Length of Position: Permanent

Type of Benefits: Partial

Months per year: 10

Number of hours per week:  20

Number of days per week: 4

State Salary Schedule:  

Job Description

Exceptional Children Program Specialist

Qualifications:

1. A valid NC teaching certificate.
2. Successful teaching experience.
3. Demonstrate expertise in the area of due process and compliance regulations for exceptional children.
4. Flexible, positive attitude toward students with disabilities and a willingness to advocate for them.
5. Demonstrate supervisory ability.
6. General knowledge of testing procedures.

Job Goals:  To promote effective IEP team functioning; to support accurate design of individual, small group and county-wide programs to meet their unique needs; to provide needed staff development within regular and special education concerning exceptional children.

Mission:

“Lead through Service”. 

We believe that our teachers are truly the most important component in the classroom, more important than the program, and more important than the paperwork. It is our job as Program Specialists to ensure that our EC teachers are supported so that they can be as effective as possible when serving our students with special needs.

Performance responsibilities:

1. Provide consultation to the exceptional children’s staff as well as regular teachers in an assigned school. Provide day-to-day, ongoing support in the area of academics and implementing research-based programs, such as, help with analyzing data, to include administering reading inventories and placement tests.
2. Provide professional development in the areas of reading, math, behavior management, autism and compliance/paperwork, including Math Foundations and Reading Foundations.
3. Provide day-to-day, ongoing support in the area of behavior, observations, functional behavior assessments, writing behavior plans, classroom management strategies for EC and regular education teachers.
4. Provide coaching for reading and math instruction. Coaching includes modeling and demonstration teaching of lessons as well as fidelity checks to monitor proper implementation of programs.
5. Provide daily support to separate continuum classes at the elementary, middle school, and high school level.
6. Provide support to exceptional children’s personnel with the maintaining of state forms and paperwork tasks. Participate in compliance checks.
7. Serve as Liaison between school staff and Exceptional Children’s Department and parents of students with special needs.
8. Provide “Parent Academy” nights to support and engage parents in their child’s education. 
9. Administer educational testing for initial referrals and reevaluations to assist in the diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses.
10. Interpret formal and informal evaluation data for specific children and individual programs to share with appropriate stakeholders.
11. Write RTI reports for students being considered for placement for a Specific Learning Disability.
12. Attend initial referral meetings and reevaluation meetings to ensure paperwork, compliance and procedural guidelines are followed.
13. Attend placement meetings with testing results being presented to the IEP team to ensure compliance and procedural safeguards are in place when making an eligibility determination.
14. Serve as LEA in IEP meetings and parent conferences.
15. Assist in coordinating field trips and volunteers for the separate continuum classes.
16. Participate in data collection, review of student progress, developmental review for NCSIP to ensure continued funding of programs.
17. Order, deliver and keep inventory of supplies, including reading materials, math materials and specialized items needed for intensive students.
18. Develop expertise in a support area (reading, writing, math, autism, vision, hearing, RtI). 
19. Directly serve home bound students who are placed out of school due to illness or long-term suspension.
20. Visually Impaired students are directly served by Vision Specialist.
21. Assist director in determining the needs for specific children, individual and county wide programs, including the purchase of supplies, materials and equipment.
22. Assist director in collecting data for the writing of grants.
23. Assist director in state and local audit procedures.
24. Assist director in assigned areas to meet state accreditation plan
25. Participate in the DPI programs, seminars and workshops to enhance professional knowledge and stay current on EC policies.