INQUIRING MINDS
Uppercase Special
By Julia Halprin Jackson
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for qualified special educators increased dramatically, expanding pre-existing inequities for teachers and students alike. San José State’s Special Education Department is creating opportunities for future teachers to shape more inclusive classrooms.
Everett Smith’s face is quick to light up, especially when talking about his students. He communicates with gusto, taking time to ensure that his meaning is understood. His enthusiasm is infectious, his energy buoyant while his hands do the talking.
“In the Deaf world, there exist two distinctions within the term ‘deaf,’” writes Smith, ’13 Psychology, ’17 MA Communication Studies, in an email. “One that is lower case ‘deaf,’ which simply refers to a physiological or audiological condition of not hearing. Individuals who identify themselves as ‘Deaf’ with a capital ‘D’ generally are a part of any of the Deaf communities that exist out there, are proficient or fluent signers, are proud to be deaf, hold/practice cultural values as a deaf individual in their daily lives, and so much more. This is how I identify myself.”
Smith, a lecturer in San José State’s Special Education Department, teaches three of the four courses that make up the Connie L. Lurie College of Education’s Deaf Education minor: two dedicated to American Sign Language (ASL) and an introduction to Deaf culture class. To his knowledge, he’s also the only Deaf lecturer on campus — a fact that is both discouraging and motivating.
“Despite attending two different schools for the deaf, all of my teachers were hearing,” he signs in an interview. “That’s a big reason why I do what I do — and why I’m writing my dissertation on the underrepresentation of Deaf faculty in higher education.”
“There can be many different paths toward achieving an equivalent goal. The majority of my students are hearing, and I love that I can use myself as a deaf model for them to work with and learn from, so that they can go out there with a better understanding of what to do if they encounter deaf and hard-of-hearing folks.”
— Everett Smith
Smith explains how important it is for all students — not just those with hearing difficulties — to see role models in Deaf and hard of hearing educators. He adds that ASL is “the most naturally accessible and linguistically recognized language for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals,” a culturally rich, complex language capable of empowering everyone, hearing or otherwise, to communicate and be understood. Because learning ASL can be beneficial for folks living with autism or non-verbal disabilities, Deaf Education is often aligned within special education.
“Interestingly, many Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals I know do not see themselves as disabled, but rather, simply deaf or hard-of-hearing who have a different communication method,” he explains. “They tend to accept the label mainly in order to receive needed services/accommodations to navigate through a hearing-centric environment.”
“There can be many different paths toward achieving an equivalent goal,” he adds. “The majority of my students are hearing, and I love that I can use myself as a deaf model for them to work with and learn from, so that they can go out there with a better understanding of what to do if they encounter deaf and hard-of-hearing folks.”
Students in Smith's American Sign Language class. Photo: Jim Gensheimer.
To be deaf or hard of hearing is not a monolith. There is a continuum of hearing abilities, with some people opting for cochlear implants or assistive devices to improve what they can hear. As a career educator currently pursuing his doctorate in education from San Francisco State University, Smith stresses that there is no one way to educate deaf students. In some school settings, students may be placed in special education classes, evaluated for individualized education plans (IEPs), assigned interpreters or other school resources to assist in their learning.
Regardless of who they are, the degree to which they can hear, or where they live, Smith emphasizes that the most important consideration that any educator keeps in mind is what the individual student requests. He adds that all too often, deaf students are told what they need, rather than being given the freedom to express their needs. The irony is sometimes lost on education providers who may lack the awareness needed to understand a deaf or hard of hearing person’s experience.
To illustrate this, he shares a memory from his childhood, when a teacher asked him in front of the whole class if he was pronouncing his name correctly. “How would I know?” Smith laughs. “I’ve never heard my name said aloud.”
Increased demand for qualified educators
Smith has seen a higher demand for Deaf Education courses since he started teaching them at SJSU in 2018. He hopes students of all hearing abilities can find a safe home in his class, and that they take this same inclusive approach when leading their own classes someday.
“As a Deaf individual, I absolutely embrace the unique learning needs of students and do my best to accommodate them in my classes,” he writes. “I feel it is so crucial for us to understand that each student is different and that is okay. I strive to make learning equitable for all.”
“Everett is an amazing individual — after taking his classes students really feel compelled to share in their evaluations the impact he made on their lives,” says Lisa Simpson, associate professor and chair of the Special Education Department.
Even if the students who take Smith’s classes don’t pursue careers in education, many of them gain an understanding of and appreciation for accessibility in the classroom and beyond. Offered at SJSU as a minor in Special Education, Deaf Education is one of many disciplines within the field that could benefit from an influx in qualified educators. Students interested in working with deaf or hard of hearing students can also gain experience supporting learners of various needs by pursuing mild to moderate or moderate to severe support needs credentials — training that is especially attractive to school districts as COVID-19 appears in the rearview mirror.
states saw declining graduation rates among students with disabilities in 2020-2021, according to EdWeek Research Center
of principals in a 2022 National Center for Education Statistics survey reported that their schools did not have enough special education teachers
of principals in a 2022 National Center for Education Statistics survey reported that their schools did not have enough mental health professionals to support students
stipend offered to SJSU teacher residency candidates in select programs
California was already facing a shortage of qualified special education teachers prior to the pandemic — numbers that continued to fall as more teachers retired or left the profession.
When he pivoted to teaching online in 2020, Smith had to engineer an ecosystem in which he could lead a lesson while also making sure his hands were always visible on screen. In addition to the unequal access to broadband Internet or reliable computers — plus the fact that ASL is a physical language best understood face-to-face — COVID-19 widened many of the pre-existing inequities that can alienate people with special needs.
Simpson adds that all too often, special educators are emergency hires left with insufficient resources to support their students.
“Those educators don’t get mentors,” she says “They are placed in classrooms and told, ‘do whatever you need to do. We’ll see you in May.’ And then we wonder why they’re burned out. They’re stressed. They say, ‘nobody is helping me, and I haven’t been trained.’ So we’re perpetuating this cycle, a revolving door of teachers. It’s time to step away from that and make some changes.”
In August 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics (NECS) within the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences released a survey to measure school-related experiences during the pandemic, conducted in partnership with the United States Census Bureau. Of the 900 K-12 public schools surveyed, 65% reported special education teacher shortages, with 78% experiencing difficulties in filling special education vacancies.
So how can school districts and teacher preparation programs address this increased demand for qualified educators, especially for students whose educations have been (or still are) interrupted or delayed by the pandemic?
Lisa Simpson
Replacing a vicious cycle with a virtuous one
Starting in 2020, SJSU’s Lurie College introduced a series of teacher residency programs to support educators in high-need areas while establishing stronger relationships with local school districts. Teacher candidates, including those pursuing masters’ degrees in education, can apply for an accelerated, year-long student teaching placement in a nearby district.
The result is a win-win for teachers as well as partnering schools, says Simpson, who leads the residency for special education. The program waives graduate tuition for selected residents and offers a $5,000 stipend in addition to professional development opportunities for both the mentee and the mentor at the partner site.
“Our residency candidates do very well,” says Simpson. “They’re typically hired by their districts within the year. A huge benefit of the residency program is that when you’re in such close contact with the districts year after year, you are helping them build capacity. It fills capacity at the university as well, because we need placements for candidates.”
“The biggest take away from the residency program was developing skills around reflection and collaboration,” says Jenn Amick, ’23 MA Special Education, who completed the residency in 2021 and now works as a resource specialist in San José’s Oak Grove Unified school district.
“These are skills I use every day, especially as a special education teacher. SJSU really emphasized the importance of analyzing student data and reflecting on what’s going well and what needs to be improved or changed in your classroom. Our classrooms are always evolving based on our students and it’s important that our teaching practice changes based on what our students need.”
While the residency programs won’t solve all the staffing issues introduced by the pandemic — or those that predate it — they offer viable career pathways without requiring candidates to assume additional debt. As chair of the Special Education Department, Simpson hopes these opportunities will adequately prepare teachers to provide the best possible instruction for their students.
“Special education definitely falls under those ‘helping’ professions,” she says. She explains that so much of their work involves increasing awareness about various forms of disability and how educators can see the diverse assets their students bring to the classroom.
A prime example of this, Simpson adds, is Everett Smith.
“After taking his class, students approach things differently and recognize disabilities that weren’t on their radar before,” she says. “It helps them think about the world differently, recognize individuals for who they are and the strengths they bring to the table. That is such an amazing thing to bring to Lurie College, to San José, to the whole Bay Area community. He is opening the eyes of so many students who then go out into the world.”
“Our classrooms are always evolving based on our students and it’s important that our teaching practice changes based on what our students need.”
— Jenn Amick
Want to learn more?
Get the details about teacher residency programs offered through the Connie L. Lurie College of Education
Top image: James Tensuan, ’15 Journalism
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