given personnel shortages, special educators are taking on increased workloads, balancing instructional duties and performing increased collaboration with general educators. They do this alongside the paperwork demands of IDEA and increasing frequency of IEP meetings with larger caseloads. This situation can lead to feelings of helplessness, an inability to manage their many overlapping responsibilities, and resistance to requesting support due to feeling overwhelmed.

Understanding the workloads that special educators are dealing with is crucial for principals. By regularly checking in and assessing their working conditions, principals can better support their staff. Principals should prioritize hiring and building a pipeline of effective educators to distribute existing responsibilities of special educators and prevent unmanageable workloads.