C. Oregon Survey on Supporting and Retaining Special Educators - Findings Related to the Meaning of Administrative Support
We have also been able to dig a bit deeper into what respondents mean by Administrative Support by analyzing nearly 100 pages of narrative comments. Several themes emerged from these comments. We have organized them into three areas: logistical/material support; informational support; and, emotional support.
Respondents most often mentioned logistical/material support as being helpful. This type of support-building, district, ESD administrators assisting directly with work related tasks-includes such things as:
- Providing materials, space and resources - especially access to curriculum materials aligned with the content standards but modified to address the needs of students with special needs.
- Providing time for teaching and non teaching duties - especially finding time for planning instruction.
- Help with managerial type concerns and scheduling - especially paperwork and meetings
Informational support - providing teachers with information and training opportunities they can use - also emerged as an important type of support offered by administrators. This included such things as:
- Support (financial, substitute) to attend professional development and in-service training opportunities.
- Opportunities to meet with competent colleagues.
- Access to a mentor - either a formal mentor or informal mentor.
Emotional support emerged as a very important issue from the perspective of respondents. Emotional support took many forms, including:
- Administrators 'showing teachers that they are esteemed, trusted professionals' - by supporting their decisions, backing them up when conflicts arise, etc.
- Establishing a school/work climate that is consistent with the effective schools literature and is inclusive of Special Educators.
