5 Interconnected Ways for School Leaders to Uplift Special Education Teachers and Staff

School administrators know well that special education teachers and staff experience high rates of burnout. Coffee carts, coffee cakes, and sunshine committees are helpful in making sure that staffers feel valued, but these gestures are ultimately only temporary fixes and morale boosters. In order to build a sustainable, positive school culture—one that increases teacher support and work engagement and prevents burnout of special education staff—principals should instead identify and lean on research-based leadership approaches.

As a special education leader and a former teacher, I’ve seen how burnout can negatively affect staff members’ quality of life and department culture. Below, I’ve laid out five ways for principals to practice and espouse uplifting leadership strategies within their buildings—and I explain how these strategies are useful for special education staffers in particular.

1. Be Supportive

What does it really mean to be supportive? There’s a difference between leaning into the expertise of a special education team and sitting back while they problem-solve. As a school leader, are you willing to engage with students’ significant behavioral challenges when they arise?

Imagine sitting in a meeting intended to adjust the behavior plan of a struggling student. You’re lucky enough to have a special education staff with years of experience, who are rock stars at developing plans of action. Guess what? They still want the school leader to contribute and be an active problem solver.

School leaders can try out these tips the next time they enter into a similar sort of collaboration space:

• Ask thoughtful questions to seek a better understanding.
• Share ideas and ask when it makes sense to try out new strategies with a student, so you aren’t adding more to your staff’s agendas.
• Given that it’s not realistic to memorize every part of a student’s behavior plan, ask how your involvement can be most impactful for both the student and team.

2. Be an Effective Communicator

After coming up with or revising a student behavior plan, it’s imperative for school leaders to ensure that each member of the implementation team feels like they have a clear understanding of their role. School leaders should think broadly about everyone who may be impacted by a student’s behavior plan, as well as how that plan will be communicated. It’s also important for school leaders to maintain a dialogue about how the plan is going for all stakeholders, as opposed to solely analyzing a student’s behavior.

School leaders sometimes adjust their communication style based on how much experience a special education staff member has, but there’s more to it than that. Communication styles and supports should also take into account engagement and possible burnout. For instance: Just because a teacher can have a difficult conversation with the parent of a struggling student doesn’t mean they should have to do so on their own every time. When possible, school leaders should offer to join or even lead potentially difficult parental conversations. School leaders need to be aware of how their teacher is feeling at that present time and be ready to offer proactive support without the teacher asking.

3. Be Reliable

When principals are in a state of calm and regulation, they can best reflect on their school’s disciplinary practices. School leaders should be honest with themselves: How do their thoughts and feelings about addressing student behaviors end up tangibly impacting those students? Or special education staffers? Or schoolwide planning?

Once school leaders have validated their belief systems and clearly identified how staffers can work together, it’s much easier to address significant behavioral issues. I’ve worked for school leaders who responded to behavioral issues by quickly sending a student home, as well as other school leaders who immediately looked to teachers for guidance. I’d instead recommend and encourage school leaders to be predictable and reliable when issues emerge. Staffers should know what to expect of their school leaders in these difficult moments.

4. Be Approachable

It’s also imperative for school leaders to have a consistent and reliable response when special education staffers bring up other, slightly less pressing concerns. At times, even the most seasoned special education teacher needs you to listen and lead them through a conundrum. Create an intentional space for staff to share; make it clear to them that the expectation during this time is taking feedback and offering advice.

Whenever possible, school leaders should reiterate their objective of being approachable. When special education staffers feel good about bringing up concerns and grievances, no one walks out of a meeting or conversation with unmet expectations.

5. Be Aware

Because school leaders have endless tasks to attend to, special education teachers may try to take care of issues on their own, so that further interventions aren’t necessary. For that reason, school leaders should keep in mind that no news is not good news when it comes to significant behaviors and special education programs. Be sure you are driving alongside your teachers all of the time, not just when you hit a pothole with a student.

Asking special education teachers how things are going or if everything is OK is not enough. Most of the time teachers will simply say, “Yes, everything is fine.” I recommend that school leaders ask the hard questions, which demonstrate an investment both in teachers and in their students.

Here are more questions to consider:

• What are you most proud of in your classroom right now?
• How are you taking care of yourself? What new boundaries have you established lately?
• How many meetings and student conversations do you have scheduled next week?
• Have you had a chance to look at your students’ progress on their goals? Is anyone stagnant or not making adequate growth?
• Is there a student or staff member keeping you up at night? Why?
• If you had a magic wand, what would be your top fix for your well-being and for student achievement?

I’ve found the magic wand question to be especially insightful. It requires teachers to tune out all of the extra noise and zoom in on what will be most effective for students’ success.

Keep in mind that all five of the above administrative strategies work best when implemented together. They truly move the needle on work engagement for special education teachers. And they’re useful for all special education teachers, not just newer ones. The occasional coffee cart is nice and helpful—just be sure these five strategies are the foundation on which your coffee is served.