Special education administrators oversee programs for children with special needs, working with principals and teachers to design appropriate curriculums and ensure compliance with laws. They also review and create individualized education plans and manage budgets.
The primary task of a special education administrator (SPED) is to oversee all special education programs in a school district. These programs help serve children with special needs, whether they are gifted and talented individuals or those who need additional help. Most programs that a special education administrator oversees involve attempts to help students with learning or developmental disabilities. Often, the administrator must work in more than one school, because all public schools, at least in the United States, provide some level of service.
The primary function of a special education program is to ensure that children of all abilities can learn based on their own set of skills and challenges. To do this, a special education administrator works with district principals and teachers to identify children who may need to be part of a program and design a curriculum accordingly. This curriculum must be appropriate and have quantifiable ways to check student growth.
Special education administrators must ensure that the district complies with all laws relating to special education. These laws are usually very detailed, spelling out what can and cannot be done. Failure to comply with the laws can subject the school district to numerous fines, or even lawsuits from parents who feel that their children are not being adequately cared for.
An important job of the special education administrator is to help create and review individualized education plans (IEPs). These plans are for children who have needs in one or more areas and provide certain legal rights for the student and their guardians. These rights include the right to appeal if the parent or guardian feels the plan is not meeting the child’s needs. It also includes the right to review the IEP at any time to determine what progress, if any, is being made.
In most cases, parents or guardians may never see a special education administrator, even if they have a student in a program. Rather, the administrator is there to supervise teachers and other school staff, as well as review educational programming. Administrator expertise may be required in cases where the student has very difficult needs. Also, any feature or issue will likely go through an admin as the first step.
Another job of the special education administrator is to prepare a budget and seek input for programming. While all administrators keep the costs of a program in mind, the ultimate goal is to educate children. Administrators can sometimes be at odds with parents on budget related issues and therefore need to find a way to balance the two sides to ensure they are providing an adequate education.
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