Rising into Special Education Career Opportunities
District partners with San José State University to renew RISE credential program for second year
By Natalie Sarsfield
District partners with San José State University to renew RISE credential program for second year
By Natalie Sarsfield
Unlike traditional teaching, special education requires significantly more hands-on training as well as crucial skills in child development. The widespread shortage of special education teachers has left districts across the country scrambling to train and recruit qualified individuals to step into these necessary roles.
Partnering with San José State University, the San José Unified School District’s Rise into Special Education program is gearing up for its second year. RISE is a special education credentialing program offered to current San José Unified instructional associates. SJUSD Director of Human Resources Jacqueline Murphy is grateful that the program is able to continue with funding from the Local Solutions to the Shortage of Special Education Teachers state grant given to the district. Murphy emphasized the importance of the character of those who qualify, as well as the criteria that must be met.
“(Applicants) have to have a bachelor’s degree and they need to be a current instructional associate with us and so that already narrows down the potential population. We are continuing to identify employees that meet the qualifications and want to pursue their dream of becoming a special education teacher,” said Murphy. “Our students need high quality teachers, so we’ve decided to undertake the effort to help create more high quality special education teachers.”
Heather Maguire is currently a resource specialist program student teacher at Pioneer and appreciates how RISE takes into account financial difficulties that those who apply may face. Maguire has been working as an aide for the past five years after pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from San José State and will be earning a mild/moderate special education credential through the program. While she’s been interested in pursuing a credential before, Maguire said finding a balance between work, school and the financial aspect held her back.
“(The district) does take into consideration that we are all working. They have been as good as possible as helping to accommodate our families and life schedules along with their needs for the program,” said Maguire. “I think having something like this takes away the barriers for people who really might want to do it and it helps their needs and our needs.”
Once the program is completed, the newly credentialed teachers will be required to work a minimum of four years with SJUSD, securing teachers for the district to combat the shortage.
SJUSD Director of Special Education Seth Reddy sees RISE as on opportunity to fill positions from within the district and promote the future of special education.
“The participants in the program commit to working for and teaching at SJUSD for a set period of time in exchange for the full funding of their tuition. This will help us have a deep bench of talent from which to fill our classroom roles,” said Reddy. “I see (RISE) in the future, as the primary means by which we are developing special education teachers in our district. The partnership with San José State allows us to collaborate to develop a program tailored to the needs of our district and prepare teacher to be successful on the first day of school.”
Partnering with San José State University, the San José Unified School District’s Rise into Special Education program is gearing up for its second year. RISE is a special education credentialing program offered to current San José Unified instructional associates. SJUSD Director of Human Resources Jacqueline Murphy is grateful that the program is able to continue with funding from the Local Solutions to the Shortage of Special Education Teachers state grant given to the district. Murphy emphasized the importance of the character of those who qualify, as well as the criteria that must be met.
“(Applicants) have to have a bachelor’s degree and they need to be a current instructional associate with us and so that already narrows down the potential population. We are continuing to identify employees that meet the qualifications and want to pursue their dream of becoming a special education teacher,” said Murphy. “Our students need high quality teachers, so we’ve decided to undertake the effort to help create more high quality special education teachers.”
Heather Maguire is currently a resource specialist program student teacher at Pioneer and appreciates how RISE takes into account financial difficulties that those who apply may face. Maguire has been working as an aide for the past five years after pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from San José State and will be earning a mild/moderate special education credential through the program. While she’s been interested in pursuing a credential before, Maguire said finding a balance between work, school and the financial aspect held her back.
“(The district) does take into consideration that we are all working. They have been as good as possible as helping to accommodate our families and life schedules along with their needs for the program,” said Maguire. “I think having something like this takes away the barriers for people who really might want to do it and it helps their needs and our needs.”
Once the program is completed, the newly credentialed teachers will be required to work a minimum of four years with SJUSD, securing teachers for the district to combat the shortage.
SJUSD Director of Special Education Seth Reddy sees RISE as on opportunity to fill positions from within the district and promote the future of special education.
“The participants in the program commit to working for and teaching at SJUSD for a set period of time in exchange for the full funding of their tuition. This will help us have a deep bench of talent from which to fill our classroom roles,” said Reddy. “I see (RISE) in the future, as the primary means by which we are developing special education teachers in our district. The partnership with San José State allows us to collaborate to develop a program tailored to the needs of our district and prepare teacher to be successful on the first day of school.”