Overview of Role

The role of the Support Teacher is central to creating, managing, and strengthening practices in an inclusive school.  Support Teachers primarily focus on supporting teachers who, in turn, support students. A secondary function is direct small-group or one-on-one instruction with students, but only if planning for individuals makes this necessary. An inclusive school focuses on building the capacity of all educators so that inclusive practice and culture become embedded throughout.  The activities that a Support Teacher engages in must reflect a commitment to shared responsibility for the success of all learners.  

The resource teacher is an essential member of the School-based Support Team and must lead the team towards effective overall management of inclusive initiatives. Unlike the Support Teacher in the “integrated model,” who in most instances primarily worked directly with students, the role of the Support Teacher in an inclusive school must be focused on supporting and working directly with Classroom Teachers. The Support Teacher must be an experienced and knowledgeable teacher who can provide leadership to help build teacher capacity for utilizing differentiated pedagogical strategies in the classroom. 

The chart and discussion below describe the targeted time-use for Support Teachers. It emphasizes active participation with classroom teachers. Working with students and other responsibilities are secondary to that role if teachers are to be appropriately supported.

A) Focus: Teacher Support – 60% of the time.

At a time when Classroom Teachers seek different strategies and innovative teaching methods to work more effectively with their students, the Support Teacher’s priority should be to engage with and support the teacher. It must be standard practice for all Support Teachers to check the needs of the teachers and their students before working on other duties. Making an inclusive setting a success demands nothing less. 

• Co-planning - The focus of thoughtful, collaborative planning is to select evidence-informed teaching strategies to address student and teacher needs. As part of the ongoing data collection and review process, the teacher and coach monitor the effectiveness of instructional practices, determining emerging areas for improvement and student success in learning. They may collaborate on an action research question to investigate possible solutions to remaining learning needs.

• Modelling - Modelling instructional practices as the teacher observes. Part of building capacity is providing models of exemplary practice within the context of the teacher’s classroom. Engaging in co-planning with the teacher will enhance the impact of this practice. A critical responsibility of the coach is to model effective student engagement and instructional practices skillfully.

• Co-teaching - To continue teacher capacity building, the coach and teacher engage in a co-teaching experience where the above stages inform the role each plays in facilitating learning in the classroom.  

• Release of Responsibility - The coach gradually withdraws individual services as the teacher’s confidence grows and enhanced practices become embedded. A planned follow-up with the teacher may be determined to discuss the retention of new and successful approaches. Professional learning provided through a coaching model is most effective when targeted and specific (i.e., differentiated to support teacher learning and practice) and guided by school, district, and province-wide goals and standards (Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University, 2010).

• Collect and Analyze Data - The coach can model practical data literacy. In research examining improving schools, Wren and Vallejo (2009) found that “no school…made substantial gains in student achievement without a system for examining available data” (17).

A Support Teacher plays a crucial role in gathering and examining data with teachers and must:

• Know existing assessment instruments.

• Collaborate on developing assessment tools (e.g., classroom standards).

• Assist with the administration of assessments in collaboration with teachers and others.

• Help teachers and administrators analyze data to inform - Classroom instruction, Progress monitoring, and School improvement plans.

• Consult and collaborate with teachers during reporting periods.

Support Professional Learning Communities – the Support Teacher –

• Participates as an active member of school PLCs as appropriate.

• Establishes predictable meeting times with the school PLCs team to maintain ongoing communication.

• Facilitates ongoing professional learning to enhance instructional practices to meet the needs of all learners.

B) Focus on Student Support - 25% of the time.

• Provide Direct Intervention for Students: 

  Even with solid classroom support through coaching, individual or small-group student interventions may be necessary. Ideally, interventions occur in the classroom, but depending on the student's learning profile(s) and needs, an intervention outside the classroom may be required.

• Participate in School-Based Support Team: 

  Onsite and itinerant Support Teachers must establish a predictable schedule to meet with the School-Based Support Team.

• Co-teach and Collaborate: 

  This co-teaching happens when two or more teachers co-plan, co-instruct and co-assess a group of students with diverse needs in the same common learning environment (Murawski, 2003). Although building a teacher’s instructional capacity is a side benefit, the focus of this partnership is to ensure student learning.

  
  

C) Focus on Planning and Personal Professional Learning: Target of 15%

• Prepare for Services Provided: Just as classroom teachers are provided preparation time for instructional planning, a Support Teacher requires dedicated time to plan for various responsibilities. These may include preparing for coaching conversations, planning modelled lessons, designing professional learning opportunities for staff, and other professional activities.

• Continue to Build Personal Expertise: A Support Teacher must keep current on advances in research to share with colleagues. They require time allocated to continue the pursuit of knowledge and effective pedagogy through professional resources, webinars, collaborating with colleagues, and other professional learning activities.

• Administrative Duties: These duties are directly associated with supporting teachers and students. Examples include working on personalized learning plans, working with Educational Assistants, consulting with other professionals, meetings and performing other related functions.